SCOTTISH MEN'S AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Ayrshire second place qualifiers for quarter finals at Leven

Ayrshire qualified for the match play stages of the Scottish men’s Area Team Championship, being played from 6^th to 8^th September at Leven and Scoonie in Fife, taking second top spot among the eight teams that qualified for the quarter finals.

Jim Johnston (Ayr Belleisle) led the way over the longer, par 71, Leven Links, with a one under par round of 70. Steven Wallace (Prestwick St Cuthbert) added a 72 and Tommy McInally (Loudoun) a 73, with the other two counting scores coming from Michael Smyth (Royal Troon), with a 75, and Steven Stamper (Turnberry) with 76. 

The discarded score over the Leven course was a 78 returned by Robbie Muir (Kilmarnock Barassie).

Over the shorter, par 67, Scoonie course, Robbie Muir and Michael Smyth both returned rounds of 66 with Jim Johnston and Tommy McInally recording rounds of 67 and Steven Wallace completing the team total with a round of 70.

Over the Scoonie course the discarded score was a 71 from Steven Stamper.

Ayrshire’s six round total of 702, twelve over par, was bettered only by Fife on 694. North east matched Ayrshire’s total to take the third qualifying spot.

The quarter final matches, which consist of one foursome and four singles ties, take place on the morning of Saturday 7^th September with the semi final being played in the same format on Saturday afternoon.

The final, which consists of three foursomes and six singles, takes place on Sunday.

In the quarter finals Ayrshire will play The North on Saturday morning whilst top seeds Fife will face The South of Scotland.

The other two quarter finals feature North east against Lanarkshire and Lothians against Stirlingshire.

The full list of team scores from the qualifying rounds is:-

694 – Fife

702 – Ayrshire, North East

704 – Lothians, Stirlingshire

706 – Lanarkshire

708 – North

721 – South of Scotland

725 – Angus, Borders

726 – Perth & Kinross

727 – Renfrewshire

731 – Glasgow

732 – Dumbartonshire

746 – Clackmannan

748 – Argyll & Bute

EUROPEAN SENIOR MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS - Scotland lose out to England in semi finals

Scotland’s Senior Men’s team lost by 4 - 1 to England in the semi-finals of the European Senior Men’s team Championship at Rungsted GC, Denmark on Friday morning, 6^th September.

Despite the final margin of victory, the match was a close run encounter with the destination of a place in the final in doubt until the final few holes of the latter ties.

In the foursomes tie team captain Ian Borotherston again joined forces with Robert Smith and they battled all the way before eventually losing out to Ian Attoe & Alan Mew by 2&1.

In the lead singles tie, Ronnie Clark kept up his fine form, storming to a 5&3 victory over Rupert Kellock to square the match overall.

The anchor tie saw Graham Bell trail Paul Wharton for most of the tie, with Wharton eventually closing the tie out by 3&2 to put England 2-1 ahead with two tie remaining on course.

Stewart Henderson held a single hole lead through the turn in his tie against Rich Jones whilst Paul Moultrie from Royal Troon trailed Richard Norton by two holes through twelve, leaving the overall match finely balanced as the two ties moved into the last few holes.

Moultrie managed to reduce the deficit to one by the fifteenth, but this was offset by Henderson losing a hole to go back to square at the same stage.

With three holes to play there were still holes of Scotland squeezing past England to go through to the final but in the end, it was the England players who finished better, Jones edging out Henderson by one hole and Norton getting over the line against Moultrie with a 2&1 victory.

In Saturday’s final, England will play Ireland who beat Denmark 3 - 2 in their semi final, whilst Scotland will play off with Denmark for third place.

AYRSHIRE SENIORS LEAGUE - Ballochmyle lead the way

Ballochmyle lead the way in the 2019 Ayrshire Seniors League, with just a few matches still to be completed in September.

In what is proving to be an extremely tight finish to the championship this year, any of the top six teams in the table, as of 31^st August, can still go on to claim the title.

The league positions at the end of August were:-

Team	P	W	L	Dr	Games For	Games Against	Dif	Pts
Ballochmyle	12	7	4	1	36	24	12	15
Largs	10	7	3		33.5	16.5	17	14
Ardeer	12	7	5		35	25	10	14
Prestwick St. Nicholas	11	7	4		29	26	3	14
Troon Welbeck	11	6	3	2	28	27	1	14
Kilbirnie Place	11	5	4	2	35	20	15	12
Troon St. Meddans	13	5	6	2	33.5	31.5	2	12
Irvine Ravenspark	13	4	5	4	30	35	-5	12
Kilmarnock Barassie	12	5	5	2	26.5	33.5	-7	12
Troon Portland	12	4	5	3	25	35	-10	11
Caprington	11	4	5	2	26	29	-3	10
Loudoun	11	4	7		25.5	29.5	-4	8
West Kilbride	11	4	7		24	31	-7	8
Prestwick St. Cuthbert	12	1	7	4	18	42	-24	6

Eight fixtures remain to be completed in September. These are:-

03-Sep	Kilmarnock Barassie		Prestwick St. Nicholas
05-Sep	Kilbirnie Place		Ballochmyle
10-Sep	Prestwick St. Nicholas		Troon Portland
10-Sep	West Kilbride		Ardeer
12-Sep	Largs		Kilbirnie Place
19-Sep	Prestwick St. Cuthbert		Largs
24-Sep	Troon Welbeck		Largs
26-Sep	Loudoun		Troon Welbeck

EUROPEAN SENIOR MEN'S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Scotland top qualifiers in Denmark

The Scotland Senior Men's Team
Robert Smith, Ian Brotherston, Stewart Henderson
Graham Bell, Ronnie Clark, Paul Moultrie

Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon) helped the Scotland Senior Mens team to take top qualifying place in the European Men’s Senior team Championship, being played from 3^rd to 7^th September at Rungsted GC in Denmark.

The Scots finished with a team total of 730, ten over par, which was matched by Ireland who took the second qualifying place, with Ronnie Clark finishing with the best individual return of the field with two rounds of 70 for a four under par total of 140.

Both Paul Moultrie’s rounds f 75 contributed to the five counting scores from six from each round, which gave Scotland their top seeding.

Following completion of the strokeplay qualifying on Wednesday, Scotland faced The Netherlands in the quarter finals on Thursday and ran out winners by 3.5 – 1.5.

In the foursomes tie team captain Ian Brotherston and Robert Smith cruised to a 7&6 victory over Pieter Van Doorne and Jeroen Kamil.

In the lead singles tie Ronnie Clark halved with Bart Nolte whilst Stewart Henderson recorded a 5&4 win over Marcel Roelofsma to put Scotland 2.5 – 0.5 ahead.

With Graham Bell losing the anchor tie by 2&1 to Pieter Van Steenbergen, it was left to Paul Moultrie to secure the vital winning point with a 4&3 victory over Philip Rubay Bouman.

In the semi finals on Friday, Scotland face England and Denmark play Ireland.

ITALIAN INTERNATIONAL UNDER 16 CHAMPIONSHIP - Ruben Lindsay shares 2019 title

Ruben Lindsay (Ayr Belleisle) was the joint winner of the weather shortened 13^th Reply Italian International  Under 16 Championship for the Teodoro Soldati Trophy, when the championship took place at Golf Club Biella “Le Betulle” from 3^rd to 5^th September.

The international field of 144 for the championship included representatives from twent one countries from throughout the world.

Rounds of 72 & 69 put Lindsay ahead of the field at the half-way stage and a third round of 74 left him on a score of 215, four under par, after 54 holes.

Following opening rounds of 74 and 73, Amilkar Bhana (South Africa) stormed up the leaderboard to join Ruben Lindsay at four under par overall, following a superb five under par third round of 68.

The cancellation of the fourth and final round left organisers to declare Ruben Lindsay and Amilkar Bhana as joint winners of the individual championship.

In addition, Ruben Lindsay contributed to the Scottish team, alongside Gregor Graham and Calum Scott  finishing third in the Nation’s Trophy with a score of 291, two shots behind winners Denmark and one behind Italy in second place.

SCOTTISH SENIORS INTER AREA TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - Ayrshire team announced for Stirling

The Ayrshire team that will contest the 2019 Scottish Inter Area Team Championship at Stirling Golf Club on Thursday 26th September has been announced.

The event, which is administered by The Scottish Seniors Golfing Society is a single round scratch strokeplay competition with the best five scores from six counting towards the team score.

After not taking part in the event for a few years, a strong team has been selected to represent the Area Association this year, led by +2 handicapper and Scottish Senior's Internationalist Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon).

The full team is:-

Paul Moultrie (Royal Troon) (+2)
Ian Walker (Royal Troon) (Scr)
Robbie Stewart (Troon Portland) (+1)
Paul Denim (Loudoun) (1)
Stuart Dixon (Royal Troon) (1)
John Rushbury (Royal Troon) (2) 

WEST OF SCOTLAND INTER COUNTY UNDER 18 LEAGUE - Ayrshire retain The Wishart Trophy in final day drama

The Ayrshire Golf Association Under 18 county team retained the David Wishart Trophy and West Of Scotland Inter County Under 18 Championship title in dramatic style on Sunday 1st September 2019 with a win over Stirlingshire at Falkirk Golf Club.

With three wins from four in the series, Ayrshire went into their final match knowing that they needed to record a better result than nearest rivals Renfrewshire, who were away to Lanarkshire at Wishaw in their final fixture, to retain the title they won for the first time in twenty two years in 2018.

In the lead Under 16 tie John McCracken (Kilmarnock Barassie) lost by 3 & 1 but wins by 8&6 from Fraser Russell (Royal Troon), 3&2 from Harvey Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck) and 2&1 by Ayrshire Boys Champion Kerr Brooks (Irvine)  put Ayrshire 3 - 1 ahead with the under 16 ties completed.

Rob Yorston (Loudoun) and Harvey McDonald (Ayr Belleisle) lost their ties by 4&3 and 2&1 respectively to level the match score for Stirlingshire but in the penultimate tie jack Allan (Ballochmyle) won through by 3&2 to put Ayrshire ahead 4 - 3.

The new Ayrshire Boys Matchplay Champion Ross McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) was in the anchor tie for Ayrshire and he showed all his matchplay mettle on the final green, securing a vital half match to give Ayrshire the match by 4.5 - 3.5 to maintain their title hopes.

With the match concluded, news filtered through that the match between Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire had also been decided in the final tie, on the final green, and to Ayrshire's joy the ultimate result was a 4 - 4 draw, which ensured that Ayrshire would retain the West League title in 2019.

The winning Ayrshire Under 18 team against Stirlingshire at Falkirk
With Team Manager Scott Gilchrist

Match details (Ayrshire names first):-

John McCracken (Kilmarnock Barassie) lost to George Cannon (Glenbervie) by 3&1
Fraser Russell (Royal Troon) beat Wallace McInnes (Dunblane) by 8&6
Havey Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck) beat Louis Cowie (Bridge of Allan) by 3&2
Kerr Brooks (Irvine) beat Liam Breslin (Callander) by 2&1
Rob Yorston (Loudoun) lost to Ross Laird (falkirk) by 4&3
Harvey McDonald (Ayr Belleisle) lost to Austin Cantlay (Callander) by 3&2
Jack Allan (Ballochmyle) beat Ross Gilfillan (Falkirk) by 3&2
Ross McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) halved with Sebastian Sandin (Dunblane)

AYRSHIRE   4.5   STIRLINGSHIRE   3.5

Throughout the five match series Ayrshire used a total of fifteen players. The players who contributed to the succesful title defence were:-

Harvey McDonald (Ayr Belleisle)
Harvey Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck)
Sean Addie (Ayr Belleisle)
John McCracken (Kilmarnock Barassie)
Fraser Russell (Royal Troon)
Dylan Cairns (Prestwick St Nicholas)
Kerr Brooks (Irvine)
Josh Davies (Troon Welbeck)
Kyle McCaig (West Kilbride)
Rob Yorston (Louodun)
Ruben Lindsay (Ayr Belleisle)
Christopher Hunter (Ballochmyle)
Jack Allan (Ballochmyle)
Max Barclay (Ayr Belleisle)
Jamie McKinnon (Caprington)

AYRSHIRE FINALS DAY - Four titles decided at Skelmorlie

Four of the extended Ayrshire Golf Association competitions came to a conclusion on Sunday 1st September when the Finals Day was held at Skelmorlie Golf Club.

Following heavy rain on Saturday which saw the cancellation of the club competition, the course at Skelmorlie was in remarkably good condition for the finalists the following day, and the weather throughout the finals was kind, as all four competitions were concluded in tight finishes.


First off was the handicap club team knockout competition for THE PRESIDENT'S PUTTER, which saw Ayr Dalmilling take on the Alton club, who play out of Ardeer.

2019 President's Putter winners
Alton GC

Dalmilling fielded a low handicap team and gave four shots in the foursomes tie and nine and eight shots in the two singles ties.

Dalmilling's Sean Thorburn (8) and Tony McCurdie (8) were up against Graeme Kerr (13) and Euan Findlay (10) of Alton in the foursomes tie and it was the Alton duo who secured their team's first point with a 2&1 victory.

In the anchor tie, Glenn Wilson (4) beat Gerry Reid (12) to level the match overall, leaving the destination of the trophy to be decided by the result of the tie between Dalmilling's Adam Cambers (1) and Michael Tulloch (10) of Alton.

The match was a close one and went all the way to the final green before Michael Tulloch edged a single hole victory to give Alton their first win in a county competition, taking the President's Putter with a 2-1 match scoreline.

The second final was the AYRSHIRE FOURBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, between Frank Grant (9) & Hugh Wales (13) of Ardeer and Stuart Wilson (8) & Jim Mason (9) of NB Parkstone.

2019 Ayrshire Fourball Champions
James Mason & Stuart Wilson of NB Parkstone GC

The Ardeer pair were bidding for their first title win, whilst NB Parkstone, under their previous title of North Beach had a previous win in the competition in 2002.

Jim Mason opened with a birdie three to put NB Parkstone one up but a concession at the second levelled the score for Ardeer.The NB Parkstone duo won the fifth and sixth to go two ahead but the lead was short lived when the Ardeer pairing won the seventh and eighth to level the match, which remained that way as the finalists turned for home.

A birdie three at the tenth from Jim Mason put NB Parkstone ahead once again and the lead was extended to two holes at the eleventh whe n a par three was good enough to take the hole.

NB Parkstone looked to be taking control when they won the fourteenth with a par four from Stuart Wilson to go three up, but a nett four at the fifteenth from Frank Grant  followed by a par three at the following hole by the same player was enough to take both holes and reduce the deficit to one hole with two to play.

At the penultimate hole it was NB Parkstone's Stuart Wilson who had the better of the other three players, a par four securing the hole and the 2019 Ayrshire Fourball Championship title for NB Parkstone with a 2 & 1 victory.

The third final to be concluded was the AYRSHIRE HANDICAP LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP, which pitched Ayr Dalmilling and Kilbirnie Place together in the title decider.

2019 Ayrshire Handicap League Champions
Kilbirnie Place GC

The line ups were evenly matched, with only three shots in total being given over the six ties, and the match itself proved to be equally as close, going to the final putt on the final green of the lat match on the course before the destination of the trophy was decided.

Alan Myers (7) from Kilbirnie put the first point on the board with a 3&2 win over Stuart Thorburn (7) in the second tie on the course but this was soon countered when Dalmilling's Kieran Johnston (8) beat Scot cairns (9) of Kilbirnie by 4&3 in the third tie.

With the lead tie between Dalmilling's Scott Adams (5) and Kilbirnie's Scott Chesney (5) finishing all square, the match score was 1.5-1.5 with three of the six ties completed.

Martin Whiteford (12) put Kilbirnie ahead in the match again with a 3&1 win over Lee Robertson (11), but again the overall match was squared when Mark Adams (12) beat Dougie Johnston (13) of Kilbirnie by 2 holes in the penultimate tie of the match.

With the match standing at 2.5 - 2.5, the destination of the trophy rested on the final tie between Dalmilling's David McGawn (14) and Kilbirnie's Craig Fulton (14) and in a last hole finish it was Fulton who secured a single hole victory to give Kilbirnie Place the Ayrshire handicap league Championship title for 2019 with a 3.5 - 2.5 winning score in the match.

The last final to be decided was the scratch club team knockout competition for THE GARY BRYDEN MEMORIAL SALVER, between Kilmarnock Barassie and defending champions Royal Troon.

2019 Gary Bryden Memorial Salver winners
Royal Troon GC

The Kilmarnock Barassie team arrived for the final having all competed in their club's rearranged club championship final round on the Sunday morning, boosted by the news that one of their number Stuart Miller had won the Club Championship for the first time in the process, and it was Miller and Sandy walker who represented Kilmarnock Barassie in the foursomes tie against Blair Morton and Stuart Russell of Royal Troon.

The second singles tie pitched Kilmarnock Barassie's Greg Vernon against Stephen Spence of Royal Troon, whilst Ayrshire Area team Championship team mates Michael Smyth of Royal Troon and Robbie Muir of Kilmarnock Barassie faced each other in the other singles encounter.

Stephen Spence provided a singles win by 4&2 for Royal Troon over Greg Vernon and a two hole victory by the Royal Troon pairing in the foursomes ensured that Royal Troon would retain the trophy in 2019. The final tie progressed to the last hole with Michael Smyth one ahead, but when he  lost a ball at the last it was agreed by the two players that, due to the overall match result being a win for Royal Troon, their tie would be agreed as a half and did not progress to extra holes, leaving the overall score in the match as a 2.5 - 0.5 victory to Royal Troon.

At the conclusion of the four finals the trophies were handed over to the winning teams by Ayrshire Golf Association executive member Willie McCormick.