Trevor Immelman awarded life
membership of European Tour

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR
Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, has been awarded honorary life membership of the European Tour in recognition of his outstanding achievement in capturing his first Major title at Augusta National in April.
The 29 year old South African was presented with his membership card as the 32nd honorary member by Keith Waters, Director of International Policy for the European Tour, at the South African Open Championship at Pearl Valley Golf Estates as he continued his season-long quest to win The Race to Dubai on The European Tour International Schedule.
Immelman has been a strong supporter of the European Tour since his early professional days on the Challenge Tour, where he won the 2000 Tusker Kenya Open before collecting four titles on the European Tour including his tremendous Masters victory earlier this year.
Immelman is the fourth South African player to be awarded honorary life membership of the European Tour, following his fellow Major champions Gary Player, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.
“I actually have goosebumps just thinking about this,” said Immelman. “It's a cliché, but it's a dream come true to become an honorary life member of the European Tour. I grew up here in South Africa watching professional golf, watching the European Tour, listening to Renton Laidlaw commentate about Seve and Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam and all those guys.
"So for me to join them and become an honorary life member of the European Tour is something that's just extremely special for me and that I will cherish for the rest of my life.
“I started my professional career on the European Tour ‑ it must be 10 years now, so it's exciting for me. It's also exciting to be part of The Race to Dubai. I think it's been an incredible move by the European Tour. They have created a premiere package and made a big spectacle of what the Tour was, and to get this sort of a system going into the big events at the end of the year in Dubai, it's fantastic.
“I travel all over the world, and you know, this move by the European Tour has garnered a lot of interest. A lot of people are talking about it and a lot of people are excited about it. It's an exciting time for the European Tour and it's great for me to be part of that.”
George O’Grady, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “This award is accorded to very special players who have won Major championships or contributed significantly to the European Tour. Both of those criteria apply to Trevor, who has been a great ambassador for the European Tour since his early days on the Challenge Tour.
“We are delighted to honour a player who has not only played marvellous golf on the European Tour, but displayed considerable fortitude and skill in fending off the challenge from many of the world’s greatest players to capture the Masters tournament in April.”

Madeira Islands Open goes to Seve
island masterpiece

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY EUROPEAN TOUR
By Michael Gibbons, Press Officer.
The 2009 edition of the Madeira Islands Open will find a new home at the breathtaking Seve Ballesteros-designed Porto Santo Golfe.
Constructed on a unique site on the tiny island of Porto Santo, Porto Santo Golfe is a stunning piece of golf course architecture that stretches up and through the island’s dramatic basalt cliffs to the wonderful par-3 13th hole, where the tee shot must traverse a dramatic gorge to find the cliff-top putting surface.
Porto Santo Island itself is part of the Portuguese archipelago that includes the island of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Africa.
The Madeira Islands Open will be staged for the 16th year in 2009, with Porto Santo Golfe becoming the second venue to host the event following the Santo da Serra Golf Club (1993-2007).
Ricardo Abreu, Member of the Madeira Islands Open Organising Committee, said: "This new venue is a Seve masterpiece, which will be the perfect start to The European Tour’s return to Europe. This idyllic island is considered by many as the Caribbean of the Atlantic. Porto Santo Golfe is a dream course both for its scenic beauty as well as for its challenging layout. "
Keith Waters, Director of International Policy for The European Tour, said: “We are delighted to announce that the Madeira Islands Open will be staged at Porto Santo Golfe in 2009.
“We are confident that our Members will be suitably impressed by the quality of the golf course and facilities at Porto Santo, while the unique lay-out of the course will make the Madeira Islands Open one of the most spectacular settings on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule.”

www.europeantour.com

First Loch Lomond, now bad news for
members at five-star Dublin resort

FROM THE IRISH TIMES.COM WEBSITE
By PAUL GALLAGHER and PAMELA NEWENHAM
Luttrellstown Castle has become the latest high-profile casualty of the economic downturn as the five-star golf resort in Dublin, owned by leading Irish businessmen JP McManus, John Magnier and Aidan Brooks, will close at the end of 2009 because the business is "no longer sustainable going forward".
"It is true, Luttrellstown is closing and we advised the committee and our members yesterday," said Luttrellstown chief executive Colm Hannon last night.
"There has been a significant shortfall and losses have been incurred since we opened. Going forward we do not see the situation changing. It is very regrettable but running a golf course at Luttrellstown is no longer sustainable."
The 560-acre estate, formerly owned by the Guinness family, was sold to the Primwest Group in 1983 before it was more recently bought over by McManus, Magnier and Brooks in 2006.
Last year major redevelopment work costing over € 20 million was completed at Luttrellstown including major upgrade work to the championship golf course plus a complete redesign of the Alpine-style clubhouse took place.
Luttrellstown's demise has come about because of the inability to drive membership numbers up and increase green fee revenue at the Steel and Mackenzie-designed course.
"The whole business of membership has dried up and the problem we have at Luttrellstown is we don't have a critical mass of members," added Hannon, who returned home in 2005 to take up the role at Luttrellstown after running the Sandy Lane Resort in Barbados, also owned my McManus and Magnier.
"We have fewer than 400 members. A lot of the problem is linked to the current financial situation in a wider context. And basically there's not a sufficient number of people out there seeking to buy golf membership
"The amount people are prepared to pay for golf is very different from what it was before. We changed the structure over to an annual membership because we believed the days of people paying € 40-50,000 entrance fees are long gone."
Hannon confirmed they will be running the business until the end of next year as "there is an obligation to the members to give them 12 months notice".
David Holden, Luttrellstown's club secretary, said: "The news came as an absolute shock; the membership is extremely angry and disappointed at the decision."
"The club has gone through a lot of changes, we went through a period of uncertainty at one stage, but were promised great facilities and given numerous assurances that it would be a golf club for a long time. We stayed with the club for this reason, only to be told that it is closing."
After last week's news that Mount Juliet would not be staging next year's Irish Open, Luttrellstown was mentioned as a possible venue alternative but Hannon categorically stated that was "pure speculation".
He also said the current owners have no plans to sell the estate.

Harrington first European to win US
PGA Tour Player of Year Award

Padraig Harrison has become the first European player to win the US PGA Tour "Player of the Year" award since it began in 1990.
Only the fourth player to win the Open and the US PGA championship in the same season, the Irishman said:
“It has been a fantastic season individually out there, winning a couple of majors. At the time you win them, you certainly feel that nothing could compare to it. But to be honest, there is no greater accolade than to receive an award from your peers.
“Because it's the players, because it's my peers, because they're people that I care and am concerned about their opinions deeply, for them to choose me as their player of the year is very special.
“It compares equally to winning a major championship.”
Andres Romero of Argentina was voted the US PGA Tour's "Rookie of the Year,"while Dudley Hart received "Comeback Player of the Year."
In other awards, Bernhard Langer was Champions Tour "Player of the Year," with Brendan de Jonge winning the Nationwide Tour award.
Harrington said he abstained from voting, because he didn't think it was proper to vote for himself, yet wanted to win the award badly enough that he didn't want to vote for anyone else.
He felt Woods has set such a high standard that voting worked in Harrington's favor.
“If I had done what Tiger had done this year, I would have won player of the year, if you can understand what I'm saying,” Harrington said. “It's the baggage he brought into the year and the fact that he is as talented as he is and has done as well as he has that would lead players to look to somebody like myself, who has had an exceptional year.
“I think in some ways, the fact that I had an exceptional year has swayed the vote toward me, whereas Tiger's phenomenal year is just what we're used to with Tiger Woods.”
Hart missed most of 2007 when doctors found a tennis ball-sized lump in his wife's lung that had cancer cells. He tended to their triplets during her surgery and recovery, and while he didn't win this year, did well enough to finish 29th on the money list, matching his highest ranking since 1999.
“It's nice to be voted by your peers,” Hart said. “But there's two sides to this. It means I didn't do very well the previous year. Hopefully, this is the last time I get this award.”