Now Tiger loses his "wheels" arrangement with GM

Car-making giant General Motors (GM) has said an arrangement that allowed troubled golf star Tiger Woods free access to its vehicles is over.
The world's No 1 golfer had an endorsement contract with GM's Buick brand, but that ended in 2008.
However, an arrangement remained that allowed him to keep several GM motors on loan. A company spokesman has now said the deal ended at the end of 2009.
Woods has lost a number of endorsements since crashing his car on 27 November.
A GM spokesman said the loan arrangement had previously been scheduled to end on December 31. But for the sudden revelation of Tiger's catastrophic image -wrecker, there can be no question that General Motors would have continued the grace-and-favour gesture.

Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance Scoreboard
GULLANE No 3 COMPETITION

JOHN GLEN TROPHY
Overall winner: Ian Wyse (Falkirk Tryst) 63 (better inward half)

LEADING SCRATCH
1 Mike Thomson (Torwoodlee) (am) 65 (£100 voucher).
2 Scott Catlin (Greenburn) (pro) 66 (£70).
2 Scott Grieve (Turnhouse) (pro) 66 (£7o).
4 Mark Chaplin (Deerk Park) (am) 67 (£30 voucher).
4 Neil Colquhoun (Merchants of Edinburgh) (pro) 67 (£30).

LEADING AMATEUR
63 Ian Wyse (Falkirk Tryst) (11) (£90 voucher) better inward half.
63 Gordon Brown (Baberton) (13) (£90 voucher).
64 David Graham (Lochend) (5) (£60 voucher).]
65 William Laing (Prestonfield) (6) (£30 voucher).
65 Jim Greenan (Duddingston) (10) (£30 voucher).

TRAINEE PRO PRIZE
68 Alan Mackay (Pumpherston) (£20).

SENIOR PRIZES
66 Gordon Bell (Gullane) (3) (£10 voucher).
66 John Denham (Torwoodlee) (6) (£10 voucher).

REPORTS FROM US SATELLITE TOURS

Jimmy Gunn misses Arizona cut, Russell Knox trailing in Florida Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn missed the 36-hole cut by a wide margin after an uncharacteristic second round of six-over-par 78 today for a five-over-par tally of 149 in this week's Gateway Tour event at Trilogy Golf Club, Vistancia near Phoenix, Arizona. Gunn's troubles began during his first round, even though he returned a one-under 71. From the 14th hole on the first day to the 11th hole in his second round, Gunn was nine over par for the 15 consecutive holes, including a triple bogey 7 at the 10th. Russell Knox, the other Scot who campaigns on a American satellite tour, looks like having a smaller than usual take-home pay packet this week from the Hooters Tour event at Forest Lake Golf Club, Ocoee in Florida. Because of a frost-delayed start on Tuesday, Knox was unable to finish his first round until today and a one-over-par 72, which included a double bogey 5 at the short sixth, put him well down the leaderboard on this highly competitive circuit. Knox did make up some ground with a second-round 68 but a two-under-par tally of 140 going into the third and final round left him six shots behind a quartet of players sharing the lead on eight-under-par 134.

North-east Alliance season resumes at Peterhead

Kevin Duncan's 69 gives him a six-shot

victory in bleak conditions for field of 48

Ellon's Kevin Duncan, a former US college circuit player, scored a runaway win from a smaller than usual field of 48 when the North-east Golfers' Alliance season resumed in cold, windy and overcast conditions at Peterhead today, writes Colin Farquharson.
Scratch player Duncan, pictured right, who was a student for a spell at Clayton State University, Atlanta, won by six shots – one of the biggest Alliance winning margins on record – with a one-under-par round of 69, very good scoring in the bleak weather which persuaded half the prospective field to stay at home.
He birdied the fourth, eighth, 17^th and 18^th in halves of 33 and 36. His three bogeys came at the 10th, 12 th and 13^th.
Runner-up on 75 was Scottish seniors' match-play champion George Paterson (Northern) whose only two birdies came at the fourth and eighth in halves of 37 and 38.
Former Aberdeen Links champion Barry Brooks (Meldrum House) was the long-time leader with a 76 (39-37), which included an 8 at the seventh where he incurred a two-stroke penalty for playing off the wrong tee.
Brooks eventually finished joint third with Scott Larkin (Banchory), another former US college circuit player, and Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon). Larkin's halves were 39 and 37, Dunton's 37 and 39.
Leading scores (par 70)
SCRATCH
69 K Duncan (McDonald Ellon).
75 G H Paterson (Northern).
76 S Larkin (Banchory), B Brooks (Meldrum House), A Dunton (McDonald Ellon).
77 P McIntosh (Newburgh), M Merchant (Newmachar), F Bisset (Banchory).
78 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum), C Cassie (Nigg Bay), S Finnie (Caledonian), D Clark (Duff House Royal).

79 B Harper (Newburgh), R Lamb (Newmachar).

80 H Roulston (Stonehaven).

81 C Carnegie (Kemnay), R Pirie (Caledonian), J Scott (Peterculter).

82 W Skene (Deeside).

83 J Borthwick (Craibstone), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), K Beveridge (Aboyne), Laura Murray (Alford).

84 N Parker (Murcar Links), D Bisset (Banchory).

85 A J Smith (Turriff), S Kennedy (Craibstone), M Forster (Cruden Bay), D Nelson (Aboyne).

87 R Brown (Craibstone), M Booth (Kemnay), D MacKay (Newmachar).

88 D Townsley (Peterculter), G Homer (Lumphanan).

HANDICAP

Class 1 – K Duncan (McDonald Ellon) (scr) 69; P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (6), M Merchant (Newmachar) (5) 72; B Harper (Newburgh) (6), C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (5), P McIntosh (Newburgh) (4) 73; W Skene (Deeside) (8) 74; H Rouslton (Stonehaven) (5), R Lamb (Newmachar) (4), G H Paterson (Northern) (scr), F Bisset (Banchory) (2) 75; J Borthwick (Craibstone) (7), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) (7) 76; B Brooks (Meldrum House) (+1), C Carnegie (Kemnay) (4), D Clark (Duff House Royal) (1) 77..
Class 2 – J Scott (Peterculter) (10) 71; D Townsley (Peterculter) (15), S Kennedy (Craibstone) (12) 73; M Brown (Craibstone) (18), R Brown (Craibstone) (12), M Booth (Kemnay) (12), N Parker (Murcar Links) (9), D Bisset (Banchory) (9) 75.


LEADING SCORECARDS
Peterhead par is 70: OUT 4-3-4-4-4-3-4-5-4--35; IN 3-4-4-4-4-4-3-4-5--35

KEVIN DUNCAN 69
OUT 4-3-4-3-4-3-4-4-4--33. IN 4-4-5-5-4-4-3-3-4--36
GEORGE PATERSON 75
OUT 4-3-5-3-5-4-4-4-5--37. IN 3-4-4-5-5-4-4-4-5--38
BARRY BROOKS 76
OUT 4-3-6-3-3-3-8-4-5--39. IN 4-4-4-5-4-4-3-4-5--37
SCOTT LARKIN 76
OUT 6-3-5-5-4-2-6-4-4--39. IN 3-6-4-4-5-4-3-4-4--37
ADAM DUNTON 76
OUT 5-4-4-5-5-3-4-4-3--37. IN 4-4-5-5-4-4-3-4-6--39

Next Wednesday's competition is at Montrose.

ends

Max Williams retains Qatar amateur championship

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Max Williams, 19, from Surrey has retained the 54-hole Qatar men's amateur championship at Doha Golf Club but needed a sudden-death play-off to do it.
This time the Cuddington player beat Surrey colleague Alex Christie, 24, after the pair had finished tied on 219, three over par.
A year ago over the same course, Williams beat 22-year-old Steven Brown in extra time to lift the title. This time Brown from Wentworth finished third on 224 in what was a virtual Surrey takeover.
“I am delighted to have successfully defended the title in Doha,” said Williams. “The course played well and the weather was perfect.”
A Williams victory did not look likely after the first round in which he shot 80 to trail the leader by seven shots. But a second-round 71 followed by a brilliant closing 68 saw Williams catch Tyrrells Wood-based Christie, who fired three rounds of 73.
Apart from the title and the trophy, Williams also gets an invitation to the Qatar Masters European Tour event, starting on January 28.

Australian Master of the Amateurs

Yarra Yarra Golf Club, Melbourne

LEADING THIRD ROUND TEAM TOTALS

427 AUSTRALIA (Jordan Sherratt 66 74 70: 210, Matt Jager 74 72 71: 217).

435 UNITED STATES (Bud Cauley 76 65 74: 215, Morgan Hoffman 73 73 74: 220).

439 NEW ZEALAND (Ryan Fox 75 71 73: 219, Andrew Stewart 75 70 75: 220).

445 ENGLAND (Matt Haines 72 73 75: 220, Tommy Fleetwood 83 71 71: 225).

453 EUROPE (Victor Dubuisson 72 70 72: 214, Alexandre Kleszcz 76 75 88: 239).

466 SOUTH AFRICA (J G Claassen 76 79 74: 229, Leon Knoll 73 83 81: 237).

LEADING INDIVIDUALS

Par 216 (3x72)

210 Jordan Sherratt (Australia) 66 74 70.

212 Kieran Platt (Australia) 67 72 73.

214 Victor Dubuisson (France) 72 70 72.

215 Bud Cauley (US) 76 65 74.

Monty could be giving Americans the Ryder Cup jitters already

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
There are a good few months to the Ryder Cup match in the autumn at Celtic Manor ... but are the Americans as a golfing nation getting jittery already.
Why do I ask?
Well, Alan Shipnuck, Senior Writer on the Sports Illustrated staff, writing on the Golf.com website had this to say in his summing up of the European Royal Trophy victory over Asia last weekend:

"In front of the home crowd, the overachiever from Thailand (Thongchoi Jaidee) had a chance to win his singles match against Henrik Stenson and send the Royal Trophy into sudden death, but Jaidee missed a 12-footer on the 18th hole, handing the Trophy to Europe.
"The worst part? Having Europe's smarmy captain, Colin Montgomerie, gloat about what this means vis-a-vis the Ryder Cup."

Now, Monty can be many things but "smarmy" is not one that comes readily to mind.
Is this the first pop shot by the American media at OUR Ryder Cup captain?
I shall keep my eyes peeled for more of the same as I trawl the US golf websites.

Any comments? You can E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Great start for Scots: Bain, Dunn

on 68, Booth, Harper 20th on 69

Wallace Booth and Lee Harper have both made a flying start to the Asian Tour Final Qualifying School in Thailand. They both 69s over the par-72 Springfield course to be lying joint 20th overall in a combined field of 169 players. All in all it was a good day for the Scots - Ross Bain and Simon Dunn both hit the 68 mark, also over the Jack Nicklaus-designed Springfield lay-out.

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ASIAN TOUR
Hua Hin, Thailand: Japanese duo Katsumune Imai and Masaki Sakata shared the first round limelight alongside Englishman Mark Foster and Han Seung-su of Korea at the 2010 Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage presented by Sports Authority of Thailand on Wednesday.
The quartet, who all played at the par-72 Springfield Royal Country Club, posted matching seven-under-par 65s to open up a one-stroke lead.
Sam Osborne of England shot a 66 at the par-71 Palm Hills Golf Club to tie for fifth place alongside Thailand ’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert.
The Final Stage is played over two courses at Springfield Royal Country Club and Palm Hills Golf Club. The final two rounds will be played at Springfield Royal Country Club where the top-40 and ties will earn playing privileges on the Asian Tour.
Former Asian Tour winner Artemio Murakami of the Philippines , South African Peter Karmis and amateur golfer Cho Hyun-woo of Korea are among five players tied in seventh place on 67.
Frenchman Jean Van De Velde, a former British Open runner-up, posted a 72 to lie in tied 83rd place.
Imai, 37, closed with a superb back nine performance when he returned with a record equaling 28 highlighted by six birdies and one eagle where he sank a five-yard chip in from the edge of the 12th hole.
The two-time Japan Tour winner signed off with further birdies on 17 and 18 which he sank from six feet.
“My putting on the front nine was horrible but everything started to fall together on the back nine. Overall, it was a great round except for my single bogey.
“After losing my Japan Tour card last year, I decided to play somewhere different so opted to play this week. I hope I can earn my card and achieve success here,” said Imai.
Starting on the back nine, Foster, a one-time winner in Europe , got off to a good start when he birdied the 13th hole before reeling in six more birdies in a bogey free round.
“The difficult part this week is getting comfortable on the greens and my putting didn’t let me down. I’m very pleased with my round. I wanted to get off to a good start and I managed to achieve that,” said the 34-year-old Foster.
Han, 23, was delighted to fire an eagle three on the 18th hole to take a share of the lead. The Korean, who is based in the United States , converted a five foot putt after a great approach shot.
“I felt really confident from the start to the end. I will take 65 anytime. I played well in the first stage so my confidence has been growing. I have been working a lot on my swing and I think that has started to pay off.
“I grew up in Korea and later moved to the United States so I always had a thing for Asia . A lot of my friends tell me that this is a good place to play so I wanted to give it a try. I just hope everything works out good,” said Han.
Tangkamolprasert led the Thai charge after finding 16 greens en route to a flawless round sprinkled with six birdies.
“I have been practising on this course for the past week and it is starting to pay off. My driving and putting worked very well. Today is one of those days where everything was easy for me,” said the Thai.
South Korea has the highest number of participants with 24 players playing this week followed by Japan (18), the United States (17), Thailand (17) and Australia (15). The Qualifying School has attracted players from various countries such as China , South Africa , India and Holland .
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
+Two courses being used: Springfield (par 72) & Palm Hills (par 71)
65 Mark Foster (Eng), Katsumune Imai (Jpn), Masaki Sakata (Jpn), Han Seung-su (Kor)
66 Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha), Sam Osborne (Eng)
67 Peter Karmis (Rsa), Artemio Murakami (Phi), Piya Swangarunporn (Tha), Cho Hyun-woo (Kor), Tim Sluiter (Ned)
68 Pasamet Pogamnerd (Tha), Kunal Bhasin (Aus), Kim Kook-Hyan (Kor), Ross Bain (Sco), Simon Dunn (Sco), Baaz Mann (Ind), Jun Kikuchi (Jpn), Jason King (Aus)
Selected scores:
69 Wallace Booth (Sco), Lee Harper (Sco) (jt 20th).
71 Nick Redfern (Eng) (jt 63rd).
72 Jean Van de Velde (Fra) (jt 83rd).
73 Neil Chaudhuri (Eng), Richard Wallis (Eng) (jt 105th).
76 Peter Wilson (Eng), Yasin Ali (Eng) (jt 136th).

Royal Golf Hotel, Dornoch re-opens on April 1

The Royal Golf Hotel, overlooking the first tee of Royal Dornoch Golf Club, will re-open on April 1. Its new owners have teamed up with Castle Stuart Golf Links who are assisting with pre opening and ongoing operations. Castle Stuart partner Grant Sword, whose family owned and operated the Royal Golf Hotel for many years, is spearheading the pre-opening works and preparations.
The hotel will offer 22 four-star bedrooms, cosy log fires, a golfers’ bar, plus informal wining and dining in the conservatory overlooking the first tee.
All rooms are equipped with direct dial telephone, Wifi, colour television, hospitality tray and complementary toiletries.

A side view of the East Kilbride clubhouse from the club's website.

East Kilbride clubhouse destroyed in evening blaze

East Kilbride GC clubhouse was destroyed by fire last night.
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said they had been called around 6pm on Tuesday night to deal with a blaze at East Kilbride Golf Club, located in the town’s Chapelside Road. There are no reports of casualties.
A spokesperson from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue stated: "The initial appliances and crews attending were faced with an established and rapidly developing fire within the clubhouse premises. Due to the severity of the fire and very limited water supplies, an early call for further assistance and appliances was made."
At least eight fire appliances were in attendance in the blaze. The fire service added that their efforts to deal with the blaze were "severely hampered by poor water supplies, strong winds and rapid hidden fire spread through roof voids".
An investigation has now been launched to determine the cause of the blaze.
Firefighters are expected to be in attendance for some time, the spokesperson concluded.
The club, founded in 1900, has moved three times, and is currently at the edge of the Lanarkshire town. The current 6,402 yard, 18-hole course celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007

Gunn (71) trails by nine strokes in Arizona desert

Jimmy Gunn from Dornoch was lying in joint 24th position at the end of the first round of this week's Gateway Tour competition at Trilogy Golf Club, Vistanica near Phoenix in Arizona.
Gunn returned a one-under-par 71 with birdies at the second, 12th and 13th, and bogeys at the 15th and 16th in temperatures up in the 70s in the Arizona desert.
Nathan Tyler from Tucson, Arizona leads with a 10-under-par 62, two shots ahead of second-placed Kendall Critchfield from Tempe, Arizona.
Meanwhile, the NGA Hooters Tour event this week has begun at Forest Lakes Golf Club, Ocoee in Florida ... but we are unable to bring you Russell Knox's score - because he has not finished his first round yet!
A frost delay - yes, they get frosts in Florida - meant that the later starters ran out of daylight, 20 or so of them, including Russell Knox, will be first out this morning in Florida to complete their first rounds before they go back to the first tee for their second rounds.
The leader at Forest Lakes is Lee Williamson, a local Ocoee player, with a five-under-par 66 over the 7,200yd course. He leads by one from three other Florida-based players, Jim Troy (Orlando), Bryan Decorso (Ocoee) and Brian Ward (Sarasota).