Alan Tait tries again with

a Scottish mini-tour

FROM THE SCOTSMAN NEWSPAPER
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Alan Tait has a spring back in his step and rightly so. A few weeks after being dealt a devastating blow when he was fined by the PGA and asked to resign from the Scottish Region committee, the director of golf at Marriott Dalmahoy, pictured right, has picked himself up in a way his many friends and colleagues would, no doubt, have been expecting.
He's launching a new Scottish golf tour that will be open to both PGA and non-PGA professionals and is confident a schedule that will consist of seven 36-hole events this year will blossom into something much bigger in years to come.
The Xltec Pro Golf Tour, which will visit Whitekirk, Hilton Park, Dalmahoy, Westerwood, Spey Valley and Dundonald before culminating with an event at Hacienda Del Alamo Golf Rest, near the city of Murcia in south-east Spain, will be a self-funding circuit.
The professionals will play for their own money, having coughed up an entry fee of £100 per event to generate an estimated £10,000 prize fund at each Scottish venue. They won't get rich overnight but that's not the aim.
The leading 10 players at the end of the first six events, plus invitees, will compete in an all-expenses-paid, 36-hole pro-am at Hacienda del Alamo Golf Reosrt with a minimum prize fund of 12,500 Euros.
Scot Billy Sim is the director of golf at Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort.
As was the case ten years ago when Tait launched the 2000+ Tour, a similar venture, it's about trying to give Scottish professionals more opportunities to cut their competitive teeth without having to fork out lots of money they probably can't afford for travel.
These days, we have the Alps and EPD Tours as well, both of which consist of events entirely on the continent. As for the Great Britain & Ireland-based PGA EuroPro Tour, a number of its events are in southern England.
"I said ten years ago when I set up the 2000+ Tour I felt there weren't enough playing opportunities in Scotland for our professionals, especially the younger, less experienced ones," said Tait.
"My views have not changed. In fact, the way things have been economically in recent times, there is probably even less opportunity for tournament golf than there was in Scotland in 2000. It also worries me that more and more of our young professionals are heading south to take part in similar Tours, which is financially crippling for them but are happy nonetheless to make that sacrifice in order to get more competitive tournament golf under their belts."
Paul Lawrie and Andrew Coltart are backing the new Tour. Both have vowed to play in some events if their European Tour schedules permit. Also on board are 110 Sport, the Stirling-based management company which has Marc Warren, Alastair Forsyth, Paul O'Hara and George Murray on its books.
They see the new circuit as a "great opportunity in an ongoing strategy for golf development". Some, of course, will see this as Tait's way at getting back at the PGA, having been left feeling devastated by the aforementioned punishment for his part in a young professional having been deemed to have been in breach of the training procedure.
It has been in the pipeline for some time, however, after Tait was approached by Xltec Solutions Ltd, an office equipment company based in Cumbernauld.
What's more, in addition to the fact he's made a promise that none of his events will clash with any PGA tournaments, Tait also had the decency to meet with Michael MacDougall, the Scottish Region secretary, last week to discuss the plans in full.
"I'm still a PGA member and Michael is now aware of our focus and commitment," said Tait, who is being assisted with the running of the Tour by Nigel Scott Smith, a close friend and fellow PGA pro who runs the Palacerigg Family Golf Centre in Lanarkshire.
"I hope at some point soon or, indeed, the future there may be a possibility that we will work with the PGA, which would be the icing on the cake for the development of the Tour.
"Players will pay £40 to join the new circuit, which is scheduled to get underway at Whitekirk on March 25-26. Events will also be held in April (Hilton Park), May (Dalmahoy), July (Westerwood), September (Spey Valley) and October (Dundonald).
The top ten players on the money-list – 'The Race to Spain' if you like – will be invited to take part in an all-expenses paid pro-am at Hacienda Del Alamo in November, when there will be a guaranteed prize fund of 12,500.
"When I dabbled by starting up the 2000+ Tour it was the wrong time," recalled Tait. "It was still frowned upon then for pros to be playing for their own money and it was not supported as I thought it might have been.
"At the start, 130 pros joined and 110 played in the first event. But the PGA then came out and said it didn't condone that sort of event and the field halved overnight as the pros got nervous about it.
"Things have changed now, though. There are mini-Tours like this in Britain and all over Europe. Scotland is crying out for something like this and, three years from now, I see this Tour comprising of 20-22 events. I think it will really take off."
He could be right. The circuit is already proving a talking point among fellow pros on Facebook.

2010 XLTEC PRO TOUR DATES
March 25-26: Whitekirk.
April 28-29: Hilton Park.
May 25-26: Marriott Dalmahoy.
July 28-29: Westerwood.
September 28-29: Spey Valley
October 6-7: Dundonald Links.
November 4-7: Hacienda del Alamo.

Rookie Fowler is flowering on US PGA Tour
Believe it or not, Rory McIlroy wasn't the outstanding player on show when Royal County Down staged the Walker Cup in 2007. As McIlroy misfired somewhat in that event – he registered one-and-a-half points from four matches in front of an expectant home crowd – the player who really caught the eye was another mop-haired youngster called Rickie Fowler.
As McIlroy was emerging last year as golf's brightest young star, Fowler was still at college and got another Walker Cup under his belt, winning all four of his matches as the Americans retained the trophy at Merion.
Having chalked up four top tens in eight events on the US PGA Tour since turning professional and already up to 77th in the world, Fowler is clearly something special, though be warned if you've not actually clapped eyes on him yet as this young man possibly has the brightest wardrobe golf has ever seen.
+The above article is published in The Scotsman newspaper today.