Adam Galbraith wins Webber Classic in Florida

An English student with a Scottish-sounding name, Adam Galbraith, a student at Webber International University, Florida, won the Start2Finish Webber Classic over three rounds at Lake Wales Country Club, Florida.
Galbraith, a member of the Haywards Heath club in England, had scores of 75, 73 and 69 for a total of four-over-par 217 over the 7,072 (par-71) course and victory by three strokes at the head of a field of 62.
Team-mate Tom Gamble from Walton-on-Thames, Surry finished joint fourth on 221 with scores of 76, 75 and 70.
A third Webber International student, Craig Isabel from Stanford-Le-Hope, shared 18th place on 226 with scores of 74, 80 and 72.
And yet another Webber student, freshman Connor O'Dell from Taunton, Somerset, came 24th on 227 with scores of 75, 75 and 77.
Another two English-born students played a significant part in the team victory by South Carolina Beaufort (887) ahead of Webber International (890) and SCAD (896) in a field of 10 teams.
George Thacker, a junior student at SCB and from Ashbourne put together rounds of 73, 74 and 77 for 224. He tied for ninth place with another South Carolina Beaufort student, sophomore Jack Bingham from Stockport, with scores of 74, 78 and 72.

Srixon to produce YELLOW golf balls ..

It's the appliance of science to golf

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
Remember orange golf balls? They turned out to be a fad, and now white dominates again on tours around the world. But Srixon is reintroducing colour to the golf ball, this time with some science behind it.
The Z-Star and Z-Star X Yellow golf balls are just what the name promises -- with all the visibility that comes with. But Srixon, the golf arm of massive Japanese company SRI Sports, put its research and development staff to work on the visual elements of stress and athletic performance. The new balls were the result.
You'll have a hard time losing sight of this ball.
"By tapping into the psychology of hitting each shot and the visualization and calming effect at address, the Z-STAR"! and Z-STAR"! X Tour Yellow golf balls incorporate the science of visual perception with the psychology of colour effect on the human brain," Srixon noted in a press release.
"Science has proven that yellow is the most visible colour in the visual spectrum and psychology has correlated green with calming and stress relief; therefore Srixon has combined the two colours based on these findings to tap into the player's mind and expand the benefits of playing a better ball."
Both Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh play the white versions of the Z-Star. Srixon says some white Z players are trying the yellow ones. Keep your eyes peeled. The yellow balls will be available (in America) in April at a cost of $40 per dozen.

SPANISH Hi5 PRO TOUR
Polaris & Mar Menor Open, Murcia
Par 72
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
68 Carlos Garcia (Spain) 35-33.
69 Joachim Hansen (Denmark) (am) 37-32, Miguel Angel Martin (Spain) 35-34, David Hughes (Ireland) 35-34.
70 James Ruth (England) 37-33, Ake Nilsson Sweden) 35-35, Eric Ramsay (Carnoustie, Scotland) 36-34, Barrie Traynor (Northern Ireland) 35-35.
71 Matthew Evans (England), Alex Belt (England), Brad Clapp (Canada), Jack Doherty (Scotland), Emilo Rodriguez (Spain), Michael McGeady (Ireland), Geoffrey Loughrey (Ireland).
72 Christopher Mivis (Belgium) (am), Kevin Harper (England), Paul Doherty (Scotland), Jonas Haglund (Finland), Mark Hooper (England), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie, Scotland), Ross Cameron (Ellon, Scotland), Carlos Aguilar (Spain).
73 Sam Haywood (England), Ryan Williams (Canada), Patrick O'Neill (Sweden) (am), Lars Brovold (Norway), Stephen Shields (England), Jesper Lerchedahl (Denmark), Lasse Nielsen (Denmark) (am), Kasper Linnet Jorgensen (Denmark), Lasse Jensen (Denmark).
74 Liam Murray (England), Guillaume Afgoin (France), Sam Boyes (England), Stian Hansen (Norway), Fredrik Widmark (Sweden).
75 James Housby (England), James Need (England), Robert Svensson (Sweden).
76 Richard Carter (England) (am), Angel Saura (Spain),. Vidar Thorstensen (Norway), Richard Wistow (England), Sergio Rodriguez (Spain), Edward Barry-Walsh (England), Kyron Sullivan (Wales), Jack Brooks (England) (am).
77 Ben Collins (England), Kris Jones (England).
78 Ross Whitelock (England), Charlie Lidyard (England), Petere Lockett (England).
79 Ronan Collins (Ireland), Jonathan Gidneyu (England).
80 Stuart McCance (England), John Green (England), David Thomas (Wales)
81 Alex Smith (England), Jonathan Smart (England), Thomas Bolton (England), Stephen Clark (Scotland).
82 Sam Watts (England).
83 Ger Hall (Ireland).
85 Max Colman (England).
87 Chris Rendell (England).

Renault EPD Tour Scoreboard
LYKIA LINKS CLASSIC
Antalya Golf Club, Belek, Turkey
FIRST ROUND LEADING SCORES
Par 72
68 Max Kramer (Germany).
69 Benjamin Ludwig (Germany), Andreas Hogberg (Sweden).
70 Christoph Gunther (Germany).
71 Marcel Haremza (Germany), Ben Parker (England), Christoper Trunza (Germany), Benjamin Miarka (Germany), Brian McElhinney (Ireland), Richard-Georg Nomeier (Germany).
72 Stephen Grant (Ireland), Jurrian Van Der Vaart (Netherlands), Daniel Wunsche (Germany), Simon Boyd (England), Fabian Becker (Germany), Bernd Ritthammer (Germany).
74 Jay Taylor (England), Reinier Saxton (Netherlands), Richard Golding (England) (jt 24th).
75 Lee Corfield (England) (jt 36th).
76 Michael Lowe (England), Ben Welch (England) (jt 41st).
77 Cian McNamara (Ireland), Grant Jackson (England) (jt 48th).
79 Tim Rice (Ireland) (jt 68th).
84 Oliver Lindup (England) (jt 82nd).
87 Players in competition.

Kingston Heath ousts Royal Melbourne as Aussie No 1

FROM THE AGE.COM.AU WEBSITE
By MARTIN BLAKE
Royal Melbourne has lost its customary position as Australia's No. 1 ranked golf course for the first time, with Kingston Heath crowned as the new leader.
Golf Digest, the Sydney-based national magazine, has sent the esteemed ''Royal'' and its west course slumping to No. 3 in its list released today. New South Wales, in Sydney's southern suburbs and the host for last year's Australian Open, is at No. 2.
Constant problems with greens and fairways have dogged Australia's most prestigious club through the drought, with the west course currently closed for most of the greens to be relaid and the fairways being resown.
It is not expected to reopen until next month. Some holes on the east course also have been closed for attention.
Golf Digest editor Steve Keipert described Royal Melbourne as ''a masterpiece'', but added that ''severe conditioning issues'' and the splitting of the two courses for the purposes of ranking had been important to the change in ranking. It is the first time since rankings began in the 1980s that ''Royal'' has moved from the top.
''It would be easy to say 'we don't worry about those things', but it's not the right thing to say,'' said Royal Melbourne's chief executive Paul Rak last night. ''We do look at the rankings. We just congratulate Kingston Heath.''
Rak said the drought had pummelled the two courses over the past five years, but that recent moves had addressed the problems. The club has built a 37-megalitre lagoon, begun a stormwater harvesting project and built a wetlands and a bioretention area.
Previously most course-ranking panels have judged Royal Melbourne on its composite course, the tournament lay-out that has 12 holes from the west course and six from the east. Under this method, Royal was on top of the most recent list released by Golf Australia magazine, and also was the top-ranked Australian course at No. 6 in a list of the best courses outside the US compiled by Golf Digest in America.
Recently there has been a push to split the courses for purposes of ranking, since the composite course is rarely played.
Twenty-one Victorian courses made the top 100, with Kingston Heath, highly successful host of last year's Australian Masters, leading the way.
Royal Melbourne is hosting the Presidents Cup between the US and an International team next year, drawing the best players in the world. Rak said the club would have its courses shipshape by then.
''We believe we've got the water-supply issues right, and we've addressed the quality of the turf. The members have been very supportive.
''Of course you'd like to be No. 1 but we're doing what we can to get back to where we should be,'' Rak added.
TOP COURSES
Australia's top 10 golf courses by Australian Golf Digest:
1. Kingston Heath (Victoria)
2. New South Wales (New South Wales)
3. Royal Melbourne, West (Vic)
4. Barnbougle Dunes (Tasmania)
5. Ellerston (NSW)
6. The National, Moonah (Vic)
7. Metropolitan (Vic)
8. Royal Melbourne, East (Vic)
9. Royal Adelaide (South Australia)
10. Victoria (Vic)
Other Victorian clubs in the top 40:
13. Moonah Links (legends); 14. The Dunes; 16 The National (old); 21. Barwon Heads; 22. Woodlands; 24. Commonwealth; 25. Peninsula (north); 26. Moonah Links (Open); 29. Thirteenth Beach (Beach); 32. St Andrews Beach; 34. Yarra Yarra; 36. Huntingdale; 37. The National Ocean); 38. Portsea; 39. Peninsula (south).

SCOTLAND SQUAD HEADS FOR

PORTUGAL AND SPAIN

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Scotland’s Men’s Elite Squad will embark on the second phase of its warm weather training programme this winter with a competitive excursion to Portugal and Spain in the coming weeks.
The Scottish Golf Union will send a squad of 12 players to compete in both the Portuguese amateur championship (February 18-21) and the Spanish amateur championship (March 3-7), using the time between the tournaments to prepare players for the season ahead at the squad’s base in Quinta da Cima.
Ross Kellett, James White, Philip McLean, Steven McEwan, Gordon Yates, Greg Paterson, Kris Nicol and David Law will compete in both Iberian events, although Law’s participation will be governed by ongoing medical advice.
The 18-year-old, who last season became the first player to win both Scottish boys’ and men’s titles in the same year, played his first practice round of the year at Sea Island last week since recovering from a wrist injury and will continue his rehabilitation programme overseas, working alongside Scottish Institute of Sport physiotherapist Karen Young.
Former Scottish match-play champion Glenn Campbell and 2008 Scottish boys stroke play champion Mark Bookless will play in Portugal before returning home, whilst Paul Shields – who lost to the Law in the final of the Scottish boys match-play championship at Royal Aberdeen last April – will join Dollar’s Scottish Borrowman and the rest of the squad for the trip to Spain. Seven other Scots will compete in the two championships from outwith the SGU squad.
SGU National Coach Ian Rae, pictured above by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union, said:
“The support we received from IMG Academies for the five players to train in Florida recently has given us the opportunity to extend our programme in Portugal and Spain, two events we have used effectively in the past.”
“Again, we will have access to first-class facilities at our training base meaning the full men’s elite squad can work on their games ahead of the new season. We will rotate the squad slightly to give all players some practice time in a warmer climate, whilst playing these highly competitive events.”
The Portuguese amateur championship takes place at the Aroeira resort on the outskirts of Lisbon, which played host to the Portuguese Open in both 1996 and 1997. Last year’s event was won by England’s Dale Whitnell who went onto represent GB&I in the Walker Cup, with Carnoustie’s Keir McNicoll finishing as leading Scot in 12th place.
The list of former winners of the Spanish amateur championship reads like a who’s who of European golf, with Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke and Jose Maria Olazabal all getting their hands on the famous Copa del Ray trophy. The 10 Scots on show will be hoping to gone one better than former team-mate Gavin Dear, who reached the semi-finals last year before losing out to eventual winner Rainer Sexton.
This year’s event takes place at La Reserva Club de Golf in Sotogrande.

PORTUGUESE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, AROEIRA I, 18 – 21 FEBRUARY 2010

1. JAMES WHITE (LUNDIN)
2. PHILIP MCLEAN (PETERHEAD)
3. ROSS KELLETT (COLVILLE PARK)
4. KRIS NICOL (FRASERBURGH)
5. STEVEN MCEWAN (CAPRINGTON)
6. GORDON YATES (HILTON PARK)
7. GREG PATERSON (NEW CLUB, ST ANDREWS)
8. DAVID LAW (HAZLEHEAD)
9. GLENN CAMPBELL (BLAIRGOWRIE)
10. MARK BOOKLESS (SANDYHILLS)

Other Scots on the reserve list for the above event not within SGU squad:

11. MILES CUNNINGHAM (CRAIGIELAW)
12. ROBERT JENKINS (CROW WOOD)

13. JORDAN FINDLAY (FRASERBURGH).

SPANISH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, LA RESERVA DE GOLF, 3 – 7 MARCH 2010

1. JAMES WHITE (LUNDIN)
2. PHILIP MCLEAN (PETERHEAD)
3. ROSS KELLETT (COLVILLE PARK)
4. KRIS NICOL (FRASERBURGH)
5. STEVEN MCEWAN (CAPRINGTON)
6. GORDON YATES (HILTON PARK)
7. GREG PATERSON (NEW CLUB, ST ANDREWS)
8. DAVID LAW (HAZLEHEAD)
9. PAUL SHIELDS (KIRKHILL)
10. SCOTT BORROWMAN (DOLLAR)

Other Scots who have entered the above event but are not not within SGU squad:

11. ALEXANDER CULVERWELL (DUNBAR)
12. MARK HILLSON (CRAIGIELAW)

13. JORDAN FINDLAY (FRASERBURGH).
13. BOBBY RUSHFORD (GRANGEMOUTH)
14. PAUL BETTY (HAYSTON)
15. SAM BINNING (RANFURLY CASTLE)