ZACK LEADS SALTMAN BROTHERS ON Hi5 PRO TOUR IN SPAIN

Lloyd Saltman does not usually trail his two brothers when they are playing in the same tournament, as they are this week in the Hi5 Pro Tour's Las Saurines Open in Spain.
But Lloyd opened with a two-over-par 74 which put him down in a tie for 41st place.
Zack the Younger had a 71 for a share of 15th place with Jack Doherty.
Elliot Saltman, quite at liberty to play anywhere that is not under the auspices of the European Tour, had a 72 for a share of 29th place.
Top Scot at the end of the first day was former Scottish boys match-play champion Paul Doherty with a two-under 70 which earned him joint sixth place behind the leader with a seven-under 65, Sweden's Jens Dantorp.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
65 Jens Dantorp (Sweden).
66 Jamie Abbott (England).
68 Morten Hedegaard (Denmark), Fredric Sundberg (Sweden).
69 James Hepworth (England).
SELECTED SCORES
70 Paul Doherty (Scotland) (T6).
71 Zack Saltman (Scotland), Jack Doherty (Scotland) (T15).
72 Elliot Saltman (Scotland) (T29).
74 Lloyd Saltman (Scotland) (T41).
77 Shaun McAllister (Scotland) (T69).
Field of 101 players

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PAUL O'HARA LETS IT SLIP AFTER TURN IN AL MAADEN CLASSIC

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Paul O'Hara finished the first day down in joint 37th place in the EPD Tour event at Marrakesh, Morocco - the Al Maaden Classic - after going well to the turn.
The Motherwell man returned a one-over-par 73 to trail the pacemaker, former British amateur champion Reinier Saxton from the Netherlands by eight strokes.
O'Hara bogeyed the long fourth but birdied the long seventh and par-4 nine to be out in one-under 35. On the inward journey, Paul could not get a birdie putt to drop and he bogeyed the 10th and short 15th for two-over 38 home.
Saxton made a flying start with birdies at the first four holes before he had his only bogey of the day at the fifth. Out in 33, the flying Dutchman got it home in 32 with birdies at the 11th, long 13th, long 16th and the 17th.
If you think Al Maaden is a pitch-and-putt course - think again! I was there last October, running the inaugural Morocco Golf Festival, and it looked a very good test of golf.
But Saxton is only one shot ahead going into the second round. He leads from Germany's Bernd Ritthammer (32-34) and Switzerland's Ken Benz (also 32-34).

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AL MAADEN - YOU COULD PLAY HERE AT THE MOROCCO GOLF FESTIVAL

A view of the 18th green and the Al Maaden clubhouse with Morocco's Atlas Mountains in the background. The 2nd Morocco Golf Festival will be returning to Al Maaden and calling in at four other courses in the vicinity of the "Red City" of Marrakesh in October (8th to 15th). The "Red City" tag comes from the colour of the local stone with which most of the buildings are made.
The following week (October 18-21), down on the Atlantic coastline at Agadir, there are the inaugural Moroccan international amateur stroke-play championships for men and women at The Ocean Course, with the senior championships taking place on Golf du Soleil.
Last but not least, if your handicap is not low enough to get into these championships, I've arranged a 54-hole Stableford competition for men and women, senior men and senior women at The Dunes course.
If you want to read details of all these events, log on to the Menara Travel website - http://www.morocco4golf.com/
PLAY GOLF IN AFRICA FOR A WEEK (or two)
AND BRAG ABOUT IT FOR A YEAR (or two)!

Colin Farquharson
PS I can guarantee you won't see a single soldier and maybe just the odd policeman, although I never saw one at Marrakesh last October. Morocco is not Egypt. Morocco is not Tunisia, Libya or Bahrain.

BRAEMAR GOLF SIGN AGREEMENT WITH MUSCAT HILLS G and C C

NEWS RELEASE

Braemar Golf have signed a two-year management agreement with Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club, Oman after a successful, six-month technical advice period.
“We are delighted to bring in the commercial expertise and services of Braemar Golf to aid with the management and development of Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club. They quickly responded to our initial requests during the middle part of 2010 and have assembled a strong management team for us” said Her Highness Sayyida Susan Al Said, Chairperson of Muscat Golf Course Project (MGCP) the owners of Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club.

The management contract will see Braemar Golf responsible for the business performance of the golf club, offering advice on agronomic matters, developing a high performing team and instigating the five-year business plan they developed last year on behalf of the owners.

“It has been a privilege to be invited by MGCP to get involved with Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club. We see many similarities with this project as the ones we have been involved with throughout the region and we feel our experiences will help Muscat Hills realise its enormous potential,” added Michael Braidwood, Braemar Golf’s Operations Director who is responsible for this contract.

Ray Stopforth the club’s Director of Golf who commenced his duties in July last year added: “It has been a very rewarding job so far and we have achieved many mile stones over the last 8 months. The course condition has improved dramatically and we have just launched our membership which has been received very well by the local golf community and our targets are being met. We are seeing great demand for golf here in Oman which is very encouraging.”

Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club forms part of the Phase 1 development at Muscat Hills which also comprises 145 residential properties that have already been completed.
Muscat Hills is situated right in the middle of Muscat’s rapidly-growing new central business district and is only five minutes from Oman’s International airport which is currently undergoing major expansion.
Muscat Hills Phase 2 development are about to commence and will include construction of a new clubhouse and golf resort hotel and more residential properties.
Braemar Golf is an international golf services company, headquartered at the home of golf in St Andrews. They construct, support and manage high-quality golf developments in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Related web site
http://www.braemargolf.co.uk/

R and A SEND BOBBY RUSHFORD TO PLAY IN PERU CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING
University of Stirling golfer Bobby Rushford is on course for tour school boosted by selection for a major international amateur tournament.
Rushford, picture by courtesy of University of Stirling, a postgraduate Sports Management student, has been selected by the R and A to compete at the Campeonato Internacional de Aficionados in Peru.
The 72-hole strokeplay tournament tees off from 13-16 April at Lima Golf Club and Rushford will be the fifth consecutive Stirling student to compete at the event which has an individual and team format.
James White had the honour in 2010, finishing 15th overall and Rushford, from Falkirk, quickly got the lowdown on what lies in store.
"James [White] is in South Africa at the moment so I've only had a quick chat by phone," explained Rushford, whose golfing CV includes reaching the semi-finals of the 2009 Scottish Amateur Championship and captaining the University golf team to multiple team titles.
"He said it was a really good event as many national teams send players and some of the top American collegiate golfers compete as well. I've been abroad to international tournaments quite a few times, but never to South America so it will be interesting to see the differences.
"There is supposedly a lot of grain on the greens which makes the ball move in strange ways and the course is at a high altitude which means the ball will run a lot faster. Apparently we get appointed a caddy when we get there so hopefully I'll get one with plenty of local knowledge."
Rushford is currently ranked 1235th in the new Men's World Amateur Golf Ranking system, but with ranking points up for grabs in Peru, he is hopeful a strong showing can boost his standing.
He added: "The tournament comes at the start of the season and it is important to get off to a quick start. It comes right before some of the big tournaments closer to home so if I can play well in Peru it will stand me in good stead. The aim is to play well this year in my final year as an amateur and then go to tour school."
Making the step up from amateur to touring pro has proven difficult for Scottish golfers in recent years, but Rushford can glean wisdom from his University coach, former European Tour player Dean Robertson.
The Paisley professional arranged a tournament for his student side against a PGA select side at Turnberry last week and while experience told with the overall result, Rushford and Marketing student Graeme Robertson did claim an impressive 2 and 1 scalp of former Scottish PGA champion Mark Loftus and ex-Scotland amateur international Graham Fox.
So pleased was he with the success of the event, Robertson has already pencilled in a return fixture in April at Gleneagles, the venue for the University's home matches.
He said: "It was an excellent day, made possible thanks to the hospitality shown by the guys at Turnberry. We may not have won, but it provided invaluable experience for my players to test themselves against players who have tasted European Tour golf.
"This year, Bobby [Rushford] has really upped his game. We've made a couple of improvements to his technique and he is showing great promise. I expect him to have a good year and excel in university golf and at international level too."
The University of Stirling team, which took on the PGA side comprised players on the International Sports Scholarship Programme: David Booth, Alexander Culverwell, Kit Holmes, Michael Howard, Dewi Merckx, Graeme Robertson, Bobby Rushford, Colin Thomson, Darren Timms and Andrew Wallace.
Elsewhere, Stirling women's team golfer Kelsey MacDonald, is preparing to compete at the Spanish International Ladies Amateur. The Sports Studies student will be in action from 2-6 March at Sherry Golf, in Jerez.

OUTER HEBRIDES LINKS AT ASKERNISH GETS RAVE REVIEWS

John Kemp in action at a magnificent looking stretch of a links golf course at Askernish.

NEWS RELEASE
Askernish Golf Club, in the Outer Hebrides, has a new Askernish Development Manager in a position joint-funded by HIE and Leader Innse Gall.
John Kemp will work directly for the Stòras Uibhist, the community land owners of the 93,000 South Uist Estate, which includes Askernish Golf Course. The course is licensed by Stòras Uibhist to Askernish Golf Club CIC who manage and develop the course.
Askernish is home to a Old Tom Morris golf course, laid out in 1891 when Morris visited the island with golf writer Horace Hutchison. The restored 18-hole course occupies a dramatic stretch of dunes in South Uist’s western coastline, and has been received to international acclaim.
The course has been hailed as “the most natural links course in the world” by environmental experts, and “closer to a perfect 10 than any other course” by Golf Writer John Garrity. It has featured in a huge number of international golf magazines including Links Magazine’s Top-20 New Scottish Courses.

John Kemp’s remit as Askernish Development Manager is to capitalise upon the potential for golf tourism, commerce, and community growth created by the golf course in South Uist, as well as working with other clubs to develop golf tourism in the Outer Hebrides.
“The potential at Askernish is near-unrivalled in the world of golf; I really was taken aback when I first visited. There are few other courses that can boast the history, course, setting and scenery found here, and those are courses that people will be very familiar with,” said Kemp.
“All the work we are doing is to provide an unforgettable experience for those who play here. Those who have visited have been taken aback by the course, the environment and the local hospitality.”

For those in the golf industry Askernish offers an example of modern approaches to operating and developing a traditional golf course.
“This is a long-term project, being done with sustainability as a core element. It really is a best-practice example for the golf industry in many ways and we aim to continue that in all our future developments,” says Kemp.




www.askernishgolfclub.com
www.storasuibhist.com