AYRSHIRE CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS - First two players negotiate opening round ties

Michael Smyth (Royal Troon) and 
Shaun Ryan (Ayr Dalmilling) are the first two players to successfully negotiate the first round of the 2017 Ayrshire Champion Of Champions competition.

Michael Smyth opened with an away tie against Darren Mallinson (Irvine Ravenspark) and edged through on the final green with a two hole victory. In round two, Smyth will be at home to either John Anderson (Skelmorlie) or Tommy McInally (Loudoun), a five time winner of the championship.

Shaun Ryan also faced an away tie in the opening round, against Frank Murdoch (Brunston Castle), and won through to round two with a 2 & 1 victory. Ryan will also be at home in the second round, against either Kieran Clark (Braehead) or Scott McCune (Moorpark)

The eleven remaining first tround ties are due to be completed by 16th April. 

CENTENARY TROPHY - Boys & Youths team retain title at Troon Lochgreen

The Ayrshire Boys & Youths team had a successful opening to their season on Sunday 26th March at Troon Lochgreen when they retained the Centenary Trophy in their annual match against the South Of Scotland, with a 13 - 5 overall victory.

The victorious Ayrshire Youths & Boys team outside the refurbished Troon Municipal clubhouse
before their Centenary Trophy match against the South Of Scotland

A superb performance in the morning foursomes saw Ayrshire take all six ties to establish a 6 - 0 lead going into the afternoon singles.

The result of the morning ties were :-

Under 16's
Sean Addie (Ayr Belleisle) & John McCracken (Irvine) beat Callum McMillan (Kirkcudbright) & Taylor Kerr (Sanquhar) by 5 & 4
Ben Fleming (Troon Welbeck) & Ross McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) beat Glen Irvine (Dumfries & County) & Lewis Cheetham (Dumfries & Galloway) by 1 hole.

Under 18's
Jack Broun (Ayr Belleisle) & Kyle Brown (Turnberry) beat nathan Watson (Kirkcudbright) & Finlay Copeland (Dumfries & Galloway) by 5 & 4
Euan Ferguson (Turnberry) & Ewan Milligan (Kilmarnock Barassie) beat William Squires (Kirkcudbright) & Iain Rae (Dalbeattie) by 4 & 2

Under 23's
Callum Irving (Ayr Belleisle) & Greg Telfer (Prestwick St Cuthbert) beat Rory Brunton (Dumfries & County) & Alex Long (New Galloway) b y 2 &1
Shaun Hedger (West Kilbride) & Sandy Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) beat Callan Harkness (Lochmaben) & Dylan Cairnie (Dumfries & County) by 1 hole.

Needing 9 1/2 points from the 12 singles to win the trophy, Ayrshire picked up 1 & 1/2 points from the opening two ties to set up the match nicely and the hosts ran out winners by 7 - 5 in the singles to win the trophy for 2017 with an a 13 - 5 overall win

The results of the afternoon ties were :-

Under 16's
Sean Addie halved with Taylor Kerr
Ben Fleming beat Callum McMillan  by 1 hole
John McCracken lost to Lewis Cheetham by 6 & 4
Ross McDonald lost to Glen Irvine by 6 & 5

Under 18's
Jack Broun beat Nathan Watson by 3 & 2
Euan Ferguson beat William Squires by 5 & 4
Kyle Brown lost to iain Rae by 1 hole
Ewan Milligan halved with Findlay Copeland

Under 23's
Callum Irving beat Rory Brunton by 3 & 2
Greg Telfer beat Alex Long by 4 & 3
Shaun Hedger beat Callan Harkness by 7 & 5
Sandy Walker lost to Dylan Cairnie by 2 holes.

AYRSHIRE        13     SOUTH OF SCOTLAND    5

Both team enjoyed the facilities in the newly refurbished municipal clubhouse at Troon and shared an enjoyable meal at the conclusion of the match within the clubhouse.

SCOTTISH GOLF WINTER SERIES - Louise Duncan make it an Ayrshire double at St Andrews

Louise Duncan

Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) made it an Ayrshire double last weekend in the Scottish Golf Limited Winter Series Final at St Andrews, when she took the girls title to add to the boys title won by Jack Broun.

Whilst Broun was recording a three stroke victory, Louise Duncan was the only player in the girls field who bettered par over the Strathtyrum course, her three under par 65 giving her a four stroke victory over her nearest rival.

Rachel Foster (Turnberry) finished tied for third place on 72, four over par.

AYRSHIRE LADIES COUNTY GOLF ASSOCIATION - Prestwick St Nicholas duo win Winter Foursomes title

The Prestwick St Nicholas pairing of Sheila McDougall & Margaret White won the Ayrshire Ladies County Golf Association Winter Foursomes competition last weekend, when the final was played at Troon Portland.

The new champions lined up against Audrey Thomson and County Captain Liz Keohone of Loudoun in the final and after establishing an early two hole lead, they eventually won the championship on the seventeenth green.

WEST OF SCOTLAND LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP - Ayrshire host 2017 comeptition at Kilmarnock (Barassie)

The West of Scotland Ladies Championship is being held at Kilmarnock Barassie on Sunday 7th May. 

Entry forms can be downloaded here CLICK HERE , or from the link on the left of this page under the 'Woman's Golf' heading, where there is also a link to the on line entry form too, or you can CLICK HERE
 .
If you enter using the on line form Jean Macintyre (West Secretary) will e mail you the bank details so that you can pay electronically if you wish.

Please also download the original form to study the conditions of the competition.

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION YEARBOOK - 2017 publication now available on line

The 2017 Ayrshire Golf Association Yearbook is now available to view on line.

The publication can be accessed by clicking on the yearbook front page picture on the left of the Ayrshire Golf association website page,

This link also gives access to on line versions of some previous yearbooks.

SCOTTISH GOLF ACADEMY WINTER SERIES - Jack Broun wins at St Andrews

Jack Broun (Ayr Belleisle) won the Scottish Golf Academy winter series event held at the Eden Course, St Andrews on Sunday 19th March.

His five under par score of 64 gave Jack victory by three shots in the competition

AYRSHIRE A TEAM - Match with Division 1 Champions postponed

The match between Ayrshire and the Scratch League Division 1 Champions Prestwick St Cuthbert, scheduled to take place on Sunday 19th September, has been postponed, the St Cuthbert course having been closed due to the heavy rainfall encountered over the previous 48 hours.

The match will be rescheduled to a later date.

AYRSHIRE HANDICAP LEAGUE - draw announced for new competition.

The draw has been announced for the new Ayrshire Handicap League competition, with 23 member clubs chasing a place in the final on 10th September this year.

Matches will comprise six singles ties with competing clubs playing in four qualifying league sections, on a home and away basis, from April to mid August, with the winners of each section progressing to the semi finals.

In the semi finals, the winners of sections A and B will meet on a home and away basis to decide one of the finalists, as will the winners of sections C & D.

SECTION A comprises six clubs which include Loudoun, Stewarton, Troon St Meddans, Ballochmyle, Drongan and Royal Troon.

SECTION B also has six teams which include Moorpark, Irvine Ravenspark, Beith, Rowallan Castle, Troon Welbeck and Ayr Seafield.

SECTION C is also a six club league which includes Ailsa Craig, Prestwick St Cuthbert, Troon Merchants, Largs Routenburn, Auchenharvie 88 and Braehead.

SECTION D has only five clubs which includes Annanhill, Prestwick St Nicholas, Ayr Dalmilling, Tam O Shanter and Kilbirnie Place.

Information on the draw and fixture arrangements will be forwarded to all nominated club representatives in the near future.

Ayrshire team draw with Royal Troon

An Ayrshire select recorded a 2 - 2 draw with Royal Troon in a fourball better ball match held at the Troon Club on Sunday 5th March.

Match details (Royal Troon names first) :-

Michael Smyth & Paul Moultrie beat Stuart Robin & Keith Hamilton by 5 & 4

Robert Jenkins & Stephen Spence lost to Tommy McInally & Jack Brounby 3 & 2

Ian Walker & Paul McKellar beat John Shanks & Malcolm Pennycottby 4 & 3

John Rushbury & Stephen Machin lost to Craig Telfer & Jim Johnston by 4 & 3

AYRSHIRE HANDICAP LEAGUE - Entry boosted by Braehead and Ayr Seafield.

The entry for the new Ayrshire handicap League has been boosted with the inclusion of two more clubs.

Ayr Seafield and Braehead will now go into the draw for the competition, bringing the entry to 23 member clubs.

The draw will be published in the near future and information distributed to nominated club representatives.

AYRSHIRE GOLF ASSOCIATION YEARBOOK - 14th edition launched at A.G.A. annual dinner

The 14th successive edition of The Ayrshire Golf Association yearbook was launched at the recent A.G.A. annual dinner at Loudoun Gowf Club.

The 40 page yearbook reviews the 2016 season and competitions as well as highlighting notable individual performances throughout the year, and also includes historical championship records, a club directory and fixture list for the forthcoming 2017 season.

The Association is grateful to all the sponsors featured in the yearbook, for their support, and also Ayrshire Media Services from Troon, for producing a quality publication again this year.

Copies of the yearbook will be distributed free to member clubs and other outlets in the coming weeks, and the yearbook will also be made available to view on line in the near future, via a link on the Ayrshire Golf Association web page.

SCOTTISH GOLF AWARDS - Hazel McGarvie receives Girls Order Of Merit award in Edinburgh

Hazel McGarvie (Troon Ladies) was an award winner at the recent Scottish Golf Awards, held on Friday 24th February at The Corn Exchange in Edinburgh.

The Troon player received the 2016 Scottish Girls Order Of Merit award, following a number of notable performances during the year, including victory in The Scottish Girls' Championship at Baberton.

Hazel received her award from Ladies European Tour player Pamela Pretswell.

US COLLEGE GOLF - Connie Jaffrey leads the way in Kansas State University team win

Scottish internationalist Connie Jaffrey (Troon Ladies) led the way for her Kansas State University team as they won their second team championship of the 2016 – 17 season with victory in the Westbrook Spring Invitational at Westbrook Village Golf Club, Peoria, Arizona, recently.

A third round score of 5 under par 67 gave Connie a three round total of 210, six under par, and second place, by a single shot,  in the individual event.

The team score of 3-under par 861 equalled the best ever team performance by the university side.

“I’m really proud of the ladies,” said head coach Kristi Knight. “They did what they needed to do, which was stay patient and stay calm throughout the round.”

Kansas State, who began the day two shots behind, finished four strokes ahead of a second-place tie between Kansas and Ohio State.

Team Scores: 1. Kansas State, 290-288-283—861 (-3); T2. Ohio State, 295-287-283—865 (+1); T2. Kansas, 280-296-289—865 (+1); 4. Illinois, 288-292-291—871 (+7); 5. Iowa, 292-294-287—873 (+9); 6. New Mexico State, 286-299-289—874 (+10); 7. Wisconsin, 291-300-286—877 (+13); 8. Oregon State, 288-303-291—882 (+18); T9. Washington State, 292-309-283—884 (+20); T9. Notre Dame, 292-295-297—884 (+20); 11. UC Davis, 299-297-290—886 (+22); 12. Nebraska, 299-298-293—890 (+26); 13. Indiana, 300-296-302—898 (+34).

Top Individuals: 1. Aubrey Judd, Nebraska, 72-69-68—209 (-7); 2. Connie Jaffrey, Kansas State, 73-70-67—210 (-6); T3. Isabella DiLisio, Notre Dame, 68-70-73—211 (-5); T3. Tristyn Nowlin, Illinois, 71-71-69—211 (-5); 5. Ariadna Fonseca, Kansas, 75-69-68—212 (-4).

AYRSHIRE HANDICAP LEAGUE - 21 entrants for new event

The new Ayrshire handicap league Championship competition has attracted an entry of 21 member clubs for the inaugural event.

The clubs who have entered the 2017 competition are :-

AILSA CRAIG
ANNANHILL
AUCHENHARVIE 88
AYR DALMILLING
BALLOCHMYLE
BEITH
DRONGAN
IRVINE RAVENSPARK
KILBIRNIE PLACE
LARGS ROUTENBURN
LOUDOUN
MOORPARK
PRESTWICK ST CUTHBERT
PRESTWICK ST NICHOLAS
ROWALLAN CASTLE
ROYAL TROON
STEWARTON
TAM O SHANTER
TROON MERCHANTS
TROON ST MEDDANS
TROON WELBECK

The draw for qualifying sections will be made this week and further details will be distributed to nominated club representatives by mid March.

Qualifying section matches will be played over the summer months with the leading teams going forward to contest home and away ties to determine the finalists.

The final match is scheduled to take place on 10th September during the Finals day.