GLENBERVIE JUNIOR OPEN FOR BOYS AND GIRLS ON JULY 18

By KEN GOODWIN

The Glenbervie Junior Open is being held on Monday, July 18. There are scratch and handicap prizes for boys and girls with trophies being awarded for the best scratch score in each category.

I am particularly keen to encourage more girls to take part in the competition. Glenbervie is in great condition at present with very fast greens and being a former venue for the British Boys, Scottish Girls and Scottish Professionals’ Championship I am sure that everyone who plays in our Open will thoroughly enjoy the course. The Open is taking on an international feel with entries already from the US and Croatia. It  costs £5 to enter and anyone interested  can either download an entry form from http://www.glenberviegolfclub.com/golfClub/OpenCompetitions.asp?PageName=OpenCompetitions or e-mail me at juniors@kengoodwin.com .

The Glenbervie Open is the first event of the Falkirk Festival of Junior Golf which comprises the junior opens at four of the golf clubs in the Falkirk area. The Falkirk Golf Club Junior Open is on Wednesday 20^th July; Grangemouth Golf Club Junior Open on Thursday 21^st July and finally the Falkirk Tryst Junior Open on Friday 22^nd July. Each junior open costs £5 to enter. The Festival is open to all juniors with CONGU handicaps – they don’t have to be residents of the Falkirk area.

The Festival has its own website http://ffojg.blogspot.com and anyone who wishes to enter will find details of dates, venues etc and an on-line entry form. Starting times and results will also be shown there in the future. Players can also enter individual junior opens through the web site even if they don’t want to play in all the competitions in the Festival. Alternatively they can e-mail me their details with the opens they wish to play in.

  

Ken Goodwin

Junior Convenor

Glenbervie Golf Club

Tel: 01324 716716

Mob: 07881 845745

E-mail: juniors@kengoodwin.com

IF WORLD RANKINGS DECIDE, THEN STEWART COULD BE ONLY SCOT IN GB AND I WALKER CUP TEAM FOR ROYAL ABERDEEN

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
In terms of world-ranked players in the respective line-ups, the Walker Cup match at Royal Aberdeen on September 10-11 is a no contest ... and I hope that GB and I captain Nigel Edwards (pictured right) is not reading this!
This week's updated RandA World Amateur Rankings has EIGHT Americans in the top 10 ... and you can bet your boots they will all be in the US team bidding to add to their victories in 2005-2007-2009.
GB and I's glory years of 1999 (a 15-9 victory at Nairn), 2001 (a 15-9 victory at Sea Island) and 2003 (a 12.5 to 11.5 victory at Ganton) seem a fond and distant memory.
There are only two Britons in the World 10 amateurs - England's Andrew Sullivan, winner of the Scottish open amateur stroke-play at Blairgowrie this year, and our own national champion Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck), ranked No 8.
Gavin Dear never quite made it into the WAGR top 10 during his amateur career and I believe that Stewart is the first Scot to achieve that lofty status since Aberdonian Richie Ramsay won the 2006 US amateur championship and made it to No 1 world ranking.
If the GB and I Walker Cup selectors go strictly by the World Amateur Rankings, then Sullivan and Stewart, plus the current No 13, Tom Lewis (Welwyn Garden City) are automatic selections.
It's after that, the GB and I players are a bit thin on the ground in the World Rankings.
England's Jack Senior is No 30, Ireland's Paul Cutler No 74 and England's David Coupland No 77.  Even if we put them all in the GB and I team to face the mighty Americans, that still leaves us looking for another four players to make up the home team of 10 .... and we are talking about players outwith the WAGR top 100, from whom the United States could probably field half a dozen teams!
England's Stiggy Hodgson, who played in the last Walker Cup match, comes next at 103, followed by Ireland's Dermot McElroy at No 110. That's eight down and still two needed.
And this is where the World Amateur Rankings loses just a bit of its credibility.
The ninth highest ranked British or Irish player, in 135th place, is Paisley-born, Norwich player, Stuart Ballingall, whose ranking is based solely on his performances on the US college circuit for Missouri University.
If he played in this year's British amateur championship or Brabazon Trophy, then I must have missed it. Ballingall certainly did not figure prominently in either event, which he could have played in, given that US college students have been on holiday from the end of May-early June.
The flaw in the WAGR system, in my humble opinion, is that if you don't play, you don't "lose" any points in your rating.
Looking further down this week's rankings, Banchory's James Byrne, for so long a top-20 rated player, has come tumbling down the rankings after a miserable 2010-2011 season on the US college circuit, his final year as an Arizona State University student.
James is this week ranked at No 165, down 39 places from last week.
If there is only Scot - Michael Stewart - in the GB and I team for the Walker Cup match when it is announced, don't say I didn't warn you.

THIS WEEK'S WORLD TOP TEN AMATEURS
1 Patrick Cantlay (US).
2 Peter Uihlein (US).
3 Amond Vangwanij (US).
4 Jordan Spieth (US).
5 Andrew Sullivan (England).
6 Andrew Yun (US).
7 James White (US).
8 Michael Stewart (Scotland)
9 Blayne Barber (US)
10 Luke Guthrie (US).

REST OF PLAYERS ELIGIBLE TO PLAY FOR GB AND I
13 Tom Lewis (England).
30 Jack Senior (England).
74 Paul Cutler (Ireland).
77 David Coupland (England).
103 Stiggy Hodgson (England).
110 Dermot McElroy (Ireland).
135 Stuart Ballingall (Scotland).
143 Garrick Porteous (England).
151 Gregory Eason (England).
165 James Byrne (Scotland).
172 Ben Shaw (England).
200 Ben Westgate (Wales).
210 Rhys Pugh (Wales).
216 Alan Dunbar (Ireland).
224 Paul Shields (Scotland).
226 Steven Brown (England).
233 David Law (Scotland).
235 Tyrrell Hatton (England).
243 Neil Raymond (Eng).

Other Scots' rankings:
259 Ross Kellett
344 Kris Nicol.

SCOTLAND'S MEN QUALIFY - BUT ENGLAND MISS OUT IN EUROPE

BRILLIANT SIX-UNDER 66 BY MICHAEL

STEWART SPEARHEADS REVIVAL

By  COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Of the four Scotland amateur squads competing in the European team championships this week at four different venues, only the men’s team figured among the eight qualifiers for the championship match-play flight.

A brilliant round of six-under-par 66 – 10 shots better than his Tuesday effort – by Scottish champion and Walker Cup team contender Michael Stewart spearheaded a fine team effort by the Scots over the Vilamoura Victoria course on Portugal’s Algarve.

Michael, who had an eagle and six birdies, was backed up by three other sub-par performances by James Byrne (69), Ross Kellett (70) and David Law (71).

Greg Paterson, who had a non-counting 77 in the first qualifying round, improved to a counting 73.

Ironically, the Scots’ non-counting round was a 77 by Kris Nicol who had led the way with a 68 on Tuesday.

Scotland improved their daily team total from 359 to 349 and easily made the championship flight with 12-under-par 708.

Technically, that was the joint fourth best total, achieved also by Finland, Switzerland and Ireland. The tie-breaking card comparison decreed that Scotland were the seventh qualifiers and as such they play second seeded Germany in the first round of the match-play.

Spain were top qualifiers with 696 (24 under par), ahead of Germany and France.

Big shock of the day was the failure of England, a team packed with Walker Cup team candidates, to make the top eight. They cannot win the title now, having finished niuth with 716, three more than the last of the championship flight qualifiers, Sweden on 713.

England’s last-day scorers were Stiggy Hodgson 69, Jack Senior 71, Darren Wright 74, Steven Brown 74, Andy Sullivan 75, Dave Coupland 75.

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT QUALIFIERS

696 Spain 1

700 Germany 2

702 France 3

708 Finland 4, Switzerland 5, Ireland 6, Scotland 7.

713 Sweden 8.

Selected non-qualifiers:

716 England 9th
730 Wales 16th

MATCH-PLAY QUARTER-FINALS

Spain v Sweden
Finland v Switzerland
France v Ireland
Germany v Scotland.

SCOTLAND BOYS JUST MISS OUT IN PRAGUE

Scotland’s boys failed narrowly in the European boys' championship at Prague in the Czech Republic.
Their individual scores were:
Grant Forrest 70, Greg Marchank 70, Eamon Bradley 72, Ewan Scott 73, Anthony Blaney 74, Jack McDonald 78.
Their team total of 723 put them in joint ninth position, only one shot more than the seventh and eighth top-flight qualifiers Ireland and France.
England missed out in 15th place with 735.

EUROPRO TOUR SCOREBOARD

AUDI CORK IRISH MASTERS
Fota Island Resort
FIRST ROUND
Scots' scores
68 Shaun McAllister (Craigielaw) (T1).
70 Ed Wood (Crow Wood), Kevi McAlpine 9Alyth), Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel) (T9).
71 Chris Kelly (Cawder) (T23).
73 Lee Harper (Archerfield Links), Zack Saltman (Archerfield Links) (T36).
76 Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) (T80).
78 Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie Golf Links) (T112).

MOTIVATING MONTY - ANOTHER CRACK AT THE OPEN

TOP-FIVE FINISH AT CASTLE STUART
MIGHT BE ENOUGH TO EARN 22ND
CONSECUTIVE APPEARANCE

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By KEVIN GARSIDE
Wind, rain, the Moray Firth broiling; must be Scotland in July. And headlong into the tempest at Castle Stuart today went Colin Montgomerie in search of the form on the practice ground that might yet yield his heart’s desire, another crack at the Open Championship.
Montgomerie is on a run of 21 consecutive Opens. He is mustard keen to contest No. 22 and believes, were he to qualify this week, that he would be a contender at Royal St George’s. There is nothing in the golfing handbook that says a man must not dream. A first win in four years would guarantee his inclusion. Fifth would be enough were the four who finish above him already qualified. “It’s difficult, very difficult,” Montgomerie said. “I’ve got to perform at the top of my ability and we’ll see what happens. It’s a challenge but I don’t want to miss the Open.
"It’s the last throw of the dice here. Not having won it you have to qualify somehow. Twenty-one years in a row. I’m proud of that.”
The Scottish Open organisers have bestowed upon the former Ryder Cup captain a guest of honour slot on Thursday in a three-ball with world No 1 Luke Donald and Sweden’s Peter Hanson.
Montgomerie is gradually playing his way back to happiness after donating two years of his career to the Ryder Cup cause. He was a top-50 golfer when he was anointed Ryder Cup captain and ranked 420 when he surrendered the chain of office. He is back in the top 300, so he is making progress of sorts.
“I gave myself two years to get back in the top 50. That would not be realistic over one year,” Montgomerie said. “I feel okay. If I can keep on sort of motivating myself to get there that’s still the goal. I’m not unrealistic. I started out as Ryder Cup captain at No 47. That shows what it did to my career. But things are improving. I’m up to 280, so there you go.”
Montgomerie last stood on the top step of the podium at the 2007 European Open in Ireland. He has had one top 10 finish since, at the BMW Championship at Wentworth in May. He accepts that he is no longer able to commit his soul to this game. He divides his time between his business interests and his family. Practice is another country, something he does between school runs and course design.
He had not laid eyes on this new links venture at Castle Stuart until his pro-am tee slot at 1pm on Wednesday. The course is cut into a stunning length of real estate along the southern bank of the Moray Firth.
A drive and a wedge to the south is Culloden Moor, where 2,000 men fell in the failed cause of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746. Montgomerie is beyond the reach of omens. He knows his fate rests in his own hands.
It says something of his pride and his desire that he walks out among better-prepared if inferior-skilled peers to maintain a foothold in a sport that he has graced with distinction.
Thirty-one wins, eight Order of Merit titles including seven in a row, and world No 2 add amount to a substantial pedigree, sufficient to justify Padraig Harrington’s claim that Montgomerie was at his peak the best ball-striker in the game, superior to the serial pot hunter of the age, Tiger Woods.
Montgomerie is still making decent swings. A cutting edge honed in the crucible of leaderboard combat is what he lacks. That does not stop the saliva glands working in anticipation of what might be if he gets lucky here. He is not complaining at odds set at 200-1.
“That’s the way it is. I came here [Scottish Open] in ’99 as favourite,” he said. “That was realistic. I’m playing better than that [200-1]. I wouldn’t put myself at that level but looking at my list of achievements in the past three years, it’s the reality. But if I do qualify I would go down there giving myself a shot. On a fast-running course like St George’s that gives me my best opportunity.”
Montgomerie must get past some big names to fulfil his dream. Five of the world’s top 10 feature in a high-class field. The switch to a links course from Loch Lomond has attracted stellar competition, including a clutch of American heavyweights.
World No.  6 Phil Mickelson is a regular attendee, and following him across the Atlantic are world No. 8 Matt Kuchar, big-hitter Gary Woodland and persistent contender Brandt Snedeker.
Donald heads a list of European grandees that includes world No 2 Lee Westwood and world No 9 Graeme McDowell. All three are coming off mid-summer breaks following the US Open exhibition laid on by Rory McIlroy three weeks ago. Donald spent a week in Italy, Westwood a few days on a boat in the Mediterranean and McDowell a week on the sofa in Orlando.
Their task is to bring their games to a peak high enough to eclipse the remarkable McIlroy, who spent Wednesday plotting a leisurely route around Royal St George’s. McIlroy is a tools-down man in the week before a major, preferring to relax his way into the big event.
He will play another 18 again on Thursday and will not tee a ball on the Open course until next Wednesday, and then he might not go beyond a social nine holes. All of which is evidence, of course, that McIlroy is playing a different game.

FIFE ORDER OF MERIT FOR THE MACKAY BOWL

Positions after 13 events.

	NAME	CLUB		Points
1	James White	Lundin		725
2	Scott Crichton	Aberdour		440
3	Greg Paterson	The New Club		360
4	Scott Stewart-Cation	The Dukes		285
5	Brian Soutar	Leven GS		280
6	Stuart Meiklejohn	Aberdour		270
7	Mark Beveridge	Dunnikier Park		205
8	Peter Latimer	The New Club		200

The next counting event for THE 2011 FIFE ORDER OF MERIT:

THE SUTHERLAND CHALICE at DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY (9 & 10 July).

Scottish U16 boys championship reverts to 54-hole format after flooding

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
Round one at the Scottish Boys Under 16's Open Stroke Play Championship has been abandoned today at Forfar GC.
With no let-up in the torrential rain and no improvement forecast Championship Officials were regrettably forced to abandon play at mid-day. 
Round two tee-times for Thursday 7 July will still apply and players are requested to report to the Championship Office a minimum of 30 minutes before their tee-time. 
The cut will now take place after 18 holes with the top 40 and ties qualifying for 36 holes on Friday 8 July.
Which means the Scottish boys' Under-16 championship, instead of being a 72-hole stroke-play event for the first time, will revert to its traditional three-round format.

For urgent queries please call the Championship Office on 07788 150957.

TIM CLARK WITHDRAWS FROM OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R AND A


TIM CLARK WITHDRAWAL


Tim Clark (South Africa) has withdrawn from The Open Championship.
His place has been taken by Anthony Kim (USA)*
* Pending confirmation from the player.
The next five players on the reserve list are as follows:
1. Simon Dyson (England)
2. Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)
3. Scott Verplank (USA)
4. Ricky Barnes (USA)
5. Heath Slocum (USA)

POLE POSITION FOR SWANSTON'S STEWART SNEDDEN

NEWS RELEASE
Following an exhaustive search, Modry Las Golf Club in Poland has announced the appointment of Stewart Snedden, a Scot, as its director of golf. The newly created role is part of a phased series of improvements that has already seen the Polish course named as one of Europe ’s best tracks.
Snedden joins Modry Las from the highly regarded Swanston Golf Club in his native Scotland. The 46-year-old admitted the chance to take up a leading role at one of Europe ’s top courses was too good an opportunity to miss.
“The course is challenging and beautifully designed. To come here is a privilege,” he commented. “Modry Las is two years old and has established itself as one of Europe ’s top courses. In my opinion, it could host any tournament from any of the tours. I’ve seen a lot of tracks around Europe but few come close to this. It’s very exciting to be here.”
Snedden spent four years at Swanston helping quadruple membership while project managing the redesign of the 18-hole course, masterminding the introduction of a par-3 course and the opening of a bespoke practice facility. The Scot also caddied for the club’s touring pro John Gallagher, who won the Scottish amateur championship in 2007.
Before entering the golf industry, Snedden spent 27 years in the British Army serving in the infantry and then in the army air corps as a captain. He toured the world visiting a number of hotspots including Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
His new role at Modry Las will be marginally less hazardous liaising with members, corporate clients and staff. “It was great to celebrate our second anniversary with Stewart, who has added an important new dimension to our team,” said Arthur Gromadzki, chairman of Modry Las. “His proven track record of growing local membership and attracting visitors is an ideal match for our ambitions. He also has great leadership skills and a determination to make things happen. He now has a beautifully designed Gary Player-signature course to work with, so I am looking forward to his contribution.”
+Modry Las Golf Club was officially opened by Gary Player and Poland ’s Vice Minister of Sport and Tourism, Adam Giersz, on July 4, 2009.
+Modry Las Golf Club is the first step towards the planned Modry Las Golf Resort that will include 150 single-home plots.
+Modry Las Golf Course was selected as one of the top 100 European golf courses by Golf World magazine in 2009. It was also named the best golf course in Poland by the country’s leading golf website www.Polishgolf.pl.
+For more information, please visit www.modrylas.pl

SCOTTISH OPEN SPIN-OFF WILL BOOST HIGHLAND TOURISM

FROM THE HERALD WEBSITE
By KEVIN FERRIE
Loch Lomond may be a fine venue but the golfing world will see the highlands in all their glory this week as the Barclay’s Scottish Open heads north for the first time.
Hopes are high locally that the decision to take the event to Castle Stuart will have far reaching consequences not only for the course but for the entire tourist trade in this part of the world.
The myth and legend that surrounds venues like Royal Dornoch and the knowing whispers of insiders about the quality of those such as Boat of Garten will be replaced by the promotional reality of television pictures going live worldwide from a stunning venue.
============
After a week stuck in the house, Paul Lawrie is looking forward to enjoying home comforts of a rather different sort at Castle Stuart this week.

The former Open champion had been playing well at the BMW International in Munich two weeks ago before suffering a shoulder injury, but after spending a few days back in Aberdeen going stir crazy he is ready to battle through the pain barrier.

“I woke up on the Friday morning and, after going to the physio, I found that my rhomboid muscle was quite tight; no I didn’t know what a rhomboid was either, but I know now,” Lawrie said.
“So I just took last week off and stayed home, rested, didn’t do an awful lot, but I don’t like sort of sitting. I sit for five minutes maximum and then have to go and do something.”


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HARRINGTON'S GLOWING PRAISE FOR CASTLE STUART LINKS

FROM THE SPORT.SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE 
By Martin Dempster at Castle Stuart
AS the man who had made the most noise about wanting to see the Barclays Scottish Open back on a links course, Padraig Harrington's views on the choice of Castle Stuart as the event's new home were always going to be interesting.
And, though the three-time major winner may prattle on a bit during his press conferences, the glowing praise heaped by him yesterday on the Inverness venue will certainly have been music to the ears of many.
"We were not sure what to expect coming up here," he admitted ahead of the £3 million event teeing off tomorrow in the Highlands. "I heard it was good. But it is way above expectations. Somebody said it was the best new-built links course out there and you would have to think it's right up there in that category.
"There are so many ways to play the same holes. (Having also been designed by Gil Hanse and Mark Parsinen] Kingsbarns is the forerunner to this and we enjoy playing there, but for me they seem to have taken the slope out of the greens here and put it outside the green.

"If you miss the green and your ball gets stuck behind a mound and runs off 20 yards, that's punishment for missing the green. But if you hit it on the green here, the greens are putting beautifully and you've got a good birdie chance.

"There's a great variety of greens out there and what I like about the outside of the green structures is that they spill the ball nicely and you're left with a lot of options, whether to putt it, chip it, chip and run it or play a lob shot.

"I'm all against rough around the greens because I think it nullifies the skill and it plays into the hands of bad chippers. You also don't want to see somebody miss the green and be able to use a putter every time. But, due to the little sliced banks and things like that here, it really brings the skill back into the game."

Harrington last played in the Scottish Open in 1999, having decided to stay away from Loch Lomond, the event's home for 15 years, because hitting off lush parkland turf wasn't what he was looking for the week before The Open Championship.

Prior to winning the world's oldest major in both 2007 and 2008, he headed instead for The European Club in County Wicklow to play in the Irish PGA Championship, even though it carried a significantly lower purse than the one on offer in the home of golf.

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