An eagle three at Muirfield’s 17th hole helped Banchory’s James Byrne book his place in the match play stages of The Amateur Championship as he finished tied second in the stroke play qualifying.

The 21-year-old Scotland international posted a second round two-under par 69 over the famous East Lothian links, finishing strongly with a birdie two at the 16th before eagling the next. His aggregate of 137 left in a group of three players in a tie for second place, two behind last year’s Scottish Stroke Play Champion Tommy Fleetwood who topped the pile after a superb 65 at North Berwick.

Fraserburgh’s Jordan Findlay posted his second consecutive 71 to finish on level par to qualify in 45th place, the same mark as St Andrews Trophy runner-up Philip McLean, Kirkhill’s Paul Shields and Aberdour’s Scott Crichton after the Fifer’s excellent second round 68.

Peterhead’s Philip McLean has jumped to the top of the SGU Order of Merit standings following his superb joint second place finish at last weekend’s St Andrews Links Trophy.

 The Scotland international, winner of the Edward Trophy earlier this season, has opened up a significant gap at the top of the rankings, with Stirling University student Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) in second place after he secured an impressive joint fourth place at the previous weekend’s Scottish Stroke Play Championship. McLean has also leapt 111 places to 291^st place in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

North East stalwart Bryan Innes is in fifth place in the Order of Merit after earning the silver medal at the Scottish Stroke Play Championship, while former Scottish Boys Champion Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) enters the top ten after his fine showing at St Andrews.

 Banchory’s James Byrne is up to eighteenth place in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and retains his place as the leading Scot ahead of his return from Arizona State University. The 21-year-old lines up in next week’s Amateur Championship at Muirfield and North Berwick hoping to emulate the purple patch he enjoyed in Scotland last summer, with back-to-back wins at the Tennant Cup and East of Scotland Stroke Play Championship.

The North East Handicap Championships take place at Inverurie Golf Club on Sunday 4 July. This is the first year of this competition and is aimed at the average club player.  For some time it has been felt that all the competitions run by the Distict Association were aimed at the elite players.

This is not now the case.  There are no scratch prizes in this event.  The prize list will be based upon handicap scores,  and played from the yellow tees.  The entry fee of £10 will also include soup and a sandwich.

Philip McLean continued his fine form this weekend coming second in the St Andrews Links Trophy. This builds upon a series of fine results over the past weeks by golfers fron the North East.  This also shows how the the coaching schemes run by the North East District for junior golfers are now paying dividends. Players such as Philip, and Kris Nicol have come through the coaching scheme and progressed to the District Boy's Team then District Men's Team and now are competing at international level.