FORMER SCOTTISH ALLIANCE SECRETARY DIES IN HOSPITAL

E-mail from Ainslie Kennedy (nee Caldwell)
 
It is with great sadness that I have to inform members of the Scottish Golfers' Alliance that my mother passed away last night in Basildon Hospital.
Although it is some time since she was involved with any of the Alliances they are the one thing that she often talked about.
I would be pleased if you could pass this information on to any parties who may remember her.

Ainslie Kennedy

RUSSELL KNOX IN JT 11TH PLACE AT HALFWAY ON US PGA TOUR

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Ryan Moore matched the course record and his career best with a 10-under 61 on Thursday in the first round of the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
The former UNLV player had nine birdies, an eagle - on the 341-yard, par-4 15th - and a bogey in perfect conditions at TPC Summerlin to take a one-stroke lead in the Fall Series opener.
Brendon de Jonge had a 62, and Tim Herron and John Huh shot 63. Justin Leonard, Chris Kirk and Jonas Blixt were three strokes back at 64. Kirk eagled the 15th and par-5 16th.
Moore also shot a 61 this season in the Humana Challenge on PGA West's Nicklaus Course. The Las Vegas resident has seven top-10 finishes and is 36th on the money list. The final top 30 will receive spots in the Masters.
Moore tied the TPC Summerlin record set by Davis Love III in 2001 and matched by Tag Ridings in 2004 and Hunter Haas in 2011. Chip Beck holds the overall tournament record, shooting a 59 in 1991 at Sunrise Golf Club.
END OF PLAY NEWS
Jonas Blixt (Sweden) and South Africa's Brenden de Jonge share the lead on 128 at the halfwaymark. Blixt shot a second-round 64 and De Jonge a 66.
They are one stroke ahead of Ryan Moore.
Inverness exile Russell Knox is T11 after rounds of 66 and 67 for 133.

LEADING TWO-ROUND TOTALS
128 Jonax Blixt (Sweden) 64 64, Brenden de Jonge (South Africa) 62 66
129 Ryan Moore (US) 61 68
131 Tim Herron (US) 63 68, Daniel Summerhays (US) 68 63 

SELECTED SCORES
133 Russell Knox (Scotland) 66 67 (T11)
136 Gary Christian (England) 68 68 (T33)

MISSED THE CUT (138 and better qualified)
139 Brian Davis (England) 72 67

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JAMES BYRNE'S EURO TOUR HOPES DASHED

Northern Open champion James Byrne's hopes of making it through to the European Tour have been dashed again today (Fr. The Banchory player finished joint 61st in the European Tour Qualifying School Stage 1 Section D event at Frilford Heath GC, Oxfordshire. Byrne, pictured, shot 74, 78, 71 and 75 for a total of 298, five shots over the limit for the leading 29 and ties who go forward to Stage 2 in Spain. One Scot to did make it at Frilford Heath was Jack Doherty (North Gailes) who finished joint 14th on 281 with scores of 72, 73, 73 and 71. Winner was Welshman Liam Bond on 276 (67-72-70-67).

LLOYD SALTMAN HANDILY PLACED AT HALFWAY IN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT

  Lloyd Saltman in action today (Courtesy of Getty Images(c)

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Lloyd Saltman moved into contention for the first European Challenge Tour title of his career after the Edinburgh man carded a three under par second round of 68 at the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon to enter the weekend three shots off the lead on seven under. Saltman recorded his first top 20 of the Challenge Tour season last week at the Challenge de Catalunya having returned to European golf’s second tier after a difficult year on The European Tour. 
Having followed up his four under par opening round of 67 with another steady day’s golf at Golf du Gouverneur in the East of France, the 27 year old is in confident mood as he hopes to finish his season with a flourish.“I played solid today, “said the former Walker Cup player. “I hit a lot of greens. I started off nicely, made a 20 footer on the 10^th, my first, to make up for missing a similar one on the last yesterday.>“I had a poor tee shot on the 14^th and put it in the water but I only made bogey so it wasn’t a disaster and then picked up a shot on the next followed by a birdie at the 18^th to be out in one under.

“I picked up my shots on the back nine at the par fives and made a solid birdie at the third and another at the eighth with a good up and down. It was one of those rounds where I could have played all day, I kept giving myself birdie chances so I’m in a good position for the weekend.

“Funnily enough, I've been closer to winning on The European Tour this year, in Sweden (Nordea Masters) and Sicily (Sicilian Open) and it’s been something I've been working on - to follow up a good first round with a good second round, so I'm happy.

“I’d like to have a late surge and press into that top 45 and have a chance to get my card through the Challenge Tour and I’ve got my brother Zach on the bag this week so that’s definitely helping.

“Grand Final is definitely the goal and all it takes is a couple of good weeks. One good week can change everything so giving myself the opportunity is the big thing and I've done that after two rounds.”

Chris Doak, Steven O’Hara and Raymond Russell were all two shots further back in tied 14^th place in France while Scott Henry only just made the cut on one under par.

Meanwhile, England’s Sam Hutsby carded a stunning eight under par round of 63 to roar into a two-shot lead going into the weekend.

The 24 year old began the day four shots off the top but came flying out of the blocks with a birdie at the 10th hole, his first, before he gained two more shots at the 12th and 15th and a bogey at the par four 18th hole took him to the turn in two under par.

The round took flight on his back nine with three consecutive birdies from the first hole before picking up three more shots to finish the day on ten under par, two shots clear of compatriot Phillip Archer, Frenchman Baptiste Chapellan and Sweden’s Steven Jeppesen.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

 Par 142 (2x71)

132 S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 63

134 S Jeppesen  (Swe) 67 67, P Archer (Eng) 67 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 66 68

135 B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 67, A Johnston (Eng) 70 65, L Saltman (Sco) 67 68, W Besseling  (Ned) 70 65

136 B An (Kor) 71 65, G Stal  (Fra) 69 67, T Sluiter  (Ned) 69 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 66, R Langasque (am) (Fra) 67 69

137 S O'Hara  (Sco) 69 68, F Praegant (Aut) 69 68, R Russell(Sco) 68 69, S Tiley (Eng) 68 69, C Doak (Sco) 70 67, B Åkesson (Swe) 66 71, E Dubois (Fra) 68 69, P Dwyer (Eng) 71 66, J Guerrier  (Fra) 69 68, C Berardo (am) (Fra) 67 70

138 D Gaunt (Aus) 66 72, P Edberg (Swe) 72 66, A Tadini (Ita) 70 68, A Perrino  (Ita) 72 66, M Madsen  (Den) 65 73, S Wakefield (Eng) 68 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 68 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 67 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 66 72, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 69, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 70, C Russo (Fra) 69 69

139 C Paisley  (Eng) 70 69, R Echenique (Arg) 70 69, A Domingo (Esp) 68 71, C Gane (Eng) 72 67,

140 R Neil-Jones (Eng) 72 68, A Levy (Fra) 70 70, M Southgate  (Eng) 68 72, C Brazillier  (Fra) 68 72, S Buhl (Ger) 68 72, L Jensen (Den) 72 68, J Walters (RSA) 72 68, R Kakko  (Fin) 75 65, J Russell (USA) 72 68

141 N Henriques  (Por) 71 70, M Tullo (Chi) 69 72, S Henry  (Sco) 72 69, L Kennedy  (Eng) 71 70, T Remkes (Ned) 72 69, M Crespi  (Ita) 68 73, V Guillaume (Fra) 72 69, D Perrier (Fra) 71 70, K Le Sager  (Fra) 69 72, J Grillon  (Fra) 70 71, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 69, J Hansen  (Den) 71 70, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 69, J Remesy (Fra) 73 68, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 73 68, J Huldahl (Den) 71 70

 MISSED THE CUT

142 D Brooks (Eng) 71 71, Å Nilsson (Swe) 70 72, V Riu  (Fra) 69 73, X Puig (Esp) 71 71, J Lima  (Por) 66 76, S Piaget  (Mon) 71 71, A Bernadet  (Fra) 69 73, D Vancsik (Arg) 73 69, J Gibb (Eng) 73 69, B Pastore (Ita) 72 70, A Tampion  (Aus) 71 71, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 73 69

143 R Quiros  (Esp) 72 71, S Kim (Kor) 72 71, D Nouailhac (Fra) 75 68, J Parry (Eng) 69 74, A Campanile  (Ita) 73 70, S Pinckney (USA) 71 72, N Meitinger  (Ger) 68 75, J Abbott (Eng) 70 73, S Gros (Fra) 71 72

144 D Antonelli (Fra) 71 73, J Billot (Fra) 73 71, C Ford (Eng) 73 71, J Busby (Eng) 71 73, R Wingardh (Swe) 74 70, B Koepka  (USA) 71 73, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 74 70, S Benson (Eng) 73 71, L Weber (am) (Fra) 72 72,

145 A Velasco (Esp) 74 71, A McArthur  (Sco) 73 72,

146 S Davis (Eng) 73 73, C Aguilar  (Esp) 71 75, M Nixon (Eng) 72 74,

147 J Belot-Lacroix (Fra) 74 73, P Fendt (Aut) 72 75, R Schneider (Fra) 74 73, J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) 74 73,

148 F Calmels  (Fra) 69 79, B Barham (Eng) 75 73, L Goddard  (Eng) 71 77, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 74 74, C Gallois (Fra) 71 77, I Sanchez-Palencia  (Esp) 73 75,

150 L Richard (Bel) 76 74, A Parr (Can) 75 75, M Hill (Fra) 74 76

151 P Relecom  (Bel) 75 76, N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 78, P Valmary (Fra) 76 75

153 R Dupuis  (Fra) 76 77

158 A Guerin (Fra) 79 79

166 R Thuillier (Fra) 80 86

** M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 68 WD, A Gee  (Eng) 74 DQ,

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Wentworth Drive | Virginia Water | Surrey | GU25 4

GRACE GOES FIVE SHOTS CLEAR AT HALFWAY IN ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP

 South Africa’s Branden Grace is edging ever closer to the biggest win of his life after opening up a five-shot lead in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.
A splendid second round 67 on the Old Course, which followed his record-breaking 60 at Kingsbarns on Thursday, gave him a halfway 17-under-par total and established a comfortable gap between himself and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, who shot 69 at Carnoustie, and Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm, who had a 67 on the Old Course. South Africa’s Anton Haig is a further shot back.
Grace said: “I love the feeling of winning and I know that's what I want. If I win an event like this, I'll be right up there again.  It's a nice feeling to have.  At the moment my goal is just to get back into the top ten of the Race to Dubai.”
The tournament, conceived as a celebration of links golf, is played over three of the world’s best known and respected links courses - the Old Course at St Andrews, the Championship Course at Carnoustie and the highly regarded Kingsbarns Golf Links.
It did not appear to start well for Grace after a bogey at the 4th hole, but he immediately birdied the 5th and then a cluster of four more birdies from the 7th hole put his Championship challenge back on course. He survived the dangerous 17th Road Hole with a par then completed an excellent round with a birdie three on the final hole.
Now he has to overcome the challenges of Carnoustie, the most difficult of the three courses, in the next round to move him ever nearer his fourth European Tour victory of the year, following the Johannesburg Open, the Volvo Golf Championship and the Volvo China Open. Last week, he also won the Vodac om Origins of Golf pro-am event on the Sunshine Tour.
He added: “I think last week's win back home just really gave me that edge. I just want to keep going this week. I struggled a little bit in the beginning of the round. 
"I missed a three footer for par which I was a little disappointed with, because it was my first bogey of the week so far. But then I got my first birdie and things started settling down and the putter started getting hot again.”
The big names, including ten Major Championship winners in the field, who were expected to challenge for the title showed little sign of narrowing the gap. Germany’s Martin Kaymer, who shot a  71 at Kingsbarns to be three-under for the Championship, admitted that he was feeling a little tired after the exertions of the Ryder Cup the previous weekend.
He said: 
“I had a fantastic experience last Sunday and obviously I'm very inspired. I'm very motivated on one hand, but you know your body is just a little tired and you have to listen to your body. It's difficult to motivate yourself sometimes. My drives and my irons, they were solid.  I just couldn't get the ball in the hole.  And when you never make a birdie, it's tough.”
Partnering the professionals are an enthusiastic group of talented amateur golfers, who compete for the Alfred Dunhill Links Team Championship.  
Hollywood stars Bill Murray, forever remembered by golf fans for his role as the greenkeeper in the film Caddyshack, and Greg Kinnear have joined rock music legends Huey Lewis and Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres, along with a host of great sports stars, including Olympic and Paralympic gold medal heroes Michael Phelps and Oscar Pistorius.
In a strong turn-out of sports stars, Phelps and Pistorius have been joined by former Olympic rowing legends Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, football greats Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Alan Hansen and Jamie Redknapp, plus a strong team of cricketers in Sir Ian Botham, Allan Lamb, Brian Lara, Andrew Strauss, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne. Rugby is also represented by Schalk Brits, Morné du Plessis and Gavin Hastings.
After 36 holes, leading the Team Championship is American businessman Hugh Connerty and Thai professional Thongchai Jaidee on 21-under-par after an impressive 64 at Carnoustie. 
Connerty said: “ “We had a very good day. When Thongchai had a bogey, I would have a par. We were always in sync. But we really got into this situation thanks to the last five holes at St Andrews yesterday when we had eagle, birdie, eagle, birdie, eagle. I know that will be five holes that will never happen again.”
American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian with 18 gold medals, was delighted with his round at Kingsbarns after a net hole-in-one albatross at the 337 yards, 6th hole and a net eagle at the 7th.
 He said: “That was a lot better than yesterday. I had some fun, cool shots, cool holes. I hit a 50 yard putt that was the longest putt I've ever hit. It wa s pretty incredible.”
Phelps and his partner Paul Casey had a better-ball 63 which leaves them on nine-under-par and Phelps said: “Somebody actually told us what made the cut last year so we want to have a chance to play one more round together.  We were a lot more relaxed and a lot more comfortable. The course was enjoyable and I tried not to find the rough too many times.”
Former Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie had a 66 at Kingsbarns for a 12-under-par team score. Sir Steve said: “It’s a tough course, but we did well. I think we were 77th on the team leaderboard after yesterday and we are now moving up. If we had just had a par on the hole where we had a double bogey six, we would be in the top 20 now. But we have still got St Andrews to go. I am looking for the top 20, because I want to play on Sunday.”
Scotland’s current No 1 golfer Paul Lawrie has teamed up with his 17-year-old son Craig Lawrie and they are on eight-under-par. Paul, one of the European Ryder Cup heroes from Medinah, said: “It was a pretty special day. Craig played lovely today tee to green.  He played well yesterday too, but putted a bit poorly.  But today, I think he was four under on his own ball. So he's done awfully well. I am very proud of him.”
LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
127 Branden Grace (S Africa) 60 67
132 Joel Sjoholm (Sweden) 65 67,Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 69 69
133 Anton Haig (S Africa) 75 68
134 Graeme Storm (England) 68 66, Magnus Carlsson 66 69, Fabrizio Zanotti 68 66

SCOTS' SCORES
137 Stephen Gallacher 67 70, Richie Ramsay 65 72 (T17)
139 David Drysdale 66 72 (T28)
140 Paul Whiteford 70 70, Craig Lee 68 72, Marc
Warren 7070 (T45) 
142 Scott Jamieson 68 74 (T73)
143 George Murray 69 74 (T89)
144 Martin Laird 73 71 (T110).
145 Alastair Forsyth 74 71, Paul Lawrie 75 70 (T189)  
149 Gary Orr 72 77 (T159) 
    


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ADAM HUNTER CHARITY PRO-AM

Mark King (Kingsfield) and Rowallan Castle's Graham Fox shared the honours today (Friday) in the Friends of the Beatson Charity pro-am, played over the Queen's Course, Gleneagles in memory of Adam Hunter (pictured), who died of leukaemia last year. Hunter was coach to Paul Lawrie among others and famously steered the Aberdonian to victory in the 1999 Open championship play-off at Carnoustie. Lawrie would have been in the Gleneagles field but for his commitment to play in the Dunhill Links Championship but Paul would have been thinking about his late friend and mentor. "There's scarcely a day I don't think about Adam. I miss him so much," said Lawrie. There was no prizemoney at stake in the pro-am with all the proceeds going to the Friends of Beatson Charity. King and Fox tied for first place with four-under-par 64s - two shots ahead of senior campaigner Peter Smith, based at Deeside Golf Club as a teaching pro. Three teams headed the pro-am leaderboard with net Stableford points of 81. Victory went to the Aberdeen Asset Management trio of Bill Greenhalgh (handicap 18), Bruce Angus (13) and Alan McPhee (16) who had Craig Ronald (Carluke) as their pro. The other teams who hit the 81 mark were Tulloch Recruitment (pro Stephen Gray) and CCG (Scotland) Ltd 2 (Campbell Elliott). The Paul Lawrie Foundation team, with Stuart Gray as pro, finished fourth on 79. PRO SCORES Par 68 64 Mark King (Kingsfield), Graham Fox (Rowallan Castle). 66 Peter Smith (Deeside) 67 Stephen Gray (Hayston), Craig Ronald (Carluke). 68 Grant Smith (Gleneagles) 69 Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre), Derek Crawfored (unatt) 70 Alan Reid (West Lothian), Greig Hutcheon (Banchorh), Andrew Crerar (Panmure) 71 Campbell Elliott (Haggs Castle) 72 Stuart Wilson (Eastwood), Martin Shaw (Whitecraigs, Terry Burgoyne (Glencruitten). 73 Russell Weir (Cowal), Stephen McAllister (Renaissance Club) 74 Nigel Scott-Smith(Palacerigg), Vincernt Brown (Westerwood). 80 John Ruth (Clydeway Golf) 81 Mark Loftus (Mearns Castle) 85 Ian Kennedy (Mearns Castle).

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM! HUTSBY'S 63 LEADS ALLIANZ OPEN BY TWO

MEDIA RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

England’s Sam Hutsby carded a stunning eight under par round of 63 to roar into a two-shot lead after the second day of the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon at Golf de Gouverneur.

The 24 year old began the day four shots off the top but came flying out of the blocks with a birdie at the 10th hole, his first, before he gained two more shots at the 12th and 15th and a bogey at the par four 18th hole took him to the turn in two under par.

The round took flight on his back nine with three consecutive birdies from the first hole before picking up three more shots to finish the day on ten under par, two shots clear of compatriot Phillip Archer, Frenchman Baptiste Chapellan and Sweden’s Steven Jeppesen.

After a disappointing season on The European Tour, Hutsby has returned to the Challenge Tour and had thus far struggled to make an impact – missing the cut in Spain last week despite an albatross.

But the Portsmouth native is delighted to be back on his game in France as he chases a maiden Challenge Tour title this weekend.

“I hit it close at the 10th and holed the putt so that was a nice start and from there on I just putted really well,” said Hutsby. “The greens are rolling really nice. They’re soft so if you get the yardage right you can get it close and then they roll really well. It’s obviously a nice feeling to capitalise on the chances you give yourself.

“I played quite poorly yesterday and my driving wasn’t good. I played the par threes in three under but the par fives in two over so I thought if I could do well on the par fives today it would be a better day. I did a bit of work on my ball flight on the range and it paid off.”

Hutsby admits that it has been a struggle this season on The European Tour, having finished runner-up at Qualifying School Final Stage last year, but is feeling a new lease of life after changing his background team and feels like his game is on the up.

“It’s been a terrible year for me on The European Tour,” he said. “I've just changed management companies to TB Golf Management though, which is run by my old county manager who looked after me since I was a young lad, so I have a fantastic support team now and maybe that’s what I need.

“I'm really happy with the team I have now and the only thing that is missing is results. That might take time but I have played solid the last few weeks.

“I had an albatross last week and that’s carried on a bit this week. It would be nice to have a fantastic result but I would need to have a miracle end to the season to do well on the Challenge Tour Rankings so I'm kind of looking ahead to Qualifying School now and getting prepared for that.”

In second place on eight under par were Archer, Jeppesen and Chapellan, who was the leading Frenchman after a three under par second round of 68.

The story of the week for the locals, however, may well be that of 17 year old amateur Romain Langasque who is just four shots off the lead on his Challenge Tour debut as he looks to emulate fellow Frenchman Julien Brun, who became the sixth amateur to win on the tour at the ALLIANZ Golf Open Toulouse Metropole two weeks ago.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS 

Par 142 (2x71)
132 S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 63

134 S Jeppesen  (Swe) 67 67, P Archer (Eng) 67 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 66 68

135 B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 67, A Johnston (Eng) 70 65, L Saltman (Sco) 67 68, W Besseling  (Ned) 70 65

136 B An (Kor) 71 65, G Stal  (Fra) 69 67, T Sluiter  (Ned) 69 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 66, R Langasque (am) (Fra) 67 69

137 S O'Hara  (Sco) 69 68, F Praegant (Aut) 69 68, R Russell (Sco) 68 69, S Tiley (Eng) 68 69, C Doak (Sco) 70 67, B Åkesson (Swe) 66 71, E Dubois (Fra) 68 69, P Dwyer (Eng) 71 66, J Guerrier  (Fra) 69 68, C Berardo (am) (Fra) 67 70

138 D Gaunt (Aus) 66 72, P Edberg (Swe) 72 66, A Tadini (Ita) 70 68, A Perrino  (Ita) 72 66, M Madsen  (Den) 65 73, S Wakefield (Eng) 68 70, A Otaegui  (Esp) 68 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 67 71, E Pepperell (Eng) 66 72, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 69, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 70, C Russo (Fra) 69 69

139 C Paisley  (Eng) 70 69, R Echenique (Arg) 70 69, A Domingo (Esp) 68 71, C Gane (Eng) 72 67,

140 R Neil-Jones (Eng) 72 68, A Levy (Fra) 70 70, M Southgate  (Eng) 68 72, C Brazillier  (Fra) 68 72, S Buhl (Ger) 68 72, L Jensen (Den) 72 68, J Walters (RSA) 72 68, R Kakko  (Fin) 75 65, J Russell (USA) 72 68

141 N Henriques  (Por) 71 70, M Tullo (Chi) 69 72, S Henry  (Sco) 72 69, L Kennedy  (Eng) 71 70, T Remkes (Ned) 72 69, M Crespi  (Ita) 68 73, V Guillaume (Fra) 72 69, D Perrier (Fra) 71 70, K Le Sager  (Fra) 69 72, J Grillon  (Fra) 70 71, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 69, J Hansen  (Den) 71 70, A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 69, J Remesy (Fra) 73 68, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 73 68, J Huldahl (Den) 71 70

MISSED THE CUT
 

142 D Brooks (Eng) 71 71, Å Nilsson (Swe) 70 72, V Riu  (Fra) 69 73, X Puig (Esp) 71 71, J Lima  (Por) 66 76, S Piaget  (Mon) 71 71, A Bernadet  (Fra) 69 73, D Vancsik (Arg) 73 69, J Gibb (Eng) 73 69, B Pastore (Ita) 72 70, A Tampion  (Aus) 71 71, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 73 69,

143 R Quiros  (Esp) 72 71, S Kim (Kor) 72 71, D Nouailhac (Fra) 75 68, J Parry (Eng) 69 74, A Campanile  (Ita) 73 70, S Pinckney (USA) 71 72, N Meitinger  (Ger) 68 75, J Abbott (Eng) 70 73, S Gros (Fra) 71 72,

144 D Antonelli (Fra) 71 73, J Billot (Fra) 73 71, C Ford (Eng) 73 71, J Busby (Eng) 71 73, R Wingardh (Swe) 74 70, B Koepka  (USA) 71 73, J Wahlqvist (Swe) 74 70, S Benson (Eng) 73 71, L Weber (am) (Fra) 72 72,

145 A Velasco (Esp) 74 71, A McArthur  (Sco) 73 72,

146 S Davis (Eng) 73 73, C Aguilar  (Esp) 71 75, M Nixon (Eng) 72 74,

147 J Belot-Lacroix (Fra) 74 73, P Fendt (Aut) 72 75, R Schneider (Fra) 74 73, J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) 74 73,

148 F Calmels  (Fra) 69 79, B Barham (Eng) 75 73, L Goddard  (Eng) 71 77, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 74 74, C Gallois (Fra) 71 77, I Sanchez-Palencia  (Esp) 73 75,

150 L Richard (Bel) 76 74, A Parr (Can) 75 75, M Hill (Fra) 74 76,

151 P Relecom  (Bel) 75 76, N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 78, P Valmary (Fra) 76 75,

153 R Dupuis  (Fra) 76 77,

158 A Guerin (Fra) 79 79,

166 R Thuillier (Fra) 80 86,

** M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 68 WD, A Gee  (Eng) 74 DQ,

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

WEATHER DISRUPTS EISENHOWER TROPHY IN TURKEY

Antalya, Turkey – Weather disrupted the second round of the 2012 World Amateur Team Championship (WATC) today and because of a six-hour morning delay, only six of the 72 teams in the field completed play.
The morning wave of play did not begin until 1:30 p.m. because of dangerous weather conditions. Play was suspended again for dangerous weather at 6:20 p.m.(local time) and subsequently called for the day because of darkness.
Only 48 of 72 teams started play. Twelve teams started their second rounds in the late afternoon Friday and 24 did not start. The second round will be resumed at 8:30 on Saturday morning.
South Korea and Canada, playing at the par-72 Cornelia Golf Club, moved into second place at 10-under-par. Canada had recorded scores for all three players through 15 holes and South Korea had scores through 12 holes.
USA, the first-round leader, had only three holes recorded by lead player Chris Williams, No.1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), who birdied the 10^th and 11^th holes at the par-71 Antalya Golf Club, to move his team to 15-under.
Five teams in the top 10 on the leaderboard from the first round on Thursday did not play Friday. The teams with their positions from the first round are: Mexico in second, Netherlands and Spain tied for fourth, and Venezuela and Zimbabwe tied for seventh.

BRITISH BOYS CHAMPION FITZPATRICK CALLED UP TO ENGLAND WINTER SQUAD

To:

Calcarsongolf@btinternet.com

Matthew Fitzpatrick, the British Boys champion, has been named among 15 players to form the England training squad for the 2012 and 2013 coaching programme. Fitzpatrick, 18, has made rapid progress over the past four years, being capped at under 16 and boys levels, and is now on the verge of a full England cap. The full England squad is: Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire), Jack Hiluta (Chelmsford, Essex), Craig Hinton (The Oxfordshire), Nathan Kimsey (Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire), Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent), Garrick Porteous (Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland), Neil Raymond (Corhampton, Hampshire), Jamie Rutherford (Knebworth, Hertfordshire), Callum Shinkwin (Moor Park, Hertfordshire), Jordan Smith (Bowood GandCC, Wiltshire), Toby Tree (Worthing, Sussex), Josh White (Chipstead). Also part of the squad but at college in the United States: Seb Crookall-Nixon (Workington, Cumbria), Ben Stow (Rushmore, Wiltshire), and Ben Taylor (Walton Heath, Surrey). Ten members of the home-based squad are full internationals while Fitzpatrick and Orrin are boy caps. Fitzpatrick won the British Boys Championship at Notts (Hollinwell) in August and finished third on the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf Boys Order of Merit. His other successes this season include victory in the Selborne Salver, runner-up in the Hampshire Salver and Berkshire Trophy and third in the Carris Trophy. Orrin, 18, has won the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf Boys Order of Merit after a successful season in which he won the Kent Championship and the Malcolm Reid Salver for the best aggregate from the McEvoy and Carris Trophies, finished second in the Darwin Salver, McEvoy Trophy, the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters and the Duke of York Young Champions event. Hiluta, 23, is the Spanish Amateur champion, who made his full England debut against France in May, while Hinton, 24, the Welsh Open Stroke Play champion, gained his first full cap in last year’s Home Internationals. Kimsey, 19, a semi-finalist in the English Amateur Championship, debuted in the recent Home Internationals, while Porteous, 22, became a full England cap in last year’s Home Internationals and helped England win the European Challenge Trophy in Iceland in July. Raymond, 26, has been the English Stroke Play champion for the past two years, having made his full England debut against Spain last year, and also represented GB&I in this year’s St Andrews Trophy. Rutherford, 20, was capped for the first time in the recent Home Internationals having been the Men’s County Champion of Champions in 2011. Shinkwin, 19, the English Boy champion in 2010 when he became a boy international, won all four of his games on his full England debut against France in May while Smith, 19, debuted in the recent Home Internationals having reached the English Amateur semi-finals and been a member of the victorious Wiltshire team in the past two English Men’s County Championships. Tree, 18, was the English under 14 champion in 2008 and has been capped at every level, making his full England debut against France in May. A quarter finalist in this year’s English Amateur, he represented GB&I in the Jacques Leglise Trophy and Europe in the recent Junior Ryder Cup, while White also debuted against France, won the Berkshire Trophy and was joint winner of the West of England Stroke Play. Of the players currently based in America, Crookall-Nixon, 19, was the English under 16 champion in 2008 and 2009 and made his full England debut in this year’s Home Internationals, Stow, 20, made his full England debut in last year’s Home Internationals and was the top individual in the European Challenge Trophy, while Taylor, 20, also debuted in last year’s Home Internationals and represented GB&I in the St Andrews Trophy. There are 13 players in the ‘A’ squad including English champion Harry Ellis, boy champion Patrick Kelly and Edward Richardson, an England international in 2005 and 2006. The full ‘A’ squad is: Jack Bartlett (Worthing, Sussex), Oliver Carr (Heswall, Cheshire), Harry Casey (Enfield, Middlesex), Joe Dean (Lindrick, Yorkshire), Ryan Evans (Wellingborough, Northamptonshire), Paul Howard (Southport and Ainsdale, Lancashire), Patrick Kelly (Boston West, Lincolnshire), Nick Marsh (Huddersfield, Yorkshire), Edward Richardson (Hemsted Forest, Kent), Michael Saunders (Dartford, Kent), Darren Timms (Mid Kent, Kent), Jerome Titlow (Knole Park, Kent), Dan Wasteney (Bondhay, Yorkshire). Bartlett, 23, has won the Berkhamsted Trophy and the Hampshire Salver this year and was fourth in the Brabazon Trophy, Carr, 19, is an England boy cap who won the South East of England Links Championship this year, while Casey, 19, was English boy champion last year when he also won the Duke of York Young Champions title. Dean, 18, won the Dutch Junior Open this year when representing England Golf, debuted in the Boys Home Internationals and won five of his six games in helping Yorkshire win this year’s Boys County Championship, Evans, 25, won the South of England Amateur, while Howard, 22, is a regular member of the Lancashire county team and played in the recent County Finals at Beau Desert. Kelly, 18, won the English boys title this year after a four hole playoff as well as the Fairhaven Trophy and scored 5½ points from his six games in the Boys Home Internationals, while Marsh, 18, won five of his six games in helping Yorkshire to the County Boys title and was unbeaten in his six games in the Boys Home Internationals. Richardson, 44, has returned to tournament golf this year with considerable success after a long battle with illness. A former Kent champion, this season he has finished runner-up in the Midland Open, third in the Lagonda and Waterford Trophies and fifth in the Berkshire Trophy. His Kent colleague Saunders, 22, won the Lagonda Trophy and finished sixth in the Berkhamsted Trophy, while Timms, 22, another Kent man, won the Lee Westwood Trophy in a playoff, and finished runner-up in the Lagonda Trophy and the BUCS Student Tour Finals. Titlow, 20, finished joint second in the Hampshire Hog, equal fourth in the Waterford Trophy, sixth in the Tillman Trophy, while Wasteney, 20, a former winner of the Yorkshire Open, was an invitee to the 2011/12 England squad and finished equal sixth in the Lagonda Trophy. +Image Matthew Fitzpatrick copyright Tom Ward. Lynne Fraser Marketing and PR Manager ENGLAND GOLF Email: pr@englandgolf.org Tel: 01526 354500

CHINNARAT LEADS WITH 64 AT SOUTH KOREA INVITATIONAL

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR
Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Thailand’s Chinnarat Phadungsil lived up to his promise as the next generation of young stars to emerge from the Asian Tour when he posted a seven-under-par 64 to take the clubhouse lead at the second round of the C J Invitational Hosted by K J Choi after play was suspended due to darkness on Friday.

Tournament host K J Choi of South Korea proved that he is still the force to be reckoned with as he blitzed through the course to go atop the leaderboard with Chinnarat at 10-under-par through 14 holes when play was halted.

South Korea’s Lee Sung battled his way back into contention with a 68 to take a share of third place alongside Canada’s Ryan Yip who posted a 71 after heavy fog had caused two hours of  play to be lost at the Haesley Nine Bridges Golf Club in the morning.

Chinnarat, who has been billed as one of the stars to look out for this week, did not disappoint as he went on a birdie blitz to put himself in prime position to end his three-year title drought with his two-day total of 10-under-par 132.

After overcoming an early bogey 5 on his opening par-four 10^th, Chinnarat played like a man possessed as he ran off three birdies on the 11^th, 14^th and 15^th holes before reaching the turn in 33.

“It was really cold when I started on the first hole. I hit my first shot onto the fairway but hit a bad second shot. I managed to recover quickly by hitting a lot of good shots and I also managed to putt well,” said Chinnarat.

The three-time Asian Tour winner, who became the youngest winner on Tour when he won his first title on home soil at the age of 17 years and five days, had an even more impressive inward-nine when he stormed home with five more birdies.

“I was hitting the ball well yesterday but the greens were just very bumpy in the back-nine and I missed many putts. But today, I managed to convert most of my chances,” said Chinnarat.

Leading Round 2 morning scores:
Par 142 (2x71) Yardage 7,152

132 - Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA) 68-64.

135 - LEE Sung (KOR) 67-68, Ryan YIP (CAN) 64-71.

136 - KIM Dae-hyun (KOR) 71-65.

137 - LEE Kyoung-hoon (KOR) 69-68, Charlie WI (KOR) 67-70.

 

Selected scores

K.J Choi (Kor) -10 through 14 holes

Ben Curtis (Usa)  -6 through 14 holes

WORLD MEN'S AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATES

EISENHOWER TROPHY SCOREBOARD FROM
ANTALYA GOLF CLUB, TURKEY

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MADSEN IS GREAT DANE IN ALLIANZ WITH A 65

MEDIA RELEASE FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Morten Orum Madsen led the way after the opening 

round of the ALLIANZ Open de Lyon as a six under 

par 65 put the Dane in the driving seat for a first 

European Challenge Tour title at Golf de Gouverneur.

Madsen’s extremely consistent form this year, particularly in the last month - recording four top 15 finishes in his last five tournaments - has left him in 14th place in the Challenge Tour Rankings and a win this week would guarantee him a Rookie season on The European Tour in 2013.

The former Danish Amateur Champion got off to the perfect start at the fourth-last tournament of the season despite dropping a shot on the third hole, atoning in style with four consecutive birdies from the fifth hole.

Madsen’s putter was on fire and after a birdie at the par three 11th, he holed an important 12-foot putt for par at the 12th to maintain his momentum before further birdies at the 13th and 15th moved him one shot clear of the chasing pack.

“I played really well,” said the 24 year old. “I hit a bad shot for that bogey at the third but after that it was really good - I played some nice shots and putted really well.

“I made a lot of putts from 10 to 15 feet but I hit it close a lot too and when I missed the greens my chip shots were to tap-in range so it was nice not to have to work too hard. It was just really solid overall.

“I took last week off to rest up after Russia and Kazakhstan. It was nice to do some practice and hang out at home with friends and get ready for this four week stretch so I felt re-energised and ready to go.”

Madsen and his Danish counter-parts were all given a boost this week when it was announced that the penultimate tournament of the season has been moved to Copenhagen after a drought in Italy forced the relocation of the event, now titled the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Challenge hosted by Royal Golf Club.

Now he is looking to finish strongly and earn the best category possible for next season’s Race to Dubai, starting with a good result in Lyon.

“It was exciting news to know we’ll go back in play in front of a home crowd,” he said. “I actually haven’t played the course but my caddie lives five minutes away and knows it really well. It should be a good week and a good event.

“I'm trying to get into the top ten in the Rankings but you have to play really well. There are a bunch of good players up there so there will be no free passes. I feel like my game is shaping up nicely so hopefully I can make a run at it.

“Obviously I was hoping to have a win by now on the Challenge Tour but I'm just happy with how I've played this season. I've had my ups and downs and learned my lessons but if I don’t get a win, I've played good golf so I'm not going to be too unhappy.”

There were five players in tied second place on six under par - Sweden’s Bjorn Åkesson, Frenchman Baptiste Chapellan, Australian Daniel Gaunt, José-Filipe Lima of Portugal and England’s Eddie Pepperell.

French amateurs Clement Berardo and Romain Langasque were amongst the players a shot further back on four under par and they will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Julien Brun, who became the sixth amateur player to win on the Challenge Tour at the ALLIANZ Golf Open Toulouse Metropole two weeks ago.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 71

65 M Madsen  (Den) 

66 B Åkesson (Swe) , J Lima  (Por) , E Pepperell (Eng) , B Chapellan (Fra) , D Gaunt (Aus) 

67 L Saltman (Sco) , S Jeppesen  (Swe) , J Lagergren (Swe) , P Archer (Eng) , R Langasque (am) (Fra) , C Berardo (am) (Fra) 

68 A Otaegui  (Esp) , R Russell (Sco) , E De La Riva  (Esp) , E Dubois (Fra) , M Southgate  (Eng) , M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) , N Meitinger  (Ger) , M Crespi  (Ita) , S Buhl (Ger) , S Wakefield (Eng) , S Tiley (Eng) , B Ritthammer (Ger) , A Domingo (Esp) , C Brazillier  (Fra)

69 F Praegant (Aut) , A Bernadet  (Fra) , J Guerrier  (Fra) , K Le Sager  (Fra) , S Hutsby  (Eng) , J Parry (Eng) , S O'Hara  (Sco) , M Tullo (Chi) , G Stal  (Fra) , T Sluiter  (Ned) , V Riu  (Fra) , J Garcia Pinto (Esp) , F Calmels  (Fra) , C Russo (Fra)

70 C Lloyd (Eng) , J Abbott (Eng) , R Echenique (Arg) , A Levy (Fra) , J Grillon  (Fra) , Å Nilsson (Swe) , W Besseling  (Ned) , C Doak (Sco) , C Paisley  (Eng) , A Tadini (Ita) , A Johnston (Eng) 

71 J Busby (Eng) , S Pinckney (USA) , D Brooks (Eng) , D Antonelli (Fra) , L Kennedy  (Eng) , B Koepka  (USA) , S Gros (Fra) , S Piaget  (Mon) , B An (Kor) , N Henriques  (Por) , L Goddard  (Eng) , C Aguilar  (Esp) , P Dwyer (Eng) , D Perrier (Fra) , A Tampion  (Aus) , X Puig (Esp) , J Hansen  (Den) , J Huldahl (Den) , C Gallois (Fra) 

72 P Fendt (Aut) , M Nixon (Eng) , A Snobeck  (Fra) , L Jensen (Den) , A Kaleka  (Fra) , J Walters (RSA) , S Henry  (Sco) , B Pastore (Ita) , S Kim (Kor) , J Russell (USA) , P Edberg (Swe) , C Gane (Eng) , V Guillaume (Fra) , A Perrino  (Ita) , R Neil-Jones (Eng) , T Remkes (Ned) , R Quiros  (Esp) , L Weber (am) (Fra) 

73 S Davis (Eng) , J Remesy (Fra) , N Dougherty  (Eng) , J Lando Casanova  (Fra) , R Dinwiddie  (Eng) , D Vancsik (Arg) , J Billot (Fra) , I Sanchez-Palencia  (Esp) , A McArthur  (Sco) , S Benson (Eng) , J Gibb (Eng) , A Campanile  (Ita) , C Ford (Eng) 

74 J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) , F Delamontagne  (Fra) , A Velasco (Esp) , J Belot-Lacroix (Fra) , J Wahlqvist (Swe) , A Gee  (Eng) , M Hill (Fra) , R Schneider (Fra) , R Wingardh (Swe) ,

75 D Nouailhac (Fra) , B Barham (Eng) , A Parr (Can) , P Relecom  (Bel) , R Kakko  (Fin) 

76 L Richard (Bel) , P Valmary (Fra) , R Dupuis  (Fra) 

79 A Guerin (Fra) 

80 R Thuillier (Fra) ,