SCOTLAND excelled themselves over the demanding Woodhall Spa course in

Lincolnshire yesterday to finish at the top of the leaderboard after the

first qualifying round of the European Boys team championship.

A five-player aggregate of 378 means that Scotland have a four-stroke

advantage over Sweden going into today's second and final qualifying

round.

Defending champions England are a further shot back in third place.

Scottish boys' matchplay champion Steven Young maintained the superb

form he has shown all season with a one-under-par round of 72 to give

the Scots the perfect start.

Young was one of only three players from the 18 competing nations who

managed to break par.

Graham Fox was also in excellent form with a level-par 73 at the

bottom of the order and things worked out exactly as captain Scott

McDonald had hoped.

''I was looking for a good start and a strong finish and was confident

that Steven and Graham could provide just that,'' he said.

Grant Campbell shot a 75, Chris Kelly a 77, while Paul Cunningham and

Oliver Lindsay both returned 81, with Lindsay's effort being discarded.

First-round qualifying scores:

378 -- Scotland (S Young, 72; G Fox, 73; G Campbell, 75; C Kelly, 77;

P Cunningham, 81; O Lindsay, 81).

382 -- Sweden. 383 -- England 386 -- France. 389 -- Italy. 391 --

Spain, Denmark. 392 -- Germany. 395 -- Wales. 397 -- Austria. 398 --

Norway, Ireland. 399 -- Netherlands. 402 -- Finland. 406 -- Belgium. 411

-- Portugal, Iceland. 415 -- Switzerland.

Scotland

well adrift

TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

SCOTLAND are in a precarious position going into the second and final

strokeplay qualifying round of the European Women's Team championship in

Milan this morning.

The Scots finished the first day with a five-card aggregate of 386 to

lie in joint eighth place with Ireland, some 20 strokes adrift of

leaders Spain and six behind England.

Only Mhairi McKay really shone among the Scots. The Curtis Cup player,

who is now at Stamford University in America, reached the turn in 38 and

came home in 35, one under par.

Janice Moodie was round in 75, but the rest of the Scots struggled,

Alison Rose finishing on 78 and Sharon McMaster and Hilary Monaghan both

on 80, with Lesley Nicholson's 82 being discounted.

Scotland cannot afford any mistakes today if they are to keep alive

their championship dream. Leading first-round aggregates:

366 -- Spain. 367 -- France. 369 -- Sweden. 370 -- Italy. 372 --

Denmark. 380 -- England. 381 -- Germany. 386 -- Scotland, Ireland. 387

-- Wales. 389 -- Norway. 390 -- Switzerland. 394 -- Holland. 399 --

Austria, Belgium. 401 -- Finland. 410 -- Czech Republic. 411 -- Iceland.

426 -- Portugal.