EVER TRIED A DUBAI STABLEFORD TEAMS OF THREE COMPETITION?

Looking for a "new" format for a golf competition at your club?
You wouldn't think there are any "new" ones left.
But have a read of this and take from it what you want:

To celebrate the new Millennium a new team competition was introduced and played at Wokefield Park GC, near Reading. The teams, comprising three players, each from different Berkshire clubs, competed in a Dubai Stableford format.
So what's a "Dubai Stableford?"
Let me explain:

The trio's best individual points score counts at each of the first six holes.
Their best TWO points scores count at each of the next six holes.
All three players' points scores count at each of the last six holes.

The competition proved to be such a success that it continued as a regular event in subsequent years.

THE WAY THEY WERE: CAMMIE GIBSON AND THE 'MISSING' 1951 CAP

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
W C (Cammie), one of the most successful of Ayrshire's golfing sons, died in 1995 but Scottishgolfview.com and Ayrshire Golf Association secretary Alasdair Malcolm are of the same mind in that it's not too late for the Scottish Golf Union handbook to get Cammie's Scotland international appearances listed correctly (no criticism of the present staff intended).
Cammie played in the Men's Home Internationals of 1950 at Royal St David's GC, Harlech in Wales, after he beat David Blair, Scottish boy champion in 1935 and Walker Cup player of 1955 and 1961, by 2 and 1 in the final of the Scottish amateur championship at a course Cammy knew very well - Prestwick.
He also played in the following year's (1951) Home Internationals at Royal Lytham, where Scotland and Ireland shared the title, but, for some unexplained reason, every other member of the Scotland team that year is credited with a cap for 1951 in the SGU handbook - but not Cammie Gibson.
That was the second bit of bad luck in Cammie's golfing career.
He reached the semi-finals of the Scottish amateur championship in 1939 and was selected to play in the home internationals at Royal Lytham - but they were cancelled, alongwith every other major sporting event, when World War II was declared by Britain on Germany in September 1939.
Alongwith many fine golfers, and other sportsmen, Cammie Gibson "lost" the next six years when he would have been at his golfing peak and who knows what he might have achieved in the golfing world in the 1940s in normal circumstances.
Cammie Gibson is pictured below in his playing days.

Alasdair Malcolm writes:
"Cammie's home club was Prestwick St Cuthbert when he won the Scottish in 1950. He was made an honorary member of St Cuthbert in 1939 after his bronze medal performance in the same event.
"He later became a member of Prestwick St Nicholas also, playing his golf there in later years.
"Interestingly, when he won the Scottish at Prestwick in 1950, Prestwick Town Council had an exact copy of the championship trophy in miniature made for him. This stands about eight inches high and is on permanent loan to St Cuthbert, along with his championship medals.
"I took a photograph of the miniature copy, next to its 'big brother,' the last time the Scottish Amateur was at Prestwick (Alasdair Malcolm also took a picture of Cammie with the miniature and that's it at the top of this article).
"You may be interested to know that Cammie's brother was a well known professional in America, who played in the US Open and Masters tournaments and was a playing contemporary of the likes of Sam Snead and Tony Penna.
"Andy Gibson began his career on the other side of the Atlantic as professional at Baltimore County GC but he moved on to Teh Country Club, Maryland where he was pro for over 25 years.
"Cammie passed away in 1995 and brother Andy died only a few months later."

"A picture from 1994 when Cammie Gibson presented his golfing medals on permanent loan to Prestwick St Cuthbert, writes Alasdair Malcolm.
"The frame of medals include his Scottish Amateur championship bronze (1939) and gold (1950) medals and a medal from the 10th Boys International in 1932 between Scotland and England which was played at Royal Lytham St Annes.
"Interesting to note that the 1939 Scottish Amateur Championship was apparently the first one that Cammie entered, where he won bronze, and his next appearance in the championship was 1950 when he won gold.
"His next appearance was in 1951 at St Andrews, as defending champion, when he went all the way to the quarter finals before losing out to WD (Dick) Smith, a Prestwick member who famously played in the Walker Cup against a young Jack Nicklaus. I am not aware of Cammie taking part in the Scottish Amateur again after this, so not a bad record for three entries - quarter-finalist, semi-finalist and champion!
"As to the question why the Scottish Golf Union handbook's 1951 omission of his cap that year was not taken up, I have no idea. Whether it is just an oversight or whether there were other factors I am not sure.
"Did the matches go ahead on the scheduled dates or were they postponed and he wasn't available for the rearanged fixture? (Editor: The fact that a team picture, below, was taken suggests that Cammy Gibson was there and played). Perhaps if one of the Home nations has detailed records we may be able to shed some light on this eventually."
LAST WORD FROM ED HODGE, the SGU's PR and Media Executive:
Cheers for the information about Cammie Gibson.
We’ll endeavour to amend the 2013 edition of the Yearbook.
Sadly, we went to print last week for 2012.
Kind regards,
Ed Hodge
SCOTLAND'S 1950 HOME INTERNATIONALS TEAM

Back row (left to right): JR McKay, KW Walker, CD Lawrie, FWG Deighton, RR Jack, GW Mackie, R Wight, A Sinclair junior.
Front row (l to r): AT Kyle, J Cameron Conn (SGU president), WS McLeod, GB Peters (non-playing team captain), WC Gibson, WM Berrie (SGU honorary secretary), JB Stevenson.

SCOTLAND'S 1951 HOME INTERNATIONALS TEAM

Back row standing (left to right): RC MacGregor, WS McLeod, JR McKay, SB Williamson, HM Dickson (SGU president), WM Berrie (SGU honorary secretary).
Middle row seated (l to r): WC Gibson, JC Wilson, JM Dykes, RD Brand (non-playing team captain), AT Kyle, DA Blair, D Cameron.
Front seated (l to r): RR Jack, JB Stevenson.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many famous names from Scotland's golfing past in both pictures which were given to Alasdair Malcolm by Cammie Gibson - Reid Jack, Morty Dykes, Eddie Hamilton, David Blair, Sandy Sinclair, to name just the ones that I know best.
One thing that strikes me about both pictures is the mature age of the players who represented Scotland in those days, when the European Tour, not to mention the Tour School, was still some years away.
I would guess the teams' average age would have been at least 30, maybe 35 compared with a Scotland team these days when the average age would be around 20 or 21.
My thanks to Alasdair Malcolm for giving me the idea for the above article by sending me the 1950 and 1951 Scotland international team photographs. Alasdair supplied ALL the photographs and a lot of the words.

LATER MESSAGE FROM ALASDAIR MALCOLM

Colin,
Very nice article about Cammie.
Coincidentally, I received in the post today a 1970 SGU yearbook which I bought on ebay.
In this edition of the yearbook, Cammie is listed as playing against Ireland in 1950 and 1951.
I had a trawl through all the players listed on both photos and the caps attributed to them in the 1970 yearbook.
In 1950 it would appear that the same 10 players played in all three home international matches. Two individuals in the photo from 1950 do not appear to have featured at all in the matches so I assume they were reserves. K W Walker is not listed as having any international caps whilst R Wight is listed as playing only once, against Sweden in 1950.
As far as the players in the 1951 picture are concerned, eight appear to have played in all three matches. Of the others, Cammie and J B Stevenson (another Ayrshire man from Troon St Meddans) played only against Ireland whilst Jimmy McKay (Prestwick St Nicholas) and R.C. McGregor both played against England and Wales.
In summary, it would appear that over the years, Cammie's 1951 cap against Ireland appears to have dropped off the radar. Hopefully this information will be sufficient to have the SGU Yearbook corrected for 2013.
Many thanks for your interest and efforts in regard to this.
Who would have thought a couple of old photos could have started such a mystery trail!!.
Best regards,
Alasdair Malcolm

CHESTERS, LOUGHREY, RAYMOND HEAD FOR AUSTRALIA

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION
Three members of the re-formed England Squad will travel Down Under next month to challenge for several of Australia’s key championships, hoping to emulate the successes of the last two winters.
Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park, Shropshire), Ben Loughrey (Wrag Barn, Wiltshire) and Neil Raymond (Corhampton, Hampshire) will spend over a month in the southern hemisphere sunshine during which they will compete in five events.
The trio will tee off with the Masters of the Amateurs at Royal Melbourne from January 10-13, followed by the Australian Amateur Championship at the Woodland and Huntingdale Golf Clubs from January 17 to 22.
They will then move on to the Lake Macquarie International at Belmont from January 26 to 29,  before the New South Wales Medal at Long Reef and Mona Vale Golf Clubs from February 1 to 3.
If they qualify from that, they will contest the New South Wales Amateur Championship at Elanora Country Club from February 6 to 9.
Chesters, 22, has won many events in his home county and was an under 16 cap in 2005. He has made rapid progress over recent years on the national scene, culminating in victory in the Lee Westwood Trophy in August.
He represented the EGU in the Simon Bolivar Cup in Venezuela early last month, finishing runner-up to Dutch international Robin Kind. He was then named in the re-formed England Squad.Loughrey, 23, who preceded Chesters as winner of the Lee Westwood Trophy, visited Australia last winter, winning the New South Wales Cup. It led to a successful 2011 in which he has finished third in the Welsh Open Stroke Play and tied fifth in the Brabazon Trophy and the South of England Stroke Play Championship.
He also made his full England debut against Spain at The Berkshire in May and also played in the Home Internationals while he was a member of the victorious Wiltshire team in the English County Championship at Ganton.
Raymond, 25, was another to visit Australia a year ago when, like Loughrey, he was a member of the winning England team in The Ashes tournament. He also made his England debut this year against the Spanish and went on to win the Brabazon Trophy in an emotional finish at Burnham & Berrow. He was also capped in the Home Internationals, finished runner-up in the Selborne Salver and seventh in the Welsh Open Stroke Play.
In January 2010, Tommy Fleetwood had three top ten finishes down under including runner-up in the New South Wales Amateur. Last January, Jack Senior won the New South Wales Amateur, beating Andy Sullivan in an all-English final and tied second behind Sullivan in the New South Wales Medal.
Also at that time, Sullivan tied second in the Masters of the Amateurs when Laurie Canter finished fifth. Canter was also joint fourth in the New South Wales Medal alongside Stiggy Hodgson, while Tom Lewis reached the quarter finals of the New South Wales Amateur and was tied seventh in the Medal.
The Masters of the Amateurs tournament has an international field. The opening round is played with club professionals and guests with a shotgun start. The other three rounds comprise only the amateurs.
The long established 72-hole Lake Macquarie International at Belmont Golf Club has seen several English winners such as Roger Chapman, Russell Claydon, Ricky Willison, Nick Dougherty and Adam Gee.
The field in the New South Wales Medal will play one round each over the Long Reef and Mona Vale courses after which there will be a cut with the leading 60 players plus ties playing 36 holes at Long Reef. The leading 32 players from that will enter the match play knockout competition for the NSW Amateur at Elanora.

JOE OZAKI TO LEAD ASIA TEAM v EUROPE IN ROYAL TROPHY 2012

FROM THE SKY SPORTS.COM WEBSITE
Japan's Naomichi 'Joe' Ozaki is to continue as Asia team captain for next year's Royal Trophy against Europe.

The 55-year-old has led the team for the last four editions of the match play tournament after his compatriot Masahiro Kuramoto took charge for the inaugural event in 2006.

The 2012 event will take place in Brunei from 14-16 December and will be played in honour of Seve Ballesteros, Europe's captain for the first two years, who died in May after a lengthy battle against cancer.

Honour

"I am certain that the eight members of the Asian Team will play their hearts out in honour of Seve's career and life," said Ozaki, whose only success as captain came in 2009.

"I have great memories of Seve during my years playing full-time internationally, of the times he played in our tour in Japan and of captaining against him at the Royal Trophy in 2007."

Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal will lead the European team, taking over the captaincy from Colin Montgomerie, who skippered the side to a 9-7 victory earlier this year.

NOW LUKE DONALD WINS 2O11 GOLF WRITERS TROPHY

By ANDY FARRELL
Luke Donald has collected another accolade after his historic season earned him the Golf Writers Trophy for 2011.
Donald, pictured, is only the second player after Padraig Harrington in 2008 to win the triple crown of awards having already been named the European Tour Golfer of the Year and PGA Tour Player of the Year.
Darren Clarke, the Open champion, and Rory McIlroy, the US Open champion, tied for second place, while the European Solheim Cup team, captained by Alison Nicholas, took fourth place in the annual poll of members of the Association of Golf Writers.
“Any award you win gives you a great amount of pleasure and for the Golf Writers to consider me as their player of the year means a lot, it really does,” Donald said. “These are the people who really understand golf and appreciate all that I have achieved this year.
“All the people in the running for the AGW award – Rory, Darren, the Solheim Cup team and the Walker Cup team – would have been worthy winners and therefore it is very gratifying to get the vote ahead of all of them. That means an awful lot to me.”
Clarke, who won the Open at his 20th attempt at Sandwich, said: “What Luke Donald has achieved this year is unbelievable. I’m full of admiration for him. And for Rory to win the US Open like he did and so young shows what a fantastic talent he is. Both would be worthy winners of the Golf Writers Trophy.”
McIlroy, whose win in Hong Kong meant the Race to Dubai went down to the final tournament, said: “It has been an amazing year for me but as I said in Dubai, Luke deserves to be the No 1 in our game this year. It is very satisfying to be mentioned alongside Luke, Darren and the Solheim team by the Golf Writers.”
Nicholas, whose team produced an amazing comeback in the late stages to pip the Americans at Killeen Castle, said: “I would like to congratulate the guys for their outstanding performances during 2011 and am delighted the European Solheim Cup team was judged alongside them.
"It proves the strength of men’s and women’s professional golf in Europe at present and highlights the young and fearless talent that is coming through. Our own next challenge will be to win the Solheim Cup for the first time in the USA in 2013.”
Donald became the first player officially to top of the money lists in both America and Europe. Ending the year as the world No 1, having deposed Lee Westwood by beating his compatriot in a playoff at the BMW PGA Championship, the 34-year-old Englishman won four times in 2011, including the WGC Accenture Matchplay, the Barclays Scottish Open and the Children’s Miracle Network tournament at Disney World. The last title was achieved with six birdies in the last nine holes to overhaul Webb Simpson at the top of the US money list.
Donald went on to finish third at the Dubai World Championship and take the Race to Dubai title ahead of McIlroy. His excellent consistency all year brought 20 top-ten finishes from 27 tournaments, despite an emotional finale to the year that saw the birth of his second daughter, Sophia, and the death of his father, Colin.
Donald added: “It is a great feeling being given any award but to now be able to add the Golf Writers Award to that of the PGA Tour Player of the Year and the European Tour Race to Dubai Golfer of the Year, is something really special and something I will cherish. I look forward to actually receiving the award from the AGW in person and displaying it proudly on my mantelpiece at home.”
Donald will receive the trophy at the Golf Writers Dinner during the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in July. The Golf Writers Trophy is the oldest of the annual awards, dating back to 1951, and, uniquely, takes into account both individual and team performances by European golfers.
Bill Elliott, chairman of the Association of Golf Writers, said: “We received a record number of votes this year which reflects the range of outstanding achievements by European golfers in 2011. This has been an extraordinary year and left members with an extremely difficult task in assessing their first, second and third place votes.
“Darren Clarke’s triumph at the Open Championship was one of the most popular and emotional victories ever seen, while Rory McIlroy is the most exciting talent in the game whose US Open win was the single most impressive performance of the year.
“But what Luke Donald has achieved over the whole season has been nothing less than superb. He is a class act on the course, but also off it, and he thoroughly deserves all the accolades he has received.
“Personally, I am delighted the Solheim Cup team featured strongly in the voting, which perhaps reflects my own view that their thrilling last-gasp victory was not just the most exciting golf of the year but the one of the best finishes to a team event in the history of the game.”
The Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team finished fifth in the poll, while there were also votes for the GB and I captain Nigel Edwards; the European captain Nicholas; Solheim stars Suzann Pettersen, Catriona Matthew and Caroline Hedwall; Tom Lewis, the leading amateur at the Open Championship and a winner of his third tournament on the European Tour; Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros.

Andy Farrell
Administrator
Association of Golf Writers