Gunn's nightmare finish in Arizona;

Knox is doing nicely in Florida

Highlanders Jimmy Gunn from Dornoch and Russell Knox from Inverness - both based in the United States - have had contrasting fortunes on their respective satellite tours this week.
Gunn had one of the worst finishes this talented player has ever experienced in the Gateway Tour Desert Spring Qualifier at Vista Verde GC, Arizona.
Jimmy took 77 shots to get round despite having six birdies - at the second, fourth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 18th.
Between the 13th and 17th holes he dropped eight shots to par with a triple bogey 7 at the 13th, a bogey at the 15th, and double bogey 6s at the 16th and 17th. Earlier he had bogeyed the first hole and had a double bogey 6 at the third.
He is 12 shots behind the pacemaker, American Matt Miller.
Entry fee for this event is $400.
Meanwhile, Russell Knox has had only one bogey in 36 holes but that's still only good enough to be in joint 12th position, four shots off the pace, in the NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series event at Providence Golf Club, Davenport, Florida.
Knox had a bogey-free first round of five-under 67 with birdies at the first, fifth, eighth, 15th and 17th.
His first and only bogey so far came at the third hole of his second-round 69. He followed up that bogey with birdies at the fifth and ninth and an eagle 3 at the 15th.
So Knox is on 136, compared with 12-under-par 132 by leader James Vargas from Miami. Vargas has had rounds of 67 and 65 over the par-72 course which measures just under 7,000yd.
Five players are tied for second place on 134.
Former European Tour player Paul Curry, who was a winner on the Hooters Tour just a couple of weeks ago, missed the cut in this one with scores of 78 and 72 for 150. From the starting field of 119, only those with 36-hole tallies of 141 or better advanced.

Colin Montgomerie with the Ryder Cup as a member of the winning Europe team at Killarney in 2006 (image by courtesy of Tom Ward).

Colin Montgomerie named European

captain for 2010 Ryder Cup

PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE EUROPEAN TOUR
Colin Montgomerie has accepted an invitation from the Tournament Committee of the European Tour, ratified by the Ryder Cup Policy Board, to captain the European team in the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, South Wales, from October 1 to 3, 2010.
Montgomerie, who was born in Glasgow on June 23, 1963, will become the 22nd golfer to captain a Ryder Cup team against the United States and the sixth Scot, following in the footsteps of George Duncan (1929), John Fallon (1963), Eric Brown (1969 and 1971), Bernard Gallacher (1991, 1993 and 1995) and Sam Torrance (2002).
Montgomerie made the first of eight Ryder Cup appearances in 1991 and he was on the winning European team in 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In all he has played 36 matches with 20 wins and seven halved.
He owns the phenomenal record of not having lost any of the eight singles he has played and shares the record for most singles matches won (six) and most singles points gained (seven).
Montgomerie succeeds Nick Faldo with the aim of regaining the Ryder Cup following a successful spell in which Europe defeated the United States on no fewer than seven occasions in 12 matches since 1985.
Europe’s victories were achieved under the captaincies of Tony Jacklin (1985, 1987), Bernard Gallacher (1995), Seve Ballesteros (1997), Sam Torrance (2002), Bernhard Langer (2004) and Ian Woosnam (2006) while Jacklin presided over a halved match in 1989.
Montgomerie said: “This is the proudest moment of my career. I have enjoyed some wonderful times, not least of all playing in eight Ryder Cups and winning eight Harry Vardon trophies, but to be named the European Ryder Cup team captain is something to cherish. My wife, Gaynor, and I are absolutely delighted.
“The Ryder Cup has been a huge part of my life and the next 20 months leading up to the 2010 contest will be invigorating. I’ve enjoyed the thrill of playing under six superb captains – Bernard Gallacher, Seve Ballesteros, Mark James, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam – and every one brought something new to the table and contributed so much.
“After playing in eight successive matches it is difficult to explain how much I missed not being part of the Ryder Cup in 2008. Now I have the opportunity to captain a European team seeking to regain the trophy and I am very pleased to be doing so at The Celtic Manor Resort, a venue with which I have a great affinity.
“We want to win the Cup back in Wales. That will be our priority. Nevertheless I know that Corey Pavin and his American team will share with us the desire for this match to be played, as has become tradition, with fair play and good sportsmanship top of the agenda.
“It is also going to be a very special experience playing the 2010 Ryder Cup on a course which is the first in history to be built to host the match. It is set up to challenge the best and being a course with a whole host of tempting options and punishing hazards there will be drama every step of the way.
"It is going to be an extraordinary week for everyone especially, of course, Sir Terry Matthews, the visionary behind not only the development and continued success of the Celtic Manor Resort but also the Wales Ryder Cup bid.
“I would like to stress that I am delighted to be taking this role now for 2010. You can wait too long to become captain and lose touch. I did not want that to happen and this opportunity has ensured it will not. I believe I have the stature to do the job and my experience of playing in this great event so often can only help, too.
“I also want to make it clear that I’ve accepted the captaincy with the knowledge that I do not think my days of winning are over. Everyone who knows me will understand that commitment has always been a key word in my vocabulary and I am still focused on winning tournaments. But I’ve also made the commitment to captain the 2010 European Ryder Cup team and not to play in it. I’ll be focusing on getting everything right for our arrival at Celtic Manor Resort.”

Feast of low scoring over short Buchan winter course

Ross Cameron breaks North-east Alliance

record with a 59 (30-29) at Inverallochy

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
McDonald Ellon tour pro Ross Cameron broke the North-east Alliance low-scoring record today (Wed) with a score of 59 over the Inverallochy winter course which measures approximately 4,700yd yard with a par of 63.
Peterhead-born Cameron, 29, headed the field of 85 on a gloriously sunny day which had eleven 3s on it and read:
OUT: 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 – 30.
IN: 3 4 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 – 29.
Impossible to work out which ones were birdies because the holes in use bore very little relation to the official scorecard.
“I played very solidly – and I could have scored even lower,” said Cameron, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency. “I had three or four close-range putts I should have holed, even on the temporary greens.”
The previous Alliance record of 60 was set last winter season by another professional, Ronnie McDonald (Inchmarlo) – also over the short Inverallochy winter course.
The North-east Alliance record for a course of 5,000 yards and more is a 61 at Duff House Royal, Banff, set by Gary Forbes (Murcar Links) a few years back.
Peterhead amateur Philip McLean, who was bidding for a third successive win on the circuit, partnered Cameron and so had the pleasure of marking up the scorecard that relegated him to second place with a 62.
James Duncan (Newburgh) had his first hole in one with a nine iron at the 18th hole, estimated to be 135 yards long. He was playing with clubmates David Philip and Donald Wood.
Leading scores (Par 63)
SCRATCH
59 R Cameron (McDonald Ellon).
62 P McLean (Peterhead).
63 C Nelson (Mackenzie Club).
65 S Finnie (Caledonian), D Law (Hazlehead), C Stephen (Meldrum House).
66 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo), G H Paterson (Northern).
67 J Duncan (Newburgh), F G Gray (Newmachar), D H Clark (Duff House Royal), J Thomas (Craibstone), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links).
68 B Harper (Newburgh), J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), A J Smith (Turriff), D McKay (Caledonian), F Bisset (Banchory).
69 H Roulston (Stonehaven).
70 P Anderson (Deeside), D Garrett (Turriff), S Davidson (Banchory), J Mooney (unatt).
71 J Roberts (Cruden Bay), B Sutherland (Duff House Royal), N Parker (Murcar Links).
72 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), J Borthwick (Craibstone), S Pert (Huntly).
73 C Dempster (Inchmarlo), M Booth (Kemnay), C Law (Hazlehead).
74 P Farnan (Royal Aberdeen), D Nelson (Aboyne), D MacKay (Newmachar).
75 J Forrest (Northern), L Roger (Royal Aberdeen).

HANDICAP
Class 1 – J Dalgarno (Hazlehead) (7), F G Gray (Newmachar) (7), D McKay (Caledonian) (7) 61; B Harper (Newburgh) (6), J Duncan (Newburgh) (5) 62; B Sutherland (Duff House Royal) (8) 63; C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (8), J Borthwick (Craibstone) (8), A J Smith (Turriff) J Thomas (Craibstone) (3) 64; J Roberts (Cruden Bay) (6), H Roulston (Stonehaven) (4), S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), P) McLean (+3) 65; G H Paterson (Northern) (scr), F Bisset (Banchory) (2), D H Clark (Duff House Royal) (1), W S Urquhart (Murcar Links) (1), C Stephen (Meldrum House) (+1) 66.
Class 2 – N Agnew (Duff House Royal) (17), J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (15) 60; P Anderson (Deeside) (9), M Booth (Kemnay) (12) 61; N Parker (Murcar Links) (9) 62; M Ord (Royal Aberdeen) (12), J Penny (Huntly) (13), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (12) 63; M Brown (Craibstone) (2) 65; R Brown (Craibstone) (12), R Lumsden (Northern) (14), S Higgins (Royal Aberdeen) (10), G Kelly (Perterculter) (14), D Bisset (Banchory) (9), D Randsall (Banchory) (2), K Minty (Turriff) (9) 66; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (12), R Colquhoun (Craibstone) (16), J Scott (PeterculterJ Short (Peterculter) (11) 67.

Editor's note: I'm afraid we cannot display the par figures for the Inverallochy course over which the NE Alliance was staged today. The holes were not played in the order shown on the scorecard and there is no way of knowing if the players' figures were entered in the sequence the holes were played or not.
All we can do is show the figures returned by the three leading players.

ROSS CAMERON 59
OUT: 4-3-3-3-3-4-3-4-3--30. IN: 3-4-3-4-3-3-3-3-3--29.

PHILIP McLEAN 62
OUT: 5-4-4-3-2-4-4--3-3--32. IN: 4-3-3--3-4-4-3-3-3--30.

COLIN NELSON 63
OUT: 4-3-3-3-2-4-4-5-3--31. IN: 4-4-4-3-3-4-4-3-3--32.

Hacienda Del Alamo's John Green

wins Senior Pro Golf Tour

Europe's Order of Merit

Hacienda Del Alamo professional golfer John Green, the man who has done most of the organising of accommodation for Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Festival competitors, has won the order of merit for the 2008 season on the Senior Pro Golf Tour Europe in his first year as a Pro.
The final event of the season at Alboran Golf in Almeria, Spain on December 3 was Green's third win on the over-50s tour in 2008. Rookie pro Green aged 53, turned professional in 2008 and this was also the inaugural season for the Seniors Pro Golf Tour Europe. Hacienda Del Alamo professional and Hacienda Golf Properties Director John Green moved from Kent to Spain in April of 2006 in order to work on his golf.
"I was sold on Hacienda Del Alamo, the course, the academy and practice areas and of course the sun."
A two-handicap amateur only three years ago, Green is as astonished as most observers at his progress and commented: "I gave myself five years to try and find a game that would stand up to this level of competition and had no expectations for this season.
"I turned pro because I was advised that, in terms of survival on a pro tour, building experience was as important as the golf swing and so I concluded that the sooner I start the process of gaining experience on a tour, the better."
The Seniors Pro Golf Tour - not to be confused with the European Seniors Tour - staged six events in 2008 and Green took pole position in three of them as a well as a second and a fourth place.
The first event was at Sokolov GC in the Czech Republic in June and the second, a few days later, was only a short drive away in Stifland Golf Club in south-eas Germany.
Green performed superbly in his first two senior professional events, scoring under par in three of the six rounds.
The third win of the season came at the last event, in Almeria, Spain at the Alboran Golf Club where Green again won from Simon Parker, an Englishman based in Germany, a repeat of the standings from Germany.
In all three events that he won Green led the tournaments from the first round to the last.
Hacienda Golf Properties SL offers luxury villas and apartments for sale or rental at Hacienda Del Alamo Golf Resort in Murcia Spain http://www.hdagolfproperties.com/
Sponsorship opportunities of John Green as a golfer are still available for the 2009 season.
Hacienda Del Alamo Golf Resort is one of Spain's most prestigious new resorts located in Murcia and with one of the longest golf courses in Europe at over 7300 yards designed by renowned golf course architect Dave Thomas.

Fairways Target Leagues Week 3

By Neil D. Hampton
Golf & Marketing Director
Loch Ness Golf Course, Fairways
Castle Heather, Inverness
Web: www.golflochness.com

Monday Night League action saw the Loch Ness Juniors extend their unbeaten run and stamp their authority on the league with a season's best total of 91, even more impressive given that the target E, the furthest and hardest, was being used.
Their opponents, Trilight, can feel a little aggrieved as their score of 44 would comfortably have beaten all the other teams.
The Specialists are now alone on second place on four points after beating the out-of-sorts Neverwillbees who, after reaching the play-offs last season, seem determined to live up to their name this season.
BM Trucks finally got off the mark but they have Fairways to thank for this as they could only manage to field half a team and still only lost to the Trucks by two shots!

Specialists 32 – 12 The Neverwillbees
Loch Ness Juniors 91 – 44 Trilight
Fairways 17 – 19 BM Trucks.

Tuesday night provided a couple of shock results as well as one that was always expected. The Luckless Leadbetters were the sure fire bet for a win and they did not disappoint. On a night that was riddled with low scores they still managed over 50 and preserved their unbeaten record, taking the points from Patsy’s Pets, handing them their first defeat of the season.
The shocks came thick and fast after that with firstly the Muirton Marvels only putting in a total of 14 shots which was easily bettered by the Sainties but is was Raigmore Motel, so often the most consistent team in the league, who provided the biggest shock as they handed the Coastguards the easiest of victories by only totalling two shots for their four players!
This made the Coastguards job quite simple but it was never a foregone conclusion as they only made seven!
In the night's final game Fairhurst will be cursing the draw as they scored 36 but Darren’s Dazzlers had a commendable score of 47 even though they only had three players.
These results leave the Leadbetters alone at the top with 6 points closely followed by three teams on four points with just Fairhurst yet to get off the mark.

Muirton Marvels 14 – 35 The Sainties
Raigmore Motel 2 – 7 Coastguards
Patsy’s Pets 24 – 51 Luckless Leadbetters
Fairhurst 36 – 47 Darren’s Dazzlers.


HOW THEY STAND

MONDAY NIGHT LEAGUE
1 Loch Ness Juniors 3-6
2 Specialists 3-4.
3 Trilight 3-2.
4 Fairways 3-2
5 BM Trucks 3-2.
6 The Neverwillbees 3-2.

TUESDAY NIGHT LEAGUE
1 Luckless Leadbetters 3-6.
2 Darren's Dazzlers 3-4.
3 Patsy's Pets 3-4
4 Coastguards 3-4.
5 Muirton Marvels 3-2
6 Raigmore Motel 3-2
7 The Sainties 3-2
8 Fairhurst Fore 3-0

The decision makers who will shape

the Ryder Cup's D-Day

Today the European Tour's Tournament Committee meet in Dubai to decide who will be invited to captain the Europe team in the 2010 Ryder Cup match at Celtic Manor. The following article is from the guardian.online website (www.guardian.co.uk) and staff golf writer Lawrence Donegan paints thumbnail sketches of the men who make up the committee:

Thomas Bjorn
The Dane, a former Ryder Cup player, is the chairman of the tournament players committee and will have the task of finding unanimity where there might be none
Darren Clarke
The Irishman will be determined to get to Wales as a player. He and Colin Montgomerie are not close, but then again Ryder Cup camaraderie cures all enmities (just ask Padraig and Sergio). Then again, perhaps not
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño
The talented young Spaniard represents the long under-represented continental branch of the European tour. He might be inclined to push the claims of someone like Miguel Angel Jiménez for 2010 and he will be sorely disappointed.
Richard Finch
The voice of the tour's journeymen. Popular and thoughtful.
Joakim Haeggman
One of four Swedes on the tournament players committee, he has had experience of the Ryder Cup as a player and as a vice-captain. With the event expected to take place in Scandinavia in 2018, he might fancy his chances of one day landing the big job
Christopher Hanell
An America-based Swede and another rank-and-file voice. Will not be in Dubai but has registered his preference
Raphaël Jacquelin
Like other committee members from continental Europe, the Frenchman might spend a few minutes today wondering how it is that the Brits are always first in the queue when the Ryder Cup captaincy comes around
Miguel Angel Jiménez
The Spaniard would be less than human if he didn't spend a few moments during today's meeting wondering why his name has not been seriously discussed
Robert Karlsson
Likely to be one of the leading players for the 2010 event and as such his opinion will carry some weight
Barry Lane
A veteran of the European tour and, like Finch, can be expected to represent the rank and file
Paul Lawrie
The former Open champion is quietly being pushed as a potential captain when the Ryder Cup goes to Scotland in 2014 should Montgomerie take the reins this time around
Paul McGinley
The Irishman is rumoured to be the most forceful voice behind the 'Monty for 2010' campaign
Colin Montgomerie
The chairman and, it seems, only remaining member of the 'Sandy Lyle for 2010' campaign. When the white smoke clears expect to see Monty's silhouette appear
Mark Roe
A former European tour player and now television and radio commentator. Roe has never been short of opinions throughout his career and is unlikely to be found wanting now. Will not be in Dubai but has registered his preference
Henrik Stenson
The Swede is possessed of both a great sense of humour and a well-developed sense of perspective, which might explain why he appears to find the angst surrounding the whole captaincy business to be quite amusing