The results from the early season local open competitions are showing a similarity to last year. The early leaders in the James Erskine South of Scotland Golf Order of Merit are again Martin McNae (Lochmaben) and David Brodie (Wigtown & Bladnoch) who have started strongly and already opened up a considerable advantage over their competitors. There is still a long way to go but it already looks like a straight fight between the two. The top ten after the JAL Brown Trophy at Portpatrick on Sunday 28 June are as follows:-

1          Martin McNae (Lochmaben)                          275 points

2          David Brodie (Wigtown & Bladnoch)           258.3

3          Ross Murray (Southerness)                             140

4          Craig Smith (Dalbeattie)                                 135

5          Kevin Adams (Dalbeattie)                              125

6          Stuart Fisher (Portpatrick)                              113.3

7=        Ian Reid (Dumfries & Galloway)                   105

Alan Birdsall (Dumfries & County)               105

Connor Bennewith (Newton Stewart)           105

10        Craig Scobie (Lochmaben)                             100

The next two counting events are the Southerness Challenge on Sunday 5 July and the Sutherland Chalice at Dumfries & Galloway on 18-19 July.

The Executive of the South of Scotland Golfers’ Association are grateful to James Erskine for his sponsorship.