SCOTLAND BOYS' SQUAD BOUND FOR ABU DHABI FEBRUARY 8-16

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNIONScotland’s national boys’ squad are set to reap the benefits of further warm weather winter training after a return trip to one of the world’s finest new golf developments in the United Arab Emirates was pencilled in for next month.
The full nine-strong squad, led by national youth coaches Neil Marr, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, and Kevin Hale, will travel for an intensive training camp at Yas Links Golf Club in Abu Dhabi from February 8-16, allowing them to take advantage of superb facilities in an excellent climate at this time of year.
The trip comes hot on the heels of the successful four-week training camp undertaken by a 10-strong men’s and boys’ national squad late last year to Yas, who together with Centro Yas Island Hotel and long-standing supporter of the SGU, Aberdeen Asset Management, sponsored the programme.
The same partners are providing in-kind support to help fund the boys’ eight-day camp.
The national men’s squad, meanwhile, are currently in week two of an eight-week winter performance programme in South Africa, thanks to the support of Aberdeen Asset Management and South African businessman Johann Rupert, coupled with continued funding from sportscotland.
Four members of the boys’ squad – reigning SGU boys’ Order of Merit winner Greig Marchbank (Dumfries and County), Blairgowrie’s up-and-coming Bradley Neil, talented Ewan Scott of St Andrews, the former English Under-14 boys winner, and Lothians star Anthony Blaney – will again be involved in the Abu Dhabi trip, after experiencing the opening 10 days of the previous camp.
They will be joined by five other emerging talents in the boys’ squad, Calum Hill (Tantallon), Ben Kinsley (St Andrews), Jamie Savage (Cawder), Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) and 2011 Scottish boys champion David Wilson (Troon Welbeck).
The squad will make use of the wonderful modern facilities at Yas, which boasts an 18-hole par-72 Kyle Phillips-designed course - the first links lay-out in the region which was opened in 2010 – a nine-hole academy course, state-of-the-art golf academy and floodlit practice facilities. It is arguably the finest golf facility in the UAE.
The trip, which again reflects the growing partnership between Scottish and UAE golf, is an excellent opportunity for all members of the travelling group to work on fitness and technical aspects of their game ahead of the new domestic season.
During their visit, the Scotland squad will work closely with Marr, National Under-18’s coach, and Hale, National Under-16’s coach, as well as receiving support from Scottish Institute of Sport staff also involved in the camp.
Eighteen-year-old Blaney, of Liberton, said: “I’m really looking forward to going back to Yas Links again in February with the boys.
“With four of us having already been there, we’ll share our experiences with the other boys. The facilities are fantastic and everything we’re working on this winter can be added to and then finalised in Abu Dhabi to make sure we are ready for the new season.”
Marr, the coach in lead charge of the trip, added: “Having seen how good the facilities are at Yas when I was over in November, I know that the boys’ golf games will improve by spending time at Yas. The weather is guaranteed which is great.
“It's the ideal time of year for this, there will be more focus on their playing and scoring ahead of the new season and less on technical input and changes.”

MICKELSONS PUT THEIR HOUSE ON MARKET FOR $7.095million

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE

Phil Mickelson is focusing on the future. According to Market Watch, he and his wife, Amy, have recently put their luxurious Rancho Santa Fe, Southern California estate on the market for $7.095 million.

"Simply put, this is one of the finest and most private estates you'll find -- anywhere," said Susan Bartow, listing agent for the Mickelsons. "The materials used and craftsmen who built this incredible estate are second to none."

The 9,500 square foot, five-bedroom, Tuscan-style home sits on 4.88 acres and comes with two guest villas. The estate includes lavish landscaping, a swimming pool, and its very own putting green.

Which begs the question - to where are the Mickelsons going to move? Phil will be 42 on June 16. He was born in California - San Diego - and has lived in the there all his life.

Finally, a great lie for Donald Trump...

Like Phil Mickeson, Donald Trump seems to be looking to the future.
According to The [Newark] Star-Ledger, Donald Trump plans to seek New Jersey state approval in order to build a burial ground next to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.

The 1.5-acre site would become the exclusive final resting place for wealthy club members who pay as much as $300,000 in membership fees. And a section of the lush plot would be carved out for Trump and his next of kin, said Ed Russo, a Trump consultant.

"It’s a very personal decision, but he’s considering it," Russo said. "This is really about members, but we do plan to set something aside for Mr. Trump and his family."

PAUL SHIELDS HITS THE HEIGHTS WITH A 61 ... BUT FINISHES SIXTH

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Cambuslang's Paul Shields, who finished in sixth place after a career-best opening round of 11-under-par 61 over a course of 7,700 yards, performed best of the six Scots who played in the Gauteng North Open at Pecanwood Golf Club, the first compeititive outing of their SGU-organised trip to South Africa.
Shields, who an eagle, 10 birdies (eight of them in a remarkable outward half) and a bogey in halves of 28 and 33, to surge clear of the first-day field, came down to earth with a bump in the second round when his 75 included a 9 at the par-5 seventh in an outward 42.
But Paul, pictured, steadied up to add last-day scores of 73 and 71 for a creditable eight-under-par total of 280, finishing nine shots behind the winner, Toby Tree , a member of the England boys' squad.
Daniel Kay, the Dunbar player who was beaten finalist in last year's Scottish men's amateur championship, tied for 39th place on 294 with scores of 71, 75, 76 and 72.
Brian Soutar (Leven Golfing Society) scored 69, 73, 75 and 78 for 295 and a share of 44th place.
Aberdour's Scott Crichton finished joint 48th on 296 with rounds of 70, 77, 74 and 75.
Players needed to scored four-over-par 148 or better to survive the halfway cut.
Fraser McKenna (Balmore) (76-73) and Conor O'Neil (Pollok) (75-74) both missed out by one shot on 149 in a huge field of 196 players at a very long course north of Johannesburg.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72) Yardage 7,700
271 Toby Tree (Eng) 69 66 66 70.
273 Zander Lombard (SAf) 66 68 68 71.
275 Brandon Stone (SAf) 67 72 67 69
SCOTS' SCORES
280 Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 61 75 73 71 (6th)
294 Daniel Kay (Dunbar) 71 75 76 72 (T39)
295 Brian Soutar (Leven GS) 69 73 75 78 (T44)
296 Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 70 77 74 75 (T48).
MISSED THE CUT (148 or better qualified)
149 Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 76 73, Conor O'Neil (Pollok) 75 74.
Field of 196 players.



ends

OBAN-BASED SCOT BURGOYNE JOINT THIRD AT SENIORS' Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
With just six places on the European Seniors Tour up for grabs, only Oban-based Terry Burgoyne of the seven Scots in the field hit the ground running to have any chance of gaining pass marks at the end of the over-50s Qualifying School four-round Final Stage at Pestana Golf Resort's Vale da Pinta course on Portugal's Algarve today.
Burgoyne, pictured by courtesy of Getty Images(c), who lived in Sweden for 24 years before moving to Oban and Glencruitten Golf Club, shot a three-under-par 68 to be joint third at the end of the first day, four shots behind American Charlie Bolling.
The six other Scots in the field of 74 did not have many reasons to be cheerful.
Iain Parker is joint 15th with a par-matching 71 over the 6,553yd course.
Edzell club pro Alastair Webster birdied the long second and short third and was sharing the tournament lead at one stage of his outward half. But he subsided to a 72 to share 24th place with compatriot Murray White.
Deeside GC teaching pro Peter Smith, a former Northern Open champion, lived dangerously in last week's Stage 1 eliminator and an opening round of 75 has piled the pressure on himself again. Also on the four-over mark is Carnoustie's former Walker Cup player Lindsay Mann.
David James from Dumfries, who played so well last week, had a nightmare round of 78 to be joint 65th overnight.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71. Yardage 6,553
64 Charlie Bolling (US).
67 Dick Mast (US).
68 Rick Gibson (Can), J C Anderson (US), Tim Elliott (Aus), Terry Burgoyne (Sco).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
71 Iain Parker (T15)
72 Alastair Webster, Murray White (T24).
75 Peter Smith, Lindsay Mann (T47).
78 David James (T65).

ALL THE SCORES

64 C Bolling (USA) 
67 D Mast (USA)
68 T Elliott (Aus), T Burgoyne (Sco) , J Anderson (USA) , R Gibson (Can) ,
69 P Horrobin (Jam) , K Moe (USA) , D Cambridge (Jam) , G Ralph (Eng) ,
70 M Adcock (USA) , J Heggarty (Nir) , M Briggs (Eng) , S Cipa (Eng) ,
71 I Parker (Sco) , J Hall (Eng) , K Dickens (Eng) , D Wettlaufer (Can) , P Dugeny (Fra) , A Takamatsu (Jpn) , P Wesselingh (Eng) , J Laforce (Can) , P Dahlberg (Swe) 
72 S Bennett (Eng) , M Stokes (Eng) , W Grant (Eng) , Z Martinez (USA) , M White (Sco) , A Webster (Sco) , E Rodriguez (Esp) ,
73 J Buendia (Esp) , K Tarling (Can) , J Fronceda (Esp) , N Mitchell (Eng) , M Fernandez (Arg) , L Turner (Eng) , C Grenier (Aut) , P Allan (Eng) , A Macdonald (Eng)
74 M Guzman (Arg) , B Evans (Eng) , D Gavrilovic (Eng) , R Masters (Eng) , J Mathews (Eng) , M Bright (RSA) , K Olsen (Aus) 
75 P Brostedt (Swe) , P Smith (Sco) , L Soto (Ven) , P Mortimer (Swe) , L Mann (Sco)
76 P Ebner (Aut) , M Donald (USA) , M Deboub (Alg) , D Edwards (USA) , J Sallat (Fra) , N Clarke (RSA) , J Salgado (Esp) , S Ball (Eng) , A Mori (Ita) ,
77 M Girouard (Can) , M Gallagher (Eng) , D Stirling (Eng) , S Okuda (Jpn) ,
78 M Bianco (Ita) , B Boudreau (Can) , R Sabarros (Fra) , D James (Sco) , S Davidson (Eng) 
79 J King (Eng)
80 P Jonas (Can) , A Dean (USA) , J Delgado (Fra)
81 M Söderberg (Swe)

CAMERON, O'HARA BEAT TURKEY CUT BUT FINDLAY, LAW FAIL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Ellon's Ross Cameron repeated his opening score of level par 69 on the second day of the Sueno Dunes Classic at Belek in Turkey but dropped from joint 11th to joint 18th on 138 - that's how high the standard of scoring is on the EPD (German PGA) Tour.
Cameron, started at the 10th with a bogey but cancelled that out with a birdie at the long 13th. Then he reeled off 14 straight pars to be five shots behind leader Tiago Cruz from Portugal, who has shot 67-66 for five-under 133.
Motherwell's Paul O'Hara was the only other Scot to beat the 36-hole cut. He has had rounds of 70 and 71 for three-over 141, tied 31st and one shot inside the limit mark.
The former Walker Cup reserve, starting at the 10th, covered his first nine in two-under 33 with birdies at the 11th, 15th and 18th and only one shot dropped, at the short 17th. O'Hara looked set for a sub-par score when he got his fourth birdie at the third but then he inexplicably dropped four shots to par over his last six holes with bogeys at the short fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth.
Jordan Findlay (Fraserburgh) missed the cut in his debut in Turkey while Aberdeen's David Law missed it for his second tournament in a row
Findlay had a 72 for 149 after a double bogey at the 10th, his fifth double bogey of the tournament. In the first round he had an astonishing bag of five birdies but today he birdied only the 16th.
Northern Open champion Law had no birdies in a disappointing 77 for 156, an astronomical score for a young man of his capablities.
Started at the 10th, Davide had a double bogey 5 at the shot 12th - his third double bogey in two days and turned in three over par after a bogey at the 18th.
On his inward half, Law bogeyed the second, short fourth, fifth, short seventh and eighth.
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 138 (2x69)
133 Tiago Cruz (Por) 67 66.
134 Chris Ackermann (Swi) 67 67, Christoph Pau (Aut) 66 68.
135 Kenny Le Sager (Fra) 70 65, Grant Jackson (Eng) 67 68.
Selected scores:
138 Ross Cameron (Sco) 69 69, Lee Corfield (Eng) 66 72 (T18th).
139 James Wilson (Eng) 71 68.
141 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 70 71 (T31).
142 Matthew Dearden (Wales) 75 67 (T37).
MISSED THE CUT (142 or better qualified)
145 Ian Brown (Eng) 71 74.
147 Nicholas Murtagh (Eng) 74 73.
148 Tom Boys (Eng) 74 74, Adam Carson (Eng) 74 74.
149 Jordan Findlay (Sco) 77 72
156 David Law (Sco) 79 77.

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION OPEN UP ENTRY TO JUNIOR TOUR EVENTS

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
The Scottish Golf Union has made changes to the entry system for the three Junior Tour Events for the 2012 season.
Traditionally, an invitation process was used to allow SGU selectors to assess boys’ performances over challenging courses, with a view to then picking national teams.
Now for 2012, entry will be open for the trio of Junior Tour competitions, with a nominated number of invites per event coming from SGU selectors.
As in the past, these three events will combine with other national championships and events to count towards the Scottish Hydro Boys Order of Merit (formerly the SGU Boys Order of Merit).
In December, the SGU announced an exciting new sponsorship agreement with Scottish Hydro who will be investing in junior golf over the next three years (2012-14). Scottish Hydro is this year’s official sponsor of the SGU Boys’ Order of Merit and Junior Tour series.
Scottish Golf Performance Development Manager Kevin Cademy-Taylor said: “We are trying to ensure the best players are in all our junior fields so we have a first-class competitive season for Scottish Boys.”
The SGU Junior Tour was launched in 2004 to provide leading Scottish Boys (Under-18) with additional competitive play on challenging courses; to provide coaching staff and selectors an opportunity to assess players and their development over such venues; and, to provide an appropriate competition structure and added incentive for young players to pursue higher honours.
Entry forms for the Junior Tour events along with all other national championships will be available for download from the SGU website – www.scottishgolf.org – from the beginning of February. The entry fee for Junior Tour events will be £15.
The fields for the Junior Tour events will be limited to a certain number, with a handicap ballot used to determine the final field.
The schedule for the Scottish Hydro Boys Order of Merit, including the three Scottish Hydro Junior Tour events, is a follows:
March 31-April 1: Scottish Hydro Junior Tour – Event 1 (Gullane No 2)
April 9-14: Paul Lawrie Foundation Scottish boys' championship (Murcar Links)
May 11-13: Golf Data Lab Scottish youths open amateur stroke play championship (Ladybank)
May 26-27: Scottish Hydro Junior Tour – Event 2 (The Roxburghe)
June 10: Dunfermline BS Scottish boys' area team championship (Cowglen)
June 16-17: Scottish Hydro Junior Tour – Event 3 (Rowallan Castle)
July 3-4: Loretto School Scottish boys' Under-14s open stroke-play championship (Buchanan Castle)
July 11-13: Scottish boys' Under-16s open stroke-play championship (Strathaven)
July 24-16: Scottish boys' open amateur stroke-play championship (Cardross).
August 14-19: British boys' amateur championship (Notts and Coxmoor)
August 21-22: Nick Faldo Junior Series Scottish qualifier (Panmure)
September 1-2: Paul Lawrie Foundation Junior Jug (Elgin)

If you have any questions regarding the Order of Merit, please contact Kevin Cademy-Taylor on 01334 466 486

TORVEAN'S MACDONALD WINS ALLIANCE AT KINLOSS CC

By ALAN COWIE
North Scottish Golfers Alliance secretary
Gordon Macdonald (Torvean) won his second North Scottish Golfers’ Alliance fixture in a row with a two under par 65 at Kinloss Country Golf Club.
Birdies were recorded at the 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th against bogeys at the 16th and 3rd.
He won by three strokes from Duncan Stewart (Grantown) who recorded 15 pars in his 68.
Frosty conditions made scoring difficult for the early starters.
The course played started at the 10th and ended at the ninth. Par for holes 10-18 - 34; Par for holes 1-9 - 33.
Leading Scratch Scores
65 G.S. Macdonald (Torvean)
68 D. Stewart (Grantown) pro.
69 V. Tilman (Muir of Ord)
71 C. Dixon (Moray)
72 S. Wilson ( Inverness ), K. Barnett (Torvean), P. Masson (Rothes), A. Imrie (Muir of Ord), M. Macdonald (Grantown)
73 W. Donnelly (Fortrose and Rosemarkie), N. Mcwilliam ( Elgin ), R. Mckerron (Forres)
74 R. Harrower (Boat of Garten) pro, J.A.G. Innes ( Elgin ), Brian Mellis (Rothes), A. Cowie (Moray)
75 G. Hay (Grantown), W. Hutchison (Inverness), T. Dingwall (Nairn Dunbar);
76 M. Lyall (Torvean), A. Cameron (Fortrose and Rosemarkie)
77 K. Thomson (Moray), J.R. Ingram (Boat of Garten), J. Simpson (Forres), B. Rennie ( Inverness ), R. Mellis (Rothes)
78 R. Younie (Rothes), A. Henry (Inverness), S. Johnston ( Elgin ), L. Duncan (Elgin), I. Hamilton (Elgin)
79 N. Shanks ( Elgin ), J.A. Grant (Grantown), D. Spence (Fortrose and Rosemarkie), R. Innes (Torvean)
80 P Matheson (Grantown), C. Small (Nairn), A. Boxx (Boat of Garten), S. Mitchell (Moray), R. Laing (Grantown), R. Stewart (Nairn Dunbar)
Handicap Section One (7 and under)
64 V. Tilman (Muir of Ord)(5)
65 P. Masson (Rothes)(7), A. Imrie (Muir of Ord)(7)
67 W. Donnelly (Fortrose and Rosemarkie)(6), M. Macdonald (Grantown)(5)
Handicap Section Two (8 to 14)
65 D. Spence (Fortrose and Rosemarkie)(14)
66 Brian Mellis (Rothes)(8), A. Cowie (Moray)(8)
67 B. Rennie ( Inverness )(10), M. Lyall (Torvean)(9)