CALLUM TRAHAN MAKES TOP 10 FOR FIRST TIME IN SPAIN

Rookie Scottish professional Callum Trahan (Meldrum House) achieved his highest finish on the Spanish Gecko Tour today.
Playing in the 36-hole event at Marbella Club Golf Resort on the Costa del Sol, Trahan (pictured) had rounds of 76 and 72 for a four-over-par total of 148.
He just made the money list in a share of 10th place in a field of 38 players and earned 200 Euros.
Paisley-born Stuart Ballingall from Norwich finished joint 22nd on 157 with scores of 81 and 76.
Sweden's Joakim Lagergren was the winner by two shots from Spain's Gabriel Canizares (68-69) with a nine-under-par total of 135 (69-66).  
England's Andrew Cooley finished third on 140 (70-70) with English amateur Luke Johnson fourth on 141 (72-69). 

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

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DEFENDING CHAMPION PAUL LAWRIE MISSES CUT IN QATAR MASTERS

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, Ryder Cup team-mates who both ended last year lifting a trophy, are part of a four-way tie for the halfway lead at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.
But Paul Lawrie, another of Europe's heroes in Chicago, saw his defence of the title come to a premature end after a four-putt double bogey on the 15th hole. He missed the cut by a single stroke.
Playing partner Garcia shot 66 and Kaymer returned a 67 to be alongside Australian Marcus Fraser and Portugal's Ricardo Santos on nine under par.
Garcia underwent laser eye surgery to correct astigmatism following the victory over the Americans in September, but finished 2012 with a round of 61 for a three shot win at the Johor Open in Malaysia.
That came two weeks after Kaymer, the man who sank the putt to retain The Ryder Cup and leapt into the Spaniard's arms, took the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa by two.
While the German played in Abu Dhabi last week and came joint sixth, this is Garcia's first appearance of the season.
"It was nice - I definitely felt I played a little bit better than yesterday," the 32 year old said after his six birdies.
"Obviously I would have loved to hit a couple of shots better, but I gave myself a lot of chances and I can't be disappointed.
"The wind started picking up a bit and it made it tough enough to choose the right clubs.
"We tried to play smart and managed to do that fairly nicely."
First round leader Santos followed up his 65 with a 70, making a fine up and down from the bunker at the par five last, while Fraser did the same on the long ninth to complete his 67.

“It was a little bit scrappy down the last hole but I managed to scramble a par,” said two-time European Tour winner Fraser.

“Overall I felt like I played pretty steadily most of the day. I made a few birdies once I got on to the back nine, which was the front nine, but I'm pretty happy with the day.

“It is definitely one of those courses where you need to be patient and just take your chances where you can get them.”

Santos may not have been able to maintain his first round advantage, but the Madeira Islands Open winner was still pleased with his efforts.

“I struck the ball very well today,” he said. “I just missed a few shots but I'm still happy with the round. 

“This afternoon the wind is a little bit stronger than the morning, so I'm happy with two under. It's never easy, but I started really well - after four holes I was three under - so I told myself to just keep playing like that. 

“I just want to play my game the best I can, and then we'll see. I want to enjoy the weekend.”

World Number Four Justin Rose made his first cut in five visits to Doha. "That's almost like leading the tournament round here," he joked. With a 71 for five under, last week's runner-up has four strokes to make up and lies joint 20th.

Rose, penalised a shot on the opening day when his ball moved as he prepared to tap in on the 17th, had only himself to blame for a bogey six at the 591-yard first.

That was his tenth hole of the round and he sent his second shot way right into the desert scrub and needed three more just to make the green.

He dropped another after driving into sand on the tenth, but made a 15 footer for birdie at the short eighth.

Open Champion Ernie Els, the winner here in 2005, made it through with nothing to spare on one under, but twice champion Lawrie was unable to recover from his nightmare on the 15th.

The Scot's long birdie attempt from the front fringe finished three feet from the flag and he three-putted from there before missing a six foot chance to survive on the last.

The four leaders are a stroke ahead of England's Gary Lockerbie, South African George Coetzee, Chilean Felipe Aguilar, New Zealand's former US Open Champion Michael Campbell and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen, who was joint second with Rose in Abu Dhabi last Sunday.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

135 M Fraser (Aus) 68 67; M Kaymer (Ger) 68 67; R Santos  (Por) 65 70; S Garcia  (Esp) 69 66;

136 T Olesen (Den) 68 68; F Aguilar (Chi) 69 67; M Campbell (Nzl) 68 68; G Lockerbie  (Eng) 67 69; G Coetzee (RSA) 69 67;

137 A Wall (Eng) 66 71; C Wood  (Eng) 67 70; A Hartø  (Den) 68 69; A Kaleka  (Fra) 66 71; G Mulroy (RSA) 69 68;

138 A Sullivan (Eng) 67 71; P Casey  (Eng) 70 68; A Noren  (Swe) 71 67; B Grace  (RSA) 70 68; J Kruger (RSA) 70 68;

139 H Stenson (Swe) 70 69; M Hoey  (Nir) 70 69; P Whiteford (Sco) 66 73; J Rose (Eng) 68 71; T Jaidee (Tha) 70 69; A Hansen (Den) 68 71; T Aiken (RSA) 71 68; L Gagli  (Ita) 68 71; M Lundberg (Swe) 72 67; G Havret  (Fra) 70 69; G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp) 69 70;

140 S Khan (Eng) 67 73; D Horsey (Eng) 68 72; S Webster (Eng) 69 71; B Rumford (Aus) 67 73; M Ilonen  (Fin) 71 69; D McGrane (Irl) 68 72; L Oosthuizen  (RSA) 71 69; R Derksen (Ned) 71 69; R Bland (Eng) 71 69; R Jacquelin (Fra) 73 67; V Dubuisson  (Fra) 68 72;

141 T Björn (Den) 72 69; R Green (Aus) 68 73; J Sjöholm (Swe) 69 72; C Lee (Sco) 72 69; T Lewis (Eng) 70 71; J Dufner (USA) 71 70; M Manassero (Ita) 69 72; P Hanson (Swe) 68 73;

142 T Hamilton (USA) 73 69; P Meesawat  (Tha) 71 71; M Foster (Eng) 71 71; R Wattel  (Fra) 72 70; P Waring  (Eng) 73 69; D Howell (Eng) 69 73; B Wiesberger  (Aut) 70 72;

143 E Els (RSA) 72 71; S Dyson  (Eng) 71 72; E Goya (Arg) 71 72; S Chowrasia (Ind) 70 73; P Lawrie (Irl) 72 71; R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 72; S Gallacher (Sco) 72 71; M Baldwin (Eng) 73 70; S Wakefield (Eng) 71 72; L Slattery (Eng) 70 73; D Drysdale (Sco) 72 71; T Fleetwood  (Eng) 72 71; S Henry  (Sco) 69 74; J Gonnet  (Fra) 71 72; C Doak (Sco) 72 71; M Siem  (Ger) 72 71; F Zanotti (Par) 70 73; G Maybin (Nir) 72 71
 MISSED THE CUT

144 C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73; I Garrido (Esp) 71 73; P Lawrie (Sco) 72 72; A Dodt (Aus) 73 71; M Wiegele  (Aut) 67 77; R Finch  (Eng) 74 70; T Levet (Fra) 71 73; A Cañizares  (Esp) 72 72; J Parry (Eng) 72 72;

145 M Kieffer (Ger) 75 70; R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 76; M Lafeber (Ned) 72 73; H Otto (RSA) 72 73; J Campillo (Esp) 74 71; O Fisher  (Eng) 71 74; R Goosen (RSA) 74 71; G Storm  (Eng) 73 72; S Kjeldsen (Den) 72 73;

146 J Walters (RSA) 72 74; K Broberg (Swe) 73 73; G Bourdy (Fra) 71 75; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 75 71; P Price (Wal) 73 73; M Warren (Sco) 69 77; D Fichardt (RSA) 71 75; J Edfors (Swe) 72 74;

147 J Singh (Ind) 72 75; E Pepperell (Eng) 78 69; A Tadini (Ita) 73 74; E Grillo (Arg) 77 70; P Erofejeff (Fin) 74 73; J Hansen  (Den) 73 74; E Kofstad (Nor) 72 75;

148 C Cévaër (Fra) 71 77; J Lara (Esp) 72 76; P McGinley (Irl) 73 75; M Williams (am) (Eng) 72 76;

149 N Fasth (Swe) 73 76;

150 K Horne (RSA) 72 78; J Busby (Eng) 77 73;

151 S Jamieson  (Sco) 74 77; C Montgomerie  (Sco) 72 79; D Foos (am) (Ger) 75 76

152 P Larrazábal (Esp) 75 77; E Molinari  (Ita) 71 81; J Olazábal (Esp) 77 75; R Coles (Eng) 74 78

154 C Paisley  (Eng) 75 79; M Lampert (Ger) 76 78

159 S Al Kaabi (am) (Qat) 81 78

161 G Al Kuwari (am) (Qat) 76 85

162 J Thornton (Eng) 83 79

 

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

ABERDEEN'S GAMOLA GOLF RAISES £2,147 FOR CHARITIES

Graeme Masterton and Yvonne Bernard, retail manager at Gamola    Golf, at a fundraising evening held at the Locker Room.

 NEWS RELEASE

An Aberdeen retail and hospitality business has raised more than £2,000 for local charities.

Gamola Golf, a large golf club, equipment, clothing and accessories store based on the city’s Market Street, has raised £2,147 for Friends of Roxburghe House and Homestart Aberdeen. The money will be split evenly between the causes.

Friends of Roxburghe House is a specialist palliative care unit which concentrates on symptom control for patients with life-limiting illness, while Homestart Aberdeen is an organisation which offers practical help and support to parents of young children.

Gamola Golf held a number of fundraising events in the past year with the proceeds going to the two voluntary groups. One of the prizes auctioned was an exclusive Cobra tour bag signed by Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter.

At a separate fundraising evening, held at the Locker Room bar and restaurant, part of the Gamola Golf complex, further items auctioned included a signed Justin Rose cart bag, used by the professional himself and 4-balls at Royal Dornoch Golf Club and the exclusive Archerfield Links Golf Club, near North Berwick.

Graeme Masterton, pictured right, the driving force behind Gamola Golf, said: “It’s proved to be an incredibly exciting year for the business, particularly as it was our first year at our Market Street premises. We’re always eager to support local causes and are pleased to help these two great charities in any way we can.”

The Gamola Golf complex is home to a 4,000 sq ft retail store as well as the company’s thriving online business. Both feature a host of leading brands including Callaway, Mizuno, Nike, TaylorMade, Titleist and Vega. The store is currently open from 9am to 7pm during the week, 9am to 6pm on Saturdays and 10am to 5pm on Sundays.

It also features the Locker Room, a bar, restaurant and virtual golf venue which can host more than 140 people. Its five large golf simulators offer virtual access to more than 130 of the world’s premier golf courses - including Kingsbarns, The Belfry and Celtic Manor - and can test the limits of even the most talented golfer.

Prices for virtual golf at the Locker Room are £30 per hour per simulator for a maximum of four people, with special packages available for group bookings. The venue is currently open from 10am to midnight, seven days a week.

Tartan Tour Professional Greg McBain, winner of the 2012 Paul Lawrie Invitational, is on hand to provide golf lessons as well as advice on custom-fit clubs, while the top floor includes training facilities and meeting rooms available for hire.

 Visit www.gamolagolf.co.uk or email lockerroom@gamolagolf.co.uk

JAMES BYRNE MAKES CUT BUT JACK DOHERTY FAILS AT ASIAN TOUR Q SCHOOL

James Byrne from Banchory produced a superb second-round 65 to beat the cut to the leading 100 and ties. 
He goes into the second half of the tournament in T30 place on four-under-par 139.
Fellow Scot Jack Doherty, who was ahead of Byrne after an opening 73, failed to make it with a 72 for 145, two shots over the qualifying limit

NEWS RELEASE FROM ASIAN TOUR

Hua Hin, Thailand: China’s Hu Mu believes golf in China will reach greater heights if more golfers join the professional ranks like him.

Leading by example, the 23-year-old Chinese fired a second round four-under-par 68 at the Imperial Lakeview Golf Club to safely make it into the final two rounds of the Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage presented by Sports Authority of Thailand on Thursday.

With his two-day total of nine-under-par 134, Hu is among the 112 players who will continue to do battle at the Asian Tour Qualifying School where only the top-40 and ties will earn their full playing status for the 2013 season.

“We have a huge golf population in China and more junior golfers coming up but not many of them are playing professionally. I think you’ve to have enough professional golfers in order to promote the game. We can certainly do better in those aspects,” said Hu, who had a promising amateur career when he won the under 18-year-old division at the China Junior Golf Open in 2001.

Hu is hoping for more playing opportunities on the Asian Tour and remains upbeat about his chances now that he has edged closer to securing his Tour card.

“My plans for the year would be to play in as many tournaments as I can. I should just keep working hard and doing the same routine like now,” said Hu.

“I’m not particularly happy with my scores today but I guess I played okay. I felt I left a lot of shots out there so there’s still room for improvement,” added Hu, who marked his card with six birdies against two bogeys to end the day in equal fourth.

Hu is one of the two Chinese players, hoping to secure their Tour cards this week. China’s other representative, Ye Jian-feng missed the cut after rounds of 70 and 79.

The cut was set at even-par after 36 holes.

Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena is returning to Qualifying School again as he wants another shot at glory on the Asian Tour again.

After losing his card when he finished in 82^nd place on the Order of Merit last season, the 18-year-old is determined to regain his place so that he can play against the best players on the Asian Tour.

“The reason why I want to come back and play on the Asian Tour is because it opens up so many doors for me. You get to play the co-sanctioned events and play against so many good players on the Tour as well,” said Tabuena.

Despite nursing a bout of flu, the teenager still managed to sign for a 72 to secure tied-30th place on 139 total.

Players who play in the Qualifying School are also eligible to play in the Asian Development Tour (ADT) which will be afforded with Official World Golf Ranking points starting this season.

  TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
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CRAIG GROUP ANNOUNCE SPONSORSHIP OF SCOTT HENRY

NEWS RELEASE
Global shipping and energy services firm, The Craig Group has announced the expansion of its sponsorship programme as its latest supported golfer, Scott Henry, teed off at the Qatar Masters in Doha this week.
Henry, 25, from Glasgow recently gained his European Tour card at the 2012 European Challenge Tour’s season-ending Apulia San Domenico Grand Final – the Challenge Tour equivalent of the European Tour ‘Race to Dubai’.
Boosted by winning the Kazakhstan Open, he graduated with one of the top European Tour Cards and joined Aberdeen PGA European Tour pro Richie Ramsay, also sponsored by The Craig Group, in Abu Dhabi last weekend.
The sponsorship from the company, one of Aberdeen’s most successful and established family businesses, is for the duration of 2013 and will see the company’s logo featured on the collar of Henry’s t-shirts.
Douglas Craig, chairman and managing director of the Craig Group, said: “Through our corporate social responsibility we have worked with a number of up and coming golfers from around Scotland from whom a little support can go a long way.  It means a lot for the company to help promote sport in Scotland and we are proud to be part of Scott’s achievements through our sponsorship programme.
“Scott is extremely enthusiastic and ambitious. This, combined with his dedication to the sport and his sportsmanship, makes him an ideal ambassador for both The Craig Group and golfing in Scotland.”
Commenting on the sponsorship, Henry said: “This is an exciting new relationship and I am extremely proud to be part of The Craig Group programme. Participating in the ‘Middle East Swing’ is a key milestone in my career and I’m determined to secure the best placings possible – showing what Scotland has to offer the international sporting community.”
The Kings Links Golf Centre, owned by the Craig Group, continues to sponsor Aberdeen golfer Scott Henderson, the sponsored touring pro, underlining its commitment to the region’s more experienced players.

DAVID JOY APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF ENGLAND GOLF

To:

Calcarsongolf@btinternet.com

David Joy has been appointed by the Board of England Golf as the organisation’s new Chief Executive Officer and will take up his role on April 22, 2013. Since 2005 David has been Director of Derbyshire Sport and will bring with him over 25 years of management experience within national and local sports organisations, more than 12 of which have been as a Chief Executive. Derbyshire Sport is one of England’s larger and more established county sports partnerships where David has managed a large team and led the development and implementation of the Derbyshire plan for sport.  As a result the county is well on track with its ambition to become one of the most active and successful sporting counties in England by 2020. Within this role David has directed Derbyshire’s relationships with Sport England, Sports Coach UK and many national governing bodies of sport, including England Golf. Prior to this David spent six years  as Chief Executive of Scottish Athletics where he led a modernisation process that resulted in significant increases in membership of the governing body and the creation of a number of long term commercial partnerships. During this time he worked closely with The Scottish Executive, sportscotland, Events Scotland, Health Education Board for Scotland and UK Athletics.  David is a keen golfer and until recently was a member of Trentham Park Golf Club. Born in Stoke on Trent David spent the first eight years of his career as a PE teacher and Head of PE before embarking on his sports career with a national development role with English Volleyball.  Speaking about his appointment, David said: “This is a really exciting time for amateur golf following the merger of the men’s and women’s game.  I am delighted to be given the opportunity to join England Golf and to work with the board, the staff team, the volunteers at national, county and club level and our key partners, as we seek to take advantage of the many opportunities for golf development throughout England.” Nigel Evans, Chair of the England Golf Board commented, "We are delighted that David has agreed to join us.  His extensive experience in the governance of sport and working with a variety of stakeholders, including legislative and parliamentary bodies will be extremely valuable.  We are looking forward to David using that experience to bring future development and further growth to England Golf." Lynne Fraser Marketing and PR Manager Email: pr@englandgolf.org Tel: 01526 354500

GRAHAM GORDON LEADS SCOTS IN SOUTH AMERICA

 Graham Gordon from Newmachar shot the lowest round of the four Scots in the field of 77 players on the first day of the South American men's amateur championship at El Rincon Golf Club, Bogota in Colombia.
The forrmer Scottish champion and 1999 Walker Cup player returned a 78 to be lying joint 21st, six shots the pace-setter Juan Miguel Heredia (Ecuador).
Jamie Savage (Cawder) and Erskine's Michael Daily had 79s. Fraser Moore (Glenbervie) returned an 80 to be joint 41st.
Geoff Lenehan (Ireland) and Wolgang Pedal (Peru) shared second place on 73
Best English scores were 75s by Callum Shinklin and Jordan Smith. They are joint fifth going into the second day.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
72 Juan Miguel Heredia (Ecu).
73 Geoff Lenehan (Ire), Pedal Wolgang (Peru).
SELECTED SCORES
75 Callum Shinkin (Eng), Jordan Smith (Eng) (T5)
76 Brian Casey (Ire) (T10)
77 Jason Shufflebotham (Wal) (T14)
78 Graham Gordon (Sco) (T21)
79 Jamie Savage (Sco), Michael Daily (Sco) (T30)
80 Fraser Moore (Sco) (T41) .    

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

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ENGLAND BEAT SPAIN IN QUADRANGULAR INTERNATIONAL

 England beat hosts Spain 5 1/2-3 1/2 while Finland beat 
Germany 7-2 on the opening day of the quadrangular 
international at Costa Ballena.

ENGLAND 5 1/2, SPAIN 3 1/2
Foursomes (1 1/2-1 1/2)
Patrick Kelly and Dan Wasteney lost to Javier Gallegos and Toni Ferrer 1 hole.
Darren Timms and Nick Marsha halved with Javier Sainz and Borja Virto.
Jack Bartlett and Ryan Evans sbt Mario Galiano and Victor Pastor 2 and 1.
Singles (4-2)
Kelly bt Ferrer 2 holes
Wasteney halved with Gallegos
Marsh bt Virto 2 and 1
Evans lost to Sainz 3 and 2
#Bartlett halved with Pastor
Timms btGaliano 3 and 2.

GERMANY 2, FINLAND 7
Foursomes 0-3
Singles 2-4        

NACHO GARRIDO JOINS EUROPEAN TOUR'S 500 CLUB

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS 
After completing his opening round of one under par 71 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, Ignacio Garrido became a member of an exclusive group of professionals to have played 500 European Tour events.

The Spaniard, whose career highlights include a victorious Ryder Cup appearance in his homeland in 1997 and a victory in the Tour’s flagship event at the 2003 PGA Championship, became just the 23^rd player in history to reach the milestone of 500 (or more) appearances on The European Tour.

To mark the occasion, Garrido (picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c), was presented with a silver ice bucket, produced by Thomas Lyte, by the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters Tournament Director, David Probyn.

“I have to be honest and confess that I didn't know about my 500^th appearance until I got here, but it’s nice to know that I've been around so long – let's hope it's not the last 500 and there are many more,” smiled Garrido.

“I guess it's not easy to reach that many tournaments and it's nice to get there.  But the main thing is not only to play the tournaments, but to stay competitive and keep having a chance to win some of them at some point.

“I still have ambition and believe that there is something out there for me that I still haven't achieved and that's what we still work hard for.”

Born into a prodigious golfing family – his father, Antonio, and uncle, German, were both European Tour winners – Ignacio, or ‘Nacho’ to his friends, made his first appearance on Tour as an amateur at the 1990 Spanish Open. He won the prestigious English Amateur Strokeplay title in 1992 before joining the paid ranks and making his first Tour start as a professional in the 1993 Turespaña Iberia-Open de Canarias.

He graduated from the Challenge Tour in 1993 and won his first title at the 1997 German Open to join his father and uncle as a European Tour winner.

That same year, Garrido made his one and only Ryder Cup appearance, an experience that would prove to be the highlight of his career as he played his part in helping Seve Ballesteros’s European Team to victory over the USA in Spain – the first Ryder Cup staged in Continental Europe, at the magnificent Club de Golf Valderrama.

Garrido claimed one and a half points from his four matches at Valderrama, including halving his first three games to become the first rookie in Ryder Cup history to halve three matches.

His greatest individual success came at the home of The European Tour, over Wentworth Club’s famous West Course as he won the 2003 PGA Championship.