BIG JOHNSON'S TOUR - Jack McDonald makes it four wins from five at Prestwick St. Nicholas

Prestwick St Nicholas had its guard up today. Friday 30th March 2018, with some strong winds, gusting 20-30mph. However, it made no difference to Jack McDonald, who scored a superb five-under-par 64, his fourth win in five appearances on the Big Johnson's Tour.

Paul O'Hara finished higher up the field than John Henry in this concluding event so sneaked ahead of him to win the Golf Finance Winter Series Order of Merit.

ORDER OF MERIT FINAL LEADERS
290 Paul O'Hara 
267.5 John Henry 
250 Jack McDonald 

Prestwick St.Nicholas Scoreboard
Friday, March 30 
Par 69

64 - Jack McDonald  
65 - Fraser McKenna 
66 - Michael Stewart,  Conor O'Neil 
69 - Craig Ross, Paul O'Hara, Michael Patterson. 
71 - Greg Dalziel.
74 - Scott Henry,  Kylie Henry 
75 - John Henry 
76 - Chris Currie 

(Thanks to Cal; Carson Golf Agency for the report)

SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP - Hazel McGarvie secures title at Lossiemouth

Hazel McGarvie with her trophy at Lossiemouth

Stirling University rising star Hazel MacGarvie from Troon completed a famous maiden victory as the Scottish Student Golf Championships drew to a close at a rainy Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth, on Tuesday 27th March.

writes Stew Fowlie – courtesy of the scottishgolfview.com website.

The win was her second in two weeks following her triumph in the West Of Scotland students event at Western Gailes last week.

MacGarvie, a past winner of the Scottish U18 girls' championship, once again showed supreme ability and confidence to weather not only the conditions but an uncertain start to her final round.

Double bogeys at the second and fourth holes brought the chasing field much closer, but MacGarvie responded in emphatic style – completing the following 14 holes in five under par. 

A birdie at 5 was shortly followed by a huge moment on the 7^th where she rolled in a 15ft putt for an eagle 3. Further birdies came at the 10^th, 14^th, 16^th and 17^th to deliver a final total of 284 (-8).

Commenting on her victory Hazel said "It feels great to win this tournament, especially first time round. I got off to a bad start today but didn’t feel too nervous and I was really happy to be able to bring it back."

The Stirling University scholar, currently in her first year, continued: "I really enjoy playing student golf. It gets me out of the classroom and I  enjoy getting to play with new people."

St Andrews’ Lieve Van Veggel completed a fine four-round series with a determined -2 round of 73.

Despite bogeys at the fourth and fifth, Lieve was level at the turn, before a bogey-free back nine of 36, featuring birdies at 14 and 17. This left the Dutch competitor in silver medal position with a final total of 280 (-2).

Three-time champion Gemma Batty (Stirling) rounded out the top three following a closing 76 (+1) to conclude her final Scottish Student Championships in a creditable bronze medal position.

Stirling University also won the extracted team element with a six-round total of 289, eight shots ahead of St Andrews, with Stirling II a further four shots back.

Final Totals in the Woman's championship were:-

284 H MacGarvie (Stirling) 73 67 70 74
290 L Van Vegell (St Andrews) 73 75 69 73
295 G Batty (Stirling) 76 73 70 76
299 K Brown (St Andrews) 76 73 70 76
300 J Mackintosh (NE College) 74 73 70 83
301 C M Boa (UHI) 81 75 70 75
303 P Brown (Stirling) 79 72 76 76, M Fraser (Stirling) 76 74 71 82
313 S Woodhouse (Strathclyde) 77 75 82 79

In the mens' event, Stirling University’s Laird Shepherd, the defending champion, saw off stiff competition in a tense final round to claim his second Scottish Student stroke-play championship.

Leading scores in the mens' championship were :-

281 L Shepherd (Stirling) 72 69 68 72

282 A Wilson (St Andrews) 70 69 74 69, R Foley (Stirling) 68 74 68 72
285 P Kerr (St Andrews) 75 71 68 71
286 G Burns (St Andrews) 71 71 73 71
287 C Edgar (Stirling) 71 71 73 72
288 M Lawrie (Stirling) 657 73 76 72
289 A Benson (Strathclyde) 72 65 75 77
293 R Nelson (Stirling) 71 77 70 75
294 M Napier (Stirling) 75 72 76 71, A Bagnall (St Andrews) 73 72 76 73, B Bojesen (St Andrews) 67 78 78 71, R Asher (Strathclyde) 70 72 76 76
295 E Ferguson (UHI) 71 77 73 74, L Frean (St Andrews) 70 76 78 71
296 J Sundborg (Stirling) 74 73 79 70, R A Castillo (St Andrews) 70 72 81 73
298 R Brydon (Stirling) 73 75 77 73, C Kulukundis (St Andrews) 75 69 78 76, A McNaughton (UHI) 69 73 80 76
299 T Cochrane (St Andrews) 72 76 74 77, R Cellerino (UHI) 76 70 80 73
300 G Greer (SRUC) 74 72 78 76
301 M Schinkel (UHI) 74 75 77 75, C Franssen (St Andrews) 72 71 81 77, B Bannerman (Glasgow) 70 72 78 81
303 A C Rigby (Heriot Watt) 74 71 78 80
305 R Johnston (Strathclyde) 74 71 83 77, G Minton (UHI) 73 72 81 79
306 T Hein (St Andrews) 77 72 79 78
307 S Alexander (St Andrews) 71 79 76 81
308 S Davidson (Stirling) 71 77 77 83
309 J Bisset (Aberdeen) 73 74 84 78
310 L West (RGU) 75 71 80 84
316 J Mackintosh (UHI) 72 72 92 80
317 S McCaw (Stirling) 78 72 85 82
318 D Fair (Strathclyde) 74 75 83 80
321 C Rochon (St Andrews) 77 72 92 80

RUSSELL CAMERON - Ayrshire Junior Golf League Honorary Member passes away

Golfers throughout Ayrshire will be saddened to learn that Ayrshire Junior Golf League Honorary member Russell Cameron passed away on Wednesday 21st March at Ayr Hospital.

A retired , self employed, draughtsman, Russell had a long association with Ayr Belleisle Golf Club, where he held a low handicap for many years, and in recent years was a member of the Prestwick St Cuthbert club.

During his time at Ayr Belleisle, Russell served on the committee and in various club positions, culminating in his election as captain in 1986 - 87. He also served as the club's representative to The Ayrshire Junior Golf league for seven years before taking over as assistant secretary of The League in 1984, working alongside his good friend and League Secretary Iain Harvey.

On stepping down from his assistant secretary's post in 1989, Russell was, along with Iain Harvey, elected an Honorary Member of The Ayrshire Junior Golf League in recognition of his services to The League, and regularly attended league events and annual dinners until very recently.

As well as his regular outings on the golf course, Russell also enjoyed other sporting activities over the years, including cycling swimming and hillwalking.

Russell Cameron was a quiet mannerly gentleman who was a pleasure to know and his many friends and golfing acquaintances throughout Ayrshire and beyond will be saddened by his passing.

Russell's funeral will take place at Masonhill Crematorium, Ayr, on Tuesday 3rd April 2018 at 10.30 a.m., to which all his friends and golfing acquaintances are cordially invited.

The Ayrshire Golf Association extend sincere condolences to Russel's family and friends at this sad time.

COUNTY TEAM MATCHES - Mixed fortunes for Ayrshire teams in season openers

The Ayrshire team at Portpatrick

Two Ayrshire county teams had mixed fortunes on Sunday 25th March when they competed in the opening fixtures of the 2018 season for the county sides.


A combined boys and youths side traveled to Portpartick golf club to take on the South of Scotland in the annual match for the Centenary Trophy, looking to extend their winning run, but lost out narrowly in a close and exciting encounter.

In the morning foursomes, Ayrshire forged a 3.5 - 2.5 lead but went down by 7 - 5 in the afternoon singles, winning just one of the three singles ties which went to the final hole, which allowed the South of Scotland team to regain the trophy with an overall win by 9.5 - 8.5.

Match details (South of Scotland names first):-

MORNING FOURSOMES

The winning South of Scotland team

Sam Mitchell & Ciaran Howat halved with Ben Watson & Ross McDonald
Kaleb Johnston & David Sharp beat Jack Allan & John McCracken by 2&1
Mitchell Cowie & Finlay Copland beat Alyx Murray & Sean Addie by 5&4
Taylor Kerr & Callum McMillan lost to Ewan Milligan & Kieran Beauchamp by 3&2
Alex Long & Dylan Cairnie lost to Shaun Hedger & Robbie Muir by 2&1
Iain Rae & Nathan Watson lost to Greg Telfer & Sandy Walker by 6&5

AFTERNOON SINGLES

Sam Mitchell beat Ross McDonald by 3&2
Kaleb Johnston lost to Ben watson by 271
Ciaran Howat lost to John McCracken by 5&3
David Sharp beat Jack Allan by 1 hole
Mitchell Cowie beat Alyx Murray by 3&2
Taylor Kerr beat Ewan Milligan by 1 hole
Finlay Copland beat Kieran Beauchamp by 3&2
Callum McMillan lost to Sean Addie by 3&2
Dylan Cairnie beat Robbie Muir by 2&1
Alex Long beat Sandy Walker by 2&1
Iain Rae lost to Shaun Hedger by 1 hole
Nathan Watson lost to Greg Telfer by 2&1

SOUTH OF SCOTLAND       9.5         AYRSHIRE         8.5


The A team played a foursomes match against Royal Troon on Sunday, with the county side running out narrow winners by 2.5 - 1.5.

Match details (Royal Troon names first):-

Michael Smyth and Peter McEvoy  lost to Euan Walker and Jim Johnston by 7 & 6

Paul Moultrie and John Finnigan lost to Stuart Robin and Steven Wallace by 1 hole

Robert Jenkins and Stephen Spence halved with Tommy McInally and Craig Hamilton

John Rushbury and Stephen Machin beat Scott Brown and John Shanks by 4 & 3

ROYAL TROON      1.5        AYRSHIRE         2.5

The match between the Scratch League Division 1 winners, Prestwick St Cuthbert, and the county A team which was schedukled to be played on Sunday 18th March was postponed due to frosty conditions and has been rescheduled for Sunday 22nd April.

BUCS WEST OF SCOTLAND TROPHY - Hazel McGarvie wins students tournament at Western Gailes

Scotland's Hazel MacGarvie and England's Laird Shepherd, both from Stirling University, secured dominating victories on Wednesday 21st March 2018 at a windswept and wet Western Gailes links in the BUCS West of Scotland Trophy students' tournament, over 54 holes. 

Tournament winners Hazel McGarvie & Laird Shepherd

(Report courtesy of Colin Farquarson from Cal Carson Golf Agency)

MacGarvie, a former Scottish U18 girls champion from Troon and a first-year student at Stirling, had a commanding six-shot lead going into the final round. 

She shot 77, equalling the best women's score in the difficult, including two birdies to claim a 10-stroke victory with a total of seven-over-par 220 (+7). 

It was an impressive first Student Tour victory for MacGarvie against a strong field. 

In second place was Kirsten Brown from St Andrews University. She also signed off with a 77, thanks to a birdie at the last hole, to hold off the Irish challenge of Meadhbh Doyle from Maynooth University in Ireland. Doyle also finished with a 77.

A CSS of 76 (reduction only) on the par 71 course shows how difficult the final-round conditions were.

In the women's team event, Stirling 1’s line-up, consisting of MacGarvie, Gemma Batty and Chloe Goadby, won by 12 shots from runners-up Maynooth.

Laird Shepherd, who is the reigning Scottish Universities champion, led going into the final round by only one stroke shot but increased his lead over the field with a fine one-under-par front nine, which included birdies at the first, fourth and seventh.

The Englishman then came home in 37 for another 72, one over par and the lowest round of the day. Shepherd’s total of three-over 216 was 9 shots better than his closest rivals. Jordan Sundborg from Stirling rocketed up the field with a closing 73, which for a long time was the best score in the clubhouse. 

Sundborg beat Monty Scowsill from Exeter University, who also had a 225 total, on a countback for second place. 

Paul Lawrie's younger son Michael, a student at Stirling, had the honour of being the highest placed Scottish-born finisher in joint fourth place on 226 with rounds of 73, 75 and 78.

In the men's team event, Stirling 2’s squad achieved a five-stroke shot from runners-up St Andrews 1 to secure a clean sweep of the titles for Stirling - a show of strength from Stirling ahead of the defence of their Scottish Universities match-play title next week at Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth.

Shepherd will be defending the men's title and Gemma Batty goes in search of a fourth straight women's championship in the event.

WEST OF SCOTLAND STUDENTS TROPHY SCOREBOARD

Western Gailes

FINAL TOTALS

MEN

216 L Shepherd (Stirling) 72 72 672

225 J Sundborg (Stirling) 81 71 73, M Scowsill (Exeter) 72 76 77

226 D Lloyd (C Lancs) 75 75 76, M Lawrie (Stirling) 73 75 78.

227 J Glenn (Durham) 76 74 77, M Schinkel (UHI) 76 72 79

228 J McVicker (Ulster) 74 77 77, M Napier (Stirling) 74 76 78, E Ferguson (UHI) 73 76 79, A Benson (Strathclyde) 74 74 80.

WOMEN

220 H MacGarvie (Stirling) 69 74 77.

230 K K Brown (St Andrews) 78 75 77

231 M Doyle (Maynooth) 78 76 77

232 E Metcalfe (Maynooth) 75 74 73

233 M Fraser (Stirling) 75 76 82

234 C Goadby (Stirling) 75 76 83

235 G Batty (Stirling) 79 76 80

237 P Brown (Stirling) 84 70 83, K Brodie (Scottish Golf) 76 73 88

241 L Duncan (Edinburgh) 74 75 92

245 L Van Veggel (St Andrews) 74 79 92

249 F Clark (St Andrews) 77 78 94.

TIME FOR A QUICK NINE ? - Rowallan Castle offer new nine hole membership in 2018

Rowallan Castle Golf Club has announced that it will now be offering 9-hole membership. 

After receiving the official course rating certificates from Scottish Golf and with help from the Ayrshire Golf Association, the club can now offer 9-hole medal competitions from 4 different designated tees.

John Rushbury, President of the Ayrshire Golf Association said: “The 9-hole course named ‘The Old Castle Course’ is a fabulous opportunity for Rowallan Castle Golf Club to run gents, ladies, junior and mixed competitions without taking too much time, and get huge enjoyment from the wonderful sport of golf.”

Director of Golf David Addison added: “We are delighted to have our 9-hole layout approved in time for the upcoming season. The 9-hole membership will give us the scope to make the course more attractive and accessible for golfers in the area.”

“The 9 holes are part of our existing championship layout and will be named ‘The Old Castle Course.’ This will consist of the first 8 holes on the course as well as our already famous 19th  hole. The layout offers great fun for beginners and a good challenge to any skilled golfer with four par 4’s, four par 3’s and a par 5. It also takes in our signature hole 8 (pictured) which sits next to Old Rowallan Castle.

“We are looking forward to seeing how the 9-hole medal competitions take within the membership and with the new 9-hole championship at Carnoustie, this is a great time for Rowallan to offer a 9-hole membership.”

Set within the Rowallan Estate near Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, Rowallan Castle was designed by Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie and overlooks the Ayrshire coastline.