Monday, July 12, 2010

Lanarkshire match-play championship
Played at Hamilton Tonight.

W Bryson (Drumpellier) beat C Kerr (Cambuslang) 2 holes
Mark O'Donnell (Hamilton) bt S Douglas (Drumpellier) 3 and 1.
K Loughrie (Cambuslang) bt R Muldoon (Bothwell Castle) 2 and 1.
G Robertson (Airdrie) beat A MacDonald (Crow Wood) 2 and 1.
E Wood (Crow Wood) bt R Wilson (Bellshill) 6 and 5.
D Fearon (Colville Park) bt A Steven (Easter Moffat) 7 and 6.
R Main (Airdrie) bt M Dubber (Bothwell Castle) 2 and 1.
A Graham (Crow Wood) bt M Brodie (Crow Wood) 1 hole.

Quarter Finals to be played at Hamilton on Thursday at 5.30pm

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Open Championship tee times for Thursday and Friday

0630 and 1141 Thomas Levet (Fra), Paul Lawrie, Steve Marino (USA)
0641 and 1152 Loren Roberts (USA), Mathew Goggin (Aus), Marcel Siem (Ger)
0652 and 1203 Robert Rock, John Senden (Aus), Bill Haas (USA)
0703 and 1214 Jason Dufner (USA), Simon Dyson, Soren Hansen (Den)
0714 and 1225 Todd Hamilton (USA), Ryuichi Oda (Jpn), Alexander Noren (Swe)
0725 and 1236 Andrew Coltart, John Daly (USA), Seung-yul Noh (Kor)
0736 and 1247 Sir Nick Faldo, Martin Laird, Soren Kjeldsen (Den)
0747 and 1258 David Duval (USA), Ross McGowan, Trevor Immelman (Rsa)
0758 and 1309 Ryan Moore (USA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
0809 and 1320 Robert Allenby (Aus), Nick Watney (USA), Oliver Wilson
0820 and 1331 Lucas Glover (USA), Rory McIlroy, Tim Clark (Rsa)
0831 and 1342 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Hunter Mahan (USA), Shunsuke Sonoda (Jpn)
0842 and 1353 Ian Poulter, Ernie Els (Rsa), Stewart Cink (USA)
0858 and  1409 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Sean O'Hair (USA), Ross Fisher
0909 and 1420 Tiger Woods (USA), Justin Rose, Camilo Villegas (Col)
0920 and  1431 Padraig Harrington, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Tom Watson USA)
0931 and 1442 Jin Jeong (Kor), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Matt Kuchar (USA)
0942 and 1453 Jason Day (Aus), Chris Wood, Kenny Perry (USA)
0953 and 1504 Darren Clarke, Mike Weir (Can), Davis Love III
1004 and 1515 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), J.B. Holmes (USA)
1015 and 1526 Mark O'Meara (USA), Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Stephen Gallacher
1026 and 1537 Michael Sim (Aus), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Gregory Havret (Fra)
1037 and 1548 Zane Scotland, Tom Pernice Jnr. (USA), Jamie Abbott
1048 and 1559 Bo Van Pelt (USA), Phillip Archer, Ewan Porter (Aus)
1059 and 1610 Cameron Percy (Aus), Tano Goya (Arg), Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor)
1110 and 1621 Steven Tiley, Mark F Haastrup (Den), Tom Whitehouse
1141 and 0630 Peter Senior (Aus), Mark Calcavecchia, Anders Hansen (Den)
1152 and 0641 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Jeff Overton (USA), Colm Moriarty
1203 and 0652 Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Hirofumi Miyase (Jpn), Shane Lowry
1214 and 0703 Kevin Na (USA), Tom Lehman (USA), Marc Leishman (Aus)
1225 and 0714 Sandy Lyle, Bradley Dredge, Koumei Oda (Jpn)
1236 and 0725 Vijay Singh (Fij), Simon Khan, Scott Verplank (USA)
1247 and; 0736 Y.E. Yang (Kor), Luke Donald, Ricky Barnes (USA)
1258 and  0747 Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Dustin Johnson (USA)
1309 and; 0758 Jerry Kelly (USA), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Katsumasa Miyamoto (Jpn)
1320 and; 0809 Peter Hanson (Swe), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Ben Curtis (USA)
1331 and; 0820 Paul Casey, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Rickie Fowler (USA)
1342 and 0831 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Lee Westwood, Adam Scott (Aus)
1353 and; 0842 Graeme McDowell, Jim Furyk (USA), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)
1409 and; 0858 Steve Stricker (USA), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
1420 and 0909 Colin Montgomerie, Phil Mickelson (USA), Retief Goosen (Rsa)
1431 and; 0920 Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Rhys Davies, Justin Leonard (USA)
1442 and; 0931 Zach Johnson (USA), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Eric Chun (Kor)
1453 and; 0942 K J Choi (Kor), Bubba Watson (USA), Victor Dubuisson (Fra)
1504 and; 0953 Ben Crane (USA), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Thomas Aiken (Rsa)
1515 and 1004 Jason Bohn (USA), Kurt Barnes (Aus), Laurie Canter
1526 and; 1015 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Heath Slocum (USA)
1537 and 1026 Paul Streeter, Brian Gay (USA), Gareth Maybin
1548 and 1037 Paul Goydos (USA), Tim Petrovic (USA), Jean Hugo (Rsa)
1559 and 1048 Gary Clark, D.A. Points (USA), Danny Chia (Mal)
1610 and 1059 Glen Day (USA), Josh Cunliffe (Rsa), Tyrrell Hatton =
1621 and 1110 Jae-bum Park (Kor), George McNeill (USA), Simon Edwards (USA)

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Scotland boys squad with coach Neil Marr before torrential rain washed out their practice round at Sandwich, Kent. Image by courtest of Tom Ward Photography.

Toby Tree seeks to step up in McGregor Trophy


NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Toby Tree (Worthing, Sussex) will attempt to add the English Boys Under 16 Stroke Play Championship to the Under 14 title he won in 2008 when the McGregor Trophy supported by FootJoy is played at Prince’s Golf Club at Sandwich in Kent from July 13 to 15.
Tree won the Under 14 crown at Coxmoor and has since triumphed in the Douglas Johns Trophy and the Sussex Boys Championship while being capped at Under 16 level against Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The 16 year old from Worthing will also be involved in the Nations Cup, which is competed for over the opening two rounds. Tree will join Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire) and Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) to complete the England No.1 team while Robert Burlison (Oxley Park, Staffordshire), Kieron Fowler (Spain) and Patrick Kelly (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire) will make up England No.2. All are members of the England Under 16 Squad.
Fitzpatrick, 15, won the Brabazon Trophy Northern Qualifier at Huddersfield this year, while Orrin, 16, is a former South of England Boys Champion and Under 16 International.
Burlison, 15, was English Schools Under 16 Champion last year as well as Staffordshire Schools Under 18 Champion. He also finished runner-up in the Douglas Johns Trophy and in the North of England Under 14 Championship.
Fowler, 15, has been successful in junior events in Spain and finished tied fourth in the North of England Under 16 Championship last year, while Kelly, 16, is a former Lincolnshire Under 14 Champion, who finished sixth in last year’s Douglas Johns Trophy.
The Nations Cup also comprises of teams from Ireland, Norway, Scotland and Spain.
The McGregor field also includes several players who were prominent in the 2009 Under 14 Championship. Spain’s Mario Galiano and Aaron Rai from Patshull Park, joint runners-up, are competing as is third-placed Pablo Matesanz from Spain and Nick Ward from Redbourn, the newly-crowned Hertfordshire County Champion.
There is also a strong overseas contingent. Players from Austria, Barbados, Belgium, the Emirates, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Spain, are in the field of 132, as well as from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County News

HONOURS SHARED AT FALKIRK TRYST
In the annual match against Stirlingshire, the Clackmannan team fought well to secure a halved match at 5 games each in 10 a side singles. It was a very good result away from home, in difficult windy conditions over the flat Falkirk Tryst golf course where distances are difficult to judge for visitors.
Top Clackmannan performance came from Dollar’s Gary Chalmers with a two under par score for a win on the 14th green. In another high quality match, Jamie Aitken (Alloa) held on to a 2 hole lead at the turn to win on the 17th, and there were further narrow wins from the other two Alloa players David Milloy who turned round a one hole deficit after nine to win on the last green and John Salmond who held on to a narrow lead all the way.
Tulliallan’s John Maxwell squared his game at the 15th with a long putt for a birdie 2, and also held on for a one hole win. Team Captain John Gullen was pleased “The team have only lost one match this season, and hopefully the County can add some good new players to its teams. Although losing on the last hole, Braehead’s Alan Watson can be pleased that he took Jamie Lynch-- local player and Scottish Boys semi-finalist-- to the last green in his first match for Clackmannan County. In fact Jamie had to call on all his reserves to square the match at the 17th with a good putt followed by an iron hit very close at the 18th to win by one hole”

MATCH RESULTS
 (Clackmannan names first)
1. Jamie Aitken (Alloa) beat Mark Hislop (Glenbervie) 2/1
2. Ross Benvie (Braehead) lost to Steven Ferguson (Falkirk Tryst) 6/5
3. Scott Moffat (Alloa) lost to James Donaldson (Falkirk Tryst) 2/1
4. Alan Watson (Braehead) lost to Jamie Lynch (Falkirk Tryst) 1 hole
5. John Maxwell (Tulliallan) beat Stuart Haddow (Falkirk) 1 hole
6. David Milloy (Alloa) beat George McNairney (Falkirk Tryst) 1 hole
7. Scott Baird (Tillicoultry) lost to Ryan Campbell (Grangemouth) 8/7
8. John Salmond (Alloa) beat Trevor Kelly (Bridge of Allan) 1 hole
9. Gary Chalmers (Dollar) beat Mark Cox (Falkirk) 5/4
10. John Gullen (Tillicoultry) lost to Tommy Wilson (Glenbervie) 1 hole

CLACKMANNAN 5 STIRLING 5

ANOTHER TOP PERFORMANCE FOR LAWRENCE
Alva’s Lawrence Allan continues to improve and produce good scores. His latest effort was tat the Scottish under 16’s event held at Auchterarder last week. Lawrence made the cut easily by 7 shots with two rounds of 71 and 72. In the final round played in difficult conditions, he scored 72 to finish a highly creditable seventh equal position and third equal Scot in the field of around 50. His three round aggregate of 215 was 8 over par and 7 shots behind the winner Remo Fueg from Switzerland .
Lawrence will be piling up the air miles over the next two weeks--- first he is in the south east of England this week as part of the Scottish squad competing in the English Under 16’s at Princes golf course. Within a week he is then off to Hungary to represent Scotland in the European Junior Masters for under 16’s Each country entered is represented by a team of four—two girls and two boys---competing for a team trophy as well as the individual event. County Junior Convenor Sam Kinnaird is very pleased “The County (and especially Alva Golf Club where he is well supported) hopes he does well and produces some good scores.” The event is played over 54 holes at the Royal Balatan Golf and Yacht Club-----now that’s an interesting picture.

BOB AND CALLUM BOUNCE BACK
It was good to see both Bob Stewart and Callum Macaulay come back from last week’s disappointing results. In the Scottish Seniors Society tournament at Lanark, Bob finished in 4th equal position with rounds of 75 and 71 over the par 72 course. His aggregate of 146 was 4 shots behind the winner and his 71 was one of the lowest scores of the day. Phil Dempsey also from Tulliallan finished in 11th position 3 shots back with rounds of 75 and 74.
On the professional side, Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay finished well up in the Challenge Tour event held at Lyon. Saving the best till last, Callum scorched back in his final round with an inward nine of 31 containing 4 birdies. His four sub par rounds of 70, 69, 70,66 gave him a nine under par aggregate of 275, nine shots behind the winner, the second top Scot and a share of sixteenth place which will help him considerably in the rankings.

JOHN CROWNED AT KING JAMES VI
Not to be outdone by the seniors, Alloa’s John Salmond put in an excellent performance in the King James VI Junior Open held on the island course in Perth. John took the trophy with a three under par score of 67, winning by 5 shots. Braehead’s Jordan Struthers continued the good work with a second place in the handicap section with a score of 75 -9 =66.

In the Clubgolf Junior Master Regional finals, only one Club from the County will be represented. Alloa junior golfers Calum Boyd and Jack Dowie will be competing at Glencorse golf course near Edinburgh for a place in the National finals to be held at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian on the 3rd October. There are four Regional finals and around 80 Clubs are competing for about 50 places in the final, so there will be around 12 qualifiers at each venue.

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North-east wins youths' tournament at Letham Grange

North-east won the inter-area youths tournament at a very windy Letham Grange on Sunday.
They totalled 546 to win by 16 shots from runners-up North.
Top scorers on a very difficult day for scoring were:
Par 73. CSS 76
Alexander Sutherland (Fraserburgh) 73
Kyle Godsman (Hopeman) 76
Kyle Nelson (Murcar Links)77
Sam Strachan (Inverallochy)77

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Controversy rages on over changes to Road Hole


FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By Rebecca Lefort and Mark Reason
The unique Road Hole - the 17th on the Old Course at St Andrews, is loved by professionals and fans for the drama it so often brings to St Andrews, known worldwide as “the home of golf”.
But on the eve of this week’s Open Championship at the course, a row has broken out about a redesign of the picturesque hole which is considered by many to be the world’s hardest par-four challenge.
 The Road Hole was lengthened by 40 yards after officials at the Royal and Ancient Club became concerned that it was becoming too easy, due to modern club and ball technology which allows today’s golfers to drive the ball for longer distances.
Now, in a two-pronged attack, leading golf course architects have warned that such changes are damaging the sport’s heritage, while top players have said that the redesigned 17th may encourage conservative play and dampen excitement.
Until this year the position of the Road Hole’s tee meant that players had to drive the ball unsighted over the roof of the Old Course Hotel, risking landing in the hotel’s grounds or the thick rough if the shot went astray.
To make things tougher, a new tee has been built beyond the boundary of the original Old Course. It takes the hole’s length from 455 yards to 495, and makes the hotel building even more of an obstacle.
So much so that Graeme McDowell, the US Open champion, said he would “lay up” on the hole – hit a shorter shot to avoid a mistake.
He added: “It’s unfortunate because you’re trying to get drama. It’s a TV sport. The 17th has given them some great drama over the years.
“The change] nearly has the opposite effect. It’s certainly a pretty significant change.”
Colin Montgomerie, the Ryder Cup captain, said: “If you designed the hole now you would be shot. If you said now 'I’m going to put a tee over an old railway on a practice ground and get you to hit over a disused course and over a hotel,’ people would think you were off your head.”
Among the Road Hole’s most famous conquests are Tommy Nakajima who scored a quintuple-bogey nine in 1978 after he hit the ball into the bunker, a mistake which coined the bunker’s nickname, “The Sands of Nakajima”.
In 2000 David Duval took an eight on the hole when contesting the lead, eventually losing to Tiger Woods.
In 2005, the last time the Open was held at the Scottish course, the greenkeepers attempted to toughen the 17th by growing deep band of ryegrass to the right of the fairway, but the change was not successful and the R and A, which manages St Andrews, has spent the past two years considering ways to make the hole more competitive still.
Golf course designers say the latest change is part of a wider problem of courses seeking to “stretch” holes to make them more difficult in the face of longer driving distances.
A group of golfing architects have voiced their concerns in letter to The Sunday Telegraph, calling for action to redesign golf balls so that they fly less far through the air.
They state in the letter: “For the 2010 Open Championship the R and A has addressed the eroded playing character of the 17th hole at St Andrews by moving the tee beyond the boundaries of the Old Course and onto the driving range.
“While this may solve the problem for this Open, the problems for the game of golf of excessive golf ball distance remain.
“The increased distance the modern golf ball travels has created major issues for golf in relation to the environment, safety and cost (including the opportunity cost of time spent on the golf course).
"Excessive golf ball distance has also had significant adverse affects as regards golf’s architectural and cultural heritage.”
Designers who have put their names to the letter include David Kidd, the Scottish architect of championship courses around the world; Donald Steel, who has advised every club at which the Open has been played; and the heads of golfing architects’ organisations in Scandinavia, Australia, Japan and Europe.
When the plans to lengthen the hole were announced last year, Peter Dawson, the R&A’s chief executive, justified the move by saying the change would “ensure that the hole plays as it was originally intended”.
He pointed out that the yardage in 2005 had been unchanged for more than a century, and added: “Over the years we have seen the threat from the road behind the green, and to a lesser extent the Road Bunker, diminished as players have been hitting shorter irons for their approach shots allowing them to avoid these hazards more easily.”
The R and A said the idea of lengthening the famous hole - named because its long, diagonal plateau green is perched above an old paved road - was suggested in 1964 by Sir Henry Cotton, the three-time Open champion and golf architect, who said at the time: “The terrors of the Road Hole have gone.”

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Tiger's here ... and looking relaxed in a 50mph gale!

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By STUART BATHGATE
THE smart money said he would turn up late - today or even tomorrow. Following his habit of previous Opens, he would avoid any curious onlookers by starting at the second hole rather than the first.And at an indecently early hour, when there was less chance of anyone mischievously bringing up any personal issues.
So what did Tiger Woods do? Only turn up in St Andrews yesterday, at the first hole, in the middle of the day.
As arrivals go, it could hardly have been more conspicuous had it been accompanied by a fanfare. What Woods was accompanied by at the Old Course was a wind so strong it would have forced suspension of play on a championship day, according to RandA chief executive Peter Dawson.
Gusting up to 50 miles per hour, it was "unplayable" at times, said Dawson, though Woods did not appear at all discomfited by the conditions.
If anything, he looked relaxed after choosing to return home to Florida last week to see his kids following his participation in the JP McManus Pro-am in Ireland. Yesterday, the first remark from the crowd which attracted his notice at all came when a senior citizen cried out "Los Alamitos", provoking a smile from the golfer - one of many, it should be said, on an afternoon which found him in an apparently light-hearted mood.
This, we learned, was Joe de Cavage from Beltsville, Maryland, a retired commander in the US Navy who had known Tiger's father - and indeed played against him at the Los Alamitos course in California - when Woods senior was serving in the army. "I played Tiger 20 years ago and kicked his ass," said Joe. "I knew his dad. His dad beat me more often than Tiger did."
This was confirmation that the world No1 was among friends. Those spectators who followed him around were respectful in the extreme, applauding politely where appropriate, otherwise maintaining a deferential near-silence, with not a mention of the domestic troubles which kept him out of the game for months around the turn of the year.
At first no more than 20 or 30 interested spectators, who had paid £15 each for the day's entry to the course, were there to watch him over the first couple of holes. Most had found him by chance, but a few, having done so, appeared very interested indeed. After teeing off at the third, for example, he took a quick detour to answer a call of nature, emerging from the Portaloo moments later to find most of the crowd still waiting for him.
By the 17th, the crowd had swelled to a couple of hundred, as more spectators gathered to see how the champion from 2000 and 2005 would deal with the one significant change to the course since the last time the Open was played here.
His first ball was despatched in traditional fashion, straight over the O in the words Old Course Hotel affixed to the building of that name. His second went further to the right, following the path that Henrik Stenson had taken an hour or two earlier, soaring above a paying guest who was capturing the action on a video camera from the balcony of his room.
Standing on the 18th tee, the wind now at his back as he waited to drive the 357-yard hole with a 3-wood, he was asked if he had ever played St Andrews in such conditions. "Nobody can play St Andrews like this," said Woods, in what amounted to his only public utterance.
The tailwind ensured that Woods and others of similar prowess came close to driving the green at that last hole. Then, just as it looked like he would complete his round, he turned tail and headed for the hotel.
If the occasional drive had been wayward, that was of no great concern.

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Henderson regains Lanarkshire stroke-play title ... after 23 years!

Stewart Henderson of Hamilton is the new Lanarkshire county stroke-play champion after defeating Colin Kerr of Cambuslang at the first extra hole of a sudden-death play off at Bothwell Castle on Sunday. They  had tied on 147.
Holder Ed Wood almost came back from the dead with a magnificent 66 in the second round but had to settle for third place.
Stewart last won the county championship 23 years ago when he also won in a play-off with Wilson Bryson. He would have played in the match-play, starting today, had he not been bound for Turkey with his family tomorrow.
Mark O'Donnell completed the double for Hamilton when he won the Youths Trophy for the best score under 23 years of age. He won by virtue of having the best second round of 71 over Andy Steven Easter Moffat and alistair Graham Crow Wood.
The top 16 available players will start the match-play stages today at Hamilton at 5pm when the ties are:.
C Kerr v W Bryson
S Douglas v M O'Donnell
K Loughrie v R Muldoon
G Robertson v A MacDonald (holder)
E Wood v R Wilson
D Fearon v A Steven
M Dubber v R Main
M Brodie v A Graham
STROKE-PLAY FINAL TOTALS
CSS 73 71
1st Stewart Henderson Hamilton 75 72 147
2nd Colin Kerr Cambuslang 75 72 147
3rd Ed Wood Crow Wood 82 66 148
Murray Dubber Bothwell Castle 77 71 148
Kevin loughrie Cambuslang 75 73 148
Gordon Robertson Airdrie 75 73 148
7th Mark Brodie Crow Wood 78 71 149
Robert Jenkins Crow Wood 75 74 149
Andy Fairbairn Kirkhill 74 75 149
Des Fearon Colville Park 73 76 149
11th Scott Douglas Drumpellier 81 69 150
Mark O'Donnell Hamilton 79 71 150
Paul Foy Cambuslang 78 72 150
Andy Steven Easter Moffat 76 74 150
Alistair Graham Crow Wood 76 74 150
Alam MacDonald Crow Wood 76 74 150
Robert Muldoon Bothwell Castle 73 77 150
18th Robbie Main Airdrie 81 70 150
Richard Wilson Bellshill 80 71 151
Wilson Bryson Drumpellier 79 72 151
Ian Campbell Crow Wood 77 74 151
John Ralston Shotts 76 75 151
Robert Barnes Crow Wood 75 76 151
Kenneth Mackie Bothwell Castle 74 77 151

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