DAVIES, LUITEN SHARE LEAD AFTER WINDY DAY IN MOROCCO

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Defending champion Rhys Davies moved into a share of the halfway lead with Joost Luiten - but just two shots separate the top 17 players after a dramatic second round of the Trophée Hassan II
High winds led to a day of mixed scoring in the Moroccan city of Agadir, where the field have been split over the Golf De L'Océan and Golf Du Palais Royal courses in a pro-am format for the first two days.

Davies' victory 12 months ago kick-started an immensely impressive rookie campaign that saw the 25 year old Welshman finish 18th on The Race to Dubai.

He has yet to record a top-20 finish in 2011, but Davies insists he is not under pressure to perform after shooting a one under 70 for a six under par 36-hole aggregate.

"I'm not feeling any pressure despite being defending champion this week," he said.

"It's a different golf course for one, and I just feel very relaxed. I'm enjoying the pro-am format and I had a great partner today - Mazamischi Ito. He's a great player and has a great future ahead of him in golf.

"I've been working hard on my swing with my coach, trying to match up my arm swing with my body swing, and it's getting there. The hard work is starting to come off. It's quite hard to do it in this wind though."

Overnight leader Peter Lawrie was amongst those blown away by the testing conditions - his scintillating opening 64 followed by a five over 76.

Whereas Davies was a model of consistency with two birdies and a solitary bogey, Luiten produced a more varied scorecard.

The Dutchman double bogeyed both par threes on the front nine, dropped a shot at the ninth, but carded seven birdies in a 69 on the Golf De L'Océan layout.

"I was good on the back nine with four birdies so that kept me going," said Luiten, who is searching for a maiden European Tour title.

"It was tough today, really tough, especially on the front nine. The holes coming into the wind are very tricky.

"On the back nine the wind was less but there are some really tricky pin positions, so overall it was a pretty hard day and you needed to be very straight off the tee. I'm pleased with the score I've come away with.

"It's always good to be leading after two rounds but we are only halfway so there is a lot of work left to be done. But it's good to be up the board. It was fairly steady but I made two double bogeys so I definitely left some shots out there."

No fewer than nine players are one off the pace - most notably Finland's Mikko Ilonen, who matched Lawrie's course-record 64 at Palais Royal.

“It was one of those days for me when I just felt that I couldn’t do anything wrong,” said Ilonen, who has recently be sidelined by appendicitis.

“Everything went right for me today after having a frustrating day yesterday. I only hit a couple of loose shots yesterday and ended up signing for three over whereas today I gave nothing away.”

He is joined on five under by English duo David Horsey and Robert Rock, Argentina's Julio Zapata, Swede Peter Hedblom, Indian pair Shiv Kapur and Jeev Milkha Singh, South African George Coetzee and Ryder Cup Vice Captain Darren Clarke, the Northern Irishman carding a second consecutive 69.

Tournament Leaderboard
Pos Player Name Nat Hole Par
T1 DAVIES, Rhys WAL 18 -6
T1 LUITEN, Joost NED 18 -6
T3 HORSEY, David ENG 18 -5
T3 ILONEN, Mikko FIN 18 -5
T3 HEDBLOM, Peter SWE 18 -5
T3 KAPUR, Shiv IND 18 -5

SCOTS' SCORES
139 Lloyd Saltman 67 72 (T12).
141 Peter Whiteford 69 72 (T23).
144 Richie Ramsay 70 74, Ross Bain 75 69 (T51).
145 George Murray 71 74, Steven O'Hara 71 74 (T64).
MISSED THE CUT (145 or better qualified)
152 Scott Jamieson 76 76.


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FOUR SCOTS MAKE THE CUT IN KENYA OPEN

From Challenge Tour Press Officer Paul Symes
South African Michiel Bothma continued his impressive form with a round of 67 on the second day of the Barclays Kenya Open to open up a slender lead over the chasing pack.
Bothma, who has two top ten finishes to his name in five previous appearances at the €190,000 event, posted six birdies on another scorching day at Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya, to move to nine under par. The man from Pretoria, who bases himself in the west of England during the bulk of the summer months, currently leads by one stroke from Johannesburg-born André Bossert, who needed just 29 shots to cover the back nine, and Austrian Thomas Feyrsinger.
After five seasons on the Challenge Tour Bothma is still searching for his maiden victory, but the 38 year old is hopeful of breaking his drought on Sunday night.
He said: “The wind can make life quite tricky at times, because it keeps switching direction so you’re never quite sure which way it’s blowing. But I love the climate out here, and with the altitude the ball flight’s very similar to back home in South Africa, so I feel very much at home. Hopefully I can carry this feeling through to the weekend.”
The lowest score of the day was posted by Switzerland’s Bossert, who won the event at Muthaiga Golf Club in 1992. Bossert blitzed his way through the back nine, courtesy of four birdies and an eagle two at the 15th hole, to set up the possibility of a repeat success 19 years later.
He said: “My win here was a long time ago now, but the place hasn’t changed too much in that time. They’ve made a few alterations to the course, lengthening a few of the holes, but the look and feel of the place is almost identical. So hopefully we can have an identical result come Sunday night.”
Feyrsinger is another player with impressive previous form in the event, having finished runner-up in 2008, and the Austrian will go into the weekend believing he can go one better after signing for a sublime round of 66 to join Bossert on eight under par.
He said: “I actually hit a poor chip on the tenth hole, which was my first, but it dropped in the hole, so that gave me the feeling that it might be my day. I hit it stone dead for two more birdies on my front nine, then after that I was off and running. I made a few more birdie chances after that but didn’t take them, but I told myself to stay patient and the chances will come, and fortunately for me that’s the way it worked out. That’s the key for me this week: staying patient and focused. If I can do those two things well, I’ll be very happy, whatever I score.”
England’s Paul Dwyer is currently in fourth place on seven under par after a flawless round of 66. He said: “It was just really steady today, I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I wasn’t hitting it especially close, but when I did I managed to take my chances. I was probably more pleased with no bogeys, because I found trouble a couple of times but managed to save par with some good chips and putts. So that bodes well for the weekend.”
The local interest was maintained by Greg Snow and Nicholas Rokoine, who again showed their liking for their home track to finish alongside one another on five under par – the same mark as Italian Federico Colombo, South African Tyrone Mordt and England’s Sam Walker.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS133 M Bothma (RSA) 66 67,
134 A Bossert (Sui) 70 64, T Feyrsinger (Aut) 68 66,
135 P Dwyer (Eng) 69 66,
137 F Colombo (Ita) 70 67, T Mordt (RSA) 64 73, S Walker (Eng) 68 69, G Snow (Ken) 69 68, N Rokoine (Ken) 67 70,
138 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 68, J Estevez (Arg) 71 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 65 73, F Calmels (Fra) 68 70, K Eriksson (Swe) 71 67, J Cunliffe (RSA) 68 70, J Quesne (Fra) 72 66, J Lima (Por) 69 69,
139 T Ferreira (RSA) 73 66, B Grace (RSA) 68 71, C Russo (Fra) 68 71, B Hebert (Fra) 70 69, N Kearney (Irl) 66 73, A Perrino (Ita) 68 71, G Jackson (Eng) 68 71, C Brazillier (Fra) 70 69,
140 A Pavan (Ita) 70 70, S Tiley (Eng) 68 72, J Elson (Eng) 69 71,
141 L Jensen (Den) 71 70, C Lee (Sco) 70 71, A Tadini (Ita) 71 70, M Cryer (Eng) 72 69, R Kind (Ned) 70 71, J Campillo (Esp) 70 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 70, M Warren (Sco) 67 74, D Vancsik (Arg) 72 69, A Coltart (Sco) 66 75, M Rominger (Sui) 72 69,
142 G Dear (Sco) 72 70, T Whitehouse (Eng) 67 75, N Lemke (Swe) 70 72, B Barham (Eng) 69 73, M Palm (Swe) 72 70, C Gane (Eng) 70 72, A Grenier (Fra) 72 70, M Higley (Eng) 71 71, N Brennan (Zam) 72 70, D Greene (RSA) 72 70, E Dubois (Fra) 70 72, B Akesson (Swe) 68 74, P Njagi (Ken) 71 71, L Kennedy (Eng) 74 68, R Ainley (Ken) 71 71, S Hutsby (Eng) 73 69, J Lagergren (Swe) 69 73, V Riu (Fra) 73 69,
143 J Heath (Eng) 72 71, S Davis (Eng) 73 70, C Ford (Eng) 73 70, L Westerberg (Swe) 74 69, R Santos (Por) 71 72, A Bruschi (Ita) 73 70, T Fleetwood (Eng) 72 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 71 72, J Roos (RSA) 69 74, I Keenan (Eng) 71 72, A Marshall (Eng) 71 72, E Kofstad (Nor) 73 70, B Simwa (am) (Ken) 69 74, C Omondi (am) (Ken) 73 70
MISSED THE CUT144 M Evans (Eng) 75 69, O Bekker (RSA) 69 75, A Bihan (Fra) 71 73, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 70 74, D Wuensche (Ger) 71 73, A Ahokas (Fin) 71 73, S Little (Eng) 74 70, C Suneson (Esp) 69 75, A Snobeck (Fra) 72 72, D Denison (Eng) 71 73, M Ford (Eng) 70 74, J Hepworth (Eng) 74 70, N Ngugi (Ken) 74 70,
145 A Willey (Eng) 70 75, J Doherty (Sco) 75 70, B Miarka (Ger) 74 71, W Besseling (Ned) 71 74, J McLeary (Sco) 75 70, F Praegant (Aut) 75 70,
146 C Macaulay (Sco) 73 73, M Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 73 73, J Lorum (Ken) 72 74, W Schauman (Swe) 74 72, A Shah (Ken) 74 72, J Okello (Ken) 72 74, B Evans (Eng) 74 72, M Kramer (Ger) 72 74, S Jeppesen (Swe) 74 72, S Ngigie (Ken) 73 73,
147 D Indiza (Ken) 72 75, F Ohlsson (Swe) 74 73, P Del Grosso (Arg) 75 72, J Robinson (Eng) 75 72, P Archer (Eng) 74 73, A Haindl (RSA) 73 74, D Brooks (Eng) 73 74, J Clément (Sui) 72 75, M Southgate (Eng) 73 74, P Gustafsson (Swe) 74 73, G Houston (Wal) 72 75, N Cheetham (Eng) 72 75, D Opati (am) (Ken) 75 72,
148 J Palmer (Eng) 77 71, A Butterfield (Eng) 74 74, M Both (Aus) 71 77, N Meitinger (Ger) 72 76, D Odhiambo (Ken) 76 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 78 70, D Wakhu (Ken) 73 75, J Billot (Fra) 72 76, C Rodiles (Esp) 74 74, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 77, P Golding (Eng) 75 73, M Delpodio (Ita) 72 76,
149 S Bebb (Wal) 77 72, G Lockerbie (Eng) 73 76, N Bertasio (Ita) 73 76, K Timbe (Ken) 76 73, R Charania (Ken) 76 73, C Doak (Sco) 74 75, A Bernadet (Fra) 73 76, F Nkya (Tan) 73 76,
150 A Hansen (Den) 73 77, S Andersen (am) (Ken) 74 76,
152 Å Nilsson (Swe) 76 76, G Oyebanji (Ngr) 72 80, N Alibhai (am) (Ken) 76 76,
153 S Drummond (Sco) 79 74,
154 G Giddie (Ken) 77 77, I Pyman (Eng) 78 76, A Kimani (Ken) 79 75, M Chiluba (Zam) 79 75,
155 N Mudanyi (am) (Ken) 77 78,
156 B Njoroge (Ken) 76 80, L Lasisi (Ngr) 77 79, G Murphy (Irl) 79 77, J Kagiri (Ken) 78 78, R Hjelm (Den) 72 84, D Akope (Uga) 77 79, S Odegha (Ngr) 77 79,
162 J Kiondo (Ken) 83 79,
163 H Thethy (Ken) 81 82,
164 C Geraghty (Eng) 85 79, C Thethy (Ken) 79 85,
** M Ruiz (Par) RT 0,



Paul Symes

Press Officer

European Tour

Wentworth Drive | Virginia Water | Surrey | GU25 4LX | UNITED KINGDOM


SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Gene Sarazen's 1935 Masters shot that has lived on for 76 years

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
By Jason Sobel
How do we know when a golf shot is truly historic, when it will forever live in the hearts and minds of the fans? When it has a name.
Gene Sarazen's is known as "the shot heard 'round the world."
Seventy-six years after Sarazen holed a 4-wood from 235 yards for double-eagle on the 15th hole in the final round of the 1935 Masters, it endures as one of the single greatest shots in the history of the game.
"I took my stance with my 4-wood and rode into the shot with every ounce of strength and timing I could muster," he later wrote in his autobiography, "Thirty Years of Championship Golf." "The split second I hit the ball I knew it would carry the pond. It tore for the flag on a very low trajectory, no more than 30 feet in the air."
Although he didn't see the ball go into the hole, he could tell by the gallery's reaction -- all 23 members, he later estimated -- that something special had just occurred.
With one swing, Sarazen -- born Eugenio Saraceni and nicknamed "The Squire" -- erased a three-stroke deficit, tying leader Craig Wood with three holes to play. Unlikely? That's what those at the course writing out the winner's check believed, too, as they had already scrawled Wood's name on the $1,500 first-place prize.
Instead, the two men remained deadlocked through 72 holes, forcing the tournament's first and only 36-hole play-off. While Sarazen failed to produce another shot worthy of worldwide remembrance, he did post scores of 71-73 to defeat Wood by five strokes, winning the second edition of the Masters in historic fashion.
For an interactive timeline of classic moments in Masters history, check out www.Masters.com.

SARAZEN ... MAN WHO INVENTED THE SAND WEDGE

Gene Sarazen's legacy always will include his invention of the sand wedge. He built the prototype in a small machine shop in New Port Richey, Florida in 1931. He started carrying it in his golf bag in 1932.
Before the advent of the sand wedge came along, golfers struggled in bunkers. Skulled shots over the green were commonplace.

"I was trying to make myself a club that would drive the ball up as I drove the clubhead down," Sarazen said. "When a (airplane) pilot wants to take off, he doesn't raise the tail of his plane, he lowers it. Accordingly, I was lowering the tail or sole of my niblick to produce a club whose face would come up from the sand as the sole made contact with the sand."
Sarazen came up with the concept of the sand wedge while watching millionaire Howard Hughes work the controls in an airplane.
Born in 1902, Gene Sarazen was 97 when he died in 1999.

Premier class coaching at the Carrick on Loch Lomond

NEWS RELEASE
The stunning Carrick on Loch Lomond boasts a world-class golf course and the PGA coaches at the resort are furthering the premier offering available to members and guests.
Head of Resort Instruction, Spencer Edwards, pictured right, is a former Challenge Tour and European Tour player, who has a proven track record of maximising golfers’ potential. Having worked with beginners, Ryder Cup stars and European Tour winners alike, Edwards has over 20 years experience as a PGA Professional. Edwards is joined at The Carrick by Gavin Abson, Senior Golf Instructor and former EuroPro Tour professional, who has recently been selected to join the teaching staff for Scotland’s #1 golf magazine, ‘bunkered’, after stints managing the Junior Academy at an Open Championship venue and caddying on the European Tour.
"We are privileged to boast PGA Professionals of Spencer and Gavin’s ilk; both are vastly experienced coaches who have enjoyed considerable success working with all standards of golfer,” commented Ross Whitfield, Director of Golf and Estates, Cameron House Resort.
“We pride ourselves on our world-class offering throughout the resort, from the golf course to food and beverage, customer service to practice facilities; the world-class coaching is an important asset in delivering a comprehensive experience that exceeds our guests’ expectations.”

Edwards, previously the Head Coach to Worcestershire County Golf Team and Solihull College’s Sporting Excellence Programme, has featured on Sky Sports and in a number of leading golfing publications. Prior to his coaching career, Edwards enjoyed playing success on the European Challenge Tour with multiple top-3 finishes as well as holding various County, Regional and National PGA titles.
Abson, pictured left, a former European Tour caddie to the likes of Robert Rock, Jamie Donaldson and Sam Walker, spent two years on the EuroPro Tour before realising his passion for coaching. Able to pass on first-hand knowledge gained from working with some of the world’s best players, Abson’s methods will reach a wide audience over the coming months after he was recognised as one of the best coaches in the country and named to the teaching staff at ‘bunkered’ magazine.
With a wide range of packages available at the resort, members and guests are able to work on basic fundamentals, enjoy advanced video lessons, individual or group classes, custom-fitting sessions, short game coaching or One on One playing lessons on the picturesque Carrick course. Individual lessons are available to book from just £25 per ½ hour, through The Carrick Golf Shop on 01389 713 655.

SWANSTON Novice Membership+the Get-ready-for-Golf learning Programme

Designed by Stuart J Campbell PGA Professional
“Aimed at the returning golfer and complete novices/beginners

NEWS RELEASE
We are offering this package at Swanston because we feel new and returning golfers need a programme which not only gives them a coaching element but importantly offers golf education.
The Novice/get ready for Golf programme offers the pupils a complete solution to learning to play golf never before offered in Scotland. Golfers in the past have joined a club, possibly taken lessons, but rarely has one been offered golf course or education/information pertaining to the club.
As a result new members often come in one door and out the other at the end of their first season, disappointed at the lack of assistance offered.
With the latter in mind we will offer 10 hours of coaching on the range and on course, education on basic rules and etiquette, how to take the their skills to the golf course, we offer information regarding the club such as how to get a handicap, playing in competitions etc + three months' playing rights on our Templar course and use of our extensive practice facilities at Swanston to hone their swings and game.
GRFG pupils can also play in the twice monthly Friday Night Social Golf Evenings on the Templar course, where we organise a fun scramble event and a BBQ afterwards enabling pupils to network and make new friends.
After this programme pupils can decide to take one of the many categories of membership at Swanston in the knowledge they can integrate into caring and friendly golf club.
This programme costs £150.00, and starts in May 2011 in five-week blocks – 2 options are available –
Option 1 - Monday, May 2 – 18:00 – 20:00hrs – maximum 8 per class
Option 2 – Saturday, May 7 - 14:00 – 16:00hrs - maximum 8 per class
All bookings through our Golf Shop
More information on www.swanstongolf.co.uk click on Golf then Academy.