Tartan Tour Scoreboard
DAVID HUISH TESTIMONIAL PRO-AM
North Berwick
Team scores only
Par 71
1 58 David Murchie (Crieff).
2= 61 Fraser Malcolm (North Berwick), Frank Rennie (unatt).
4= 63 Gary Wolstenholme (unatt), Steve Purves (Leeds Castle), Harry Bannerman (Aspire Golf Centre), James Hume (retired).
8= 65 Craig Maltman (Eyemouth), Ian Young (Braid Hills Golf Centre).
10= 66 Bernard Gallacher OBE (Wentworth), David Kirkpatrick (unatt), Neil Coles (unatt), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk), Martyn Huish (North Berwick).
15 67 Jim Farmer (Royal & Ancient Golf Club).
16 68 John McTear (Mar Hall Hotel Golf & Spa).
17 71 Ron Wallace (PGA/Sportscotland Initiative).

Poulter's advice helps Gary Boyd surge to

top of Tusker Kenya Open leaderboard

From Paul Symes, Challenge Tour Press Officer
A sizzling round of 64, and some friendly advice from his compatriot Ian Poulter, helped Englishman Gary Boyd to the top of the leaderboard at the midway stage of the Tusker Kenya Open on the European Challenge Tour.
As part of his winter training schedule Boyd spent a month in America, where he practised alongside flamboyant Ryder Cup star Poulter, who is represented by the same management company.
And the fruits of his labour were evident on another sun-soaked day at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya, as the youngster from Oxfordshire roared into a five-shot lead courtesy of eight birdies and a solitary bogey.
The highlights of Boyd’s round were birdies at the eighth and 14th holes, the two longest par fours on the course, and a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th which took him to 11 under par. That saw him establish a commanding lead over his nearest challengers, European Tour champion Carl Suneson of Spain and South African David Hewan, who shot rounds of 67 and 66 respectively to finish on six under par.
Boyd, who finished runner-up twice in his maiden Challenge Tour campaign, has now targeted the perfect start to his second season, as he bids to secure a place in the top ten of the Rankings which would guarantee him a place in The Race to Dubai next year.
He said: “I got off to a great start with a birdie at the second hole, and then just went on from there. I hit it close today, and managed to hole my fair share of putts. The greens are fairly firm but they’ve held up pretty well so far, which is a credit to the greenkeepers. So there are plenty of birdie opportunities out there, and if I can keep playing well and taking them over the next two days, I’m going to be there or thereabouts come Sunday night.
"A lot depends on the weather, because if the wind gets up it could make life tricky. But if I can get to 16 or 17 under, then I’ll have a great chance. I came here to win and I’ve put myself in a great position, so I’ll be a little disappointed if I don’t now. I played well to finish 23rd in Madeira on The European Tour, so I’m in decent form and my confidence is pretty high.
"I also worked on a few things with my coach in America, and it was great to have Poults there to give me some advice. He’s played on the Challenge Tour before so he knows the ropes, and he also gave me some tips and hints, which was really useful. When someone like that speaks, you tend to listen.”
Overnight leader Søren Juul is in a trio of players one shot behind Suneson and Hewan on five under par. Joining Juul in a tie for fourth on five under par were England’s Andrew Butterfield and Germany’s Max Kramer.
Argentina’s Alan Wagner, currently leading the Rankings, and former Tusker Kenya Open champion Lee James of England were a shot further back on four under par, alongside South African Trevor Fisher junior.
SECOND ROUND SCOREBOARD
131 G Boyd (Eng) 67 64
136 D Hewan (RSA) 70 66, C Suneson (Esp) 69 67
137 S Juul (Den) 66 71, A Butterfield (Eng) 67 70, M Kramer (Ger) 68 69
138 T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 67, L James (Eng) 70 68, A Wagner (Arg) 69 69
139 G Houston (Wal) 71 68, A Marshall (Eng) 67 72
140 A Bernadet (Fra) 70 70, V Riu (Fra) 69 71, M Haastrup (Den) 70 70, C Brazillier (Fra) 71 69, L Moolman (RSA) 68 72
141 G Hutcheon (Sco) 70 71, M Rominger (Sui) 67 74, A Odoh (Ngr) 71 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 70 71, J Grillon (Fra) 70 71, R Coles (Eng) 69 72
142 J Billot (Fra) 72 70, J Forestier (Fra) 72 70, T Ferreira (RSA) 71 71, K Jorgensen (Den) 73 69, J Quesne (Fra) 71 71, A Murray (Irl) 69 73, G Jackson (Eng) 68 74, B Vaughan (RSA) 73 69, T Charamba (Zim) 71 71, E Molinari (Ita) 71 71, J Larsen (Nor) 71 71, J Axgren (Swe) 71 71, M Bremner (RSA) 69 73
143 M Wiegele (Aut) 70 73, A Willey (Eng) 73 70, A Shah (Ken) 70 73, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 70 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 71, C Gane (Eng) 73 70
144 I Pyman (Eng) 71 73, J Morrison (Eng) 72 72, J Sköld (Swe) 68 76, N Cheetham (Eng) 73 71, B Taylor (Eng) 73 71, P Gustafsson (Swe) 68 76, B Miarka (Ger) 75 69, T Cruz (Por) 75 69, P Golding (Eng) 74 70, P O'Keeffe (Irl) 70 74, G Shaw (NIr) 71 73, O Floren (Swe) 71 73, A Haindl (RSA) 72 72
145 A Bruschi (Ita) 76 69, S Walker (Eng) 74 71, M Tullo (Chi) 72 73, A Mellor (Eng) 73 72, K Brink (Swe) 74 71, F Calmels (Fra) 71 74, R Cairns (Zim) 72 73, A McArthur (Sco) 69 76, L Bond (Wal) 69 76, J Kiondo (Ken) 75 70
146 C Aguilar (Esp) 74 72, J Clément (Sui) 78 68, B Alvarado (Chi) 76 70, J Little (Eng) 76 70, D Wakhu (Ken) 72 74, M Reale (Ita) 73 73, G Murray (Sco) 76 70
147 R Harris (Eng) 74 73, M Bothma (RSA) 71 76, L Brovold (Nor) 71 76, G Coetzee (RSA) 76 71, S Robinson (Eng) 71 76, K Sullivan (Wal) 72 75, G Molteni (Ita) 69 78, J Guerrier (Fra) 75 72, L De Jager (RSA) 69 78, S Jeppesen (Swe) 71 76, T Whitehouse (Eng) 77 70
148 D Küpper (Ger) 77 71, S Bebb (Wal) 76 72, J McLeary (Sco) 73 75, R Santos (Por) 72 76, O David (Fra) 70 78, D Indiza (Ken) 72 76, A Gee (Eng) 73 75, M Mills (Eng) 74 74, P Whiteford (Sco) 71 77, N Rokoine (Ken) 74 74, P Njiru (Ken) 71 77, R Treis (Ger) 76 72, N Meitinger (Ger) 73 75, R Russell (Sco) 77 71
149 J Kagiri (Ken) 70 79, N Fox (Irl) 73 76, N Maestroni (Ita) 72 77, H Thethy (Ken) 77 72, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 73 76, D Froreich (Ger) 75 74, L Saltman (Sco) 78 71, S Thornton (Irl) 74 75, J Heath (Eng) 75 74, T Dykes (Wal) 73 76, G Snow (Ken) (am) 75 74, S Andersen (Ken) (am) 75 74
150 R Karlberg (Swe) 75 75, K Timbe (Ken) 74 76, F Praegant (Aut) 80 70, M Curtis (Zim) 72 78, S Saavedra (Arg) 73 77
151 L Kennedy (Eng) 72 79, A Hansen (Den) 77 74, A Cruse (RSA) 72 79, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 77 74, M McGeady (Irl) 76 75, A Kimani (Ken) 79 72, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 78 73
152 B Evans (Eng) 73 79
153 D Griffiths (Eng) 78 75, J Baptista (Rwa) 74 79, G Gresse (Bel) 78 75, J Ruth (Eng) 78 75, L Westerberg (Swe) 80 73, C Russo (Fra) 74 79, G Giddie (Ken) (am) 79 74
154 A Högberg (Swe) 73 81, J Lorum (Ken) 74 80, R Steiner (Aut) 77 77
155 J Okello (Ken) 81 74, A Shah (Ken) 78 77, R Steele (Eng) 79 76, K Phiri (Zam) 78 77, B Nyenza (Tza) 80 75, D Odhiambo (Ken) 75 80, D Marmion (Eng) 73 82
156 C Russell (Eng) 77 79, K Abuto (Ken) 80 76, R Charania (Ken) 80 76
157 O Suhr (Den) 80 77, B Mason (Eng) 80 77, G Oyebanji (Ngr) 76 81, M Pilkington (Wal) 80 77, C Williams (RSA) 78 79, R Ainley (Ken) 77 80
158 M Griffiths (Wal) 82 76, N Brennan (Zam) 80 78
159 A Kamya (Uga) 77 82
160 S Ngigi (Ken) 80 80, G Ayella (Uga) 77 83
161 R De Sousa (Sui) 79 82, C Thethy (Ken) 81 80

Armstrong in awe of

Booth driving eight

Craigmillar par-4s

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER, Edinburgh Evening News golf writer
Former professional Steven Armstrong (pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency) reckons he's got his work cut out these days to make his presence felt in Scotland's top amateur events.
The Turnhouse star played in both the Scottish Champion of Champions at Leven and the Craigmillar Park Open, securing a top-10 finish in the latter. But, after closing with two excellent rounds of 68 and 65 in the Scottish Order of Merit event, he admitted:
"To have a chance, I've got to be playing 100 per cent over four rounds while the likes of Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth can play slightly less than that and still win."
Like many others, Armstrong was astonished by some of the big-hitting on display in the Capital last weekend, the power stakes being spearheaded by the muscular Booth.
"I heard Wallace saying that he could drive eight of the par-4s and that's quite astonishing," he added. "These guys hit the ball miles now and, in all honestly, the advancement in golf club technology these days is just ridiculous."
Next up for Armstrong is the forthcoming Lothians Championship, an event he won in 2004, while he's hoping to get into the St Andrews Links Trophy later in the season.
"I might also play in the Scottish Amateur Championship, which is being played this year at Royal Troon," he added.
Meanwhile, rising Lothians star James Ross reckons his work with Stephen Bryan, the professional at Royal Burgess, is really starting to pay off as far as getting a few extra yards are concerned.
While disappointed with his putting display at Craigmillar Park – the 19-year-old never managed better than 34 putts in four rounds – Ross was delighted with his ball striking.
"I'm finally starting to hit the ball a bit farther and that's down to the work I've been doing with Stephen," he said."That means I can compete in events like these and the only thing which let me down last weekend was my putting, which is normally the strength of my game."
Ross will now compete in the Edward Trophy, the next Scottish Order of Merit event, at Glasgow Gailes at the end of the month before trying to go one better in the Lothians Championship, having lost to Mark Hillson in the final two years ago.
Hillson and Keith Young, meanwhile, have been replaced by Graham Robertson and Graham Davidson in the Lothians team for this Sunday's friendly against Borders at Haddington.
CHARITY DAY AT MUIRFIELD
Entries are being welcomed for a charity golf day at Muirfield later in the year.
The event, on October 22, is being held by The Lin Berwick Trust with Ken Wood, the current Lothians District president, as its organiser.
"Judging by charity days held at Muirfield in recent years, it is advisable to apply early as, in all cases, they have been oversubscribed," said Wood.
The cost to enter a a team of four is £1,000 and entries can be made to Ken Wood on 01620 823620.
TOP PSYCHOLOGIST'S LECTURE
Top sports psychologist Karl Morris' public lecture at the Braid Hills Hotel has been moved back 24 hours to next Wednesday, starting at 6.30pm.

Does anyone else think that Tiger

was a rank bad loser in Masters?

FROM THE TIMESONLINE WEBSITE
By John Hopkins
Am I alone in thinking that Tiger Woods was rude and ungracious at the Masters last Sunday? He was curt in his handshake with Phil Mickelson, his playing partner, brief in his comments to reporters and disrespectful to his competitors when he described his play.
"I fought my swing all day and just kind of band-aided it and almost won the tournament," he said. One possible translation of that last statement could be: even with a band-aid on my swing I almost won the tournament, which is hardly complimentary to his rivals.
Woods' words contrasted jarringly with those of Kenny Perry, who was beaten in a play-off for a major championship for the second time. Perry, 48, was so far from being curt, brief in his comments to reporters and disrespectful to his competitors that his comments deserve to be described as remarkable.
"If this is the worst that happens to me, I can live with it," Perry said. "Great players get it done and Angel [Cabrera] got it done. This is the second major he's won. I've blown two but that's the only two chances I have had of winning."
Woods, presumably, was furious because he finished four strokes out of a play-off and it meant that another year had gone by without his winning a green jacket. His last victory was in 2005. But that does not justify him leaving the course in the way he did.
Woods's reaction will be explained away by those for whom he can do no wrong.
"It was terrible. I just didn't know what was going on. It was frustrating," he said. Woods was quoted as saying that he had been one yard out all week, "and a yard out around here means you end up 40 feet away," Jaime Diaz, an American journalist with Golf Digest, reported. Clearly he was referring to his poor putting. Woods took 122 putts, more than all but three of his 50 rivals.
He also hit two pull hook drives, one on the eighth on Saturday and an even worse one from the first tee on Sunday when his ball finished 100 yards off line, not just on the adjoining 9th fairway but quite close to the 8th fairway. As well as getting a par on the 18th only once, he hit a number of really bad shots.
After a 72 in his second round Woods gave Hank Haney, his swing coach, an earful on the practice ground. Steve Williams, Woods' caddie and no shrinking violet himself, walked away when Haney arrived, knowing what was about to happen. Might we be seeing the beginning of the end of the Haney and Woods relationship?
So the question here is this: where was Woods's grace under pressure? If Phil Mickelson could be courteous after he had failed to win, why couldn't Woods?
"Playing with Tiger was fun" Mickelson said. "We've had some good matches. I always enjoy it." If Kenny Perry could make such generous comments, couldn't Woods have done rather better than he did?
It was timely to read a correspondent responding to an item about Woods in last week's Spike Bar. "I am concerned at his lack of charm when interviewed," Julian from London wrote. "Is he a champion of his sport as Shane Warne is in his? Warne is never one to decline an autograph or coach youngsters. Which is the greater champion?"
Woods rightly attracts a following that far exceeds those who play and watch golf. In the story about the Emperor and his clothes, the little boy is the only one who points out that the Emperor is naked.
Given the huge following for Woods and the general reluctance to criticise a man of such astonishing talent, we might be made to feel a little like the small boy in that story. But we felt it was worth pointing out nonetheless.

+Send your E-mails to Colin@scottishgolfview.com if you have strong views either way about Tiger Woods' "conduct" at the Masters.

Korean Choi goes two shots clear at

halfway in Volvo China Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Korean golfer Choi Ho-sung produced four birdies over the back nine to establish a two stroke lead after a second round 67 in the Volvo China Open today.
Choi only started playing at the age of 26, and was 28 before he turned professional.
“I turned pro in 2001 when I was 28, so very late and I am very pleased to participate in this tournament. I feel this course suits me, I feel like it’s my course,” he said.
On an afternoon that saw several names at the top of the leaderboard including the English trio of Nick Dougherty, Simon Dyson and Richard Finch, it was some inspired putting which put Choi in front on six under.
Chapchai Nirat and 2007 winner Markus Brier share second on four under, while Irishman Paul McGinley fired a sparkling 67 to climb to three under alongside Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño in a tie for fourth.
Dyson and Finch finished two under after rounds of 73 and 71, respectively, while Dougherty struggled over the back nine, coming home in 43 to sign for a 79 and three over.
Brier held a one stroke advantage overnight on five under but a pair of bogey fives at the first two holes saw the Austrian slip down the leaderboard.
That allowed Dyson to join Nirat, who had carded a morning 71, and Brier, who had overcome his inauspicious start, at the top of the pile.
It proved a brief stay for the man from York, however, as he recorded a triple bogey 7 at the 11th.
And, although he pulled a shot back at the 13th, a double bogey at the 14th when he found the water compounded Dyson's misery.
Finch moved to five-under and first place outright with birdies at the 12th and 13th following but he could not hold on to his advantage either as some poor chipping led to a double bogey at the 14th and that was followed by another dropped shot at the 15th.
That gave Choi the chance to establish an unexpected lead and after the 35 year old made a crucial par save on the 12th having birdied the previous two holes, he rolled in a ten footer for birdie on the 13th and from the fringe on the 14th to move to seven under.
A bogey at the 15th brought him back to within two of the chasing pack but the Korean was satisfied he hung in after a poor start that saw him drop a shot at the first hole.
"I three putted the first hole and then I had to work hard for the rest of my round and I'm going to take that through the rest of the tournament," he said.
Starting at the tenth, McGinley had taken advantage of benign morning conditions to sink five birdies over his opening nine holes before playing the last nine in level par to leap into contention.
"I played pretty well yesterday but putted really, really poorly. I played pretty much the same but putted fantastically, that's the difference. A 74 yesterday, 67 today, just shows the difference," he said.
"The greens are firm and slopey, you have to be very precise with your distance control.
"If you can hit between ten and 14 greens around here, I think you've played very well and then the big key is to putt well, which fortunately I did."
“The conditions were more difficult plus I made it more difficult for myself, especially at the beginning of the round because I had problems getting my irons on line so I missed a lot of the greens at the start of the day,” said Brier.
“But after making two bogeys at the start I managed to recover and keep it together. It could have gone much worse.”
Dyson birdied the 15th and 17th to remain in the hunt and was relatively pleased despite his troubles coming home.
"I hit one bad tee shot, made seven, and then I was a bit unlucky with my second shot on 14. I had a bit of mud on my ball which took it straight left into the water," he said.
"I dropped five shots in two holes and shot one over so bar that, it was a pretty good day. I played really nice."
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Beijing CBD International Golf Club,
Beijing, China
Par 144 (2 x 72)
138 Ho-sung Choi (Kor) 70 68
140 Markus Brier (Aut) 67 73, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 69 71
141 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 70, Paul McGinley 74 67
142 David McKenzie (Aus) 68 74, Richard Finch 71 71, Simon Dyson 69 73
143 Scott Strange (Aus) 70 73, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 74 69, Graeme Storm 72 71
144 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 72 72, Aaron Townsend (Aus) 73 71, Won-Kyoung Heo (Kor) 72 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 73 71, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 70 74
145 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 72, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 72 73, Branden Grace (Rsa) 72 73, Scott Drummond 75 70, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 75, Simon Wakefield 76 69, Stephen Dodd 74 71, Craig Scott (Aus) 71 74, David Dixon 72 73, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 72 73
146 Damien McGrane 72 74, James Kingston (Rsa) 73 73, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 72 74, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 75 71, Kyung-nam Kang (Kor) 76 70, Johan Edfors (Swe) 74 72, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 73, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 74 72, A-Shun Wu (Chn) 74 72, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 72 74, Kurt Barnes (Aus) 76 70, Jae Hoon Jung (Kor) 75 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 73, Ashley Hall (Aus) 75 71, Ki joon Song (Aus) 71 75, Chris Wood 72 74, Gareth Maybin 76 70, Colin Montgomerie 73 73, Brett Rumford (Aus) 74 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 76 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 74 72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 75
147 Richard Bland 76 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 76 71, David Gleeson (Aus) 74 73, Wi-joong Kim (Kor) 75 72, Nick Dougherty 68 79, Andrew Coltart 74 73, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 72 75, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn) 73 74, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 76 71, Kyong-jun Moon (Kor) 73 74, Matthew Millar (Aus) 70 77, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 74 73
148 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 77, Chris Gaunt (Aus) 74 74, Paul Waring 72 76, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 74 74, Mark Brown (USA) 71 77, Jun Zhou (Chn) 76 72, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 75 73, Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 73 75, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 76, Michael Long (Nzl) 73 75, Miles Tunnicliff 74 74, Pablo Martin (Spa) 75 73
MISSED THE CUT
149 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 76 73, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 73 76, Sung-hoon Kang (Kor) 77 72, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 78 71, Wei-Huang Wu (Tpe) 73 76, Peter Lawrie 72 77, Barry Lane 74 75
150 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 73 77, Zane Scotland 77 73, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 75 75, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 73 77, Jason King (Aus) 75 75, Tim Wood (Aus) 76 74, David Frost (Rsa) 76 74, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 77 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 75, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 77 73, Tae hee Lee (Kor) 75 75, Anthony Brown (Aus) 75 75, Jian Hou (Chn) 72 78, Seung Ho Lee (Kor) 76 74
151 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 79 72, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 78 73, Jae-woong Eom (Kor) 78 73, Ryan Haller (Aus) 77 74, Seve Benson 78 73, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 76 75, Gui Ming Liao (Chn) 78 73, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 74 77
152 Anthony Summers (Aus) 76 76, Zhi-peng Fan (Chn) 74 78, Michael Moore (Aus) 78 74
153 Anton Haig (Rsa) 75 78, Ming-chuan Chen (Tpe) 79 74, Kang-Chun Wu (Chn) 78 75
154 Scott Laycock (Aus) 77 77, Shin-Ching Chan (Tpe) 74 80, Kyung-sool Kang (Kor) 77 77, Stuart Bouvier (Aus) 75 79, Ji-Ho Jung (Kor) 75 79, Gary Murphy 76 78, Hao Yuan (Chn) 76 78, Dong Su (Chn) 73 81, Chao Li (Chn) 75 79
155 Robert Dinwiddie 74 81, An-Da Liu (Chn) 82 73, Guo-Jie Liu (Tpe) 74 81, Adam Crawford (Aus) 76 79, Justin Evans 81 74, Xiao Xuan Xing (Chn) 74 81, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 75 80, Wen-yi Huang (Chn) 78 77, Lei Shang (Tpe) 79 76, Qin Xu (Chn) 75 80
156 Zhi-Jin Xiao (Tpe) 76 80, Tristan Lambert (Aus) 80 76, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 81 75, Yong-liang Shao (Chn) 83 73, Peter Wilson (Aus) 76 80, Xiao-ma Chen (Chn) 80 76
157 An-lin Liu (Chn) 76 81, Qing Liu (Chn) 77 80, Tae-hyun Jun (Kor) 79 78
158 Wei-Tze Yeh (Tai) 80 78, Terry Price (Aus) 82 76, Myung-ho Kwon (Kor) 77 81
159 Ming Jie Huang (Chn) 81 78
160 Xin-jun Zhang (Chn) 80 80, Xin Liu (Chn) 78 82
161 Shu Tao Gu (Chn) 81 80, Cui-Lin Gu (Chn) 79 82, Michael Curtain (Aus) 80 81, Wei-hai Kong (Chn) 85 76
162 Wei Huo (Chn) 82 80, Wen-xu Lu (Chn) 79 83, Yu-xiang Liu (Chn) 80 82
163 Shu-xin Chen (Chn) 85 78, Shao-cai He (Chn) 83 80, Ji-man Kang (Kor) 81 82
164 Tian Yuan (Chn) 85 79

GOLF BOOK

A hacker's quest to break par

within 12 months .... Dream

On is John Richardson's story

Take a hacker who can't break 100 and make him break par on a championship course - all within a year? Dream On …
Meet John Richardson, a regular bloke with a wife, daughter and demanding full-time job, who enjoys a round of golf in his spare time. That is until he decides to see whether he can make a "random fantasy" a reality by taking a whopping 33 strokes off his handicap and shooting a level par round or better WITHIN A YEAR.
With no natural golf talent, precious little time and no fitness level to speak of, can he pull it off while keeping those at home and at work happy?
"Dream on," suggests Sam Torrance. Try three years, not one, proposes Darren Clarke. They are sentiments shared by, well, pretty much everyone!
However, not one to throw in the clubs before he 's started, Richardson remains resolute and so begins an exhausting but exhilarating year of living, breathing, eating and sleeping golf.
From one-to-one coaching to late nights in golfing chat-rooms, from learning the mental game to reading 60 golf books and practically every golfing magazine available, from spending too much money on another set of "guaranteed to improve your game" clubs to more than 1,000 hours practising on the range, Richardson tries it all in his quest for success.
Does he play the game of his life and break par at the end of it?
To find out you will have to read the book .
A roller-coaster ride from beginning to end, Dream On is a story of disbelief and determiniation, trauma and triumph. Well-written, funny and inspirational, it is a must for any golfer who dreams of improving his or her game.
The author.
John Richards worked for more than 15 years in the coffee bar and restaurant industry, at one time running the largest sandwich business in Ireland. He used this experience to write The Coffee Boys' Step-by-Step Gude to Setting up and Managing your own Coffee Bar.
A keen golfer, he lives with his wife and daughter in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
Dream On - One Hacker's Challenge to Break Par in a Year (by John Richardson) will be published on May 28 (paperback £9.99) by Blackstaff Press, one of Ireland's foremost publishers.

All systems go for Murcia Senior Men's

Open week at Hacienda del Alamo

By KEITH HOWIE
Following last year’s highly successful inaugural Murcia Seniors Open Week at the five-star Spanish golf resort of Hacienda del Alamo, it is all systems go for this year's programme, to be staged from October 18 to 25.
Scottish Seniors Golfing Society captain Gordon MacDonald has had recent meetings with Hacienda del Alamo Director of Golf Billy Sim to produce a package which at least matches the terms offered last year.
Ian Brotherston (Dumfries and County) expects to defend his singles title and also the doubles with partner George Rodaks (Moffat). Many of the other top names in Scottish seniors golf have already committed, determined to wrest the trophies away from the Doonhamer.
Entry priority will be given to SSGS members but we have arranged to increase the field of players to 90. We are therefore able to take enquiries from non-members with handicaps of 12.4 and below on the understanding that they may have to give way to existing members.
Initial reservations should be by email to Gordon MacDonald gordon@corriemar.demon.co.uk
After the 2008 event we surveyed the members who were there. Suggestions coming out of the survey have been reviewed and implemented where appropriate.
You can download an entry form/flier here or from the SSGS website www.scottishseniorsgolf.com and send with your deposit to the address shown.
Entries close on June 30, after which any numbers shortfall will be supplemented by Spanish members.