THE Duke's Course, St Andrews proved too tough a test for the majority of the Tartan Tour field who played in the Duke's Challenge yesterday.
In windy conditions, only Cawder's Chris Kelly was able to match the par of 71 to win the top prize of £455. Bogeys, double bogeys and triple bogeys – and even a 12 at par-4 fifth – abounded as even players of the calibre of former PGA champion Andr
ew Oldcorn (Kings Acre) and PGA Cup team player Craig Matheson failed to break 80.
Kelly kept a double bogey off his card in halves of 34 (two-under par) and 37 (two-over par). He birdied the second, fourth and long sixth before he dropped a shot at the seventh. Coming home, Kelly bogeyed the 11th, 15th and short 16th with only one birdie, a 2 at the 12th.
Kelly was one of the later starters as was the man he demoted from the clubhouse lead, Northern Open champion Craig Lee. Lee picked up £370 with a one-over-par 72, thanks to four birdies (first, fifth, 11th and 14th) and five bogeys in halves of 37 and 35.
The three men who tied for third place on 73 and won £236 apiece were former Scottish PGA champion Mark Loftus (Cowglen), who had a triple bogey 7 at the 15th, past European Tour rookie of the year Scott Henderson (Kings Links), despite a double bogey 7 at the 11th, and past Ryder Cup player Ronan Rafferty, who had three birdies and five bogeys on his card.
Sixth-placed Greig Hutcheon (Banchory) could have more than doubled his money (£155), had he not run up a quadruple bogey 7 at the seventh.Oldcorn had a double bogey 7 at the first and a triple bogey 7 at the 13th for an 80. Matheson had a triple bogey 7 at the seventh and a triple bogey 6 at the short 16th in his 81. An eagle 2 at the ninth helped Alan Lockhart finish joint seventh on 75.
Meanwhile, a starting field of 64 pairs is down to the last four with the semi-finals of the PGA Scottish Region's Fellowship four-ball match-play championship, played over the Queen's Course at Gleneagles Hotel this morning.
The first semi-final, teeing off at 8am, will feature Graeme Bell (Linlithgow) and David Park (Wishaw) against Alan Waugh (Clydebank & District) and Grant Miller (Old Ranfurly).
The second semi-final at 8.10am will see Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) and Craig Everett (Caldwell) play the Mearns Castle pairing of George Boswell and Adam Hunter. The final will be played over the Centenary Course, starting at 1pm.
• Prestwick Golf Club won the NAC Scottish Club championship grand final at nearby Prestwick St Nicholas. The trio of Gavin Lawrie, Jonathan King and former Scottish Amateur champion Allan Thomson eased to a five-stroke win over the St Andrews team of Gary Sharp, Jim Woods and Daniel Sommerville.
• Ian Hutcheon leads Scotland into the Senior Home Internationals, which get underway today at Westport in Ireland.
The Monifieth veteran, a former Scottish Amateur champion and Walker Cup player, captains a seven-man side for the annual clashes with England, Wales and defending champions Ireland. Aberdeen's George Paterson, the Scottish senior order of merit winner, and former national senior champions Bob Stewart and Gordon MacDonald also feature.
