TWELVE BRITISH AND IRISH STUDENTS IN SAME US COLLEGE EVENT

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Is it a record? A total of 12 Scottish, English and Irish students played in the same US college golf tournament this week - the Bobcat Invitational at Cuscowilla, Lake Oconee, Eatonon in Georgia.

Paul McPhee, from Perth and Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida, one of the six Scots in the field of 90 players, finished highest of the dozen from this side of the Atlantic  with a return to something like his best form.
Paul, pictured right, winner of the Scottish Under-14s boys' title at Deeside GC in 2006, finished joint eighth with three steady rounds of 71, 70 and 72 for a total of three-over-par 213 at a testing par-70 lay-out of 6,730yd.

Next came Scott Lambert from Matfen Hall GC, Northumberland and a student at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke, and Adam Hedges from Bromley, a student at Belmont Abbey College. They tied for 20th place on 217. Scott, pictured left, scored 72-72-73, while Adam had a sub-par first round of 69 but went off the boil a bit with subsequent rounds of 73 and 75.

Two Nova Southeastern students, Mitch Farrer from West Sussex and Jack Bartlett from Worthing finished in the 30s - Mitch joint 32nd on 219 with scores of 76, 72 and 72, Jack in joint 35th position with scores of 76, 72 and 72 for 220.

Paul McPhee's Lynn team-mate and fellow-Scot Daniel Young filled joint 38th place on 221 with scores of 73, 72 and 76.
Liam Ashby (Carson-Newman) from Dublin came joint 57th on 226 with scores of 76, 76 and 74.
Scot Chris McManus (Clayton State) from Bearsden finished joint 63rd on 227 with scores of 81, 73 and 73.
Three more Scots came next - Gavin Hay (Carson-Newman) from Glasgow on 230 alongside Edinburgh's Mark Dickson (USC-Aiken) and Clark Nelson (Clayton State) who crossed the Atlantic from Stirling University. Clark totalled 232.
Hay scored 74, 75 and 81 for joint 68th position, the same as Mark Dickson whose rounds were 79,75 and 76.
Clark Nelson finished joint 76th with scores of 80, 72 and 80.
And finally Tom Stephenson (Belmont Abbey College) from Bury St Edmunds finished joint 85th on 239 with scores of 79, 81 and 79.
Individual winner was Otto Bonning (West Florida) with rounds of 70, 66 and 71 for 207. He won by four strokes.
Paul McPhee and Daniel Young had been celebrating at the finish because Lynn University (854) shaded the team title by a single stroke from joint runners-up Barry and West Florida.