Ryanair put a damper on Scots wanting to fly to

Morocco Family Golf Festival (October 9 to 16)

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Tournament Director for the 2010 Morocco Family Golf Festival
Ryanair's extortionate charge for carrying golf clubs could scare off potential Scottish entrants to the inaugural Morocco Family Golf Festival, to be held at Marrakech from October 9 to 16.
Mohamed Fakir, boss of London-based Menara Travel Ltd, who are putting together all the arrangements, told me today:
"I have started to receive a number of enquiries - a few from Scotland - from golfers who are quite attracted by the prospect of playing golf on four different courses at Marrakech.
"The problem with the flights from Edinburgh to Marrakech is the quite high rates being charged by Ryanair. The Ryanair website is currently showing a price of £250 per person return + £80 for golf clubs' carriage (£330 in all) which is quite high compared to the flight we have secured with Royal Air Maroc from London Gatwick, which is £189 including FREE carriage of golf clubs."
"The price quoted by Easyjet for the Manchester to Marrakech flight on Saturday, October 9 is £180 per person return + £38 per golf bag both ways.
"I have contacted Ryanair and Easyjet to try to do a deal with them quite a while ago but they said they don’t work with travel agents/tour operators. They prefer to deal directly with clients, which means we have to book the flights for our clients on their website the same way anyone else does it."
So it might be cheaper for Scottish golfers who want to share in the fun of the Morocco Family Golf Festival to cross the Border to Manchester or even Gatwick for a flight to Marrakech on Saturday, October 9.
Remember there will be individual prize categories for senior men (over 55yr), senior women (over 50y), men, women, Under-16 & Under-18 boys, Under-16 & Under-18 girls.
You can name your own partner if you wish for the Festival's curtain-raising better-ball Stableford foursomes on the Sunday (October 10).

Details of the Festival programme are available by clicking on the appropriate wording at the top of the left-hand column on this website's Home Page.

==================ENTRY FORM==============================

MOROCCO FAMILY GOLF FESTIVAL
October 9 to 16, 2010, based at Marrakech

Competing as (Please tick the category listed below)

Senior Man (over 55 yrs on Jan 1)

Senior Lady (over 50 yrs on Jan 1)
Man
Lady
Boy (Under-16 on Jan 1)
Girl (Under-16 on Jan 1)
Boy (Under- 18 on Jan 1)
Girl (Under-18) on Jan 1)

FIRST NAME (Mr/Mrs/Miss)

SURNAME

HOME GOLF CLUB:

HANDICAP:
Maximum 28 for males; 36 for females.
(Competitors should take up an up to date handicap from their home club)

FULL POSTAL
ADDRESS

Post Code

Tel (Home)

Tel (Mobile)

E-MAIL ADDRESS

Name of partner for Better-Ball Pairs:

If you wish the Tournament Director to allocate you with a partner at random (Please indicate (Yes / No)

Accompanying Person / Non Golfer

Preferred Airport to fly from & to

Comments / Remarks


I confirm that I agree to abide by all the tournament rules & regulations and I enclose a deposit of £100 (please make cheques payable to MENARA TRAVEL LTD) – payment by cards accepted

Signature:


Please send your completed Entry Form and cheque to:
Mohamed Fakir, Menara Travel Ltd, 200c Blythe Road, London W14 0HH

New Scottish boys champion Grant Forrest misses cut

Peter McEvoy Trophy Scoreboard
72-hole Under-18 boys' open stroke-play championship

COPT HEATH GOLF CLUB,SOLIHULL, WARWICKSHIRE

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
CSS: 72 71
1 Lloyd Chris (Kendleshire) 68 69 137
2 Wheeler Ben (Purley Downs) 71 68 139
3 Pugh Rhys (Vale of Glamorgan) 70 70 140
T4 Dunne Paul (Copt Heath) 72 69 141
T4 Kelly Patrick (Boston West) 72 69 141
T4 McDonald Jack (Kilmarnock Barassie) 71 70 141
T4 Titlow Jerome (The London) 68 73 141
T8 Heasman Jack (West Essex) 72 70 142
T8 Lockwood Paul (Hessle) 70 72 142
T10 Bacon Matthew (Costessey Park) 73 70 143
T10 Edwards Sam (Bigbury) 72 71 143
T10 Desmond Levi (Belton Woods) 71 72 143
T10 Dixon Alex (Chesterfield) 71 72 143
T10 Crookall-Nixon Sebastian (Workington) 70 73 143
T15 Kinnear Paul (Formby) 75 69 144
T15 Helyard Michael (Hessle) 74 70 144
T15 Taylor Ben (Walton Heath) 74 70 144
T15 Shinkwin Callum (Moor Park) 73 71 144
T15 Plant Alfie (Rochester & Cobham) 73 71 144
T15 Clements Thomas (Royal Norwich) 71 73 144
T15 Eason Gregory (Kirkby Muxloe) 71 73 144
T22 Harper Liam (Lydd) 76 69 145
T22 Griffiths Curtis (Wentworth) 74 71 145
T22 Selfridge Chris (Moyola Park) 74 71 145
T22 Tree Toby (Worthing) 71 74 145
T22 Burnett James (Sleaford) 70 75 145
T27 Walsh Colin (Hayling Island) 74 72 146
T27 Puddy Michael (Rochester & Cobham) 74 72 146
T27 Carr Oliver (Heswall) 74 72 146
T27 Colgate Jack (Rochester & Cobham) 73 73 146
T27 Johnson Luke (Kings Lynn) 73 73 146
T27 Ward Nick (Redbourn) 73 73 146
T27 Blick David (East Devon) 72 74 146
T27 Downing Billy (Truro) 72 74 146
T27 Jones Steven (Canons Brook) 71 75 146
T36 Chapman Matthew (Wentworth) 76 71 147
T36 Brockington James (Henley) 76 71 147
T36 Sheridan-Mills Freddie (Walsall) 74 73 147
T36 Gibson Scott (Southerness) 74 73 147
T36 Fisher-Ulliott Jonathon (Hornsea) 74 73 147
T36 Orrin Max (North Foreland) 73 74 147
T36 Redford Ian (St Andrews New) 70 77 147
MISSED THE CUT ---------------------------------
T43 Smith Jordan (Bowood) 75 73 148
T43 Mason Ashley (Glen Gorse) 73 75 148
T43 O'Neil Conor (Pollok) 72 76 148
T43 Ellis-Banbury Daniel (Letchworth 71 77 148
T47 Payne Greg (Chobham 79 70 149
T47 Kimsey Nathan (Woodhall Spa 78 71 149
T47 Dickson Ross (Crews Hill 73 76 149
T47 McAllister Jonny (Hallowes 73 76 149
T47 Newbold Nick (Kedleston 73 76 149
T52 Jackson Luke (Worksop 78 72 150
T52 Scrimshaw Andrew (Prudhoe 78 72 150
T52 Herbert Ben (Clacton on Sea 77 73 150
T52 Johnson Gareth (Moor Allerton 77 73 150
T52 Casey Harry (Enfield 76 74 150
T52 Buckland Nicholas (Sundridge Park 74 76 150
T52 Cardy Jack (Hintlesham 73 77 150
T52 Carney Jamie (Shirley) 71 79 150
T60 Boote David (Walton Heath) 79 72 151
T60 Aldred Rob (Hagley) 74 77 151
62 Forrest Grant (Craigielaw) 76 76 152
63 Cameron Craig (Wentworth) 78 75 153
T64 Fowler Kieron (El Plantio 78 76 154
T64 Hadfield Mitch (Worksop) 77 77 154
T64 Jessamine Thomas (Woodbury Park) 75 79 154
T67 Stewart Calum (Brora) 81 74 155
T67 Sharpe Oscar (Minchinhampton) 79 76 155
T69 Fricker Leon (Yelverton) 81 75 156
T69 Harris Tom (Castletown) 80 76 156
T69 Barry Stephen (Copt Heath) 77 79 156

Argyll & Bute match-play championship this weekend

Argyll & Bute Golf Union tees off its 2010 season this weekend with its customary opener, the 2010 county match-play championship.
Held over Machrihanish, it will feature the top 16 from last year's stroke-play event which was held at Cowal.
Defending champion will be Rothesay's George Reynolds who beat Glencruitten's Allan McKie in the final last year. The draw and times for the Saturday morning are:
8.50 Craig Pirie v Gordon McLean.
8.58 Kenneth McCallum v Allan McKie.
9.07 Stephen Renfrew v Les Pirie.
9.15 George Reynolds v Bobby Willan.
9.23 Steve Ellis v Gordon Lundie.
9.31 Alistair McPherson v Reevie Thomson.
9.40 Philip Murphy v George MacMillan.
9.48 Graham Bolton v Ross Speirs.

Peter Whiteford squeezes into Far East

events as gamble pays off

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By NICK RODGER
Peter Whiteford's gamble on a trip to the Far East paid off last night when the Fifer gained late starts in tomorrow's Volvo China Open and the Ballantine's championship in Korea next week.
The 29-year-old from Kirkcaldy, pictured right, who scored a career-best share of second place in the Andalucian Open last month, was eager to build on that result and had forked out £2,700 on flights even though he was still well down the reserve list for both events.
But Whiteford, the winner of last season's Challenge Tour Grand Final, has squeezed into the fields and will now get the chance to compete for a combined prize fund of £3.6million over the next fortnight.
He will be joined in the China field this week by Ryder Cup skippers Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin as well as fellow Scots Paul Lawrie, David Drysdale, Alastair Forsyth and Marc Warren.

FORREST BACK IN ACTION AT COPT HEATH

Grant Forrest, fresh from landing the Scottish Boys' championship, returns to action today in the McEvoy Trophy at Copt Heath near Birmingham.
The Craigielaw teenager is one of six Scots competing in the Under-18 event, where past winners include Justin Rose and Masters runner-up Lee Westwood.
Ian Redford, beaten by Forrest in the boys' final at West Kilbride at the weekend, also competes alongside Calum Stewart, Conor O'Neil, Scott Gibson and Scottish boys' stroke-play champion Jack McDonald.

RAFFERTY SIGNS UP WITH THE ROXBURGHE
Ronan Rafferty has signed an attachment with The Roxburghe ahead of the Kelso venue staging its first ever Tartan Tour event next week. The former European No 1, who played in the 1989 Ryder Cup, will represent the Borders club on the domestic circuit and joins a strong field for the SPGA's Duke of Roxburghe Challenge.
He said: "It will be a very exciting time to be involved in the future development of one of the very best inland courses in the UK."



McKNIGHT PIPPED IN FLORIDA PLAY-OFF
Kilmarnock's Robert McKnight just missed out on his second Minor League Golf Tour title when he lost a play-off in the Hammock Spring Classic in Florida. McKnight, based in the United States, fired a seven-under 65 in the one-day contest but was pipped at the first extra hole by Brett Bergeron.



+The full article above appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.