OPTICAL EXPRESS PGA TOUR SET FOR ROUSING START TOMORROW

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE PGA IN SCOTLAND
One of the strongest fields to assemble for a domestic event for many years will be teeing up as the Scottish Professional golf season gets underway tomorrow (Wednesday), with the 54 hole Optical Express PGA Tour tournament at Ayrshire’s Dundonald Links.
With the exception of PGA Scottish Champion Alan Lockhart, who is due to get married next week, all of the leading Tartan Tour regulars will be present, together with an impressive list of Professionals who have joined the Optical Express Tour.
European Tour players Steven O’Hara and Craig Lee have entered, as have Chris Doak, Andrew McArthur, Jack Doherty, Eric Ramsay and Callum Macauley, who have a blank week on the Challenge Tour schedule. Andrew Oldcorn, whose European Seniors Tour season does not begin until next month, is also in the field.
Stephen Gray, the 2011 Scottish PGA Order of Merit winner heads the list of Tartan Tour regulars who will be competing, whilst players of the quality of Greig Hutcheon, David Patrick, Paul McKechnie, Scott Henderson and Gareth Wright will relish the opportunity to test themselves against those who ply their trade on the international circuit.
Other noteable names in the draw are Wallace Booth, returning after a long spell on the sidelines through injury, Kris Nicol and Ross Kellett, both of whom turned Professional over the winter, and former Challenge Tour player, Keir McNicoll, who has now joined the PGA training programme and is working at Gullane Golf Club.
As one of the aims of the Tour is to provide an opportunity for young Scots, who have yet to establish themselves on a European stage, to play in high quality Professional events without having to travel across Europe to do so, then the field for this first tournament shows every indication that this will be achieved.

Europeans Have Come A Long Way Since Seve's Masters Debut in 1981

By John Hopkins at the Global Golf Post

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | On a dark Sunday night in April 1981, I got my first glimpse of Augusta National from the back seat of a van transporting British golf writers from Augusta airport to the houses we had been billeted in by the tournament organisers. In those days, Hord Hardin was chairman of Augusta National and Seve Ballesteros, 23, was the defending champion as well as the youngest champion after his four-stroke victory the year before.
Dark and brooding, gifted and temperamental, Ballesteros seemed ill at ease that week, sensing plots against him were being hatched behind every pine tree. With rounds of 78 and 76 he comfortably missed the cut. He won $1,500 and appeared happy to be out of the place.
Your correspondent, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. He had his hair cut in the barber shop near where the pro shop is now, was driving a car while staying in a house provided by the club and eating breakfast and sometimes dinner cooked for him. He would file his story to London by dictating it in the middle of the night over a crackly phone line from Augusta via an operator in Savannah to his office in London.
The story had been written in the then press room, the Quonset hut where journalists were penned, to the right of the first fairway. We sat in rows with a television set perched precariously on a shelf above our heads pecking away at our portable typewriters or the sturdy Royals, Remingtons or Underwoods that Augusta National supplied if we hadn't brought our own.
"Be an ignominious death to be killed by a falling television at Augusta National," one colleague remarked.
"Make a good story, though," another replied.
In 1981, there were eight times as many British journalists as the two competitors from the European Tour - Ballesteros, the defending champion, and Sandy Lyle, who had qualified by winning the Order of Merit the previous year. For European players, those were the only two ways into The Masters then.

Europe was the forgotten continent. It was much the same at the other major championships in the U.S. There seemed to be a bias against players from Europe. Actually, there seemed to be a bias against the European Tour officials. Ken Schofield and George O'Grady, the executive director and assistant executive director of the Tour, did not get accreditation at Augusta until 1986."In 1982 Sam (Torrance) couldn't finish well in a late-season tournament and it cost him second in the Order of Merit and that meant he was denied a place at Augusta," Schofield said. "At the next year's Association of Golf Writers' dinner, I was sitting next to Hord Hardin and relayed this. All he said was: 'We never put much credit on runners-up.'

Hord even told Renton (Laidlaw): 'Renton, what you've got to remember is we're a tournament in America first and foremost for Americans.'"
Soon though, Europeans started winning regularly - Ballesteros for a second time in 1983 and Bernhard Langer for a first two years later. As every winner had automatic entry thereafter, his victory meant an extra player in the field.
"Seve was a real inspiration to us all," three-times Masters victor Nick Faldo told Global Golf Post's John Steinbreder last week. "And his victories at Augusta, on a place not deemed a European-style golf course and with much better conditioning and much faster greens than we were used to at the time on the Euro Tour, sent a message that we could do well in the States and at Augusta."
The two words "do well" are typical British understatement. Europeans dominated at Augusta, winning seven of the 11 that followed Ballesteros' second in 1983 and suddenly the doors, against which Schofield and O'Grady had railed for so many years, started opening.
"I remember talking to Hord Hardin in 1986 and he asked me, 'Are you the young man who has come across here to tell me how we must take more European players into the Masters?' " O'Grady said. "My answer was not at all. We have come to look and observe and tell you if I thought our players could be competitive."To be fair, the credit for breaking into the U.S. falls to (Schofield) without a shadow of doubt," O'Grady continued. "He fought tooth and nail and if you know Schofield you know what that means. Let's face it, Augusta is the ultimate meeting ground for anyone in golf. You can't not be here."
Last week, 38 players from the European Tour competed at Augusta, 19 times as many as in 1981. Schofield, now consulting for The Golf Channel, and O'Grady, now chief executive of the European Tour, were deservedly proud. And, for that matter, so was your correspondent. He was attending his 31st Masters, which meant he had spent 31 weeks in this glorious part of Georgia and he looked forward to spending many more.

 This article was taken from the Global Golf Post. For more like it please click here. The Global Golf Post is a free weekly golf publication delivered every Monday to your computer screen 50 weeks of the year.

MELDRUM HOUSE COURSE FIRST TEE REDESIGNED

NEWS RELEASE

The record-breaking March temperatures have helped Scotland ’s best country house hotel start the season on a high. The unseasonably mild conditions have enabled greenkeeping staff at Meldrum House Country Hotel, Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire to complete a series of major on-course improvements that will ensure some of the best playing conditions at the Northern Open host venue.

The most apparent change is the completely redesigned first tee which required the removal of 600 tonnes of topsoil and large granite stones weighing up to three tonnes to be positioned to create a new landscaped area. More subtle but of equal importance was the three miles of drainage introduced to nine fairways as part of a £60,000 investment.

Crucially, the warm winter has permitted the extensive work to be carried out alongside other smaller projects such as the reshaping of the run-off gulley to the left of the sixth green.
“The weather has been exceptional. We’ve done three winters’ work in one,” noted Kenneth Harper, golf course and estate grounds manager at the four-star resort.
“This winter has certainly made up for the work we missed over the last two years because of snow cover. So far, the daytime temperatures have been amazing, meaning that we are about a month ahead of where we would be normally. It has been a fairly major operation that has kept everyone busy over the winter.”

Ironically, the weather has been so good that Meldrum’s greenkeeping team has had to water newly laid turf to keep it alive while it beds down. The pay-off, Harper explained, will come when the rains do come. “The idea behind the work is to ensure the course is able to deal with excessive rainfall,” he explained.
“The last two summers have been very poor, and although we have generally managed to stay open, we would like to handle the rain better. If we do get rain, we should be able to guarantee that we will stay open no matter how wet it gets.”

Meldrum House Country Hotel, which was named Scotland ’s best country house hotel by leading tourism trade body Golf Tourism Scotland and collected a clutch of plaques at the 2011 Scottish Hotel Awards, will host The Northern Open for the third year running in August.
“It has been a cracking year for Meldrum which has been built on the hard work of all the staff at the resort,” noted Andy Burgess, head of operations and development.
“As ever, we continue to improve what we do and the work taking shape on the course is very much part of that. I am sure this season will see some of the best playing conditions ever at Meldrum, which is fantastic.”

 

SECOND-DAY SHOCK DEFEAT FOR GREIG MARCHBANK AT MURCAR

TUESDAY'S SCOREBOARD AT A WET MURCAR LINKS
FIRST ROUND (continued)
Weather: Raining. Temperature: 6 to 7 degrees in morning. Rising to 9 degrees at lunchtime but dropping again mid to later afternoon to 7 degrees

Zack Bedford (St Andrews New) bt Neil McArthur (Bishopbriggs) at 19th.
Cameron Black (Cardross) bt Blair Stephen (Pitlochry) 8 and 6.

Craig Anderson (Sandyhills) bt Fraser Kane (Kirkhill) 1 hole.
Ross Proctor (Forres) bt Alistair Scott (Lanark) 1 hole.
Robert Hughan (Newton Stewart) bt Alistair McLean (Glencruitten) 1 hole.
Callum Cochrane (Marriott Dalmahoy) bt George Duncan (Windyhill) 2 and 1.
David McCreadie (Newton Stewart) bt Ryan McKinnon (Inchmarlo) 2 and 1.
Jamie Pryde (Deeside) bt Murray Pollock (Swanston New) 4 and 3.
Andrew Kenyon (Inverness) bt Robbie McCabe (Cawder) 2 holes.
Paul Reilly (Lochwinnoch) bt Jake Hogg (The Duke's) 4 and 3.

Ross Millar (Whitekirk) bt Ewan Farquharson (Auchterarder) 4 and 2.
Adam Fisher (Inchmarlo) bt Stuart Irving (Falkirk) 1 hole.
Christopher Kelso (Bellshill) bt Joshua Hogg (The Duke's) 4 and 2.
Greg Morrison (Northern) bt Chris Ness (Muckhart) 3 and 2.
Ben Craggs (Glenbrvie) bt Daniel Sim (Royal Abedeen) 4 and 3.
Jay Hainie (Bothwell Cstle) bt Rory Brunton (Portpatrick) 2 and 1.
Blair Gavin (Kilmarnock Barassie) bt Cameron Farrell (Cardross) 1 hole.
Cameron Buist (Dunblane New) bt Scott Grant (Downfield) 4 and 3.

Christopher MacLean (Clydebank and Dist) bt Andrew Davidson (Charleton) 5 and 3.
Michael Boddie (Dunbar) bt Cameron Bennie (Balmore) 2 and 1.
Fergus Sandison (Blairgowrie) bt Lewis Gordon (Portlethen) 7 and 6.
Ewan Scott (St Andrews) bt Cameron Kerr (Elgin) 7 and 6.
Ross Brydon (Bruntsfield Links) bt Robert Watson (Muckhart) 2 and 1.
Andrew Loch Pumpherston) bt Angus Carrick (Douglas Park).
Innes Ferguson (Drumpellier) bt James Sutherland (Hilton Park) 5 and 3.
Aaron McManus bt Michael Lawrie (Deeside) 4 and 2.

Blair Dalgleish (Ralson) bt Calum Hill (Tantallon) 4 and 3.
Alan Waugh (Cowglen) bt James Anderson (Murcar Links) 1 hole.
Sean Dunstaff (Glencruitten) bt Jordan West (Uphall) 3 and 2.
James Caldwell (Portpatrick) bt Cameron Andrew (Kirkhill) 3 and 2.
Lewis Mutch (Duffr House Royal) bt Cameron Smith (Dunfermline) 4 and 2.
George Burns (Williamwood) bt Iain Stewart (Brora) 4 and 3.
Scott Simpson (Murrayfield) bt Ross Dallas (Kirriemuir) 3 and 2.
Lewys Andersn (Deeside) bt Rory Asher (Nairn) 3 and 1.

Fraser Johnston (Longniddry) bt Grant Joss (Royal Aberdeen) 4 and 3.
Kerr Baptie (Duff House Royal) bt Stuart Cameron (Renfrew) 4 and 2.
Grant Paul (Lanark) bt Craig Black (Inverness) 1 hole.
Gordon Cowen (West Lothian) bt Blair Carnegie (Dunblane New) at 19th.
Lewis Bain (Musselburgh) bt Calum Morrison (Inverurie) 3 and 2.
Connor Bennewith (Newton Stewart) bt Callum McGuigan (Comrie) 4 and 2.
Robert Johnson (Helensburgh) bt Aiden Hussenne (Haggs Castle) 4 and 2.
Murray Paterson (Bruntsfield Links) bt Ewan Haddow (Balmore) 3 and 2.

Jack Moir (Cruden Bay) bt Kieran Mackay (Inverness) 1 hole.
Martin McKenna (Cathcart Caslte) bt Blair Murphy (Lanark) 3 and 1.
Paul Delaney (Balmore) bt Cameron Campbell (St Andrews) 1 hole.
Fraser Christie (Craigmillar Park) bt Bryan Lister (Balbirnie Park) 6 and 4.
Stuart Blair (Royal Musselburgh) bt Christopher Murray (West Kilbride) 3 and 1.
Cameron Kirkwood (Bearsden) bt Jackson Bell (Swanston New) 8 and 7.
Jordan Shaw (Kingussie) bt Robbie Gauld (Cruden Bay) 6 and 5.

Jordan Bryce (Strathaven) bt Owen Brady (Baberton) 1 hole.
Anthony Blaney (Liberton) bt Ben Murray (Portlethen) 6 and 4
Jamie Whittet (Muir of Ord) bt Aidan Fortune (Kelso) 1 hole.
Fraser Lauder (Paisley) bt Bradley Kelly (Bearsden) 3 and 2.
Lewis Bain (Turnhouse) bt Robbie Kemsley (Balmore) at 20th.
Greg Telfer (Prestwick St Cuthberts) bt Ian Hill (Muckhart) 2 and 1.

SECOND ROUND

Stewart Russell (Kilmarnock Barassie) bt Peter Sangster (Thurso) at 19th.
Jack Thomas (Irvine Bogside3) bt Kevin Prentice (Lanark) 7 and 6.
Gavin Roger (Clober) bt Greg Marchbank (Dumfries and Co) 3 and 2.
Craig Howie (Peebles) bt Scott Finlay (Liberton) 3 and 1.
Dominic Dougan (Colville Park) bt Declan Addison (Peterhead) 1 hole.
Greg Cathie (Irvine Bogside) bt Calum Aitken (Kilmacolm) 2 and 1.
Bob MacIntyre (Glencruitten) bt Robbie Whelan (East Kilbride) 6 and 5.

Connor Syme (Dumfries and Co) bt Alasdair McDougall (Elderslie) at 19th.
Colin Edgar (Cochrane Castle) bt Lewis Reid (Douglastown) 5 and 4.
Ross White (Muckhart) bt Daniel Wilson (Turriff) 4 and 3.
Andrew Burgess (Nairn) bt Scott Jeen (Milngavie) 4 and 3.
Scott Whannel (Newton Stewart) bt Calum Harrison (Carluke) at 19th.
Jake Scott (Buckpool) bt Robert Reynolds (Cyprus) 2 holes.
Craig Boyd (Lundin) bt Liam Allan (Banchory) 1 hole.
Craig Oram (Nairn Dunbar) bt Ryan O'Connor (Uphall) 1 hole.

Ben Kinsley (St Andrews) bt Benjamin Henderson (Deeside) 3 and 2.
Jamie Savage (Cawder) bt Andrew Thomson (Mouse Valley) 2 holes.
Daniel Flannery (Peebles) bt Thomas Simmonds (Gullane) 5 and 4.
Andrew Carrell (Royal Aberdeen) bt James Walkinshaw (Wishaw) 3 and 1.
James Steven (Bothwell Castle) bt Alexander Henderson (Royal Ashdown Forest) 1 hole.

     

  TOP SEED TOPPLED .. Greig Marchank in action at Murcar Links.

          Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE

By ED HODGE, Press Officer

Greig Marchbank, the 2011 SGU Boys’ Order of Merit winner and a quarter-finalist in last year's championship for the Under-18s, was the biggest name to exit the event on the second day at Murcar Links.

The big-hitting player from Dumfries and County, the top seed in the Paul Lawrie Foundation Scottish boys championship, suffered a 3 and 2 loss at the hands of Gavin Roger (Clober).

Marchbank, 17, complained of nursing a rib injury after his opening win over Jack McKenna yesterday, but did not use that as an excuse after he struggled to find his best form in the second-round defeat.

Roger, the reigning West of Scotland boys' champion after his victory over Jamie Savage last year, raced into a three-hole lead after Marchbank three-putted the opening three greens and Roger never looked back.

The 18-year-old, playing off a two handicap and a student at Elmwood College, said: “I was hitting it well coming into this week and know on my day I can beat anyone.

“Reaching the fourth round is the furthest I’ve gone in the past, so this was a good win in helping me to try and beat that.”

While Marchbank headed home early, his SGU National Boys Squad team-mate Anthony Blaney comfortably booked his place in the second round.

The Liberton ace, 18, was in devastating form, to take care of Ben Murray (Portlethen). Blaney was three holes ahead at the turn and five under par for his round after he wrapped up a 6 and win at the 14th.

Anthony said: “I was joint-winner of the Scottish Hydro Junior Tour Event 1 recently at Gullane so that got my confidence up. I knew my game was in good shape.

“This is my last chance in the Boys. I’ve reached the fifth round in the last two years.”

Elsewhere in the first round, Cameron Kirkwood from Bearsden racked up the biggest win of the week so far after he triumphed 8 and 7 against Jackson Bell (Swanston New).

Perhaps the most remarkable story of the day, though, came from Paul Delaney of Balmore.

After Inverness player Cameron Franssen was forced to withdraw with a neck injury this morning, Delaney – the next reserve – was called at his Glasgow home at 7.50am and asked to come north for a 12.37pm first-round tee-time against Cameron Campbell (St Andrews).

The fact Paul’s Dad, also named Paul, is a taxi driver certainly helped as the pair jumped into his cab to make the 150-mile journey and arrive at Murcar Links at noon.

Young Paul had never played the Links before but, armed with a stroke-saver, he stormed to a five-hole lead through the front nine.

Campbell rallied in some style to bring the contest back level by the 17th, before Delaney claimed the last hole with a fighting par to progress and cap a whirlwind day.

“It’s the first time I’ve played in the Scottish boys championship and I really didn’t think I would get in,” the 15-year-old said. “When the phone went this morning I was delighted.”

As darkness fell, another Scotland boys squad player, Jamie Savage (Cawder), snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by rallying from four down after 10 holes to beat Andrew Thomson (Mouse Valley) by two holes and reach round three

COLIN FARQUHARSON'S NORTHWATCH

Keep an eye on Nairn's Andrew Burgess and Jake Scott from Buckpool. They both chalked up second-round wins late in the day to reach the last 64.

Burgess has grown up playing golf on a great links course which will stage the Curtis Cup match from June 8-10 so Murcar Links does not cause him any problems. Andrew still has to play the last three holes ... he won by 7 and 5 on Monday and by 4 and 3 over Scott Jeen (Milngavie) today.

Jake Scott is the local (golfing) hero up Buckie way. The big question was: Could the Buckpool GC junior member carry his Moray Firth skills down to Aberdeenshire with him for this, the biggest test of his golfing career.

The answer has to be a definite "Yes!" Young Jake Scott sailed over his first Monday hurdle by 5 and 3 but he had dig a bit deeper to clear the next one. (Great) Scott won through on the 18th green, beating the young man from Cyprus, Robert Reynolds, son of a Civil Servant based on the Mediterranean island, by two holes.

Burgess and Scott are in the same segment of the top half of the draw so will come up against each other if they keep on winning.

The North-east's main hope is shaping to be Andrew Carrell, who plays his golf at Royal Aberdeen, which is on the same stretch of links as Murcar. Carrell, a 5 and 3 winner in Round 1, progressed to the third round with a 3 and 1 win over James Walkinshaw (Wishaw).

Michael Lawrie (Deeside), 13-year-old son of Paul, joined his older brother Craig on the sidelines with a 4 and 2 defeat by Aaron McManus (Tantallon).

As so often happens, Liberton's Scott Finlay, who played more like a scratch man than a four-handicapper in delivering a 5 and 4 KO to Craig Lawrie on Monday, came down to earth with a bump in the second round. Finlay lost by 3 and 1 to Craig Howie (Peebles).