RONNIE McDONALD
HOPING FOR
SENIOR MOMENTS AT
OVER-50s' Q SCHOOL

BY COLIN FARQUHARSON
Ronnie McDonald still has a burning ambition to make it on to the European Seniors Tour.
This is a man who has given up the comfort zone of being Kemnay Golf Club professional to mount his third attempt to get a player's card at the six-round Qualifying School process which began on the Algarve today.
Every year it costs Ronnie a packet. This year is no exception. The entry fee alone for the Senior Qualifying School is £750. Then there's the cost of flights, hotel accommodation, food and car hire.
To give himself a a real chance, McDonald arrived well in advance of his Thursday tee-off in the two-round Stage 1 event at Pinheiros Altos.
If he qualifies for the next and final stage, at the opposite, western end of the Algarve, at Carvoeiro from November 19 to 22, his hotel bill for the best part of three weeks will be a formidable one.
To get on to the European Seniors Tour for over-50s is even more difficult than finding the key to the door of the European Tour. Only a handful of new players' cards are up for grabs at the end of six rounds of what can be mental and physical torture.
Tour qualifying schools the world over can reduce grown men to tears. And it doesn't get any easier the older you get.
"I know it's going to be tough. It always is but I just can't let go. Pinheiros Altos, which is where I play the first two rounds in the Stage 1 eliminator, can be a very, very difficult par-72 course to score on. I rate it a good deal more difficult that the shorter, par-71 Pinta course at Carvoero. If your short game is on tune, you can get scores there. That's where the 72-hole Final Qualifying Seniors School is held," said Ronnie.
"Yes, you could say the European Seniors Tour is a wee bit of a closed shop. There's not much new blood allowed to get on it every year."
If Ronnie had been a European Tour player and won enough money over the years, then it would have been much, much easier for him to gain playing rights on the over-50s tour.
"The difficult bit is actually getting on to the Seniors Tour. Once you are there, there are no cuts and you can and should be able to make money every tournament," said Ronnie who has a playing attachment with Inchmarlo Golf Centre.
McDonald's competitive preparation over the past few weeks has been the midweek North-east Alliance competitions. But he has practised and practised until he feels his game is as good as it can get for this crucial test.
"I know I can play well enough to survive on the European Seniors Tour. It's getting the ticket to play on it that's the hard it."