Tuesday, March 15, 2011

HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

BEST COUNTY GOLF DINNER SO FAR

And that was the general consensus at Alloa Golf Club after the annual Clackmannan County Golf Dinner and presentation of the 2010 prizes. With Tom Paterson ably chairing the evening, and a company of around 60 representing the six clubs from the county, the evening started well with a first class meal.
Then followed the presentation of 2010 golfing trophies by George Kay (Clackmannan County President).
The star winners of the 2010 season just had to be Alva Golf Club taking the County League trophy, Alva member Michael Robertson winning three trophies(County Match-play, Harrower Trophy and Order of Merit Trophy) and Steven Horne winning the 108-year-old county championship trophy.
Alloa’s vice-captain accepted the County Fours Trophy, and, pictured above, Kevin Ross (Tillicoultry) took the inaugural Boys' Order of Merit trophy (with great appreciation), donated and presented by Kenny Dowie.
A special award was given to boys Scott Baird (Tillicoultry) and Lawrence Allan (Alva). County vice-president Bill Hatley explained: “Clackmannan County Golf Union wanted to recognise their achievements, Scott for his role as boys' captain in 2010 and Lawrence for his outstanding performances. Both the boys are a credit to themselves and their families."
County secretary Tommy Johnson took great pleasure in reminding the company that Clackmannanshire golfers under John Gullen’s captaincy had won both the Provan Salver and Midland Team championship in 2010, an outstanding achievement for a small county.
After the presentation, the company were superbly entertained by guest speaker Eric Davidson, and the evening concluded with a raffle. Thanks for the donations. The whole evening must have pleased the main organisers Tommy Johnson, George Kay and Sam Kinnaird. It was unhurried, and there was plenty of opportunity to socialise between the items.
Altogether an outstanding evening and an incentive to repeat the evening next year.

SCOTTISH JUNIOR CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Representing Clackmannanshire were John Salmond (Alloa) and Lawrence Allan (Alva), and they put in two fine scores in difficult conditions over The Duke’s Course, St Andrews last weekend.
Both finished in the top 10, John sixth with a 74 and Lawrence ninth with 75 over the par-71 course. John had the best possible start with an eagle 3 at the first hole and a birdie at the fifth. A couple of double bogeys spoiled an otherwise very good scorecard. It was a first-class performance putting him alongside top Scottish boy golfers, indeed beating some of them.
On the other hand, Lawrence needed a good score to keep up with the other elite golfers and also to set him up for the Scottish boys' championship at Dunbar next month. Highlights of his round were long driving and a breathtaking shot of around 160 yards hit from a fairway bunker at the 18th, finishing 3ft from the hole and giving him a birdie 3.

HUGH HUNTER

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MOLLICA WINS $40,000 PRIZE AND A RETURN TRIP TO MOROCCO

FROM THE eGOLF TOUR WEBSITE
By Stewart Moore
El Jadida, Morocco – A stand-out amateur career led many to believe that Phillip Mollica of Anderson, South Carolina would easily make the natural transition to professional golf when he joined the eGolf Professional Tour for the 2010 season.
Early struggles with his mental game gave way to a disappointing rookie season, but the talented lefty more than made up for it at this week’s $250,000 El Jadida Classic.
With rounds of 69-71-71-67—278, Mollica collected his first tour title, the $40,000 first-place prize and a spot in the European Tour’s prestigious King Hassan II Trophy field at Agadir next month.
Entering the final round of the history-making event trailing overnight leader Brian Harman by three shots, Mollica – who entered the day at 5-under for the event – knew he would have to make an early move to have any shot.
Mollica birdied his first two holes at the Pullman Royal Club to move to 2-under on the day and 7-under for the event, before adding two additional birdies at Nos. 8 and 10 to quickly get to 9-under and in the lead.
“I didn’t look at the scoreboard until No. 13, but I wasn’t too concerned about it,” said the 23-year-old Mollica. “I knew I had to focus on my game, and up until that point I hadn’t put myself in trouble, so I felt I could just stick to what was working.”
What was working was stellar iron play that left him with little-to-no work in order to secure at worst par on about every hole. But, after the birdie at 10, Mollica hit a stretch of seven consecutive pars to remain at 9-under – still in the lead, but not doing much to increase it.
“I hit a lot of good shots on that stretch, leaving myself a lot of 15-footers,” he said. “They (the putts) just weren’t falling.”
Fortunately for Mollica, putts weren’t falling all too often for the leaders either.
Harman posted a front-nine 38 to fall from contention prior to imploding on the closing nine at Pullman Royal. Derek Fathauer, who entered the day in solo third, was 1-over through 11 and needed a late miracle to have any chance of catching Mollica.
Germany’s Christopher Trunzer, who began the final round alone in second, bogeyed five of his first 10 holes to fade from sight, thus leaving the stage for Mollica to take over.
Standing on the tee of the par-5 18th with a two-shot lead over Fathauer, Mollica felt that a birdie would lock the title up, but even a par might do the trick.
“I was thinking a par might do it, but I still wanted to make birdie,” Mollica said. “I hit a 3-wood off the tee and then hit my approach into a greenside bunker.”
From that greenside bunker, Mollica got up and down for a closing birdie to post a final-round 67 and the clubhouse lead at 10-under 278.
Needing a double-eagle (an albatross in European golf terms) to tie Mollica, Fathauer birdied the 72nd hole to post 8-under 280, in turn giving Mollica his first professional win.
With the win, Mollica collected a winner’s cheque for $40,000 and moved to the No. 1 spot on the tour’s 2011 money list with earnings of $42,567. More importantly, he earned an exemption into the European Tour’s King Hassan II Trophy, to be contested at Agadir Royal Golf Club in Agadir, Morocco on March 31 – April 3, 2011.
With his matching birdie at the 18th, Fathauer secured solo-second-place honors with his 8-under total. The finish marked the best of Fathauer’s two-year eGolf Tour career and came with a $21,000 runner-up cheque.
Finishing in solo third, with rounds of 70-69-70-72—281, was Billy Hurley of Annapolis, Maryland Hurley collected $14,400 for his play in El Jadida.
Taylor Hall of LaGrange, Georgia, Scott Parel of Augusta, Georgia and Seamus Power of Ireland tied for fourth at 6-under 282 for the week. Each player earned $10,333.

eGOLF TOUR OFFICIALS LOOK FORWARD TO RETURNING TO MOROCCO
The El Jadida Classic concluded a magnificent two weeks for the eGolf Professional Tour in Morocco. The Samanah Classic, won by Chris McCartin, was the first of the two events and provided a memorable experience for all players in the fascinating city of Marrakech. At the conclusion of the Samanah Classic, players moved to the dramatic Atlantic coastline and the city of El Jadida for this week’s event. eGolf Tour president David Siegel felt that the two events were the crowning achievement of the tour’s 10-year history.
“I would personally like to thank His Majesty The King, His Royal Highness President Of The ATH and the Atlas Pro Tour and their entire staff for their gracious support of both events,” said Siegel. “From the sponsors to the volunteers, to the host clubs and the Moroccan golf fans, we would like to say ‘thank you’ for making these two tournaments so special for our staff and players.”
With the two events, the eGolf Professional Tour became the first United States-based tour to conduct multiple stroke play events on the continent of Africa. This bit of history was not lost on Siegel.
“As a tour, we were honoured to be a part of these historical tournaments,” he said. “The globalisation of golf is very important to the game’s future, and I feel that Morocco is at the forefront of that future. We are excited about the future possibilities in such a wonderful country, and I personally look forward to returning in the coming year.”

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS IN MOROCCO

CLICK HERE

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RELAXED TIGER PLAYING WELL IN TAVISTOCK CUP

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
By MIKE WALKER
Sure it’s just an exhibition of multi-millionaires playing their home courses in gated communities, but that doesn’t mean this week's Tavistock Cup is meaningless, especially for Tiger Woods who is trying to get a new swing in championship form before next month’s Masters Tournament.
Butch Harmon told Golf365.com that if Woods didn’t play well at a relaxed event like Tavistock, then his former student might have “real problems.”
Fortunately for Woods then, he played well in Day 1 of the Tavistock Cup in Orlando, according to All Headline News.
The most scrutinised swing in golf was on display once again Monday at the Tavistock Cup matches and Tiger Woods had a relaxing day on his home course.
Woods, playing for the Isleworth team, combined with Arjun Atwal for an eight-under par round of 64 at Isleworth Country Club that helped his team take the first-round lead at 30-under par.
“It’s getting better,” Woods after his latest outing.
“It’s starting to feel a lot better, more consistent. It’s getting a grasp and understanding what the fixes are,” Woods said of his ongoing swing reconstruction.
Woods played well most of the day. He drove the 349yd par-4 16th with a three-wood and two-putted for one of his birdies.


FROM THE BBC SPORT WEBSITE:
Tiger Woods continued his preparations for next month's Masters with a solid performance on the opening day of the Tavistock Cup in Florida.
Woods shot a better-ball score of 64 with partner Arjun Atwal for Albany to finish on eight under at the halfway stage in the four-team event.
Graeme McDowell and Retief Goosen had the joint-best score of the day with a 12-under 60 for Lane Nona.
English pair Justin Rose and Ian Poulter shot 61 for Albany.
Brian Davis and J B Holmes also recorded a 60 for Isleworth, who finished the day a cumulative 30 under.
With singles to come, Albany are two behind, three ahead of Lake Nona with Surrey club Queenwood 14 adrift.
Woods entered the competition, a four-team event, similar in structure to the Ryder Cup, on the back of a morale-boosting top-10 finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
And the former world number one backed up his closing-round 66 in Doral with a further encouraging performance ahead of the Masters, which begins on April
TAVISTOCK CUP SCOREBOARD


Isleworth (United States) 30 under par
Brian Davis and J B Holmes 12 under.
Lee Janzen and Sean O'Hair 9 under.
Robert Allenby-Stuart Appleby 9 under

Albany (Bahamas) 28 under par.
Ian Poulter and Justin Rose 11 under.
Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman 9 under.
Arjun Atwal and Tiger Woods 8 under.

Lake Nona (United States) 25 under par
Retief Goosen and Graeme McDowell 12 under.
Ross Fisher and Oliver Wilson 8 under.
Peter Hanson and Henrik Stenson 5 under.
 
Queenwood (England) 16 under par
Thomas Bjorn and Adam Scott 7 under.
Darreb Clarke and David Howell 5 under.
Soren Kjeldsen and Paul McGinley 4 under.

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PAUL LAWRIE HAS GROIN WORRY BEFORE SICILY OPEN

Paul Lawrie's participation in the first European Tour event in Europe this year - the inaugural Sicily Open - must in be some doubt.
He wrote in his blog today:

Tuesday 15th March 2011
I only played nine holes today as my left groin has been playing up. I have been doing a lot of work at home with the basketball between my legs, hitting balls, and with the flights and bus journey yesterday it was not good today.
I went to see the tour physio in the afternoon and will go back tomorrow to see if I can play the pro- am. Right now, swinging is difficult but hopefully if I stretch enough tonight it will be OK.
I played the back nine which was nice. The greens were good and a nice speed.
I popped into the Titleist/Footjoy truck to pick out some new shoes as I have signed with them for ball, shoe, glove this year.

Monday 14th March 2011
I am in Sicily this week, playing at the Donnafugata Golf Resort and Spa. I left Aberdeen at 7am on Flybe to Gatwick and then on BA to Sicily, before a two- hour coach trip to the hotel. The hotel is on site and is very nice. Apparently the courses were both designed by Gary Player so I'm looking forward to getting out there.

LOG ON TO THE PAUL LAWRIE WEBSITE TO READ MORE:

http://www.paullawriegolf.com/


+Aberdeen's other European Tour player, Richie Ramsay, is also a doubtful starter for the Sicily Open. He has a neck injury.

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2010 OPEN DELIVERED £100 MILLION BENEFIT TO SCOTLAND

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R AND AOpen Championship organiser, The R and A and EventScotland today announced that the 150th Anniversary Open Championship staged in St Andrews, last year, delivered a combined £100 million benefit to Scotland.
The figure exceeds an £80 million forecast by researchers from the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University and revealed by First Minister, Alex Salmond visiting the Championship last July.

The headline number includes a Scotland-wide economic impact of £47.4 million and a destination marketing benefit of £52.6 million calculated from global television coverage presenting Scotland as the ‘The Home of Golf’.
The independent research study, commissioned jointly by The R and A and EventScotland, found that most of the economic impact was focussed on St Andrews and the Fife Council area, with £40.1 million income entering the local economy directly attributable to The Open Championship.
Commenting on the research outcome, The R and A Chief Executive, Peter Dawson said, “The Open Championship averages six appearances in Scotland in a ten-year cycle and we are delighted that the only Major Championship staged outside the United States delivers such a powerful legacy to the country recognised, the world over, as the Home of Golf”.
Reviewing the findings, Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer for EventScotland said, “Today’s results are wonderful news for both Fife and Scotland.
“The Open Championship in 2010 was a spectacle for everyone who attended and the figures show the undisputed benefit to Scotland of regularly hosting one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world.”
The 2010 study was based on 3,000 interviews conducted by the SIRC team, including players, spectators, sponsors, event staff, organisers and the media with overseas visitors to The Open from 43 countries identified by the research. Compared with findings from research carried out at The Open Championship at St Andrews in 2005 the overall economic benefit of staging the event has grown by more than 25% in five years.
Following on from this news, it was also announced today that Scotland’s key partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in relation to the staging of The Open Championship in Scotland.
The MOU has been formed between R and A Championships Limited, the Local Authorities in Fife, Angus, East Lothian and South Ayrshire, along with EventScotland and VisitScotland. Its purpose is to establish consistent arrangements for joint-working between the partners, towards the preparation and future delivery of The Open Championship in Scotland.
The collective work of all parties involved will ensure that Scotland continues to successfully host The Open Championship on a regular basis moving forward, and that the opportunities and impacts associated with this global event are maximised across Scotland.
Golf is a key economic driver for Scotland so today’s impact figures and MOU signing was well received by First Minister Alex Salmond. He said, “I am delighted that hosting this world-class championship has more than exceeded expectations and brought £100m to our economy. Scotland is the home of golf so it’s no surprise our sporting credentials, stunning scenery, first class tourism credentials and reputation as a world leading event destination have made last year’s Open such a success.
“As we journey towards Homecoming 2014, the year in which Scotland will host the Ryder Cup, the Scottish Government and our partners will continue to work together to produce the next generation of golfers, introduce record numbers of young people to the game and also to promote Scotland as the world’s greatest golfing nation.”

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ASKERNISH LINKS CONTINUING TO EVOLVE


                                Classic links land at Askernish in the Outer Hebrides


NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY JOHN KEMP
john.kemp@storasuibhist.com
Askernish Golf Club in the Outer Hebrides has undertaken work to further the evolution of the restoration of their rediscovered 18-hole Old Tom Morris links course.
With the financial support of Mike Keiser, the developer behind the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon, Askernish has undertaken a number of course changes under the guidance of American golf course architect Tom Doak.
Doak, whose only other project todate in Europe is the private Renaissance Club at East Lothian, visited the course in 2010 to make recommendations where he was joined by the club’s long-time restoration architect Martin Ebert of Mackenzie and Ebert Golf Architects.

The mild January weather of 2011 saw Eric Iverson - Associate of Renaissance Golf Design - spend two weeks onsite, sensitively reshaping areas on the course. He was, once again, joined onsite by Martin Ebert who has been involved in the course’s evolution since 2006.
Twelve tees have been newly built or enlarged, as part of the project, along with minor reshaping on three green surrounds - the seventh, 11th and 16th.
“You’d be hard pressed to notice the differences by looking at the greens, but the improvement in how they play is huge,” Ralph Thompson, Askernish Chairman said. “The seventh in particular is far more open for traditional links running shots. Erik has done an amazing job.”
Excitingly, there are two completely new greens on the course. The 17th, a par-3, is now played towards a rolling green settled into the dunes, and the par-5 sixth, known as “Runway,” now has a new dramatic tee overlooking the Atlantic, and a new green that was created using the natural contours of the land.
The work to the course is now complete and the new greens are expected to be open for play in time for the new season.
John Kemp
Askernish Development Manager
Stòras Uibhist
Offices: 01878 700 101
Direct Office Line: 01878 708 004
Mobile: 07826 317 356
Visit:
http://www.askernishgolfclub.com/
http://www.storasuibhist.com/

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