JONATHAN GREY FROM KENT SCORES THIRD US COLLEGE WIN AS A FRESHMAN

    Jonathan Grey receives his winner's trophy at the Mission Inn
                               Spring Spectacular

ATLANTA – Georgia State freshman Jonathan Grey from Kent tied a career-low with a final round 67 to finish at 8-under par and earn a five-stroke victory at the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular last Sunday at the Mission Inn Resort in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida
Grey recorded four birdies and a pair of eagles to record his third win of the season, fourth top 10 and eighth finish inside the top 20 in eight tournaments this year. The freshman, who has been ranked in the top 50 in the country most of the season, is making a push for a place in Europe's team for the Palmer Cup match against the USA and Freshman All-America honours.
Despite shooting the second lowest round of the day, a 2-over 290, Georgia State dropped one spot in the final team standings to finish fourth in the 18-team field. The Panthers 11-over relation to par score is Georgia State’s lowest of the year.
“I am really proud of the way our guys played today,” commented head coach Joe Inman. “They did everything they could to try and move up the leaderboard. Still, a fourth place finish in a tournament with this many teams is a good result and we will continue to make our push to the postseason.
“Jonathan continued to impress me and is playing some of his best golf of the year. I am so happy that he was able to earn another victory as he shows that he is one of the best freshmen in the country. He is a pleasure to coach and I look forward to him continuing to get better.”
Over a par-72 course of 6970yd, Grey shot rounds of 70-71-67 for an eight-under par total of 208 - five shots clear of a field of 115 players.
Fellow Englishman Tom Wilde (Old Dominion University, Virginia), a senior student from Buckinghamshire, finished T23 on 223 (76-72-75).
Garth McGee, also an ODU student in his final year, finished T27 on 224 976-75-73). 
Ross McLister, a Georgia State Junior from Cardiff, finished T96 on 241 (83-75-83) 
Indiana came from behind to earn a two-stroke victory over Virginia Tech and Purdue which tied for second. 
Old Dominion rounded out the top five at 23-over.
Georgia State will conclude its stretch of three-tournaments in 13 days at the Furman Intercollegiate, March 22-24 in Greenville, South Carolina. Can Jonathan Grey win again? Watch this Space!

GREG EASON PUSHING FOR

 PALMER CUP PLACE 

Greg Eason (Central Florida), a third-year student from Leicester, is another Englishman in contention for a place in the Europe team for the Palmer Cup students' international match.
Former England boy international Eason, 6ft 2in in his stocking soles and ranked in the top-20 or so in the US college ratings,  had his third top-10 finish of the season in the Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club, Statesboro in Georgia.
Greg shot 74-68-73 for a joint ninth place behind the winner by three shots, Justin Thomas (Alabama) (67-70-70), over a par-72 course of 6947yd. There were 84 players in the field.
Another Englishman, Tom Wilde, a student at Ole Miss, finished T22 on 220 with scores of 76-67-77.
Irishman Kevin Phelan (North Florida), a definite contender for Palmer Cup selection, finished T27 on 221 with scores of 75, 72 and 74.
Another Irishman, Paul Dunne (Alabama-Birmingham), a second-year student from Greystones, finished T36 with scores of 74, 77 and 72 for 223.   
Alabama (848) won the team honours by 10 shots from T3exas with North Florida third, another 10 shots behind on 868. 
 

YANI TSENG MISSES PRO-AM, RULED OUT OF LPGA TOUR'S KIA CLASSIC

Deposed World No 1 lady pro Yani Tseng has also lost her place in the starting field for the LPGA Tour's Kia Classic which tees off later today at Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, California .
The LPGA Tour has a rule that if a player misses a pro-am she is scheduled to take part in, then she is automatically ruled out of the tournament that follows. 
Picture right: Carnoustie 2011 when Yani won the Ricoh Women's British Open  
 
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Per LPGA regulations, Yani Tseng was withdrawn from the Kia Classic after missing her pro-am time on Wednesday morning.
 The following is a statement from Tseng:
“I’m embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t feeling well last night and accidentally overslept and missed my tee time for the pro-am this morning. 
"I was extremely excited to compete this week to defend my title at the Kia Classic and to try to regain the No. 1 spot. This was an unfortunate mistake and I want to apologise to Kia, my sponsors and all of the fans. 
"The Kia Classic is one of my favourite tournaments and I have so many great memories in San Diego. I can’t wait to come back here next year.”

PAULA AND RYAN WIN IRISH UNIVERSITY TITLES

FROM THE IRISH LADIES GOLF UNION WEBSITE
University of Ulster student Paula Grant took the Irish Universities' women's championship after signing for a final round of 79 at the cold and breezy Co. Laois venue, The Heritage.
Added to her opening 68, Grant (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency) won the 36-hole event by eight shots from DCU's Amy Farrell with Chloe Ryan of UCD a shot further back.
Ryan Gribben rounded off a memorable week for the northern University by winning the men's event, also by eight strokes, with a sensational three under par 54 hole total of 211.

RESULTS
WOMEN'S FINAL TOTALS
147: P Grant (Ulster) 68 79
155: A Farrell (DCU) 76 79
156: C Ryan (UCD) 80 76
158: S Sexton (NUIM) 83 75, L Fekkes (Ulster) 78 80, L Simpson (QUB) 74 84
160: E O'Driscoll (UCD) 77 83
161: C Reynolds (DCU) 79 82
164: A Murphy (ILGU) 83 81
171: K Coey (Ulster) 80 91
176: E McGuinness (NUIM) 87 89, R Brady (Ulster) 82 94
179: E Coyne (UCC) 83 96
RTD: J Sykes -- RTD
WTD: J Boal (Ulster) 84 WTD

Men's FINAL TOTLAS
211: R Gribben (Ulster) 69 70 72
219: S Carter (NUIM) 71 71 77, G Hurley (NUIM) 70 69 80
222: T McLarnon (Ulster) 72 72 78
223: A Lowry (NUIM) 73 75 75
224: J Pierse (UCD) 70 74 80
226: J Robinson (Ulster) 75 73 78, R Pierse (UCD) 71 77 78
227: M McClean (Ulster) 75 73 79, D Loftus (NUIM) 74 75 78, C O'Rourke (NUIM) 73 74 80
228: D McDonough (NUI Galway) 71 81 76
229: G Dunne (NUIM) 73 77 79, J Lindsay (Ulster) 73 75 81
231: E Craddock (NUI Galway) 74 78 79
232: I O'Rourke (UCC) 77 76 79, G Shaw (NUIM) 76 76 80, K Lynch (NUIM) 74 76 82
233: E Harris (Cork IT) 80 72 81, S O'Connor (NUIM) 79 77 77, R O'Dwyer (NUIM) 77 81 75
234: R McKinstry (QUB) 78 76 80, E O'Donovan (NUIM) 77 76 81, A Gleeson (UCD) 76 78 80
235: D Reidy (IT Sligo) 81 77 77, D Coghlan (TCD) 75 74 86, J Conroy (UCD) 71 84 80
236: J Ryan (UCD) 78 72 86
237: G Barry (UCC) 82 77 78, S Rowland (IT Sligo) 80 75 82, H McHugh (TCD) 77 79 81
238: D O'Connor (NUIM) 80 78 80, R Carvill (Ulster) 79 83 76, D Byrne (NUI Galway) 79 80 79, J Timlin (QUB) 78 76 84, M Morrissey (IT Sligo) 74 77 87
240: S Kinch (NUIM) 78 83 79
241: J Neiland (UCD) 84 75 82, L Harnett (UCD) 78 80 83, S Guilfoyle (NUIM) 77 82 82, C Slevin (NUIM) 77 79 85
242: R Moore (UCD) 83 74 85
243: G Mac Namara (NUIM) 86 78 79, J Hore (IT Tallaght) 76 78 89
245: J Lyons (NUI Galway) 80 79 86
246: S Mc Carthy (NUIM) 83 79 84
247: M Mulvany (IT Sligo) 80 81 86
248: A Stevenson (DBS) 81 77 90, B Cafferty (IT Sligo) 73 85 90
249: J Kelly (UCD) 79 87 83
250: M Fahy (NUI Galway) 79 84 87
251: S Stapleton (NUIM) 80 86 85
253: B Lane (Cork IT) 84 83 86, E Cantwell (WIT) 80 79 94
260: J Garbada (DBS) 89 82 89, M Kieran (IT Tallaght) 87 85 88
263: S McCoy (DBS) 92 81 90
277: A Hennessy (Cork IT) 90 92 95
289: A King (IT Tallaght) 89 101 99

NOT SO NICE NIGHTMARE FOR LAURA MURRAY IN FRANCE

Rookie pro Laura Murray had a nightmare debut on the Ladies European Tour's developmental circuit, LETAS, at Terre Blanche Golf Club near Nice, France today. The Alford player, attached to the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, returned a 12-over-par 85, which included one triple bogey 7 and three double-bogey 6s.  She is 16 shots behind the leader Mallory Fraiche (United States) who had a four-under 69. It was not a particularly good day for Scots with Carnoustie's Katy McNicoll the best of the bunch with a three-over 76 which sees her start the second round in joint 28th place. Pamela Feggans and Pamela Pretswell are joint 38th with 77 apiece.  Heather MacRae had a 79 to be sharing 54th place.  Gemma Webster is sharing 76th place after an 81.  TERRE BLANCHE LADIES OPEN  Terre Blanche GC, Nice, France  LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES  Par 73 69 M Fraiche (Fra). 71 P Sanz Barrio (Spa) (am). 72 S Kirchmayr (Ger), M Beautell (Spa), S Giquel-Bettan (Fra). SCOTS' SCORES  76 K McNicoll (T28). 77 P Feggans, P Pretswell (T38). 79 H MacRae (T54). 81 G Webster (T76). 85 L Murray (T90). TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES CLICK HERE

PAULA GRANT'S 68 GIVES HER SIX-SHOT IRISH UNIVERSITIES' LEAD

FROM THE IRISH LADIES GOLF UNION WEBSITE
University of Ulster student Paula Grant, pictured above by Cal Carson Agency,  continued her fine run of form at inter-varsity events, opening the Irish Inter-varsities championship at The Heritage with a stunning four under par round of 68.  
She leads by six shots over her nearest challenger Lucy Simpson of Queens University with the final round being played today (Thursday).
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Ladies
68: P Grant (Ulster)
74: L Simpson (QUB)
76: A Farrell (DCU)
77: E O'Driscoll (UCD)
78: L Fekkes (Ulster)
79: C Reynolds (DCU)
80: K Coey (Ulster), C Ryan (UCD)
82: R Brady (Ulster)
83: A Murphy (ILGU), S Sexton (NUIM), E Coyne (UCC)
84: J Boal (Ulster)
87: E McGuinness (NUIM)
88: J Sykes (NUIM)
90: J Coyne (UCC)

Men
139: G Hurley (NUIM) 70 69, R Gribben (Ulster) 69 70
142: S Carter (NUIM) 71 71
144: T McLarnon (Ulster) 72 72, J Pierse (UCD) 70 74
147: C O'Rourke (NUIM) 73 74
148: J Robinson (Ulster) 75 73, M McClean (Ulster) 75 73, J Lindsay (Ulster) 73 75, A Lowry (NUIM) 73 75, R Pierse (UCD) 71 77
149: D Coghlan (TCD) 75 74, D Loftus (NUIM) 74 75
150: J Ryan (UCD) 78 72, K Lynch (NUIM) 74 76, G Dunne (NUIM) 73 77
151: M Morrissey (IT Sligo) 74 77
152: E Harris (Cork IT) 80 72, J Roche (NUIM) 78 74, G Shaw (NUIM) 76 76, E Craddock (NUI Galway) 74 78, D McDonough (NUI Galway) 71 81
153: I O'Rourke (UCC) 77 76, E O'Donovan (NUIM) 77 76
154: R McKinstry (QUB) 78 76, J Timlin (QUB) 78 76, A Gleeson (UCD) 76 78, J Hore (IT Tallaght) 76 78
155: S Rowland (IT Sligo) 80 75, J Conroy (UCD) 71 84
156: H Scott (UCD) 79 77, S O'Connor (NUIM) 79 77, C Slevin (NUIM) 77 79, B Murray (UCC) 77 79, H McHugh (TCD) 77 79
157: R Moore (UCD) 83 74
158: D Reidy (IT Sligo) 81 77, A Stevenson (DBS) 81 77, D O'Connor (NUIM) 80 78, L Harnett (UCD) 78 80, R O'Dwyer (NUIM) 77 81, B Cafferty (IT Sligo) 73 85
159: J Neiland (UCD) 84 75, G Barry (UCC) 82 77, J Lyons (NUI Galway) 80 79, E Cantwell (WIT) 80 79, D Byrne (NUI Galway) 79 80, N Worth (DIT) 79 80, S Guilfoyle (NUIM) 77 82
161: M Mulvany (IT Sligo) 80 81, S Kinch (NUIM) 78 83, R Monroe (NUI Galway) 78 83
162: S Mc Carthy (NUIM) 83 79, R Carvill (Ulster) 79 83
163: M Fahy (NUI Galway) 79 84
164: G Mac Namara (NUIM) 86 78
166: S Stapleton (NUIM) 80 86, J Kelly (UCD) 79 87
167: B Lane (Cork IT) 84 83
171: J Garbada (DBS) 89 82
172: M Kieran (IT Tallaght) 87 85
173: S McCoy (DBS) 92 81
180: D McMahon (DBS) 97 83
182: A Hennessy (Cork IT) 90 92
190: A King (IT Tallaght) 89 101
NR: J O'Callaghan (Cork IT) 93 NR
WTD: J McCarthy (UCD) 83 WTD


Inter-varsities Match Play
Tuesday 19th March

University of Ulster claimed the Inter-varsities Match Play title in a close encounter with pre tournament favourites NUI Maynooth.  
The northern side built a commanding lead at the halfway stage, being three up in the first, third and fourth matches through 9 holes, with the other two matches all square.  
Matt McClean scored an early win for Ulster and the tie looked all but over when Paula Grant secured a fine two-hole win over Shaun Carter in the second match.  
However, NUI Maynooth rallied to make a comback and kept the remaining matches alive until the 18 hole where Gary Hurley eventually lost out to last year's individual Intervarsity Champion Tiarnan McLarnon to see the trophy head north.  
In the Plate Final, University College Dublin emerged as winners over Waterford Institute of Technoloogy.


Championship Final
NUI Maynooth 1, University of Ulster (A) 4
Gary Hurley lost to Tiarnan McLarnon 1 hole
Shaun Carter lost to Paula Grant 2 holes
Declan Loftus lost to Matt McClean 5 and 3
Conor O'Rourke halved with Ryan Gribben (called in)
Alan Lowry halved John Robinson (called in)


Championship Semi-Finals
1st Tee
NUI Maynooth 4 - 1 University College Dublin (Blue) (NUIM names first)
Gary Hurley bt Alex Gleeson 4&2
Shaun Carter bt Jack Pierse 2&1
Declan Loftus bt Jonathan Webster 2&1
Conor O’Rourke halved with Robbie Pierse (called in)
Alan Lowry halved with Harry Scott (called in)

10th Tee
University of Ulster (B) 1, University of Ulster (A) 4
Stephen Boles lost to Tiarnan McLarnon 1 hole
James Lindsay bt Paula Grant 1 hole
Malachy Wylie lost to Matt McClean 7 and 6
Kelsey Coey lost to Ryan Gribben 2 and 1
Ros Carvill lost to John Robinson 5 and 4


Plate Final
Waterford IT 1, UCD (Red) 4
David Whitty lost to John Conroy 3 and 2
Derek Power lost to David Manifold 2 holes
Eoin Cantwell lost to Jack Ryan 8 and 7
John Meagher halved with Ross Moore (called in)
David Baker halved with Joe Neiland (called in)

YOUNG AND HAY MAKE TOP FIVE IN BOBCAT INVITATIONAL

                   DANIEL YOUNG ... coming up to end of four yeas at Lynn University, Florida

Daniel Young from Perth and Gavin Hay, who has links with Glasgow and Grantown on Spey, gave both finished in the top five of this week's Bobcat Invitational men's college golf tournament at Golf Club@ Cuscowill, Eatonton in Georgia.
Daniel, coming up to the end of his four-year course at Lynn University, Boca Raton in Flrodia, shot 69-69-74 for a two-over-par total of 212 over a par-70 course (6730yd).

He finished fourth in a field of 90 and the bang-in-form Gavin, pictured left, also a senior-year student but at Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City in Tennessee, came fifth with rounds of 71, 67 and 75 for 213.
The winner with a total of 208 (69-66-73) was Gus Wagener (Armstrong Atlantic University.
There were two other Scots in the field.
Kyle Godsman (South Carolina-Aiken), pictured below, a third-year student from Hopeman, Morayshire, finished joint 37th on 221 (78-71-72)  

Mark Dickson, a senior student, also at SC-Aiken, finished joint 46th on 222 with scores of 75-75-72.
Mitch Farrer (Nova Southeastern), a junior year man, came 64th with 72, 80 and 76 for 228.
Daniel Young spearheaded Lynn University's capture of the team title by six shots from joint runners-up Armstrong Atlantic, Nova Southeastern and South Carolina-Aiken in a field of 17 teams.   

EARNSHAW FOURTH IN NORTH CAROLINA

 
Ross Earnshaw (Post University), a junior year student from York, finished fourth of 79 players in the Barton Intercllegiate tournament at Wilson County Club, North Carolina.
Over a par-72 course of 6,851yd, Ross, pictured left, shot 74-71 for one-over 145, 
eight shots behind the winner by three, Trevor Banks (Intermont) (70-67).
Earnshaw's Post team-mates Thomas Rees, a senior from Cardiff, and Jay Gerrick, a freshman from London, finished T26 and T74 respectively.
Rees shot 74-77 for 151; Gerrick 90-83 for 173.
Post finish ninth of 12 teams behind winners King College.