AS the Lothians prepare to start an event they've dominated over the past 20 or so years, the bad news for their rivals is they've just got even stronger.
And, following his classy display in winning the Lothians Championship at Longniddry last weekend, it's no surprise whatsoever that Chris Orr has been pitched straight into action for his adopted county. He's been named in the side for this weekend's
clash against Glasgow in the Scottish Area Team Championship, won by the Lothians for the 13th time last October.
On that occasion, a side comprising of Steven Armstrong, Shaun McAllister, Mark Hillson, Mark Kerr, Graham Turner, Robert Carson and Scott Walker lifted the title, beating North East in the semi-finals and then, in the final, Perth & Kinross.
Armstrong, who lost to Orr in the title showdown at Longniddry last Saturday, has retained his berth, as have McAllister, Hillson and Carson, all of whom have been playing in the major 72-holers on the UK circuit over the past few weeks. Kerr is now a member of the paid ranks, having earned a card for the EuroPro Tour, while Turner and Walker have dropped out after being eclipsed by others in recent weeks.
Keith Nicholson, who was unavailable for the latter stages last season, has earned a recall after doing well in both the stroke-play qualifying and match-play phase in the Lothians Championship. And it was always going to be difficult for the selectors to overlook both Orr and Duddingston's David Miller, not only on their performances in that event but also on pedigree and past form. A former Lanarkshire Boys' champion, Orr is a class act. He was on the same golf programme at Stirling University as Richie Ramsay, the 2006 US Amateur champion, and played alongside both George Murray and Scott Jamieson in a Scottish Youths' side that played in a tournament in Belgium. Coached by Lanark professional Alan White, the 25-year-old didn't play golf at all for 14 months as he travelled the world with his girlfriend but, after moving to Dalkeith and joining Craigielaw, Lanarkshire's loss is definitely Lothians' gain.
"He's a brilliant addition – no, make that phenomenal," commented Armstrong, who certainly knows a good golfer when he sees one, having been good enough himself to qualify for The Open when it was played at Royal Birkdale ten years ago. While he has now lost touch with Ramsay, Orr values the time they spent together at Stirling. "I actually shared a flat with him and also caddied for him in the British Amateur in 2004, the year he won the Scottish Strokeplay Championship."
As for Miller, no-one can surely grudge him a first Area Team Championship appearance, the 30-year-old having come on leaps and bounds over the past two or three seasons.
"The team was picked before the final last Saturday and we are very happy with how it looks, though it's unfortunate that John Gallagher (the Scottish champion) is unavailable due to the fact he's playing in the Brabazon Trophy," said Lothians team manager Denys Flaherty.
"Chris Orr emerged as a worthy champion at Longniddry, while David Miller played well last season and has come out this year and shown us that he is continuing to improve."
Following the clash with Glasgow at Craigielaw, Lothians will face Dumbartonshire away in early August before ending the round-robin programme against Renfrewshire at Prestonfield.
The top team in the group will go forward to the finals, being held this year up at Tain on October 4-5. In their final warm up match for the event, Lothians suffered a narrow 8-7 defeat to Fife at Burntisland on Sunday, when Nicholson was described by his opponent as "being on fire" as he stormed to a 7 and 5 singles success over Scott Michie.
Foursomes (Fife names first): S Michie and N Moore lost to K Nicholson and T Mathieson 3 and 2; B Erskine and R Price beat R Gill and M Cunningham one hole; C Bradley and G McNab halved with G Turner and P Ferrier; C Steffin and L Clark lost to S Neilson and J Neilson two holes; D Gould and D Imrie beat C Neilson and D Muir one hole.
Singles: Michie lost to Nicholson 7 and 5; Erskine lost to Mathieson 4 and 3; R Price lost to M Cunningham 4 and 3; Moore beat Ferrier one hole; Gould beat Turner 6 and 5; McNab halved with Gill; Bradley beat J Neilson 5 and 4; Clark beat S Neilson 2 and 1; Steffin beat Muir 5 and 4; Imrie lost to C Neilson 3 and 2.
LOTHIANS clubs will have a decent representation in the Faldo Series Scottish Final, to be held at The Roxburghe, near Kelso, later in the year.
Following two qualifying events – at Carnoustie and The Carrick – a total of 24 players have earned places in the field and they include Craigielaw's Zack Saltman and Grant Forrest, Harburn's Stuart Boyle and Louis Gaughan from Bathgate. Saltman, the younger brother of Lloyd and Elliott, headed the 24 qualifiers in the under-21 category thanks to rounds of 73 (Carnoustie) and 75 (The Carrick).
The winners at The Roxburghe on August 22 go forward to a Grand Final, the venue for which has still to be announced.
The full article contains 897 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
