GRAEME STORM LEADS KLM OPEN WITH A 63

NEWS RELEASE BY EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONs
Graeme Storm reflected on his struggles in 2012 after surging to the top of the leaderboard on day one of the KLM Open, as Martin Kaymer made a timely return to form.
A faultless 63 enabled the Englishman to reach seven under at Hilversumsche GC, putting him two clear of Kaymer, who showed plenty of positive signs ahead of The Ryder Cup, Fabrizio Zanotti and Raphaël Jacquelin.
Kaymer’s European team-mate Peter Hanson was one of six players tied for fifth on four under, while Nicolas Colsaerts - one of José María Olazábal’s Captain’s picks - birdied the last to go round in 70.
But leading the way is Storm, who currently lies 114th in The Race to Dubai and faces a battle to retain his European Tour card.
In addition to struggling for form he has been forced to cope with tragedy away from the course, with his grandfather passing away prior to June's BMW International Open.
"I've had a tough run and it's all been a bit of a struggle. I've just not been enjoying it," Storm explained.
"I lost my grandfather on the Wednesday morning of Germany and since then I have really struggled. I kind of kept it to myself what happened but it hit me really hard.
"You can get punished round here but I played the best I have probably played all year. I'm just happy to get a round like that under my belt after recent months."
Focussing on the details of his opening round, Storm added: “I made the birdies when I gave myself the chances and got up and down when I missed the greens.
“The golf course here is fantastic - the best I have ever seen it - so you have to hit it straight and that is what I did.
“There is still a lot of play for this season. Keeping my card is the goal. At the start of the season it was getting into the top 60 on The Race to Dubai but I'm a long way from that so my goal now is to keep my card.”
Kaymer and Jacquelin each benefited from eagles at the par five 12^th en route to rounds of 65, although the former - champion here in 2010 - insists there is still hard work ahead as he seeks to recapture his best form.
“Two years ago when I won here was very nice but that was a period of time I could have played golf with my eyes closed,” the German explained.
“Now is a different time when I need to work and it takes a lot of energy and a lot of concentration. I really need to focus on the things on the range. Two years ago it was more automatic.”
Zanotti, who tied for second when Kaymer triumphed at this venue, managed to avoid any dropped shots today, while Simon Dyson - three times a winner of this event and the defending champion - began the week with a 70 that featured an eagle on 18.

 

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MARK LUTTON IS NEW LANARKSHIRE MATCH-PLAY CHAMPION

Mark Lutton of Bellshill became Lanarkshire men's match-play champion for 2012 at Colville Park tonight when he beat Dominic Dougan of Colville Park by 4 and 3 in the final.

Mark played solid golf all the way round and was approximately two under par for the round.

Dominic is also a member at Bellshill and in a bizarre set of circumstances he is the current junior club champion and Mark is the current men's club champion so a win-win situation for Bellshill Golf Club.

  Willie Sharpe

CRESPI LEADS RUSSIAN CHALLENGE CUP WITH A 66

Marco Crespi stormed to the top of the leaderboard after the opening round of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup thanks to a superb six under par 66 which left him a shot clear of two fellow winners on the Challenge Tour this year, compatriot Alessandro Tadini and Norway’s Espen Kofstad.

Playing alongside Kofstad and the Challenge Tour Rankings leader Gary Lockerbie, the Italian had two incredible purple patches to thank for his leading score on the tough Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, just outside Moscow.

The first came on the front nine, where he birdied four out of five holes before he repeated that extraordinary feat on the final stretch.

His opening birdie came at the par three third hole before reaching the turn in three under par courtesy of three more birdies in the next four holes, with a bogey sandwiched in between at the par four fifth.

The 2012 Telenet Trophy champion dropped a shot at the 12^th hole but embarked on an incredible run by carding three consecutive birdies from the 14^th.

The Milan native finished it off in style with another birdie at the 18^th and he was delighted with his round, of which playing partner Kofstad said; “he made the course look silly easy”.

“I just played really good from tee to green,” said the 33 year old, whose win in Belgium in May was the first of his Challenge Tour career. “I gave myself plenty of chances for birdies and although this course is long and I'm not a long hitter, I still reached plenty of greens, waited for my chances and my putting was perfect.

“I will still try and improve my game for the next three rounds, why not go for 59! My game has not been too different since Belgium. It all just depends on my putting. If my putting is good my scores go low.”

Crespi currently sits at 22^nd place in the Rankings and is well aware that he needs some big finishes to guarantee a card for The European Tour next year, but he is confident he can produce the goods in an important two weeks on the schedule – with the lucrative Kazakhstan Open to follow next week.

“Like everybody else here, of course I know I need to perform in these two weeks,” he said. “I relaxed last week at home and I’ll try to bring my best game for these tournaments. My final round at the Rolex Trophy was seven under par so I am confident.”

Kofstad, meanwhile, showed true mettle after the disappointment of dropping out of the Rolex Trophy, as he carded a five under par round of 67 to finish the opening day in tied second place.

The Oslo man was forced to withdraw midway through one of the year’s biggest tournaments two weeks ago after suffering a recurrence of a back injury and admitted it was hugely disappointing.

But with a bogey-free round on the stunning Jack Nicklaus-designed parkland, the 25 year old bounced back in impressive fashion and is feeling confident of challenging for the title this week.

“I just played off Marco’s birdie stretches there and it’s easy when you play with a guy who makes everything look easy,” said Kofstad. “He made the course look silly easy today and when one guy does it you feel like you can do it.”

He was joined on five under par later in the day by Tadini, winner of the ECCO Tour Championship hosted by Thomas Björn & Mercedes-Benz just three weeks ago, as the Italian matched the feat of his Norwegian counter-part by avoiding a single bogey all day.

Morten Orum Madsen of Denmark, Sweden’s Magnus A Carlsson, Mark Tullo of Chile, Scotsman Scott Henry and Agustin Domingo of Spain were all a shot further back on four under par.

Former World Number One tennis player and home favourite Yavgeny Kafelnikov endured a difficult day as he signed for a seven over par round of 79.

Scores:

 

66 M Crespi  (Ita) ,

67 A Tadini (Ita) , E Kofstad (Nor) ,

68 M Carlsson  (Swe) , M Madsen  (Den) , M Tullo (Chi) , S Henry  (Sco) , A Domingo (Esp) ,

69 A Kaleka  (Fra) , E Pepperell (Eng) , J Hansen  (Den) , J Van Der Vaart (Ned) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , F Praegant (Aut) , M Delpodio  (Ita) , P Uihlein  (USA) ,

70 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , M Korhonen (Fin) , N Meitinger  (Ger) , H Bacher (Aut) , B Parker  (Eng) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , R Russell (Sco) , M Ford (Eng) , C Lloyd (Eng) , G Lockerbie  (Eng) ,

71 L Jensen (Den) , C Ford (Eng) , A Högberg (Swe) , M Kieffer (Ger) , P Archer (Eng) , L Goddard  (Eng) , G Houston (Wal) , C Russo (Fra) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , P Oriol (Esp) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) , D Vancsik (Arg) ,

72 N Bertasio (Ita) , S Wakefield (Eng) , C Suneson (Esp) , S Buhl (Ger) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , J Huldahl (Den) , J Walters (RSA) , A Levy (Fra) , C Paisley  (Eng) ,

73 R Steiner (Aut) , B Chapellan (Fra) , A Hartø  (Den) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , D Brooks (Eng) , S Benson (Eng) , M Glauert (Ger) , J Mommo  (Fin) , I Elvira  (Esp) , C Macaulay  (Sco) , A Hansen  (Den) , W Besseling  (Ned) , B Hafthorsson (Isl) , J Grillon  (Fra) , M Prihoda (Cze) , J Abbott (Eng) ,

74 C Monasterio (Arg) , A Kanuas (Ltu) , M Haastrup  (Den) , A Gee  (Eng) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) ,

75 M Cryer (Eng) , M Novy  (Cze) , A Forsyth (Sco) , S Heisele (Ger) , L Claverie (Esp) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , L Saltman (Sco) , J Heath  (Eng) , C Doak (Sco) , P Dwyer (Eng) , A Perrino  (Ita) , F Keenan  (Eng) , K Eriksson (Swe) , G Stal  (Fra) , R Kakko  (Fin) , F De Vries  (Ned) ,

76 V Riu  (Fra) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , J Maurer  (Aut) , M Southgate  (Eng) , S Garcia (Esp) ,

77 S Pinckney (USA) , P Relecom  (Bel) , R Echenique (Arg) , J Doherty  (Sco) ,

78 C Hanson (Eng) , L Canter (Eng) , R Schneider (Fra) , A Knappe (Ger) , M Haines  (Eng) , J Lima  (Por) , J Parry (Eng) , A Ahokas (Fin) ,

79 D Gaunt (Aus) , T Ferreira  (RSA) , Y Kafelnikov (Rus) ,

80 S Piaget  (Mon) , C Brazillier  (Fra) ,

81 M Marsh (Eng) , R De Heer (am) (Fra) ,

82 P Holland (Eng) , I Burlakov (am) (Rus) ,

83 A Pavlov (Rus) ,

84 M Nichols (Eng) ,

97 A Lazarev (Rus) ,

** D Küpper (Ger) ,

 

ENDS

 

WRIGHT AND HUTTON SHARE DOWNFIELD HONOURS

Glenmuir PGA champion Gareth Wright (West Linton) and home course professonal Kenny Hutton shared the honours in today's RRS Discovery pro-am at Downfield Golf Club. Both men shot three-under-par 70s over the parkland course in Dundee to earn £825 apiece. David Patrick (Elie Sports Centre) finished a shot behind in third place on 71 to earn £550. RRS DISCOVERY PRO-AM Downfield GC, Dundee LEADING PRO SCORES Par 73 70 Gareth Wright (West Linton), Kenny Hutton (Downfield) (£825 each). 71 David Patrick (Elie SC) (£550). 72 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs), Andrew Crerar (Panmure) (£371 each). 73 Greg McBain (Gamola Golf), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Mark Kerr (unatt) £222 each. 74 Chris Kelly (Cawder), Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) £146 each) 75 Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) (£123 each). 76 Paul Wardell (Whitekirk) (£110) 77 Russell Smith (Close House) (£100) 78 Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) (£92) 79 James McKinnon (Irvine) (£82) 81 Derek Watters (Gourock) (£71) 84 Christopher Currie (Caldwell) , Andrew Jowett (Gleneagles) (£59 each)

JAMES BYRNE MISSES SELANGOR CUT

James Byrne's Northern Open triumph did not change his luck on the Asian Tour. The Banchory player missed the cut in the Selangor Masters by NINE shots with rounds of 75 and 78 for nine-over-par 153 - nine shots more than the limit qualifying mark. The lead is shared on nine-under-par 135.

GLENMUIR EXTEND SPONSORSHIP OF PGA PRO CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PGA
Leading golf apparel brand Glenmuir has extended its support of the PGA Professional Championship until 2014.

The two-year agreement for the flagship PGA tournament takes the Lanarkshire-based company’s sponsorship to 22 years.

In addition Glenmuir will also supply clothing for the 2013 Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team to face America at De Vere Slaley Hall next September.

The announcement follows the successful conclusion of the 2012 championship which attracted almost 700 entries and was won by West Linton’s Gareth Wright.

Prize money for the event including eight regional qualifiers will total £90,000 including £10,000 to the overall winner.

The leading two finishers also qualify for the end of season PGA Play-Offs while the championship determines six of the GB&I PGA Cup team.

PGA chief executive Sandy Jones welcomed the announcement, commenting: “The PGA Professional Championship is one of the highlights of our national schedule and its continued success is in no small part to the on-going support we have enjoyed from Glenmuir going back to 1993.

“Having just celebrated 20 years, we are delighted that Colin (Mee) and his team have agreed to sponsor the championship for another two years and also support the GB&I PGA Cup team with clothing for 2013.

“Glenmuir remain a great supporter of both The PGA and our members and we look forward to continued shared success.”

Colin Mee, managing director of Glenmuir, added: “Glenmuir is delighted to continue its long-standing sponsorship of the PGA Professional Championship until 2014, making it an unbroken 22 years of support.

“The tournament is regarded as 'the one to win' for hundreds of PGA members, who entered regional qualifiers in this year's Glenmuir PGA Professional Championship with 160 making it through to the four-day final over the Nicklaus Course at De Vere Carden Park.

“Glenmuir will continue to sponsor the championships for another two years as part of one of the longest-running sponsorships in professional sport - and will supply clothing to the PGA Cup Team to take on the USA at Slaley Hall next year.

"Supporting both the PGA Professional Championship and the PGA Cup is a wonderful way for the company to give something back to its hundreds of PGA professional customers and demonstrates the excellent relationship we have with the PGA and we look forward to its continuation.”

RECORD ADVANCE BOOKINGS FOR OLD COURSE, ST ANDREWS

  NEWS RELEASE FROM ST ANDREWS LINKS TRUST

The desire of visiting golfers to play the famous Old Course at St Andrews Links shows no sign of abating as applications for the 2013 season flooded in yesterday (Wed).

 

More than 1900 applications were received by St Andrews Links Trust, which manages the seven Links Trust courses at the Home of Golf, after the process opened at 10am yesterday morning – an increase on the previous record of 1800 applications set for 2012.

 

The Old Course is renowned around the world as the place where golf was first played and has hosted 28 Open Championships, more than any other venue, with the likes of Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros and Tiger Woods in its gallery of champions.

 

The Old Course along with The Castle, New and Jubilee courses has been ranked in the prestigious Golf Digest Top 100 Courses.  Each year, tens of thousands of golfers travel from around the world to play the famous St Andrews Links courses and experience its rich heritage and quality.

 

Golfers are invited to apply online directly to the Trust for Old Course tee times each September for the following year.  Although demand exceeds the number of times available, there is a ballot or lottery system in operation, which is drawn 48 hours ahead of play, and tee times can also be booked on the other Links courses.

 

Euan Loudon, Chief Executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “We are encouraged to receive such a high number of tee time applications.  Normally in the second year after the Open Championship we would expect to see applications flatten off but this year has seen record numbers apply.  These are still challenging times in terms of the economy so it is important for Scottish golf tourism that we continue to see high numbers of visiting golfers choosing to come to play here and elsewhere in Scotland. 

 

We hope those who come here enjoy an outstanding experience playing the Old and the other Links courses.  St Andrews Links offers a truly unique experience whether you have come to play, learn, shop or relax.”  

 

The tee time applications will be processed in the coming weeks and golfers will be notified directly if their applications have been successful.

EUROPRO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOBURN NOVEMBER 13-15

The 2012 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Championships will be staged at the prestigious Woburn Golf Club in Buckinghamshire.

 

The biggest and final event of the Tour season will be held between Tuesday, November 13 and Thursday, November 15.

 

Woburn is one of Europe’s finest inland golf clubs which has hosted in excess of 50 Professional Tournaments.  The most recent being the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters, won this year by Des Smyth.

 

Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Karrie Webb and Ian Woosnam are among the big names to have won events at Woburn and Ian Poulter is the Club’s Touring Professional.

 

The top 60 golfers on the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour Order of Merit after next week’s final event at Hunley Hall are invited to Tour Championships, where a total prize fund of £60,000 will be on offer.

 

Providing the biggest payout of the season, the Tour Championships will be decisive in completing this season’s Order of Merit and all is to play for with the final top five being rewarded with a category on next summer’s Challenge Tour.

 

After 13 regular-season events there is yet to be a repeat winner on the Tour, making this season one of the closest ever.

 

Danny Nickless, Operations Director of the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour said: “There is no doubt that Woburn is among the top five inland golf courses in the UK.

 

“There have been many illustrious winners at Woburn and we are excited to be able to take this year’s Tour Championship to the venue for what is sure to be an unforgettable week of golf to conclude our closest and most exciting season to date.

 

“Woburn has three superb championship courses and that is why they have staged so many big events in the past.”

 

Woburn Golf Club General Manager, Jason O’Malley said: “Woburn has staged many high-profile and outstanding events in its history and we have seen many golfing greats win tournaments here.

 

“We are delighted to support grassroots golf and many former PGA EuroPro Tour players have gone on to play in European Tour events at Woburn. We look forward to welcoming this year’s top 60 Tour golfers to the course for the Tour Championships.”

 

ENDS

NE ALLIANCE HANDICAP PRIZEWINNERS AT AUCHMILL

North East Golfing Alliance

5 September 2012 at Auchmill

Result (Nett Scores):

CountBack

Class1 Winner

1      David Nelson  77-07-70      Aboyne

 2     John Nicolson 76 - 04 = 72  Auchmill

3     Martin May 77 - 05 = 72  Crudenbay

4     Harry Roulston 79 - 07 = 72 Stonehaven

5     Peter Cheyne 82 - 09 = 73   Northern

Class2

1      Graham Allan 85 - 13 = 72   Newmachar

2       Ben Lumsden 87 - 14 = 73 Northern

3       Michael Rendall 88 - 15 = 73 Stonehaven

4       Norman Stewart 88 - 13 = 75 Northern

5       Neish Chisholm 87 - 12 = 75  Kemnay

Number of Cards Processed = 76

Competition Scratch Score (CSS):

Men: CSS = 70 [Par = 70, SSS = 70].

Countback calculations:

RUSSELL HOPING TO IMPRESS IN RUSSIA CHALLENGE CUP

Raymond Russell will be hoping to make a big impression in the M2M Russian Challenge Cup at Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club this week, having opted not to play at next week’s lucrative Challenge Tour ‘Major’ in Kazakhstan.

The 40 year old currently sits in 11^th place on the Challenge Tour Rankings and is on course to earn a European Tour card for next season.

However, there is often a significant shuffle in the Rankings in the wake of the Kazakhstan Open in Almaty, which holds the biggest prize fund of a regular Challenge Tour event all season at €400,000, so a high finish in the €200,000 tournament in Russia this week would certainly go some way in easing any concerns over slipping out of the all-important top 20.

Russell, who recently became the father to a baby boy, has shown some form in recent weeks with a tied 18^th place result at the Rolex Trophy his second top 20 finish since winning the Challenge Provincia di Varese in July.

The Edinburgh-born man is joined in the field by several other Scotsmen including Alastair Forsyth, Callum Macaulay and Chris Doak, who sits in 32^nd place in the Rankings and will be hoping for positive results in the next two weeks to cement his place in the season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final in October.

With less than €2,000 separating England’s Gary Lockerbie and Sweden’s Magnus Carlsson at the top of the Rankings and, perhaps more importantly, just €235 between Dutchman Wil Besseling in 20th place and Germany’s Max Kieffer in 21st, the third edition of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup – as well as the money-spinning Kazakhstan Open which follows it – can often make or break a player’s season.

Other notable names in the field include former World Amateur Number One Peter Uihlein of America and two-time European Tour champion Daniel Vancsik of Argentina, who both head to the Russian capital in fine fettle after finishing third and sixth respectively at the Rolex Trophy.

Home hopes rest squarely on the broad shoulders of former World Number One tennis player Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who became a professional golfer and Vice President of the Russian Golf Federation after hanging up his tennis racket in 2003.

Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club will host the M2M Russian Challenge Cup for the third successive season. Designed by 18-time Major Champion Jack Nicklaus, the layout was described by European Tour player Carlos Del Moral as “the most beautiful course I have ever played”.

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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JAMES BYRNE HAS A 75 IN SELANGOR MASTERS

Shah Alam, Selangor, September 5: Thai legend Thaworn Wiratchant renewed his Malaysian love affair as he fired an opening six-under-par 66 for the clubhouse lead at the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters on Wednesday.

 

Thaworn, whose record 13 Asian Tour titles include two victories in Malaysia, carded one eagle, four birdies and a lone bogey at the Kota Permai Golf and Country Club, a venue where he was victorious in 2001.

 

Marcus Both of Australia, who finished in tied fifth place in last year’s edition, was also six-under through 12 holes when play was suspended at 7.05pm while Michael Tran of Vietnam was on five-under with three more holes to play.

New Aberdeen Asset Management Northern Open champion James Byrne had a 75.