Porteous leads and is only player under par

Geordie golfer Garrick Porteous will lead the field into today’s final two rounds of the 72-hole Carrick Neill Scottish men’s open amateur stroke-play championship at Southerness.

But Porteous, a 23-year-old member at Bamburgh Castle Golf Club, Northumberland, won’t be challenged by last year’s Scottish match-play champion Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) after he missed the cut.

Porteous, a member of the England team which won the European Nations Cup at Sotogrande earlier this year and bidding for a place in the GB&I team for the Walker Cup defence in New York State in the autumn, leads on one-under-par 137 over the par-69 course. He is the only player under par and his rounds of 68 and 69 have given him a one-stroke lead over Irishman Richard O’Donovan (Lucan) (68-70).

Chris Robb (Meldrum House), the leading Scot overnight, dropped back with a 77 for 146.

The top home hopes are now Steven Maxwell (Windyhill) (74-68) and Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) (72-70) on 142, five shots off the pace.

Only players with totals of 148 and better have gone through to the last two rounds.

Australia’s Brady Watt, on paper the best player in the field, just made it through on the limit mark with scores of 73 and 75. For a long time it looked as if he had missed out by one. The same applied to one of the leading Scots hopes for a Walker Cup place, Greame Robertson (Glenbervie). His rounds of 72 and 76 got him through, only just, on 148.