Still time to book your October golfing holiday in Morocco

Entries are still being accepted for the inaugural Morocco Golf Festival, to be staged over four courses in the Marrakech area from October 9 to 16.
Basically, it's a four-round Stableford tournament in which competitors are able to discard their worst round for their final total. That's from the Monday to Friday with the middle Wednesday officially a rest day during which the morning will be spent on a guided tour of Marrakech, including its famous market square. That's one of the city's landmark towers pictured on the right.
Everyone will fly out to Marrakech on Saturday, October 9 and there will be a break-the-ice better-ball pairs competition at the Royal Course on the Sunday. You can nominate your own partner for that or take your chance on putting your name in the hat for random pairings.
The other courses being used are:
Monday - PALMERAIE. Tuesday - AMELKIS. Thursday - AL MAADEN. Friday - AMELKIS.
It has become clear over the past few months, that there will be no boys or girls in the field which will be mainly made up of senior men and women.
There will be prizes for four categories - Men, Women, Senior Men, Senior Women.
Mohamed Fakir of Menara Travel will assist you book your flights.
For all the details and how to enter, go to the top of the left hand column on the Home Page of this website and click on the words MOROCCO FESTIVAL.
Two Scots, Colin Farquharson and Ron Menzies, will run the show out in Marrakech. They will do their best to ensure that it's a Great Fun Week.

Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County News

AUTUMN MEETING FINISH


The last of the main Clackmannan county competitions took place at Tulliallan last Saturday when a small entry of 64 contested the autumn meeting. In tricky golf scoring conditions--- there were 18 No Returns---the scratch score of the day went up to 71.
However this did not deter the locals who took the top two handicap prizes. Michael Quinn led the way with a net 64, followed by G McKinven with 66. Best scratch score of the day came from Alloa’s David Abernethy with a fine score of 70, followed by local Bob Stewart on 71.


MIDLAND ALLIANCE TEES OFF


While most golf clubs are approaching the end of their season, the Midland Alliance has just started its 2010-2011 season with the first meeting at Thornton. With about 30 events scheduled, the calendar stretches to March of 2011 and includes stroke-play, team and pro-am events.
One of the meetings is due to be played over the Schawpark course on September 14. Hopefully there will be a good turn-out.
The demand for membership is high with a substantial waiting list - quite a difference from many golf clubs these days. Local members are always making their presence felt. At Thornton, Tulliallan’s Bob Stewart, with a 76, was among the top ten scratch scorers and in the handicap section, Alloa’s Kenny Thomson with a 73 finished fifth.


COUNTY LEAGUES
While the Boys League has still to be finalised, there is no doubt about the Men’s League - it's Alva who have taken the 2010 title: Played 5; won 5, leaving Alloa and Dollar to challenge for the runners-up spot.


RESULTS IN BRIEF
At junior level, Alva’s Lawrence Allan took the Dollar Open title with a fine score of 65, making up for his disappointment at the British boys' event.
In the North District event Dollar’s Scott Borrowman started with couple of reasonable rounds at Inverness, scoring 72 and 79 to lie seven shots behind the leader, but fell away in the third round, finishing with an aggregate of 305 (72,77,82,74) .
On the professional side Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay played in the Ecco Challenge Tour event in Germany last week, making the cut but finishing down the field with an aggregate of 295 (75, 72, 74, 74). However, the good news is that Callum will be playing in the Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles this week. After a few weeks on the reserve list he now is in the starting field and hopefully there will be plenty of local support to give him some encouragement.

IT'S A BOSTON TEE-PARTY IN JUNIOR

CHAMPION CLUB EVENT

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
The lads from Boston in Lincolnshire stormed to victory with a sensational second-day performance at Malton and Norton to win the Junior Champion Club Tournament.
With the best two scores from three to count, the trio of Bill Spooner, Sam Vince and Nicky Frost returned 82 points for an aggregate of 156 and a two points winning margin over Hull from Yorkshire with Crondon Park from Essex third on 150.

Not only was Boston’s total a record for the event since it went to a Stableford format but it was the first time that the title has gone to a Lincolnshire club. They could also be the smallest team in stature as well as the youngest with an aggregate age of 39. But they are all off low handicaps, 18 being the combined figure.
“This is brilliant,” said Spooner. “We didn’t expect to win but we expected to do well. We scored well and we combined well as a team.”
“It was a challenge,” said Frost. “Winning is a big surprise and it will mean everything back in Boston.”
The Boston boys began the day in joint fifth place, three points off the pace. But with Frost scoring 39 points off seven handicap and Spooner contributing an amazing 43 off five, their victory was almost assured. They could even pass up the 38 points scored by Vince.
For most of the day it seemed that Crondon Park would take the top prize with their 150 points. But Boston soon overtook them with their sensational return.
Then it was only a case of whether Hull could storm the Boston ‘tea party’ and steal the show. When Michael Wray signed for 40 points and Steven Robins 38, the scene switched to George Thorp. He needed a big score to turn the tables but even though he came in with 41 it wasn’t quite enough.
There were also some notable performances among the teams that didn’t feature in the chase for the title.
After scoring 34 points in round one, Calvin Sherwood from Rookery Park in Suffolk signed for 39 points off five handicap with an amazing back nine of 24 points after coming home in 32 strokes, four under par. He birdied the tenth then went par-birdie-birdie-birdie before finishing with four more pars. “I got used to the greens in the end,” he said modestly.
Among the other best returns of the second round were 42 points by Connor Penning from Beadlow Manor and Burhill’s Charlie Thomas. Penning, only 11 years old with a handicap of 22, admitted: “I putted really well,” as he compiled 22 points going out.
Thomas, 14, a boarder at Charterhouse School, came home with 23 points off 15 handicap, also attributed his success to putting. “My putting wasn’t good yesterday so I spent a lot of time practising before going out, working on my alignment.”

England v Spain Under-16s at Pannal

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire), Haydn McCullen (Didsbury, Cheshire), Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) and Toby Tree (Worthing, Sussex) will carry England’s hopes in the one-day Under-16 International with Spain at Pannal Golf Club, Harrogate, North Yorkshire tomorrow (August 24).
Fitzpatrick was the leading player in the Brabazon Trophy Northern Qualifier at Huddersfield this year and finished tied eighth in the English Under-16 Championship for the McGregor Trophy when he was a member of the winning England team in the Nations Cup.

McCullen, the youngest member of the quartet, has been prominent in the English Under-14 Championship for the Reid Trophy over the past two years, finishing tied sixth last year and equal fifth in 2010.

Orrin finished runner-up in the McGregor Trophy this year and was also a member of the winning Nations Cup team. Last year’s South of England Boys Champion, he also finished tied sixth in the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.

Tree, the English Under 14 Champion in 2008, landed the Under 16 title this year and was the third member of the winning Nations Cup team. He made his debut for England in the 2010 boys' home internationals, having been an Under-16 cap last year.

Berwick stages English boys' county

finals this week

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
A seismic shift has occurred within English boys' county golf this year which will be reflected in the English boys' county finals at Goswick Golf Club, Berwick-on-Tweed, from Tuesday to Thursday this week.
Northern Counties winners Cumbria and Midland Champions Derbyshire are making their first appearance in the finals, Gloucestershire, the South West qualifiers, have never won the title, while Hertfordshire, the South East winners, are the only finalists to have lifted the trophy which they did at Sherwood Forest in 1993.

So it will be a new look line-up for the three-day round robin tournament with each match consisting of three foursomes and six singles over 18 holes.

Cumbria’s team includes Seb Crookall-Nixon from Workington, English Under 16 Champion in 2008 and 2009 and an England Boy Cap, and Carlisle’s Chris Thursby, who was the individual winner in the Northern Boys Qualifying at Furness when he equalled the course record of 65.
Carl Johnstone, also from Carlisle, was the Cumbrian Under 16 Champion in 2009, while Dan Park from Kirkby Lonsdale, is currently on the Abu Dhabi Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship leaderboard and will be going to college in the United States next year.
Derbyshire, who qualified as Midland Region Champions at Horsley Lodge, include boy international Nick Newbold, who reached the last 16 of the English Amateur, Craig Young, who won the County’s Men’s Championship, and Jack Cope, the Derbyshire Match Play Champion.
Gloucestershire, runners-up to Surrey last year at Whittington Heath, have lost the services of Adam Carson and Chris Lloyd but can be relied upon to make another strong challenge this time, especially with the likes of Tyler Hogarty and Oscar Sharpe in their team.
Hogarty, whose family has moved from South Africa, is the Gloucestershire Junior Champion and was runner-up in the Men’s County Championship. Sharpe was a sensation in boys golf in 2006 when he became England Under 14, 15 and 16 Champion. He became an Under 16 Cap and moved up to a boy international and now approaching his 18th birthday, he finished tied fourth in this year’s South West Boys Championship.
The Hertfordshire line-up includes Nick Ward, their County Champion, who finished fifth in the RandA’s Junior Open at Lundin Golf Club, Fife a few weeks ago, and Callum Shinkwin, the English Under 18 Champion following his impressive victory in the Carris Trophy at Woodhall Spa which led to his England debut in the boys' home internationals.
In Tuesday's first round of matches, Cumbria will play Derbyshire while Gloucestershire meet Hertfordshire.

TEAMS
Cumbria
Ollie Carr (Ulverston)
Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington)
Carl Johnstone (Carlisle)
Dan Park (Kirkby Lonsdale)
Ryan Pearson (Workington)
Chris Thursby (Carlisle)
Keiran Waters (Carlisle)


Derbyshire
Joe Biggs (Chevin)
Jamie Boler (Chesterfield)
Jack Cope (Matlock)
Nick Newbold (Kedleston Park)
Josh Thorley (Broughton Heath)
Alex Weare (Derbyshire College)
Craig Young (Ashbourne)


Gloucestershire
Tyler Hogarty (Rodway Hill)
Sam McPherson (Broadway)
Louis O’Regan (Knowle)
Alex Palomeque (The Kendleshire)
Oscar Sharpe (Minchinhampton)
Sam Sullivan (Woodspring)
Jordan Williams (Henbury)


Hertfordshire
Tomasz Anderson (Mill Green)
Will Chambers (Mid Herts)
Luke Colegate (Berkhamsted)
Sam Cutting (Berkhamsted)
Callum Shinkwin (Moor Park)
Ben Smith (Sandy Lodge)
Nick Ward (Redbourn)

SCOTS PAYING £1,350 TO GO TO SCHOOL


The European Tour School qualifying process begins soon with Stage 1 at several venues - only one in Scotland (Dundonald Links).
It's a huge earner for the European Tour. Each competitor has to pay £1,350 whether he gets all the way to the Final Q School of fails to get past Stage 1.
Scots involved in the Stage 1 events:


The London Club, Kent (August 31-September 3)
Paul Cormack, Keir McNicoll, Paul Doherty.


Dundonald Links (September 14-17)
Wallace Booth, Braeme Brown, Jack Doherty, Jordan Findlay (am), Graham Fox, Stephen Gray, Chris Harkins (am), Lee Harper, Scott Henderson, Scott Henry, Tom Higson, Mark Hillson (am), Barry Hume, Chris Kelly, Mark Loftus, Graeme Lornie, Craig Matheson, Shaun McAllister, Jason McCreadie, Greg Nicolson, Paul O'Hara, Duncan Stewart.


Wychwood Park, Crewe (September 21-24)
Elliot Saltman, Lloyd Saltman, Craig Sutherland, Joel Hendry, Ross Bain.

Jimenez changes mind - heads for Gleneagles

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Miguel Angel Jimenez has changed his mind and will now play in this week's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles to try to secure a fourth Ryder Cup cap.
The 46-year-old Spaniard sent his manager Sarah Phillips a text message on Sunday night after Peter Hanson's victory at the Czech Open knocked him down into the ninth and last automatic qualifying spot with one week left.
Jimenez had planned to be at his nephew's wedding on Saturday, but it will now go ahead without him - unless, of course, he misses the halfway cut in Scotland.
The Dubai Desert Classic and French Open champion played with Hanson in the final round, but dropped from second to seventh with a disappointing 73.
By staying in the top 10, though, he became eligible for this week's tournament without having to seek a sponsor's invitation - as Hanson did last Monday.

Seven of Monty's Ryder Cup team book places

FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Captain Colin Montgomerie now knows seven of the 12 players who will represent Europe as they try to win back the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in five weeks' time.
They are Lee Westwood (calf injury permitting), Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher and Francesco Molinari.
But also now certain is that Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Justin Rose cannot all be there - at least one of them will be left out by Montgomerie on Sunday when he names his three wild cards.
Swede Peter Hanson's thrilling play-off win in the Czech Open on Sunday bumped Casey out of the ninth and last automatic qualifying spot with only this week's Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles to come.
Casey, Donald and Harrington - ninth, 10th and 18th in the world respectively - could all still have avoided the need for a pick by flying to Scotland. Instead they and Rose have opted for the first of the FedEx Cup play-off series in America. Bags of money on offer, but not a single Ryder Cup point.

Two years ago Casey and Ian Poulter did the same thing and were still handed wild cards by then captain Nick Faldo - he had only two - at the expense of all those, most notably in-form Darren Clarke and cup stalwart Montgomerie, who were at Gleneagles for the final event.

How Montgomerie handles it remains to be seen, but it could be that he omits two of the star quartet rather than just one because Scottish Open champion Edoardo Molinari, brother and World Cup-winning partner of Francesco, needs a wild card too.

The speculation is bound to continue throughout the Johnnie Walker Championship, a tournament which will also decide who takes the last two spots off the points table.

Hanson, who sank a 18-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to defeat Irishman Peter Lawrie and England's Gary Boyd for the win he needed to move into the top nine, is almost there.

The 32-year-old, lucky to grab the £272,640 cheque after blowing a four-stroke overnight lead with a 74, can only be denied if Simon Dyson wins next weekend and Ross McGowan comes second.

Michael Sim hits the million-dollar mark on US Tour this year



By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Aberdeen-born Michael Sim - ignored by most of the Scottish media as THE leading Scot on the US PGA Tour - has made the £1million dollar mark in winnings for one season in the Big League for the first time.
Sim, who emigrated to Australia with his parents in the early 1990s when he was seven years old - he'll be 26 on October 23 - earned $244,800 for a joint third finish in the Wynham Championship on Sunday.
Michael covered the last 23 holes of the tournament in 12 under par - not a single bogey, eight birdies - for a 18 under par total of 262. At one stage he tied for the lead.
The Scot's great run started after he had bogeyed the ninth and 11th in his third round. He then birdied the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th in an inward 32 for a 66, having started the tournament with scores of 66 and 68.
In his final round of eight-under 62, Sim had birdies at the second, fourth, long fifth, sixth, eighth (out in 30), 13th, long 15th and 17th (home in 32).
Sim who can drive well over the 300yd mark on occasion had an average drive of 291.5yd in the fourth round.
His number of putts per round in the Wyndham Championship were - 29-27-29-29.
He hit 94 per cent of the greens in regulation in his final round, which is a phenomenal statistic. Tiger Woods would like it, for sure, at the moment.
Sim, although coming up short of victory, was delighted with the way he played.

"That's the best back-to-back ball-striking rounds I've had in a while," said Sim, who started the final round seven strokes from the lead.
"I've been struggling with my ball-striking all year and it really came around this week. My putting's been fantastic and that continued."
Sim has now earned $1,098,463 on the US PGA Tour this season and is 61st in the table. 
His $244,800 prize on Sunday was not his biggest of the season. He earned $395,733 for finished joitn third in the Farmers Insurance Open on January 31.
He has had three top-four finishes this season, two of them this month. 
In a stop-start career - his original venture on to the US PGA Tour was dealt a severe blow with a lower back injury which laid him low for month - Sim's previous best money-earning season was 2009 when he made $644,142 on the Nationwide Tour with four victories which got him back on to the US Tour.
+Glasgow-born Martin Laird is currently 95th on the US Tour money table with earnings of $752,765. He had one-season earnings of $1,349,354 last year on the US Tour. 

Fred Funk wins Tradition Major on US Seniors Tour

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
SUNRIVER, Oregon (AP) — The Jeld-Wen Tradition is leaving Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Golf Club in central Oregon after a four-year run. No one is going to miss it more than Fred Funk.

The 54-year-old Funk won the tournament - the fourth of the Champions Tour's five majors - for the second time in three years, closing with a 3-under 69 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory over Michael Allen and Chien Soon Lu.

"I really like this golf course, and I really like this area. Obviously, it's been good to me," said Funk, 47 under in four Tradition tournaments at Crosswater.

Funk, also the 2009 U.S. Senior Open winner, has six Champions Tour victories. He won eight times on the PGA Tour.

The former Maryland coach took the lead for good with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 598-yard, par-5 16th, then two-putted from 40 feet for par at 18 to finish at 12-under 276 on the Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Golf Club course.

Allen shot a 67, and Lu had a 69.

Eight players were tied or had the outright lead at some point on the back nine. When the final group had five holes left, 12 players were within two strokes.

Funk, who won the third Champions major of his career, began the round two strokes behind third-round leader Tom Lehman. Funk was in contention throughout the day, at one point making seven consecutive pars before his birdie at 16.

Funk's 276 total is the highest winning score in the Tradition since 2002, when Jim Thorpe won at Desert Mountain at 11-under 277.

"Nobody was taking off. I thought that Tom or Bernhard (Langer) would get to 13 or 14 under, but nobody did," Funk said. "Guess it was a testament to how tough the golf course was playing."

Langer, attempting to become the second player in Champions Tour history to win three consecutive majors, shot a 73 to tie for 10th at 8 under.

Lu had a chance to tie Funk at 18, narrowly missing a 40-foot chip shot for birdie.

"I don't know how he missed that shot," Funk said.

Allen reached 12 under with a birdie at 15, but bogeyed 16.

Allen made a tournament-high 25 birdies, but it wasn't enough to offset his play at the par-4 fourth, where he was 5 over for the week.

"I was taking three steps forward and two steps back all week," said Allen, the 2009 Senior PGA winner.

Lehman (73) and Mark Calcavecchia (66) tied for fourth at 10 under.

Jeld-Wen is ending its relationship as title sponsor, and the Champions Tour is expected to announce its plans for the tournament this week.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288
276 Fred Funk 68 69 70 69.
277 Michael Allen 69 71 70 67, Chien Soon Lu 70 73 65 69.
278 Mark Calcavecchia 69 72 71 66, Tom Lehman 67 69 69 73.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL THE FINAL TOTALS