CHINESE BOY (13) SET TO BEC0ME EUROPEAN TOUR'S YOUNGEST

FROM THE BBC SPORTS.COM WEBSITE

Guan Tian-lang will become the youngest player to compete on the European Tour when the 13-year-old tees off in the China Open on Thursday.

Guan, who will be 13 years and 173 days, will beat the record of compatriot Lo Shik-kai, who was 107 days older at the 2003 Hong Kong Open.
Guan booked his place in the 156-man field after finishing fourth in a mid-China qualifying event.
Also in the field are Scotland's Paul Lawrie and England's Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
"My goal now is to be the youngest player ever to make the cut in a European Tour event, and I think if I can shoot level par or better I'll have a good chance to do that," said Guan.
The youngest player to make a European Tour cut is Jason Hak, who played all 72 holes at the Hong Kong Open as a 14-year-old amateur in 2009.
Guan started playing golf at the age of four and has claimed numerous age group titles around the world.
He won the World Junior crown in San Diego last year by a 11 shots after a nine-under-par 63 on the opening day.
Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts won last year's tournament by four strokes, his first and only win on the European Tour.

DAVID LAW SCORES FIRST PRO WIN IN MOROCCO

"IT'S COME EARLIER THAN I EXPECTED, TO BE HONEST," SAYS ABERDEEN ROOKIE"

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com  Paul Lawrie protege David Law scored his first win as a professional in Morocco today. The 20-year-old Aberdonian, starting the last round of the EPD Tour's Dar Es Salam Open in joint sixth place, came surging through the field with a three-under-par 70 to win by one stroke with a three-under-par total of 216 for the 54-hole tournament. His earlier rounds, two par-matching 73s, have left him three shots behind the leader, American Timothy Neal, but he crashed out of the picture with a last-round 76 for 219. Over the testing Royal Dar Es Salam course, which has a par of 73, Law birdied the first, fourth, sixth, long eighth, long 10th, 13th and short 14th, offset by bogeys at the short third, seventh, 16th and 17th in halves of 34 (two under par) and 36 (one under). Over the three rounds he had 14 birdies and 11 bogeys. First prize was worth 5,000 Euros. Law, who was Scottish boys champion at Balgownie in 2009 and winner of the Scottish men's amateur championship at Royal Troon the same year, scored a second Scottish amateur championship victory at Western Gailes last summer before becoming the first amateur since Sandy Pirie in the 1970s to win the Northern Open at Meldrum House. A Walker Cup reserve last year, Law will have his 21st birthday next month. He said after his breakthrough win today: "I played really good golf from tee to green all week without much success on the greens over the first two rounds. But in the final round some putts did drop at last and I managed to see it out. "It feels great to have a win so soon after turning pro and, to be honest, it wasn't something I was really expecting. Hopefully, I can push forward from here and continue to play well." Runner-up was Marek Novy from the Czech Republic with rounds of 75, 71 and 71 for 217, a shot behind Law. He collected 3,000 Euros. Motherwell's Paul O'Hara earned 327 Euros for finishing joint 32nd on 227 with scores of 76, 74 and 77. Fellow Scots Philip McLean, Jordan Findlay and David James failed to beat the 36-hole cut. LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 219 (3x73) 216 David Law (Sco) 73 73 70 217 Marek Novy (Cze) 75 71 71 218 Christoph Pau (Aut) 73 75 70, Nuno Henriques (Por) 74 73 71, Jhared Anthony Hack (US) 73 72 73, Jurrian Van Der Vaart (Net) 71 74 73, Jann Schmid (Swi) 72 72 74 Selected scores 219 Timothy O'Neal (US) 76 67 76 227 Paul O'Hara (Sco) 76 74 77

LAUNCH OF ROYAL DORNOCH TWEED

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ROYAL DORNOCH GOLF CLUB

Dornoch, Sutherland: Royal Dornoch Golf Club, the renowned Championship course in the Scottish Highlands, is proud to introduce a bespoke new Royal Dornoch tweed fabric, designed and produced exclusively for the club by illustrious Scottish fabric brand, Hunter’s Tweed.
Being launched today at Royal Dornoch Golf Club, by Gavin Hasting, Former Scottish International Rugby Player and keen golfer, he was delighted to be involved in the launch of Royal Dornoch Tweed, a combining of two iconic Scottish companies.
Gavin commented "I felt very privileged to be asked to launch the Royal Dornoch Tweed. Royal Dornoch is one of my favourite courses and I always enjoy the opportunity to play the Championship Links. It will be great to be able to have a piece of Royal Dornoch wherever I play golf in the world."
Inspired by a traditional tweed design that dates back to the early 20th Century, the 700 gram fabric features a broad check in the club’s house colours of emerald green and golden yellow, with a touch of cerulean.
The tweed is available by the metre and also forms the basis for a new ready-to-wear selection of apparel and accessories for men and women.
Neil Hampton, Royal Dornoch Golf Club General Manager, comments on the club’s new venture: "The Hunters of Brora roots of Hunter’s Tweed can be traced back almost as far as our own distinguished history, and both names boast exceptional international reputations. There is a distinct synergy between these Highland brands and collaborating seemed like a perfectly natural move.
"The Royal Dornoch name is synonymous with exacting standards and warm hospitality, and our new tweed is a beautiful quality fabric that represents the proud, gracious heritage of our club. Our unique fabric will enable the club’s admirers to take a piece of Royal Dornoch and Scottish history with them wherever they go."
Royal Dornoch tweed is only available through the Pro Shop at Royal Dornoch Golf Club and its website royaldornochproshop.co.uk, which receives orders from all around the globe. The Pro Shop is set to stock a range of men’s and women’s golfing trousers, jackets, headwear, and club and putter covers in the new tweed, to name but a few items.Hunter’s Tweed Managing Director, Tamara Inness, says: "We are as delighted with the opportunity to be associated with such an eminent Scottish institution as with the design and finish of the Royal Dornoch tweed. It is a connection that can only serve to further strengthen each brand, both at home and abroad."

WATSON AND CLARK MADE GREAT START TO ORDER OF MERIT

NEWS RELEASE FROM RENFREWSHIRE GOLF UNION

By DON BREMNER

turnberry.db@gmail.com

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION ORDER OF MERIT

Renfrewshire Golf Union squad members Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) and Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) have made a great start in the race to top the SGU Order of Merit. 

The opening event was at Craigmillar Park and Craig, pictured left by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the former British amateur champion and Craigmillar Park Open winner in 1994, was in a strong position after opening rounds of 68 and 66. 

He slipped a bit with a third round 70 to be four shots behind but an outstanding final round of 64 was good enough for second place behind Graeme Robertson of Glenbervie.
Matthew Clark, pictured above right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, started well with an opening round of 65 but a second round 72 left him well down the field.  However, rounds of 67 and 66 on the final day were good enough to give him a fourth spot and valuable Order of Merit points.

A long way to go but an encouraging start for both.

PAUL LAWRIE FOUNDATION
SCOTTISH BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP

While there was disappointment with the early exit of the bulk of the Renfrewshire boys competing in this prestigious competition at Murcar Links, this was more than compensated by the performance of the boys who survived the early rounds – Fraser Lauder (Paisley), Colin Edgar (Cochrane Castle), Martin McCorkell (Gleddoch) and Paul Reilly (Lochwinnoch).

Fraser made it to round three but was beaten 4 and 3 by Lewis Bain from Turnhouse.  Colin disposed of his first three opponents convincingly – 5 and 4, 5 and 4 then a great 6 and 5 victory over Ross White from Muckhart.  However, in round four he bowed out when Andrew Burgess of Nairn, beaten on the seventeenth green. 

Martin also had a good tournament which included a great 5 and 3 victory over Gavin Petrie (Forfar) but was unlucky to draw the eventual semi finalist, Connar Cook, in the fourth round. 

The lone survivor into round five was 17-year-old Paul Reilly whose cheerful confidence had been enough to see off his previous four opponents very convincingly -  including a massive 6 and 5 win against the fancied Ben Craggs from Glenbervie. 

Reilly started well in his match against eventual finalist Ewan Scott and was two up after seven holes. He then started to find bunker after bunker and, by the 16th, the match was all square. 

A birdie from Ewan followed by a great par into the wind at the 17th was enough to end Paul’s run but it was an excellent performance and one which will give him great confidence for the future.

JAMES WHITE CANNOT AFFORD TO GO BACK TO TOUR SCHOOL

 JAMES WHITE .... "Cost me £3,500 last year and that was getting only as far as Stage 2." Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
One of Scotland's most successful amateurs, James White (Lundin), the 2006 Scottish boys' champion and winner of the SGU Order of Merit last year, says he cannot afford to enter the European Tour Qualifying School process for a second year.
"It cost me £3,500 last year and I only got as far as Stage 2 in Spain last year. Just think what it would have cost if I had reached the Final Stage, also in Spain," said White, who graduated from Stirling University just over a year ago.
"I'm virtually a full-time amateur. I have a little job to give me some kind of income, but I just don't have the money," said the 23-year-old White whose father Jim White was a Tartan Tour player.
"The entry fee alone for the Tour School last year was around £1,400. It could be more this year. I just cannot afford to dig that deep again."
In my opinion the entry fees charged by tours worldwide, from the European Tour to the US PGA Tour and all the others in between, is the biggest rip-off in golf.
Charging £1,400 just to enter the European Tour Q School process is more than double what it costs a player to enter the OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP!
Undoubtedly, the world's tours see Q School entry fees as a simple way of boosting their coffers to pay their admin staffs' salaries for the year.
But they are penalising young golfers just at the time when they don't have that kind of money to spare.
What's your view? You can E-mail it to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

SGU STOP ALLYN DICK FUNDING - "TOO OLD AT 33!"

            ALLYN DICK, in the prime of his golfing life. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Too old at 33, that's what Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe), one of Scotland's most successful amateur golfers over the past decade, has been told by the Scottish Golf Union as the reason for his financial support being axed for 2012.
The Lothians player, who has a handicap of +2, played for Scotland in the 2010 Home Internationals but was not selected last year.
That hurt Dick's pride and now comes a body blow of a material kind.
“I’ve lost my sportscotland funding, having been told I’m too old at 33,” revealed Dick.
In the weekend Craigmillark Open, the first of the SGU's 72-hole Order of Merit circuit, he shared the halfway lead at the head of a quality field of Scotland's best amateurs, before finishing a close third behind Glenbervie’s Graeme Robertson and Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire) with an 11-under-par 72-hole total.
“I’m not a full-time amateur. I have a child to think about now. I was told that someone, I won’t reveal who, wanted to work with younger players.”
Dick, the 2010 Lothians champion, received £1,500 from sportscotland last year to help with his tournament expenses.
As a result, he has not entered the Lytham Trophy, the first big international-class amateur tournament of the season, down in Lancashire next month.
“I received a condescending letter from [SGU performance manager] Steve Paulding saying that my performances last year hadn’t been up to scratch,” he added.
Dick, in fact, won an SGU Order of Merit event last year - the Newlands Trophy the second year in a row he had won at the Lanark Golf Club venue.
He also won the Scottish mid-amateur championship two years in a row, 2005-2006.

COMMENT E-MAIL FROM STAN DREWS

I think Allyn has made a big mistake going public on this issue
I understand he gets help from Kingsknowe with his expenses - he certainly used to
What about all the SGU and club vouchers these top players win in a season?
What do they do with them? Most of them get free or discounted gear from the likes of Taylormade and the other golf equipment companies too
I'm sure they have arrangements with their local pro or A N Other to cash them in !
Not to mention the money, Mr Dick has won in the East of Scotland Alliance this winter - must be at least £500
Not that long ago the top amateurs received very little and then it was mis directed - I know of a player whose father was a top city lawyer receiving more than a guy who was a self employed brickie !
Allyn, let your clubs do the talking and manage your vouchers better !
Stan Drews