Wednesday, January 26, 2011

ENGLAND YOUNGSTERS BID FOR SPANISH QUAD VICTORY

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Six of England’s youngsters will aim to end a run of four successive second places when they take on three other nations in the annual Costa Ballena Quadrangular Tournament over the Ocean Course at Costa Ballena, Spain this week.
The last occasion England emerged as champions was in 2006 but the squad of Jonathan Bell (Royal Blackheath, Kent), Steven Brown (Wentworth, Surrey), Scott Campbell (Hallowes, Yorkshire), Jack Heasman (West Essex, Essex), Daniel Wasteney (Bondhay, Yorkshire) and Josh White (Chipstead, Surrey) will attempt to break that sequence.
Bell and White played in the event last year when England finished behind Germany, the only team to beat them.
Bell, 19, is a former English under 14 Champion, who has been capped at under 16 and boys levels, helping England win the Boys Home Internationals in 2009. He also represented GB and I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy.
Brown, 23, has enjoyed a number of high finishes in the past two years including third places in the Selborne Salver, Hampshire Hog and Hampshire Salver in 2009. Last year, he was fifth in the Brabazon Trophy and West of England Stroke Play and sixth in the Tillman Trophy.
Campbell, 19, was also a member of the England team that won the Boys Home Internationals in 2009 on his debut while he also finished runner-up in the Canadian Junior Challenge and fourth in the Carris Trophy. In 2010, he tied second in the Midland Open Amateur and sixth in the Berkshire Trophy.
Heasman, 18, a former Essex under 14 Champion, was an under 16 cap in 2008 and made his debut at boys level last year. A quarter finalist in the British Boys in 2009, he finished tied third in the South East Junior Championship last year as well as fourth in the Canadian Junior Challenge and seventh in the Carris Trophy.
Wasteney, 19, the only uncapped member of the squad, enjoyed a successful 2010 in which he won the Yorkshire Open and the NAPGC Championship and was runner-up in the Northern Group Qualifying. He was also fifth in the Lee Westwood Trophy and tied ninth in the Chiberta Grand Prix and the County Champions Tournament.
White, 19, was Surrey Champion in 2009 when he debuted for England in the Boys Home Internationals and finished third in the McEvoy Trophy. Helped Surrey to the Boys County Championship that year when he finished top scorer with five points from six matches, while in 2010 he represented the EGU in the Mexican Amateur as well as at Costa Ballena.
As in previous years, the Costa Ballena competition will be played on a round robin basis, each match comprising three foursomes and six singles.
Lynne Fraser
EGU Marketing and PR Manager
Email: lfraser@englishgolfunion.org
Tel: 01526 354500

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WALLACE BOOTH MISSES CUT IN HOOTERS TOUR DEBUT

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Wallace Booth missed the cut in his debut on the NGA Hooters Tour, one of the leading American satellite pro golf circuits.
Booth, a former Walker Cup player who failed to win a European Tour player's card, had rounds of 72 and 77 for five-over-par 149 over the 6,978yd Rio Pinar Country Club course today (Wednesday).
Booth failed to score a birdie in his second round which was ruined by double bogey 6s at the 12th (his second) and second (his 11th). He also dropped a shot at the fourth.
"I started on the back nine the first round and was four over par through 5 but managed to get it together and finishing up shooting level-par 72. The second round I started on the first and again had a bad start," Wallace told Scottishgolfview.com by E-mail.
Wallace, from Comrie, Perthshire, entered the Hooters Tour event from an Augusta, Georgia address. He spent four years as an Augusta State University student.
A Walker Cup player of 2009 vintage, Chris Paisley from Newcastle, missed the cut by two shots with scores of 70 and 74 for 144. Paisley, like Booth, played the American college circuit for four years as a student at the University of Tennessee and has many contacts in that area. He entered from Gray, Tennessee.
Paisley, who finished high up in last week's Hooters Tour event, has gained playing rights for the upcoming Alps Tour.
Only the leading 40 and ties on 142 or better advanced to the third round of the Hooters Tour event. Paisley's second round included a costly double bogey 6 at the eighth.
Will Wilcox from Alabama leads on 136 with scores of 66 and 70.

LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72). Yardage 6,978
136 Will Wilcox (Alabama) 66 70.
137 Rob Oppenheim (Massachusetts) 67 70, Mike Stern (Florida) 71 66, Cliff Kresge (ennessee) 67 70.
SELECTED MISSED THE CUT (142 or better qualified)
144 Chris Paisley (Newcastle) 70 74 (jt 48th).
149 Wallace Booth (Comrie) 72 77.


+LOOK OUT FOR MORE WALLACE BOOTH UPDATES FOR

SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW.COM WHILE HE IS IN THE STAGES.

+ANY OTHER SCOTS PROS (male or female) - OR LEADING AMATEURS, FOR THAT MATTER - WHO WANT TO TELL SCOTTISHGOLFVIEW.COM ABOUT WHERE THEY ARE, WHAT THEY'RE DOING, SHOULD E-MAIL Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

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UNDULATING SLOPES ON MONTY COURSE GREENS NOT POPULAR

FROM THE PGATOUR.COM WEBSITE
RIFFA, Bahrain (AP) -- Paul Casey expects to needle Colin Montgomerie quite a bit at this week's Volvo Golf Champions, although it has nothing to do with being left out of last year's Ryder Cup team.
The brand new European Tour event in Bahrain is played on the Montgomerie-designed Royal Golf Club course, which has been criticised by some players because of the severe undulation on several greens.
Casey said. "It's almost like the plans came in for the greens and they got multiplied, significantly. Just very severe slopes. ... I mean, Monty knows he's got a target on him this week, but we're going to have fun with him. We're not going to be too hard on him."
As far as the rest of the 7,243-yard, par-72 course, Casey said he and most of his colleagues were more than satisfied.

"I'll be honest, from the tee to green, it's a pretty decent lay-out," he said. "I think the guys will actually play the golf course very well and make putts on them. What it does, it just limits pin positions. But it is what it is. It's wonderfully prepared, and there's a tournament to win this week."

The No. 9-ranked Casey was left out of Montgomerie's winning European Ryder Cup team last year, and the Englishman expressed disappointment at the time that he had not been contacted by the captain before his picks were announced.

However, there doesn't seem to be any ill feelings between the two over that issue. Casey said he spoke to Montgomerie last week during the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and that "in terms of where we stand, we are friends and we always have been friends."

"I had no issues with not being selected for the Ryder Cup," Casey said. "I had issues with the timing of the announcement, that is, finding out on the golf course. ... I never had any issues with the decision that went down and I never had any issues with Monty.
"You know, there was some fun and games in the press about neither of us making contact. I don't think Colin is a big fan of phones. I'm certainly not. I'm probably the worst person at communication."
Casey will be grouped with Robert Karlsson of Sweden and Noh Seung-yul of South Korea when the tournament starts Thursday.

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NO BUNKERS - ONLY WASTE AREAS FOR VOLVO TOURNAMENT

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Players, officials, television viewers and spectators have been asked to be aware that, for the purposes of this week’s Volvo Golf Champions, there will be no ‘bunkers’ as such on The Montgomerie Course, with all sand areas defined as waste areas.
At The Royal Golf Club in Bahrain, it is often very difficult to make a judgement on what is a waste area and what is a bunker.
The rules covering each of these areas are very different. Waste areas are through the green and there are fewer restrictions; you can take practice swings, you can move loose impediments, you can ground your club lightly behind the ball.
Bunkers are hazards. No practice swings can be taken, loose impediments cannot be moved, the ground cannot be touched with the club before the stroke is made and there are penalties for a breach of these rules.
To provide some clarity in this area and to avoid many needless penalties, all sand areas (other than those marked as water hazards) will this week be treated as waste areas and are through the green.
This means that players will be able to take practice swings, they will be able to move loose impediments and they will be able to ground the club lightly behind the ball in all sand areas.
European Tour Chief Referee Andy McFee, said: “We have taken this decision to provide clarity for the players given that the rules in the two areas are so very different. The golf course is absolutely fine but the blurring of the boundaries between desert and bunker, whilst visually attractive, potentially provides a major problem of definition.
“As this is common throughout the course and not restricted to the odd situation here and there, we felt this was the best way to exercise our duty to define the course properly.
“It has been done before – Kiawah Island Ocean Course is the best example and both The 1991 Ryder Cup and the World Cup of Golf in 2003 were played with no bunkers on the course.
“It will lead to some odd looking situations but that is infinitely preferable to players incurring penalties. As we know, television viewers are quick to call or write in when they see something wrong but on this occasion we are alerting them, in advance, that this course is different.
"It is the reverse of the situation prevalent at Whistling Straits last year during the 2010 US PGA Championship. On that course, there are 1200 sand areas and the vast majority of them look like bunkers, so the clarity was provided by declaring them all bunkers.
"At The Royal Golf Club, many of the questionable areas look like and merge into desert, so we are going to treat them as desert."

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HANSEN AND WATTS SHARE LEAD IN Hi5 PRO TOUR OPENER

FROM THE HI5 PRO TOUR WEBSITE
Denmark's Joachim Hansen and James Watts (England) have so far matched round for round at the 2011 Oliva Nova Open in the Murcia region, south-east Spain.
Both players shot two under 70 in Round 1 and today they both managed fine rounds of 68 to lead the event at six under par after 36 holes. They share a one-shot lead over Ken Benz from Switzerland and yesterdays leader Tom Shadbolt (England).
European Tour veteran Jose Manuel Carriles (Spain) finds himself three shots back after his 69 today along with James Busby of England. Players enjoyed cooler weather today with some sunshine coming throughout the day, making conditions very favourable for good scoring.
In the ladies division Merlin Palm, an amateur golfer from Estonia, lengthened her lead to 10 strokes after a 78 today for 150. Welsh pro Rhian Wyn Thomas comes next with a pair of 80s for 160. The third and last player in the ladies' field is Switzerland pro Bruno Kunzli who has scored 83 and 80 for 163.

MEN'S LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
138 James Watts (England) 70 68, Joachim Hansen (Denmark) 70 68.
139 Ken Benz (Switzerland) 71 6, Tom Shadbolt (England) 67 72.
141 Jose Manuel Carriles (Spain) 72 69, James Busby (England) 68 73.

FOR THE REST OF THE MEN'S SCORES,
CLICK HERE

WOMEN'S SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
150 Merlin Palm (Estonia) (amateur) 72 78.
160 Rhian Wyn Thomas (Wales) 80 80.
163 Bruno Kunzli (Switzerland) 83 80.
+Only three women taking part

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NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE TEE TIMES FOR NEXT WEEK


MONTROSE LINKS - WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

08.15 - G Leslie - A Campbell - B Harper.
08.22 - C Buchanan - P Farnan - free (available)
08.29 - S Scott - G Geddes- C Carnegie.
08.36 - P Morrison - S Kennedy - A J Smith.
08.43 - C Nelson - J Dalgarno - P Anderson.
08.50 - free - free - free. 
08.57 - free - free - free.
09.04 - R Fitzpatrick - P Lovie - free.
09.11 - J Hamilton - M Rendall -free.
09.18 - M Ord - S Higgins - free.
09.25 - R Brown - M Brown - S Davidson.
09.32 - J Macintosh - T Slater - J McPherson.
09.39 - I Bratton - D Bingham - free.
09.46 - G Brown - I Grant- free.
09.53 - D Phillip - J Duncan- P McIntosh.
10.00 - J Forrest - N stewart -  D Leslie.
10.07 - G Homer- B Lumsden - B Lumsden junior
10.14 - S Elrick - C Farquhar -  J Lumsden
10.21 - D Fleming - A K Pirie - L Fowler
10.28 - C Law - W Shaw - I Strachan
10.35 - A Graham - D Nelson - I Mundie
10.42 - M Forster - F Bisset - S Larkin
10.49 - H MacNaughton - D Wood - N Chisolm
10.56 - J Borthwick - J Thomas - M Rogers
11.03 - S Chalmers - C Stewart - C Brindley
11.10 - J Roberts - K Duncan - J Reid
11.17 - T Collie - M Lawrie - D Brown
11.24 - J Murray - D Bisset - D Randall
11.31 - I Smith - R Orr - J Jessiman
11.38 - J Hopwood - R O'Donnell - A Petrie
11.45 - R Lamb- M Merchant - J Duff
11.52 – D McKay - J Gall - W Skene
11.59 - N Parker - G Stevely - M booth
12.06 - P Cornfield - J Nicholson - B Nicholson
12.15 - D Wilson - M Jenkins- free
12.22 - Steve Lawrie - Sean Lawrie - free




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PAUL LAWRIE'S BROTHER SHARES NE ALLIANCE HANDICAP PRIZE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Paul Lawrie’s older brother Steve, who plays off a handicap of six at Portlethen Golf Club, figured in a four-way tie for the Class 1 handicap top prize with a net 62 over Inverallochy's par-63 winter course in today's North-east Alliance competition.
"I played well but I bogeyed the last two holes into the wind or else I could have had a really good score," said Steve whose son Sean - Paul's nephew - a one-handicapper, also at Portlethen, had a scratch 69.
David Fleming (Portlethen), John Hamilton (Murcar Links) and John Borthwick (Craibstone) tied with Steve Lawrie at the head of the Class 1 returns with net 62s. David plays off five, John Hamilton and John Borthwick both play off six.
Skibo Castle’s Carnegie links close during the winter so staff professional Joel Hopwood keeps his competitive eye in by making the trip to play in the weekly Alliance competitions.
Hopwood covered Inverallochy's shortened inward nine in his lowest ever half of 28 strokes to figure in a three-way tie for first place on 63 with amateurs John Duff (Newmachar) and Deeside’s Andrew Campbell.
Amazing that in an inward half that low included a bogey 5 at the 14th where Jole missed the green right and couldn't get up and down He also missed from a foot for a birdie at the 10th before his round took off with a three-iron on to the par-4 green at the 11th which he two-putted for his first birdie of the day having three-ptted the seventh and ninth for bogeys and also dropped a shot at the eighth where he missed the green left.
Hopwood holed a six-footer for a birdie 2 at the 13th after a 170yd sand wedge tee shot.
He drove the green at both the 15th and 16th to set up two-putt birdies.
One-handicapper Campbell had halves of 33 and 30 while Duff, who plays off +2, was out in 31 and home in 32. Duff's 31 was the joint best outward half of the day. The other 31 was returned by Inchmarlo staff pro Ryan Fitzpatrick but he took 38 shots to get home for a 69.
A field of 87 took part.
The lowest net score of the day was a 57 by Steve Kennedy, who plays off 11 at Craibstone.
LEADING SCRATCH
Par 63
63 J Hopwood (Carnegie Club) 35-28, J Duff (Newmachar) 31-32, A Campbell (Deeside) 33-30.
64 G Munro (Fraserburgh)33-31.
66 B Nicolson (Auchmill).
67 R Lamb (Newmachar) 34-33, C Law (Kings Links) 34-33, D A Fleming (Portlethen) 36-31.
68 S Scott (Auchmill) 36-32, J M Hamilton (Murcar Links), S Kennedy (Craibstone), J Borthwick (Craibstone), S Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 35-33, Steve Lawrie (Portlethen), S Finnie (Caledonian).
69 C Nelson (Mackenzie Club) 37-32, R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) 31-38, F Bisset (Banchory), Sean Lawrie (Portlethen).
70 P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) 39-31, J Nicolson (Auchmill).
71 C Carnegie (Kemnay) 35-36, C Buchanan (Newmachar) 38-33, I Bratton (Newburgh) 36-35, P McIntosh (Newburgh), D Brown (Kemnay).
72 A Graham (Aboyne), D Wilson (Duff House Royal).
73 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), M Merchant (Newmachar), G Leslie (Newburgh), A J Smith (Turriff).
74 G Geddes (Auchmill), L Prouse (Hazlehead), N Stewart (Northern), L Fowler (Royal Aberdeen), J Murray (Banchory), A Petrie (Oldmeldrum).
75 B Harper (Newburgh), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen ). M Lawrie (Kemnay), N K Parker (Murcar Links).
76 M Rendall (Stonehaven), D Bisset (Banchory), M Booth (Kemnay), W Skene (Deeside).
77 D Leslie (Westhill), J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum).
78 J Roberts (Cruden Bay), D Philip (Newburgh), C Duffus (Kemnay).
79 J Mackintosh (Auchmill), S Elrick (Kemnay), J Duncan (Newburgh), D McKay (Caledonian).
80 J Forrest (Northern), G Homer (Northern), D Lawrie (Inchmarlo), P Cornfield (Auchmill)
81 M F R Rogers (Kemnay), R Orr (Kemnay), D Bingham (Newburgh).
82 J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), M Brown (Inverurie), D Wood (Newburgh), B Lumsden (Northern), J Lumsden (Auchmill).
83 D Randall (Banchory).
84 I Mundie (Kemnay), J McPherson (Auchmill).
85 J Gall (Caledonian).
88 I Grant (Insch).
89 B Lumsden (Northern) jun.
96 C Farquhar (Northern).
HANDICAP
Class 1 - Steve Lawrie (Portlethen) (6), D A Fleming (Portlethen) (5), J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) (6), J Borthwick (Craibstone) (6) 62; C Buchanan (Newmachar) (8), R Lamb (Newmachar) (4) 63; P Morrison (Oldmeldrum) (6), S Scott (Auchmill) (4) 64.
Class 2 - S Kennedy (Craibstone) (11) 57; N Stewart (Northern) (13), A Graham (Aboyne) (11) 61; G Leslie (Newburgh) (11) 62; J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14), M Rendall (Banchory) (13), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (12) 63.


LEADING SCORECARDS
UNOFFICIAL PAR FOR INVERALLOCHY WINTER COURSE - 63.
OUT: 3-3-4-4-3-4-4-4-3--32. IN: 3-4-3-3-4-4-4-3-3--31

JOEL HOPWOOD 63
OUT: 3-3-4-4-3-5-4-5-4--35. IN: 3-3-3-2-5-3-3-3-3--28
ANDREW CAMPBELL 63
OUT: 4-2-4-4-3-5-4-4-3--33. IN: 2-3-4-3-4-4-3-4-3--30
JOHN DUFF 63
OUT: 4-3-4-3-3-3-4-3-4--31. IN: 3-3-3-3-5-4-3-4-4--32
GORDON MUNRO 64
OUT: 4-3-4-4-3-3-5-4-3--33. IN: 3-3-3-3-4-4-4-4-3--31

Young Jamie disqualifies himself after
 scorecard check at home

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
In the current climate of allegations of cheating and disqualifications in pro golf at European level, it is nice to report that honesty is alive and well on the homespun NE Alliance circuit.
Jamie Reid, a teenager who has two of a handicap at Cruden Bay, was up among the leaders with an apparent gross 64 and net 62 when he left the course, his card adding up correctly and being signed and countersigned appropriately.
But on the journey home to Peterhead, a thought kept nagging away at young Jamie. Adding up his figures again in his head, he kept coming to a total of 65, not 64.
So he and his dad sat down and went through the holes again. It was then that Jamie's worst fears were confirmed. He had signed for a 4 at the 11th when he actually took a 5.
Nothing for it but to phone the Inverallochy clubhouse and tell the Alliance organisers of his error which, of course, meant immediate disqualification, having signed for a figure lower than he actually took.
"Jamie wouldn't have wanted to win anything he was not entitled to," his father told me over the phone.
Well done, Jamie!

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WALLACE BOOTH FINDS PAR NOT GOOD ENOUGH ON HOOTERS TOUR


COLIN FARQUHARSON reports
Former Walker Cup player Wallace Booth has made the trip from his Comrie base in Perthshire to America in search of a tour he can play on.
Booth is lying joint 50th in a field of 128 players after the first round of this week's NGA Hooters Tour Winter Series event at Rio Pinar Country Club near Orlando, Florida.
Wallace, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, shot a par 72 over the 6,878yd course which, you would think, was a reasonable effort but in the highly-competitive realms of the Hooters Tour, a par round does not cut much ice.
Booth is in danger of missing the cut down to the leading 40 and ties after two rounds. Wallace was going nicely with birdies at the second, fourth and eighth in a three-under-par 33 to the turn but he lost his way after that with bogeys at the long 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th. A birdie at the long 16th got him home in 39.
Booth is entered out of Augusta, Georgia where he was a student at Augusta State University for four years.
Another past Walker Cup player - 2009 vintage - Chris Paisley from Newcastle is sharing 25th place in the same tournament with a two-under 70 (33-37) He birdied the fifth, and got an eagle 2 at the par-4 sixth but then his sub-par golf dried up.
Paisley, who picked up a fistful of dollars for a high finish on the Hooters Tour last week, covered his last 12 holes in one over par with 11 pars and a bogey at the 14th.
Leading the field is Hooters Tour regular Will Wilcox from Alabama with a 66.
Inverness exile Russell Knox, one of the NGA Hooters Tour's most prolific dollar-earners over the past two or three years, is missing out on this and last week's event while he tries his luck at Monday qualifying to get into US PGA Tour events.

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McILROY NOT FOR SAWGRASS - SO WHAT? IS US REACTION

FROM THE JACKSONVILLE.COM WEBSITE
Submitted by Garry Smits on January 25.
Garry Smits' Blog
Rory McIlroy of Ireland has announced on a smug Twitter feed that he will not enter the 2011 Players Championship.
Fans glancing at his two-year record at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course wonder if he ever did show up.
McIlroy, a native of (Editor: Northern) Ireland, is seventh on the current World Golf Rankings. Lee Westwood of England, ranked first, announced he would opt out of The Players last week.
McIlroy's intentions, at which he hinted last fall, came through a Twitter message he sent to Westwood (part of a series of tweets among McIlroy, Westwood and Ian Poulter on Tuesday afternoon that showed (A) They must have decided to take the day off from practising and (B) They proved they can act like a gaggle of eighth-grade girls).
McIlroy's message was: "I've decided no holes at Sawgrass is better than my usual 36 holes."

I can see why McIlroy doesn't want to bother. In two starts in The Players, 2009 and 2010, he has missed the cut twice, shooting 74-77-73-72. That's an average of 74.0 in the lowest-scoring back-to-back Players since 2003 and 2004.

You've also got to wonder if this isn't in some way a childish reaction by McIlroy for not being voted rookie of the year in 2010, when he held PGA Tour membership and won the Wells Fargo Championship, as well as solid performances in the majors.
Rickie Fowler was voted the award by the PGA Tour players, but only after McIlroy said he would not accept his Tour membership. In the minds of many players, I suppose their thought was, "why vote someone rookie of the year on our Tour, when he doesn't want to be on our Tour?"
Maybe that wasn't the best reason to vote for Fowler. Clearly McIlroy had the better year. But is passing on the fifth biggest golf tournament in the world any more of a mature reaction?
There's a common thread here: Westwood and McIlroy are both represented by the same agent, Chubby Chandler, who is engaging in a war of words with the US PGA Tour in the media over scheduling issues and apparently some ambiguous notion that the Tour is an evil empire out to stick it to European Tour players.
Chandler apparently hasn't figured out that the US Tour loves it when international players do well in its events, which boosts international TV ratings. In addition, the Tour doesn't have to bend over backwards to accommodate non-members.

Oh, right ... it has. The US Tour modified its rule about events for non-members to help them schedule The Players. Non-members are restricted to 10 tournaments (which counts the four majors). But The Players doesn't count towards that 10.

And as was pointed out in this corner last week, Westwood's announcement didn't even raise a yawn among First Coast golf fans. The news that another European isn't making the trip to Ponte Vedra Beach in May -- especially one who doesn't seem to have the game for the course -- will be greeted with even less concern.

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FINCHEM REMARKS WILL RAISE EYEBROWS AT EUROPEAN TOUR HQ

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Sean Martin
LA JOLLA, California. – US PGA Tour chief Tim Finchem addressed the media Tuesday. It’s likely his comments weren’t just heard in this media tent in the parking lot of the Torrey Pines Hilton, California. His remarks likely will be heard across the Atlantic, as well.
Of the European Tour, Finchem said, “I feel strongly that the European Tour needs to be a strong tour. It’s a very good thing for golf globally.”
He’s right about that. The emergence of Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy as rising stars has been entertaining to watch. They attract more eyes to the European Tour, thereby bringing more viewers to the US PGA Tour, since that’s where the world’s best events are played most weeks. People lose sight of that point this time of year, when Abu Dhabi overshadows the Bob The fact that the McIlroys and Westwoods of the world choose to spend much of their time in Europe may not be preferable, but it’s also not a death sentence for the US PGA Tour. What followed were comments from Finchem that will raise some eyebrows at European Tour headquarters.
“They have struggled more than we have with this downturn,” Finchem said. “They’ve had to morph their schedule into the Middle East and now Asia to find markets to support their Tour. I applaud that.”
Finchem makes it sound as if the European Tour only ventured into emerging markets because of domestic troubles. Sure, the downturn inspired the European Tour to look for more opportunities in Asia, but it was visiting the region well before “collateralised debt obligation” became a well-known term.
The first Dubai Desert Classic was first held in 1989. The first visit to East Asia came in the early-90s. It’s no secret that the European Tour has been well ahead of the US Tour in making inroads in Asia.
Finchem later said, “Candidly, it’s probably more important on the European Tour that some of those players play over there than it is for us that they play here.”
I’d like to be a fly on the wall when European Tour commissioner George O’Grady reads that comment. It’s true, but also likely to be perceived as a dig. It’s doubtful that quote will help inter-contintental relations.
Finchem also addressed the “designated events” policy that was designed to help the US Tour’s weaker events.
The policy was made voluntarily this year, which leaves some sceptical that all players will comply and play events that need help.
On “designated events” Finchem said, “We will get virtually 100 percent of the players doing that. I’m pleased with the reaction.”
Unfortunately, virtually 100 percent does not equal 100 percent. That means there are some players who do not seem willing to follow designated events. It’s most likely the top players, the ones that people really want to see, that won’t voluntarily follow the “designated events” policy. This is further proof the US PGA Tour dropped the ball by not making the policy mandatory.

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HOOTERS TOUR MAY CHANGE ITS NAME BUT IT WILL SURVIVE

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By Sean Martin
Hooters of America was sold this week, raising questions about the future of one of golf’s largest mini-tours.
Hooters, the restaurant chain known for its hot wings and attractive waitresses, was purchased by a consortium of private investors.
The transaction brings to an end nearly three decades of Hooters ownership by the family of founder Robert H. Brooks, who died in 2006. According to a news release from Chanticleer Holdings, which is among the new owners, “Brooks was known in part for his colorful and often unorthodox expansion of Hooters into ventures such as an airline and NASCAR.”
Sponsorship of the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina-based golf tour is one of those ventures.
Hooters is the title sponsor of the National Golf Association/Hooters Tour, which is on equal footing with the eGolf Professional Tour as the biggest tours for players without US PGA Tour or Nationwide Tour status.
Mike Pruitt, the chief executive officer and chairman of Chanticleer Holdings, declined comment when reached by Golfweek, saying that he was not authorised to comment on the transaction.
Hooters Tour president Robin Waters told Golfweek, “They’re committed through 2011. We hear from Hooters that they’re committed. They’ve got a lot of large issues on their plate with the changeover. They’ll get to us eventually.”
Among the decisions facing the new owners is whether to continue the tour’s title sponsorship, one of Hooters’ main marketing initiatives. Hooters is the NGA/Hooters Tour’s largest sponsor, Waters said.
Waters said he has “no doubt’’ that the NGA Tour could survive without Hooters’ sponsorship, adding: “The NGA is a solid business model.”
The NGA/Hooters Professional Golf Tour, founded in 1988 by R.C. “Rick’’ Jordan as the Hooters/Jordan Tour, lists 15 companies as sponsors on its website. As with golf tours at all levels, securing sponsorships continues to be a challenge in this economic climate. However, Waters said the tour could attract a new title sponsor, should Hooters pull out.
“Over the years, we’ve had people contact us about being involved as title or presenting sponsors.”
The 21-event season begins on February 16 in Eustis, Florida.

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