Manassero to make pro debut in Italian Open in May

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Sixteen year old Italian Matteo Manassero, No 1 in the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings, has confirmed he will turn professional after becoming the youngest-ever player in the Masters Tournament at Augusta National next month.
The reigning British amateur champion, who finished a brilliant 13th in The Open last July, said at a golf show in his home town Verona that he will make his professional debut at the BMW Italian Open in Turin from May 6-9.
Donato di Ponziano, President of the BMW Italian Open Organising Committee, said: “The fact that Matteo will be playing for the first time as a profesisonal is a huge boost for the BMW Italian Open. We consider Matteo to be one of the most promising young sportsmen in our country and Royal Park I Roveri and the BMW Italian Open will be important examinations for him. We are all looking forward to seeing him in Turin in May.”
Not 17 until April 19, Manassero played with Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia in the first two rounds at Turnberry and his two over par total of 282 was only one outside The Open record by an amateur, set by England's Iain Pyman at Sandwich in 1993 and matched by Tiger Woods at Lytham three years later.
He has made the halfway cut in five out of six appearances on The European Tour so far and will be allowed seven invitations to events in a bid to avoid the Qualifying School at the end of the season.
Manassero is one of four teenagers in The Masters. United States champion An Byeong-hun, the son of two Olympic table tennis medallists, turned 18 last September and is the same age as his compatriot Han Chang-won, winner of the inaugural Asian Amateur crown, and Ryo Ishikawa, already in the world's top 50 and a multiple winner on the Japanese Tour.

Curtis Strange and John Daly caddie dies on 54th birthday

Greg Rita, the caddie for Curtis Strange when he won successive United States Open titles and for John Daly when he won the Open at St Andrews, has died of brain cancer.
Rita's wife, Kelley, said he died on Saturday on his 54th birthday at McGraw Hospice Center.
Rita caddied over four decades on the US PGA Tour for players that included Gil Morgan, Scott Hoch, David Duval and Mark O'Meara.
Rita made his mark working for Strange in the 1980s when he won the US Open in 1988 and 1989, making Strange the first repeat winner in nearly 40 years. He also was on the bag at St Andrews in 1995 when Daly won his second major.
Rita collapsed at a US Champions (Seniors) Tour event in September 2007, and had surgery to remove a brain tumour two months later. He is survived by his wife and a four-year-old son, Nicolas.

Paul O'Hara sharing fourth place in Morocco

Motherwell's rookie pro Paul O'Hara stayed in contention with second-round 70 (two under par) for a 36-hole tally of one-under-par 143 and a share of fourth place with one round to go in the Renault EPD Tour's Samanah Classic at Samanah Country Club, Marrakesh in Morocco today.
O'Hara started badly with bogeys at the first and second but then came a purple patch of birdies at the fourth, long fifth, seventh, long ninth (out in 34) and the long 12th. He then parred the 13th to the 17th inclusive before finishing with a bogey at the 18th for 36 home.
Germany's Maximilian Tschinkel leads after a great second-round 66 for a running total of 140 and a two-shot lead from compatriot Benjamin Miarka (73-69) and England's Grant Jackson (72-70).
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
140 Maximilian Tschinkel (Germany) 74 66.
142 Benjamin Miarka (Germany) 73 69, Grant Jackson (England) 72 70.
143 Paul O'Hara (Scotland) 73 70, Brian McElhinney (Ireland) 73 70, Tiago Cruz (Portgual) 74 69.
144 Bernd Ritthammer (Germany) 74 70, Dennis Kupper (Germany) 71 73.
145 Benhamin Ludwig (Germany) 71 74, Damien Perrier (France) 75 70, Leo Astl (Austria) 72 73, Constantin Schwierz (Germany) 72 73.
Selected scores:
146 Tim Rice (Ireland) 74 72 (jt 13th).
147 Lee Corfield (England) 75 72 (jt 19th).
148 Michael Lowe (England) 74 74 (jt 23rd).
149 Stephen Grant (Ireland) 78 71, Ben Parker (England) 74 75 (jt 33rd).
150 Cian McNamara (Ireland) 76 74 (jt 41st).
MISSED THE CUT (150 or better qualified).
155 Ben Welch (England) 78 77.
156 Jay Taylor (Scotland) 80 76, Rob Harris (England) 80 76.
157 Simon Boyd (England) 81 765.
158 Adam Sagar (England) 76 82.
159 Mark Rubber (England) 79 80.

England name four to defend European Nations title in Spain

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
British and English boys' champion Tom Lewis has been included in the four-man England team to defend the European Nations Championship in Spain next month. The 19 year old from Hertfordshire will link up with Walker Cup men Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Haines and Chris Paisley in a powerful young side (average age 20) that will seek to complete a second successive victory at Sotogrande from March 17 to 20.
Lewis won the Carris Trophy (English boys' championship) at Moor Park last summer by beating England team-mate Chris Lloyd in a sudden-death play-off, then edged out full international Eddie Pepperell for the British boys' title in the 36-hole final at Royal St George’s. Fleetwood and Haines recently returned from a successful month in Australia during which Fleetwood finished runner-up in the New South Wales Amateur and sixth in the New South Wales Medal and the Lake Macquarie International.
Paisley, 23, from Northumberland, who spent four successful years at the University of Tennessee, won the 2008 Czech Amateur Championship, and also that year finished runner-up in the Tillman Trophy, the English Amateur Championship and the South of England Open Stroke Play Championship. He was selected by GB&I in 2008 for the St Andrews Trophy and last year became a full England international as well as a member of the Walker Cup team.
The European Nations Championship, formerly known as the Sherry Cup, the Grey Goose Cup, and the Sotogrande Cup, is competed for over 72 holes with the best three cards each day counting towards the team event.
An individual competition runs simultaneously with the Nations Championship, the champion collecting a trophy and the Amateur Masters Jacket. If the Championship ends in a tie, the teams involved will nominate one player to compete in a sudden death play-off.
England won the title over the same course a year ago with the team of Charlie Ford, Luke Goddard, Sam Hutsby and Dale Whitnell, all of whom have turned professional.
England also won the Championship in 2004, finished runners-up in 2007 and third twice. Hutsby also won the individual title last year.

“Course improvements underway
after a good year for the Glen,”
says club captain Alasdair Kerr

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE GLEN GOLF CLUB, NORTH BERWICK
At its AGM, held in the clubhouse, the Glen Golf Club captain told members that the Glen Golf Club at North Berwick came through 2009 in a much better financial position than expected and announced that it was making further improvements to improve the course for members and visitors.
The Glen Golf Club had rallied well in difficult circumstances for golf in 2009 to stabilise its membership and to attract more visitors to the course.
The Glen is confident that it can approach 2010 in a healthy financial state.

Improvements to course
The Club also announced further investment in improvements to the course and clubhouse. The club has now incorporated land acquired adjacent to the sixth and seventh holes into the course and this will come fully into play during the 2010 season. The par-5 sixth hole has also been redesigned with new bunkering on the fairway and around the green. This will ensure that the hole continues as the stroke index one hole on the course.
The Club has also invested heavily in its Junior section with expenditure on tuition and the introduction of new forward “blue tees” for Juniors which will be playable in the new season. This is part of the policy of making golf accessible to all children in Scotland.
The club’s junior section performed very strongly last year with club member Rebecca Edgar (pictured above) winning the Dunfermline Masters South qualifying event at Lothianburn and playing in the finals at Gleneagles in October.
The clubhouse’s Belhaven lounge has also been improved and is now a wonderful location for visiting societies as well as club members.

Long-time members honoured
At its AGM the club also honoured long time members Jimmy Jack and Gordon Wardrop with honorary life membership in recognition of their fifty years of membership of the club.
The club also recognised the achievements of club treasure Derek Carmichael by awarding him honorary life membership.
Club captain Alasdair Kerr said, “The Glen is a wonderful course and clubhouse which has seen major investment over the last three years. That period has been difficult for us but we are now beginning to see the benefits of our investment. This is good news for our members and for visitors to the Glen.
"In particular I am pleased that we have invested in our Junior section which is the future of the club. The Glen has always been a major course for visitors and we attracted many more than we expected in 2009 and already our bookings are looking good for 2010. We are predicting that this will continue.
"And, of course, we are praying for a good summer! But the message to visiting societies is that if you want to come to the Glen next season get your bookings in now!”

Background information
The Glen Golf Club is in East Lothian and is part of Scotland’s Golf Coast.
The Glen is one of the most scenic course in Scotland.
The Glen Golf Club was initially laid out in 1894 as a nine-hole course by the legendary Ben Sayers. In 1906 the most famous of golf course architects, James Braid extended the Glen to an 18 hole course.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2006 with the opening of a new clubhouse which has all of the facilities a modern golfer needs.
The Club has over 1000 members and attracts around 12000 visitors a year.
To mark its centenary in 2006 the club built a state of the art clubhouse which has everything the modern golfer and golf visitor needs.
The club has a very well stocked golf shop attached to the club house.
The course is in a spectacular location to the east of North Berwick. It sits on a cliff top position with every hole having a view of the sea and the Bass Rock. To the east the course has views of the ruins of Tantallon Castle.
The course has been undergoing improvements over the past few years and has new greens, improved bunkering and two of the holes have been extended to create par fives.
The Glen has also recently introduced new forward tees to encourage junior players to take up the game. The Glen has one of the best Junior coaching set ups in Scotland.
The Glen has been featured in many television golf shows and magazine articles.

This year the USPGA told 3.2 million readers on its website that
“The Glen is …. as welcoming an institution as you will ever come across.
Barely a century old, The Glen may lack the seniority of its more famous neighbour, the West Links, but any comparative youth is more than made up for by buckets full of charm, personality and the genuine Scottish golf experience it bestows on each and every visitor…..anyone who fails to enjoy their round here, doesn't really enjoy golf at all ….but for true drama, few holes in Scotland can match the 13th, the Sea Hole. An attention grabbing par-3 which, aided by the incessant though ever changing wind, might call for a pitching wedge one day and a 3 iron the next. The green lies almost surrounded by the sea, among rocks and sand -- shades of the 7th at Pebble Beach….
……For sheer character and personality, few courses can match The Glen.”

The Glen will always be remembered as the course which former US Open Champion Payne Stewart went to play after he was refused a game at Muirfield.
The Glen welcomed him!

Sandy Ross
Glen Committee marketing
07803 970 107
sandy.ross@murrayfieldmedia.com

Paul O'Hara opens with a 73 in Morocco event

Paul O'Hara had a bag of four birdies but also five bogeys for a one-over-par round of 73 in the EPD Tour's Samanah Classic at the Samanah Country Club, Marrakesh, Morocco.
The rookie pro from Motherwell birdied the second, sixth, 12th and 15th but dropped shots at the short third, the seventh, the 11th, the 13th and the short 17th.
A Tunisian amateur, Saber Barhoumi, led the first-round field with a two-under-par 70.
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
70 Saber Barhoumi (Tunisia) (amateur)
71 Benjamin Ludwig (Germany), Dennis Kupper (Germany).
72 Amnine Joudar (Morocco), Leo Astl (Austria), Grant Jackson (England), Constantin Schwierz (Germany).
73 Paul O'Hara (Scotland), Brian McElhinney (Ireland).
Selected scores
74 Michael Low (England), Ben Parker (England), Tim Rice (Ireland).
75 Lee Corfield (England).
76 Adam Sagar (England), Cian McNamara (Ireland).

Hunter Mahan wins Phoenix Open from rookie Rickie

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Hunter Mahan produced a flawless round for the second consecutive day to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open by a single stroke from rising talent Rickie Fowler at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona..
From a crowded leaderboard Mahan made his move on the back nine with a pair of birdies and an eagle on the par-5 13th and after Fowler missed a birdie putt on the last the 27-year-old's second career US PGA Tour title was assured.
Mahan was the only player in the field not to card a bogey over the final 36 holes as he finished 16-under-par following a six-under 65 on Sunday.
Fowler, a US Walker Cup player last year and playing just his sixth US PGA Tour event, was just inches away from forcing a play-off when he rolled a 20ft putt past the hole on the 18th green.
The 21-year-old will, though, likely reflect on a missed opportunity on the par-5 15th when, after driving to within range of the green, he opted only to lay-up and then managed just a par.
South Korea's Yang Yong-eun was third after he carded a 65 to finished 13 under.
Overnight leader Brandt Snedeker endured a terrible final round, dropping three shots over the first seven holes, as he returned a seven-over-par 78, including double bogeys at each of the final two holes, to finish in a tie for 43rd.
Spaniard Alvaro Quiros was the best placed of the European raiders as the Ryder Cup hopeful recovered from double bogeys at the opening two holes to card a 70 and finish six shots behind the leaders.
Ian Poulter, who won at last week's WGC-Accenture Match Play, was a stroke further back after also posting a final-round 70.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
268 Hunter Mahan 68 70 65 65
269 Rickie Fowler 65 67 69 68
270 Y E Yang (South Korea) 66 70 69 65
271 Mathew Goggin (Australia) 66 67 70 68, Chris Couch 67 66 70 68, Charles Howell III 69 66 68 68
272 Vaughn Taylor 68 68 68 68
273 Bryce Molder 68 67 70 68, Robert Allenby (Australia) 69 65 69 70, Matthew Every 63 70 68 72, Joe Ogilvie 71 66 66 70, Scott Piercy 68 67 65 73, Camilo Villegas (Colombia) 62 69 71 71
274 Tom Lehman 66 67 71 70, Mark Wilson 65 66 72 71, Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 67 66 71 70, Fred Couples 67 70 68 69, Ryan Palmer 69 68 69 68, Andres Romero (Argentina) 69 67 69 69, Rich Beem 70 65 70 69, Ryuji Imada (Japan) 65 71 68 70, D J Trahan 70 68 69 67, Ryan Moore 66 66 74 68
275 Nick Watney 74 63 69 69, Michael Letzig 69 70 67 69, Pat Perez 65 68 71 71, Jeff Overton 67 68 70 70, Zach Johnson 66 68 71 70, Greg Chalmers (Australia) 68 66 73 68, Lee Janzen 69 67 67 72, Phil Mickelson 68 68 72 67, Anthony Kim 67 65 76 67, Chad Campbell 68 68 69 70, Ian Poulter (England) 72 63 70 70, Jimmy Walker 67 70 67 71
276 Ben Crane 68 70 71 67, J.P. Hayes 69 68 70 69, Bubba Watson 69 70 68 69, Tom Gillis 70 68 67 71, James Driscoll 69 69 69 69, Skip Kendall 67 70 67 72, Kevin Streelman 69 67 71 69
277 Ted Purdy 68 69 71 69, Matt Kuchar 68 70 68 71, Jeff Maggert 69 67 71 70, J B Holmes 69 68 71 69, Chad Collins 67 69 70 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 70 67 68 72, Mark Calcavecchia 68 68 67 74, Brandt Snedeker 66 67 66 78
278 Ricky Barnes 68 71 71 68, Nathan Green (Australia) 70 68 69 71
279 Kevin Na 70 69 72 68, Kenny Perry 68 70 72 69, John Rollins 69 66 72 72, Sean O'Hair 70 69 71 69, John Merrick 70 67 67 75, Scott Verplank 70 68 70 71, Parker McLachlin 67 70 70 72
280 Chris DiMarco 69 69 69 73, Johnson Wagner 72 67 71 70
281 J J Henry 73 66 72 70, Scott McCarron 68 71 69 73, Justin Rose (England) 65 70 71 75, Billy Mayfair 72 67 73 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 66 70 71 74, Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 66 70 71 74
282 Brian Gay 70 66 74 72, Briny Baird 68 69 73 72
284 Brian Stuard 72 64 76 72, Kevin Stadler 66 73 77 68, Paul Goydos 70 67 75 72, Heath Slocum 69 70 71 74
286 Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 67 74 74, Michael Sim (Aus) 69 70 75 72, Joe Durant 66 71 73 76, Ben Fox 67 72 74 73
287 Braxton Marquez 74 65 70 78

Fotheringham (69) wins at Kinloss Country Club

By ALAN COWIE
Secretary, North Scottish Golfers' Alliance
The North Scottish Golfers' Alliance broke new ground in Saturday's fixture in playing Kinloss Country Golf Club for the first time. Conditions only became playable after the snow cleared away on Thursday night, leaving the course wet and playing all its length.
Bryan Fotheringham shot a one-over-par 69 to register his first win of the Alliance season by one shot from playing partner Robert Mckerron and Allan Cameron.
Handicap section winners were Graham Mellis, playing off 2, and George Mccoll, off 14, both with net 70s.
Several members from the Grantown/Boat of Garten area were unable to make it to the venue due to being snowed in at home.
LEADING SCORES (par 70)
SCRATCH
69 B Fotheringham (Forres)
70 R Mckerron (Forres), A Cameron (Inverness)
72 G Mellis (Muir of Ord)
73 R Proctor (Forres), J Simpson (Forres), J D Forbes (Inverness), S Wilson (Inverness)
74 D Hexley (Inverness), K Thomson (Moray), M L Macleman (Moray), J C Milne (Moray), G Murray (Spey Bay)
75 B Cruickshank (Garmouth & Kingston), J R Mackay (Muir of Ord), S Johnston (Elgin), J Treasurer (Inverness)
76 N. McWilliam (Elgin)
77 J S D Campbell (Grantown), R. Stewart (Nairn Dunbar), B. Inch (Elgin)
78 R R Adams (Moray)
79 D Johnston (Moray)
80 B Moir (Spey Bay)

HANDICAP
Class 1 (eight and under)
70 G Mellis (Muir of Ord) (2)
71 J C Milne (Moray) (3), S Wilson (Inverness)(2), R R Adams (Moray)(7)
72 R Stewart (Nairn Dunbar) (5), S Johnston (Elgin) (3), B H Inch (Elgin) (5)
Class 2 (nine to 14)
70 G A McColl (Moray) (14)
71 G Knapp (Muir of Ord)(11), S Taylor (Boat of Garten) (11)
73 P McMillan (Kinloss) (11), L Duncan (Elgin) (9)