LINK TO US QUALIFYING SCHOOLS' NEWS

FOR NEWS FROM THE US CHAMPIONS TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL AND THE US PGA TOUR Q SCHOOL TO COME

CLICK HERE

ST ANDREWS OLD COURSE HOTEL WINS BEST RESORT OF YEAR AWARD

       A ROOM WITH A VIEW ... The Road Hole Restaurant in the Old Course Hotel, St Andrews

 

MEDIA RELEASE
 The five red star Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa in St Andrews has been awarded ‘Best Resort of The Year’ in a dazzling ceremony for those in Scotland’s Golf Tourism industry.

Resort General Manager, Daniel Pereira, is “absolutely delighted” with the news, saying: “The very best aspect of winning such an award is that it recognises the hard work and achievements of not just a few, but of each and every member of our dedicated team, right across the resort.”

Iain Marr, Golf Development Manager for Kohler Resorts, accepted the award, saying: “Scotland is blessed with some fabulous and world-renowned resorts, so it is especially rewarding to be voted ‘the best’ – and even more so as it is by our peers.”

The awards, from leading industry organisation Golf Tourism Scotland, are widely regarded as the 'Oscars of the golfing world'.

GTS Chairman, Lee Derrick, explains the awards’ value, saying: “The next four years will see Scotland host The Open three times, the Women’s British Open and the Ryder Cup – so the quality and diversity of our product has never been more important.” 

Lee adds: “The votes cast were the biggest in the history of the award – it is well deserved and reflects our members’ appreciation of the continued investment by Kohler Co in one of Scotland’s iconic properties.”

SEAN LAWRIE'S US BEST EARNS HIM ONLY SECOND PLACE

Sean Lawrie, son of Paul Lawrie's brother, returned his best scores in a US college golf event this week - and still finished "only" second with an eight-under-par, 36-hole aggregate.
Young Lawrie, a Portlethen GC member and second-year student at Midland College, Texas, shot rounds of 67 and 69 for a total of 136 over a par-72 course of 6,615yd in the Gaines County Championship collegiate tournament at Gaines County Golf Club, Seminole, Texas.
The winner was Felix Moesmang (Western Texas) with scores of 67 and 66 for 11-under-par 133.

HUTTON WINS AGAIN AT MIDLAND ALLIANCE

Downfield Golf Club professional Kenny Hutton scored a second successive win on the Midland Golfers' Alliance circuit today when he headed the field in a rearranged fixture over the Monifieth Links' Medal course with a two-under-par 69. Two players shared the leading handicap prize - Charlie Wallace (Caird Park) (11_ and Chris Westland (Alloa) (10) who both had net 67s  LEADING SCRATCH Par 71 69 K Hutton (Downfield). 70 G Tough (Edzell), K Bruce (Edzell). 71 R Stewart (Tulliallan), J Watt (Edzell).72 S Graham (Arbroath), N Anderson (Monifieth). 73 B Webster (Edzell), S MacKendrick (Dunkeld). 74 D Thomson (Downfield).   LEADING HANDICAP C Wallace (Caird Park) (11), C Westland (Alloa) (10) 67; D Thomson (Downfield) (6), K Bruce (Edzell) (2), G Pendrich (Downfield) (10) 68; J Watt (Edzell) (2) 69; S Graham (Arbroath) (2), R Stewart (Tulliallan) (1), B Webster (Edzell) (3) 70; G Tough (Edzell) (+1), W Miller (Monifieth) (12), M Niven (Alloa) (7), R Redpath (Scotscaig) (5) 71. Qualifiers for the JTC Kitchen Express Midland Golfer’s Alliance Championship in April at Crieff J Watt (Edzell) (2), N Anderson (Monifieth) (scr), D Thomson Downfield (6)  Qualifiers for the JTC Kitchen Express McQueen Shield at Crieff in April C Wallace (Caird Park) (11), C Westland Alloa (10)  NEXT MEETING Tuesday, November 20  Crail (Craighead)  Tee reserved: 8.30 - 12.00   Lee Sutherland

WILLIE PARK JUN TO GET HALL OF FAME PLACE - BUT NOT TOM BENDELOW

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida -- The late Willie Park junior. will be joining his father in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Park, born in Musselburgh, won the Open twice in the 19th century and had a large influence on the game by making golf clubs and building golf courses. He was selected through the Veterans' Category. His father, Willie Park, the first Open champion, was inducted in 2005.
Park joins Ken Venturi and Fred Couples in the 2013 induction class. The ceremony will be May 6 at the World Golf Village.
Park won the Open in 1887 and 1889. Among the golf courses he designed were the Old Course at Sunningdale, Maidstone Golf Club on Long Island and Olympia Fields outside Chicago, which hosted the 2003 U.S. Open. He died in 1925 at age 61.

NOTE FROM EDITOR: The name of Aberdeen's Tom Bendelow, who emigrated to New York in 1892 and before the end of that Century had laid out scores of courses in the New York State and New Jersey area as the golf boom hit America, went on design more than 600 courses across North America before he died in Illinois in 1936, is still not quoted as a contender for a Hall of Fame place. 

STEWART, BOOTH PROMOTED TO CHALLENGE TOUR

Duncan Stewart pushed his season's earnings on the PGA EuroPro Tour up to £30,051 by finishing fifth in the tour championship over the Marquess Course, Woburn today Stewart had already tied up a place on next year's Challenge Tour with his earlier performances. The top five in the Order of Merit are promoted - championship winner Paul Maddy from the Gog Magog club,, Duncan Stewart, Welshman Stuart Manley, Englishman James Hepworth, and Wallace Booth from Comrie. Maddy won the £15,000 first prize in the championship with a 10-under-par total of 206, which he completed with a par 72. He won by three shots from compatriot Lee Clarke who finished with a 69 for 209 and an £8,000 pay-out. Duncan Stewart finished fifth in the championship and won £3,000 for a total of 212. His last round of 73 was his poorest. He birdied the first three holes and then bogeyed the seventh, 14th, 15th and 16th. Paul Doherty finished joint sixth on 213 with a closing 69 to earn £1,625. Elliot Saltman, who just missed out by finishing sixth in the Order of Merit, shared 10th place in the championship with Wallace Booth on 214. Both players with 71s, earning £875 apiece. Chris Kelly finished welll down the field of 56 players with a 73 for 219 and a share of 31st place. He earned £312. PGA EUROPRO TOUR CHAMPIONSHI Marquess course, Woburn LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 216 (3x72) 206 Paul Maddy (Eng) 69 65 72 (£15,000) 209 Lee Clarke (Eng) 72 68 69 (£8,000) 210 James Hepworth (Eng) 71 73 66 (£5,500) 211 James Watts (Eng) 71 67 73 (£4,150) 212 Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey) 71 68 73 (£3,000). OTHER SCOTS' TOTALS 213 Paul Doherty 70 74 69 (T6) (£1,625) 214 Elliot Saltman 71 72 71, Wallace Booth 71 72 72 (T10) (£875 each) 219 Chris Kell6 72 74 73 (T31) (£312). FINAL ORDER OF MERIT 1 Paul Maddy (Eng) £32,821 2 Duncan Stewart (Sco) £30,051 3 Stuart Manley (Wal) £28,731 4 James Hepworth (Eng) £19,l277 5 Wallace Booth (Sco) £17,788 +Top 5 qualify for Challenge Tour Other placing: 6 Elliot Saltman (Sco) £17,716 ends   ENDS

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE DRAW FOR MONTROSE ON WEDNESDAY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21
 

08:15 Watson, Keith/ Harper, Brian/ Cassie, Charlie/ Leslie, Grant

08:23 Clark, Fraser/ Munro, Gordon/ Macandrew, Donald/ Law, David

08:31 Mackay, David/ Mitchell, Graham/ Campbell, Chris/ Campbell, Andrew

08:39 Dempster, Craig/ Fitzpatrick, Ryan/ McNeil S/ Dillon, Stephen

08:47 Brown, Raymond/ Brown, Mike/ Roulston, Harry/ Roger, Leslie

08:55 Nelson, Colin/ Prouse, Claire/ Prouse, Lawrence/ Dalgarno, John

09:03 Borthwick, John/ Mann, Steven/ Stuart, Alan/ Dunn, Stephen

09:11 Winton, Mike/ Thomson, Stuart/ Finnie, Stewart/ McKay, David

09:19 Milne, Gordon/ Duncan, Jim/ Gall, Alan/ George, David

09:27 Merchant, Manson/ Lamb, Christopher/ Lamb, Robert/ Trahan, Callum

09:35 Ord, Colin/ Morgan, Lewis/ Brown, David/ Carnegie, Craig

09:43 Fleming, David/ Fowler, Les/ Emslie, Jim/ Forster, Martin

09:51 Forrest, Jackie/ Paterson, George/ Stewart, Norman/ McLean, Phil

09:59 Beveridge, Keil/ Murray, Laura/ Nelson, David/ Hopwood, Joel

10:07 Lumsden, Ben/ Adams, Eric/ Cheyne, Peter/ Wright, Dick

10:15 Leech, Peter/ Grant, Ian/ Smith, Mike/ A N Other
10:23 Homer, Gary/ Shaw, Willie/ McNaughton, Hamish/ Leslie, David

10:31 Skene, Willie/ Clark, Alister/ Duncan, Robbie/ Graham, Alister

10:39 Duff, John/ Dunton, Adam/ Duncan, Kevin/ Scott, Jake

10:47 Lawrie, Mark/ Collie, Tommy/Jessiman, John/ Petrie, Alister

10:55 Allan, Graham /Cornfield, Paul/ Nicolson, Brian/ Smith, Ian

11:03 Mitchell, Bruce/ Lafferty, Gavin /Nicol, Kris/ Duff, Justin

11:11 Taylor, Ian/ Harling, Mike/ Chisholm, Neish/ Zeynlove, Kamran

11:19 Bisset, David/ Brindley, Chris/ Randall, Derek/ Hutcheon, Greig

11:27 Wilson, David/ Sim, Billy /Booth, Mike/ Parker, Nigel

11:35 Murray, Steve/ A N Others
11:43 A N Others

CRAIG LEE SHOOTS 67 IN SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN

NEWS RELEASE
World number 500 Merrick Bremner shot an eight-under 64 to take the lead after day one of the South African Open.

The 26-year-old matched the course record at Serengeti as he opened up a two-shot advantage over fellow South African Matthew Carvell and former Ryder Cup star Henrik Stenson of Sweden.
Despite his lowly ranking, Bremner's performance on the first day wasn't too much of a surprise to the locals who watched him shine for two rounds last year before he went from one back at halfway to 20th at the finish.
Back at the same venue, he grabbed six birdies to turn in 30 and took advantage of the two par fives on the inward half to throw down the gauntlet.
"I played fantastically on the first nine - I could have shot 28," he told the Sunshine Tour website.
"I started thinking a bit more and playing clever golf as opposed to using too much aggression, which is what I normally do."
Scotland's Craig Lee, 116th on the European money list in the week that the top 119 will earn cards for next season, eased the pressure with a five-under par 67 highlighted by an eagle 2 at the 382yd second.
He will resume in a tie for fourth with Swede Michael Jonzon and South African Alex Haindl.
Major winners Charl Schwartzel and Martin Kaymer recorded 68 and 70 respectively, the German's score being equalled by England's Tommy Fleetwood, 124th on the Order of Merit.
Branden Grace, trying for an incredible sixth win of a season that began with him fresh out of the European qualifying school, managed only a level par 72, the same as Schwartzel's brother Atti.
FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
Players from South Africa unless stated
64 Merrick Bremner
66 Matthew Carvell, Henrik Stenson (Swe)
67 Craig Lee (Sco), Alex Haindl
68 Darren Fichardt, Charl Schwartzel, Oliver Bekker, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe), Jake Roos, Michael Jonzon (Swe).

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
69 Peter Whiteford, David Drysdale (T14)
70 Lloyd Saltman, Marc Warren (T27)
71 George Murray, Alastair Forsyth (T43)
74 Steven O'Hara (T98)

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD

CLICK HERE       

McILROY TRAILS SPANISH ROOKIE LEADER BY NINE SHOTS IN HONG KONG OPEN

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE ASIAN TOUR

Asian Tour rookie Javi Colomo of Spain outshone all the illustrious names on the opening day of the UBS Hong Kong Open by firing a flawless six-under-par 64 to take the first round clubhouse lead on Thursday.

The opening round had to be suspended due to darkness with three players from the last group yet to complete their round. They will resume play on Friday, 8am.

Compatriot Miguel Angel Jimenez, who is twenty years older than Colomo, showed that old is gold when he rolled back the years to take a share of second place with Australia’s Andrew Dodt, a one-time winner on the Asian Tour, with his opening 65.

Trailing a further shot back is China’s most decorated player, Zhang Lian-wei who could have returned with a lower score had he not carded a double-bogey six on his finishing par-four 10^th.

The 47-year-old veteran signed for a 66 to take equal fourth place alongside Asian Tour honorary member Y.E. Yang of Korea, Ryder Cup Captain José María Olazábal of Spain, Italy’s Gagli Lorenzo and Sweden’s Fredrik Andersson Hed at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

Colomo, who has enjoyed three top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour this season, opened his campaign with pars on his first eight holes.

The 28-year-old’s round came alive when he blazed the course with six birdies in eight holes in his homeward run.

“I was very relaxed after the first nine holes, and after that, I took all my birdie opportunities. It helped that I had luck on my side on the greens as well,” said Colomo.

“I'm playing really well, because this is my first season here.  The first six months, it was very hard for me and for my wife, but now we are more comfortable and happy. It’s perfect,” added Colomo, who earned his Tour card by finishing tied-ninth at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in January.

Having won the Hong Kong Open in 2004 and 2007, Jimenez is bidding for a hat-trick of victories this week.

The cigar-chomping Spaniard was poised to extend his advantage at the top before two closing bogeys set him back.

“I played very solid all day long from tee to green.  I'm putting very well. It was a pity that I missed a fairway on the ninth hole and then I had to lay up and I missed a three metre putt,” said Jimenez.

“Then on the last hole, I got a big flyer, and that is the defence of the golf course, when you miss the fairway and go into the rough.  I made a bogey there again which is not very nice,” added the 48-year-old.

Highly regarded as a role model and big brother to the younger generations of golfers from China, Zhang showed that he can still lead the way after another commanding performance where he carded six birdies against a double-bogey.

After winning the National Opens of China and Macau, Zhang is hoping that he can add Hong Kong to his impressive haul of five victorious on the Asian Tour.

“I've won the China Open and the Macau Open and I've always wanted to add the Hong Kong Open to my wins. That's why I always love to come back to Hong Kong and play in the Hong Kong Open. Nobody has done it before and hopefully I can be the first player to achieve that accomplishment,” said Zhang.

Throughout his illustrious career that spans almost two decades, Zhang has beaten the likes of Major champions such as South Africa’s Ernie Els and Zimbabwean Nick Price.

With world number one Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and ltaly’s Matteo Manassero among the elite field this week, Zhang remains bullish about his chances of getting the better over the Major champions as well as his younger rivals who are almost half his age.

“I’ve the local knowledge here with all of my years of experience and they will be advantageous to me this week,” said Zhang.

Yang, who enjoyed a top-10 finish in Singapore last week, continued to ride on his good form, by mixing five birdies against a lone bogey on the 18^th to stay in touch with the leaders.

“Apart from the 18^th, I'm satisfied with the way I played today. It's been a while since I've been on the leaderboard after the first round so that's definitely a plus.  Hopefully I can build upon that,” said the Asian Tour honorary member.

Stephen Gallacher is the leading Scot on 68, one ahead of Paul Lawrie. He birdied seventh, 15th and 17th.
Nothing much happened for Rory McIlroy who finished on three-over-par 73. He had one birdie, at the long third, and bogey at the first, sxith, 14th and 15th in halves of 35-38.
Gallacher was out in 31 with birdies at the fourth, sixth and seventh. He came back in one-over with bogeys at the 12th and 16th sandwiching a solitary inward birdie at the 13th.
Lawrie ruined his day with a double bogey 6 at the 18th.  
Colin Montgomerie toiled to a 74 but much worse was an 84 - 14 over par - by Scott Jamieson. 

 

FIRST-ROUND LEADERS

Par 70. Yardage 6,699

Hong Kong Golf Club 

64 Javi COLOMO (ESP).

65 Miguel Angel JIMENEZ (ESP), Andrew DODT (AUS).

66 ZHANG Lian-wei (CHN), Jose Maria OLAZABAL (ESP), Fredrik ANDERSSON HED (SWE), Y.E. YANG (KOR), Lorenzo GAGLI (ITA).

67 Michael CAMPBELL (NZL), Joel SJOHOLM (SWE), Gregory BOURDY (FRA), Mardan MAMAT (SIN), Marcus FRASER (AUS), Matteo MANASSERO (ITA), Simon KHAN (ENG), David HORSEY (ENG).

68 Kwanchai Tannin (Thai), Gary Boyd (Eng), Scott Hend (Aus), Peter Lawrie (Ire), David Howell (Eng), Julien Quesne (Fra), Stephen Gallacher (Sco), Jyoti Randhawa (India) (T17)
69 Lee Slattery (Eng), Paul Lawrie (Sco), Matt Kuchar (US), Pablo Larfrazabal (Spa), Anders Hansen (Den), Darren Beck (Aus), Matthew Zions (Aus) (T27)

Selected scores

70 Paul Casey (Eng) (T40)
71 Padraig Harrington (Ire) (T54)

73 Rory McIlroy (NIre), Tom Lewis (Eng) (T93).
74 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) (T107)
79 Ross Bain (Sco) (T113)
84 Andrew McGregor (Sco) (142nd)
85 Scott Jamieson (Sco) (last of 144)   

JIMENEZ SETS HONG KONG CLUBHOUSE TARGET OF FIVE-UNDER 65

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
MIGUEL Angel Jiménez once again showed his liking for Hong Kong as the Spaniard bids to become the oldest winner in European Tour history.
The 48 year old shot a five under par 65 at the UBS Hong Kong Open to set the first round clubhouse target; that in spite of finishing his round with back-to-back bogeys.
Paul Lawrie had a 69.
A winner of this event in 2005 and 2008, Jiménez set off with a hattrick of birdies from the 11th, added further gains at the 17th, 18th and third before an approach to five feet at the sixth brought him a seventh birdie of the day.
The Ryder Cup Vice Captain has won 11 of his 18 European Tour titles since turning 40, the last of them in Switzerland two years ago, but his round finished on a slightly sour not as he bogeyed the ninth then failed to chip in for par at the tenth, his last.
“I played very solid all day,” he said.
“I'm putting very well. It's a pity that I missed a fairway on the ninth hole and then I had to lay up and I missed a three metre putt.
“Then on the last hole, I got a big flyer, and that is the defence of the golf course, when you miss the fairway and go in the rough.
“I like the place. The first time I came here I won the tournament here and then I won three years later also. I like it. It's an old fashioned golf course, it's not very long, but I need to be very precise, because if you miss the fairways, you're going to have flyers and the greens are fast.
“The golf course is an old fashioned golf course and it's a great golf course. I like it very much.”
Jiménez led by one from a group of three players; one of which was the familiar face of compatriot and playing partner José María Olazábal.
The Ryder Cup Captain had birdies from 20 feet at the fourth and ten feet at the sixth, with a pitch to to two feet at the tenth securing a four under par 66.
He was alongside Chinese veteran Zhang Lian-wei and Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed, while a shot further back the race for places in Dubai and on The European Tour next season was hotting up.
Swede Joel Sjöholm, Frenchman Grégory Bourdy and New Zealander Michael Campbell, 65th, 76th and 83rd on The Race to Dubai, were all round in 67 as they look to break into the top 60 in time for next week’s lucrative DP World Tour Championship.
Alongside them with a hole to play was England’s Gary Boyd, who at 125th needed a good week to climb into the top 119 who will keep their cards for next season come Sunday.
World Number One and Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy missed a four foot par putt at the first, but birdied the third from six feet to return to level par.
Boyd finished with a bogey, but it was still a good performance from the 26 year old - who needs at least €4,861 to stand a chance of overhauling 119th-placed Rhys Davies.
Former US PGA Champion Y E Yang was going best of the afternoon starters, the Korean advancing to five under and level with Jiménez with three holes to play.
England’s Simon Khan - 115th on The Race to Dubai but with no exemption worries after his BMW PGA Championship win in 2010 - joined the group on four under, while last week’s winner Matteo Manassero was going well on three under through 15 holes.

TO VIEW THE SCOREBOARD
CLICK HERE

GAVIN DEAR WINS A FEW DOLLARS MORE

Gavin Dear from Scone, runner-up on Florida's Golfslinger Tour earlier in the week, finished joint 19th in the latest one-day event, the Jupiter Classic at Jupiter, south Florida. Dear, who plays out of Murrayshall Golf Hotel near Perth, had a one-over par 73 and earned $75. The entry fee for a Golfslinger Tour event is $200. Earlier in the week Dear earned $525 for his second place finish. The Scot finishd six shots behind the winner of the $1,000 prize, Clayton Gamber III from Doral, Florida. Greg Duncan, a second-year pro from Edinburgh, finished joint 28th in the field of 48 with a score of 76. He finished out of the money.

PAUL SHIELDS MISSES FIRST ARIZONA CUT

Scottish amateur international Paul Shields missed the cut in is third competition on the All-American Professional Golf Tour at Vista Verde Golf Club, Rio Verde in Arizona (on Wednesday). The Kirkhill Golf Club, Glasgow member had made the cut in his first two events and had a top 10 finish last week. This week, in a field of 88, Shields scored 76-74 for a six-over-par total of 150. He missed the cut to the leading 36 players by four shots and was placed joint 65th overall. Meanwhile, Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn, making his seasonal debut on the tour's third event on the 2012-2013 campaign, was lying in joint ninth place going into the final round. He has had a pair of 69s for six-under 138 and was three shots behind  leader Andre Metzger (68-65 for 11-under 133).