Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Young Calum scores first North

Alliance scratch victory

By ROBIN WILSON
At the Reay fixture, a hole in one, his sixth in a long and illustrious career, by Wick member Ronnie Taylor helped cut into, for a second time in two successive North Golf Alliance fixtures, the scratch trophy lead held by Tain's Munro Ferries.
Taylor's ace with an eight-iron at the 144yd par-3 fifth hole help save his outward card to a four over par 38, especially as it followed 6s at the third and fourth holes and a 5 at the second hole. His inward half began much better with a birdie 3 and then a birdie at the long 14th to offset two three-putt bogeys on the 11th and 17th greens for his inward par 35 and 73.
But Taylor and three other members who scored 73 had to take a share of second place behind Brora's Under-16 Scottish international, Calum Stewart, pictured above by Robin Wilson, who matched the outward par of 34 with the help of a tap-in birdie 2 where Taylor had an eagle one, followed by a birdie 4 on the next hole.
His two outward bogeys were at the first and seventh short holes. The only disappointment in the teenager's first Alliance scratch win was a double bogey 5 at the final hole on his card of round of three-over-par 72.
Taylor's one-shot reduction to his four-round aggregate score, in his attempt to retain the Scratch Quaich, has given him sole possession of second place with 291, but he remains seven strokes behind Ferries on 284.
Thurso's Bryan Ronald made no alteration to his four scores and now has third place to himself on 292.
One of the most significant scratch 73s came from Mackintosh Salver contender Sean Sutherland (Bonar Bridge). After the previous week's Tain fixture where he slipped behind Caithness pair Grant Maxwell and Bryan Ronald, Sutherland responded with what might become a Salver- winning score. His 73 from halves of 37 and 36 reduced to a net 67 to lower his aggregate by four to 273 and take a three-shot lead to this weekend's penultimate fixture at Royal Dornoch. Maxwell and Ronald remain on 276 after their Reay scores.
A former Salver winner, Tain's Alec Gunn, denied Sutherland a double celebration when he joined the scratch group on 73 (36-37) and with his seven handicap his net 66 return won the Class I handicap section by one from the Bonar Bridge member. Local members John O'Brien and Fred Groves filed the next two slots with net 69s.
Outgoing home club captain, Ian Ross marked his recent retiral with a winning net 69, off 12, to win Class 2 followed by new member Garry MacLeod (Durness) and Andy MacKay (Reay), both with net 70s. Tain's Ali Melville, who won this section on his home course the previous week, slipped back to fourth place.

RESULTS

SCRATCH
72 C Stewart (Brora) (34-38).

73 J Sangster (Thurso) (38-35), R W Taylor (Wick) (38-35), S R Sutherland (Bonar Bridge) (37-36), A Gunn (Tain) (36-37).

HANDICAP

Class 1 – A Gunn (Tain) (7) 66; S R Sutherland (Bonar Bridge) (6) 67; J O'Brien (Reay) (6), F Groves (Reay) (8) 69; W Murray (Wick) (6) 70.

Class 2 – I Ross (Reay) (12) 69; G MacLeod (Durness) (28), A MacKay (Reay) (12) 70; A Melville (Tain) (12) 73.

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Murray Urquhart to mix


coaching at Spey Valley


with tournament play

Inverness-based former Northern Open champion Murray Urquhart is to combine coaching with his playing career.
As a coach he will work at the Dave Thomas Spey Valley course at Aviemore.
Urquhart, who is 35, told P&J Sports Editor, Alex Martin, "My Challenge Tour ranking is not good enough to be able to commit to a full season and it is the same on the Tartan Tour. But I know, having won the Northern Open a couple of years ago, I can still compete and I will be able to mix competing with my coaching work at Spey Valley."
Urquhart, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, who spent four years at the University of Charleston in South Carolina in the early 1990s after winning the Scottish boys' stroke-play championship, played on the European Tour in 2003.
His father Fraser was also a European Tour player in his day.

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£55million Plans for golf course

at Kingennie Country Resort

FROM THE PRESS AND JOURNAL
By ALISON MIDDLETON
Plans for a £55million championship golf course and golf academy have been unveiled in Angus.
Mike Forbes, of Forbes of Kingennie Country Resort (situated inland between Arbroath and Carnoustie), is leading plans for the development which could create more than 100 jobs.
Ryder Cup player Darren Clarke is backing the project which would see an 18-hole golf course created on farmland between Kingennie and Wellbank.
A five-star hotel and spa are included in the development , while housing will be built on 80 half-acre plots around the perimeter of the golf course.
An application for planning permission is due to be submitted to Angus Council by the end of May.
Mr Forbes said the development will provide a mix of luxury houses along the course's edge and affordable housing mixed with homes on the village perimeter.
He added: "We are thrilled that Darren Clarke is putting his name to and support behind this golf deveopmetn that aims to rival the best in the world.
"We have put together a talented team of experts to design the developemnt, taking account of the existing community and landscape.
"We believe that in addition to the obvious benefits to Angus, this development will significantly enhance the area, which is currently largely agricultural, and provide Wellbank residents, as well as visitors, with outstanding facilities.
"Part of our plans could include road improvements, a network of foopatha to open up the currently inaccessible agricultural land and even investment in the local school.
"We are now at the stage where we can start to consult with the community over the plans and look forward to hearing their views."
The course will be designed by golf course architect Graeme Webster (pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, who has designed several golf courses in the North-east, including Inchmarlo, Meldrum House and Glenisla as well as King's Acre near Edinburgh. He has also designed courses in Germany and, more recently, Norway).
A five-star junior golf academy will be fronted by Tiger Woods' first coach, Rudy Duran, and David Gosling who created the Young Masters Golf programme
Dundee and Angus Chamber of Comnmerce chief executive Alan Mitchell said: "This is a huge investment wich would be a tremendous boost for the area.

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Thursday closing date for Scottish boys' championship entries

Thursday (March 5) is the closing date for entries to the Scottish boys' (match-play) championship to be played over Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's Balgownie links from April 6 to 11.

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Terminator Arnold's plan to put extra tax

on California golf knocked out of bounds

In a victory for California’s golf business and consumers, legislators have rejected a proposed tax on golf-related activities that was intended to help reduce the state’s massive budget deficit.
The California Alliance for Golf, a coalition of state industry leaders, played a key role in defeating the proposal, which was introduced by state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The state is facing a budget deficit of more than $41 billion in the next 18 months.
The proposed golf tax targeted greens fees, practice balls, cart rentals, lessons and private-club membership fees and dues. The tax, which would have increased golf-related costs by as much as 10 percent, was scheduled to take effect on April 1.
Course owners and operators – aside from complaining that the tax unfairly singled out golf – warned that the tax would do more harm than good. An increase in consumer costs would result in less play and lower revenues for courses, which in turn would lead to reduced facility and course maintenance and greater lay-offs, they argued.
Formed in July 2007, the California Alliance for Golf includes participation from the Northern and Southern California golf associations, the PGA of America, private and public course owners, and course managers and superintendents.
Now how long before Gordon Brown and his cash-strapped government think of a tax on golf as a means of raising money? He has taxed just about everything else that moves.

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Graeme Nethercott (left) and his new boss, Deeside Golf Club director of golf Frank Coutts (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency)

Frank Coutts picks Stirling graduate


Graeme Nethercott as assistant pro

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Graeme Nethercott, a 23-year-old Birmingham-born Stirling University graduate, has beaten off worldwide opposition to become Deeside Golf Club director of golf Frank Coutts’ new assistant professional.
Frank’s advertisement on the Professional Golfers Association website for a successor to Nick Reid, who is going to play full-time on the Tartan Tour this year, drew applicants from the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, Finland as well as Britain.
“I was astonished by the response,” said Frank. “It wasn’t easy making a choice because there were a lot of applicants with impressive CVs but Graeme fitted the bill perfectly.”
Nethercott, 6ft 2in son of a banker, was introduced to golf as a three-year-old and played his first 36-hole open when he was only nine years of age and, a year later, played for the junior team at Stoneham Golf Club, Southampton.
By that time the Nethercott family had already moved from Birmingham to Surrey, where Graeme was a junior member of the West Byfleet Golf Club, as father's banking career took him around the country.
“I spent four years at the International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, before coming to Scotland to take a four-year degree course in sport psychology at Stirling University,” said Graeme who had three of a handicap when he turned professional to take the Deeside assistant’s job.
“Frank will be my tutor over the next three years, training me to pass the PGA exams and I’m looking forward to learning the ropes. Coaching, and applying some of the sport psychology things I learned at university, is what really attracted me to golf as a profession.”
Nethercott does hope to play on the North-east Alliance circuit and the Scottish PGA assistants’ tournaments once he settles down.

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Asian Tour's event in India has

prize money slashed by 25%

Indian organisers have slashed the prize money for this month's Asian Tour event by 25 per cent to $300,000 due to upheavals caused by the financial meltdown.
"We have been informed by the sponsors of this," said Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) director Padamjit Sandhu.
"I don't think it will have a big impact in terms of participation," he said.
The SAIL Open, scheduled from March 18-21 near New Delhi, was introduced last year as a $400,000 event with New Zealand's Mark Brown winning his maiden title on the tour.
Indian media reported the hardening of the U.S. dollar against the Indian rupee was one of the reasons for the reduction of the prize purse.
"What has been announced is the minimum surety we are ensuring," Indian golfer Amandeep Johl, who is employed by the tournament organisers, told local media.
"Players need to plan schedules, so it was necessary to confirm the tournament," he said.
"But we are still in talks to get co-sponsors and restore the same prize fund."

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McIlroy wins European Tour Shot

of the Month January Award

Rory McIlroy has been awarded The European Tour Shot of the Month for January for the sublime bunker shot that guaranteed his first professional victory at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Having surged ahead of the field with four consecutive final round birdies between the tenth and 13th holes at the Emirates Golf Club, the 19 year old Northern Irishman looked to have wrapped up his maiden Tour win in supreme style, but three bogeys in a row – coupled with a charging Justin Rose – put McIlroy under the most intense pressure coming down the 72nd and final hole.
The tension was palpable as McIlroy landed his third shot to the par five 18th hole in the bunker at the back of the green, leaving him a treacherous downhill slope to negotiate, with the greenside water hazard threatening to swallow the slightest over-hit bunker shot.
McIlroy took a deep breath and a leap of faith in his gifted ability to produce a sensational stroke, his ball floating out of the trap and landing sweetly on the downslope before releasing towards the hole and coming to rest some two feet from the cup. A simple tap-in was all that was required to secure the first win of his professional career.
Martin Kaymer took second place in the January Shot of the Month for his own brilliant approach to the 18th green during the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic, while third place went to Retief Goosen for his outrageous albatross during the fourth round of the Joburg Open. The South African produced a perfect three iron from no less than 216 yards on the 13th hole of the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to send his home crowd into rapturous applause.
But it is McIlroy who takes the prize for January, making him the first Shot of the Month Award winner for 2009. The European Tour Shot of the Month Award is presented to the Tour Member for the shot judged to be the most outstanding played during each calendar month on The European Tour International Schedule. The winning shots from each month are entered into The European Tour Shot of the Year Award.

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Rory McIlroy will take a preview look

at Augusta National on March 28/29

FROM THE IRISH TIMES WEBSITE
Rory McIlroy has had a change of mind and will now make a reconnaissance trip to Augusta National at the end of this month, which could help him become the youngest champion in the history of the US Masters.
When the 19-year-old makes his debut in the major major of the 2009 season - from April 9th-12th - he will be bidding to become the first debutant to win since Fuzzy Zoeller beat Ed Sneed and Tom Watson in the event’s first sudden-death play-off, 30 years ago.
McIlroy would be just 19 years, 11 months and eight days if he were to land the title at the first attempt. While he had planned to wait until tournament week to see Augusta for the first time, he has changed his mind after discussions with his manager, Chubby Chandler.
He will play the course on March 28th or 29th, before warming up in the following week’s Houston Open.
Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy, who beat McIlroy 2 and 1 in the quarter-finals of the Accenture Matchplay Championship before going on to win the title on Sunday, believes that McIlroy’s decision to ease the awe-factor surrounding Augusta National will make it easier for him to contend in the tournament proper.
“If you go there playing well, I can’t see why he is not going to contend,” Ogilvy said. “The key part is the mental aspect and it will do him good to get there before the tournament.
“It would be a massive disadvantage not to do that, because he gets all that out of the way and, when he turns up in tournament week, he can just go. It is a cool place and it is worth seeing for the first time without anybody there.
“Just going up the driveway and being in the locker-room and under the tree, or the way they announce you going off the first tee with ‘Fore, please’, it is a different kind of deal.
“The history at Augusta is the hardest thing to get your head around, for sure. You can always work a golf course out.”
On average each champion has taken six attempts before winning his first Green Jacket, and even Tiger Woods had to wait until his third visit before he became the youngest Masters champion, at 21 years, three months and 14 days in 1997.
This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times

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