Following the Brotherston Trophy at Dumfries and County on Sunday 22 July, Douglas Borland (Southerness) retains top spot in the Order of Merit by virtue of his win in the Sutherland Chalice at Dumfries and Galloway on 8 July. He still has a slender lead over David Brodie (Newton Stewart) who had high finishes in the Sutherland and MacRobert Salver at Stranraer.
The field continues to bunch up behind the two leaders. Fraser Hughes (Newton Stewart) has held on to third place with a solid performance in the Brotherston and Clark Riddick (Southerness), with a welcome return to form with second top points in the Brotherston, has moved up to fourth spot.
Andrew Kerr (Crichton), who won the MacRobert Salver, has climbed to fifth in the table and Mitchell Cowie, who won the South Junior Championship recently and picked up top points in the Brotherston, has climbed to fourteenth. He is playing very well at present and one to look out for in the future.
The Order of Merit this year is very tight at the top and it would be a brave man to predict the winner at this stage with five counting events still to come.
The next counting competition is the South Championship at Powfoot on Sunday 19 August.
The top ten in the table is as follows:-
1 Douglas Borland (Southerness) 425 points
2 David Brodie (Newton Stewart) 385
3 Fraser Hughes (Newton Stewart) 375
4 Clark Riddick (Southerness) 265
5 Andrew Kerr (Crichton) 260
6 Matthew McCulloch (Portpatrick) 215
7 Craig Smith (Dalbeattie) 160
8 Connor Bennewith (Newton Stewart) 145
9 Neil Hamilton (Dumfries & Galloway) 140
10= Greg Blaney (Southerness) 130
10= Dean Armstrong (Lochmaben) 130