Banchory buddies eye bigger pot

THEY often play for the small pot in a club roll-up but something much more significant is on the line today when two Banchory buddies, Greig Hutcheon and Scott Larkin, go head-to-head at Meldrum House in the final two rounds of the Aberdeen Northern Open.

Hutcheon, one of eight players sharing the lead after the opening round, shot a second successive 66 to break free from the pack on eight-under 132, one ahead of Larkin, who with a 65 stepped up his bid to become the first amateur to claim this title since Sandy Pirie at Cruden Bay 40 years ago.

After a best-of-the-week 64, Craig Lee, the defending champion, and two-time winner Jason McCreadie (68) are both lurking ominously in joint-third, two shots off the pace, but an intriguing tussle is on the cards between Hutcheon and Larkin, who is a member at Royal Aberdeen.

"Scott is a good player. I know that from the 5 roll-ups we have at Banchory on a Monday," noted Hutcheon, who is keen to add his name to a roll of honour that bears such names as Eric Brown, John Panton, Harry Bannerman and Brian Barnes. "It is a famous old tournament and it would be nice to win it," he added.

On a day when the morning rain stopped in the nick of time as a couple of the greens started to give Scottish PGA officials cause for concern, Hutcheon, a two-time Tartan Tour No 1, admitted he'd got lucky with one of his five birdies after his fit of laughter caused by Chris Doak, playing in the group in front, chasing after his electric trolley as it careered into a pond.

Describing his second shot at the 16th, the 37-year-old Hutcheon said: "I was still laughing so much that I hit it heavy and was lucky it did not go into the water. A poor stance might have had something to do with it but we'll say it was the sight of Doak's trolley veering out of control into the water that put me off!"

Larkin, 23, who spent four years at South Carolina University, won the Leven Gold Medal in August, having lost in a play-off for the Cameron Corbett Vase, another Scottish Order of Merit event, a few weeks earlier.

Coached by Neil Marr, the head professional at Meldrum House, Larkin bagged five birdies yesterday in a round he described as "quite boring" and is relishing his joust with Hutcheon. "I feel my game has moved up a notch this year and it would be nice to get one over Greig," he said.

Lee, who was in Russia last week for a Challenge Tour event and is off to Cyprus next week to play in the EuroPro Tour Championship, made a significant leap up the leaderboard thanks to a session at the Aspire Golf Centre in Aberdeen following his opening 70.

"I hit shots here until I was kicked off the range at 5pm and then drove over to Aspire to use the camera and screen there to get a few things sorted out," he said."It worked because I played as well today as I have this year, certainly in terms of striking the ball."

That was reflected by a round highlighted by two eagles - he holed from just over 100 yards for a 2 at the 13th - and Lee reckons he'll have a good chance of hanging on to his title if he can cover the final 36 holes in eight-under. "Winning one of the four-rounders in Scotland is always an achievement in itself and it would certainly be nice to win this event back-to-back," he observed.

Having also won the Scottish Championship two years ago in addition to those two previous Northern Open triumphs - in 2006 and 2008, both at Skibo Castle - McCreadie, now being coached by Ian Rae, is certainly a dangerman, as is Hayston's Stephen Gray, a six-time winner on the Scottish circuit this season and the leading money-winner with earnings of just over 24,000.

The 36-year-old, three off the lead on 135, has negotiated his opening two rounds without dropping a single shot, revealing he'd managed to get his game sorted out in the nick of time after scraping through the first stage of the European Tour Qualifying School at Dundonald Links last week. "I played shocking there but worked for two-and-a-half hours with (Lanark professional] Alan White on Saturday and he's got me sorted," said Gray.

In addition to Larkin, six other amateurs made the cut, including David Law, who finished with two birdies for a 68 to lie alongside Gray, Paul McKechnie (68) and Alan Reid, the West Lothian club professional making his move with a 65. Ross Kellett (136), James White (138), Kris Nicol (140), Nick Robson (141) and Greg Paterson (142) are the other amateurs still involved.