ARRAN OPEN (36 holes) JUNE 1 AND 2

You can enter online at www.brodickgolf.com for the Arran Open, to be played over 36 holes at Brodick golf course (SSS 64) on Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2 (18 holes each day).
Scratch and handicap prize lists match each other.
Closing date for entries, May 29 

STEWART HAS CASABLANCA VICTORY CHANCE

Duncan Stewart put together a six-birdie round to give himself an outside chance of victory in the MENA Tour's 54-hole, $50,000 Royal D'Anfa Open at Royal Golf D'Anfa, Casablanca, Morocco today.The Grantown on Spey man, pictured, shot a two-under-par 70 (37-33) with birdies at the sixth, long seventh, 10th, short 11th, long 12th and 15th.That represented a good recovery from a bogey-bogey start but he will be kicking himself that he bogeyed the short 17th, which leaves him four shots to make up over the final round on the Welsh leader, Stephen Dodd.Dodd is three clear of the field on 139 after rounds of 70 and 69. Mortonhall's Greg Nicolson had a nightmare second-round 82 for 156 which drops him down to a share of 40 place. Nicolson had four double bogeys as well as three birdies in halves of 40-42. ROYAL D'ANFA OPENRoyal Golf D'Anfa, Casablanca, Morocco SECOND ROUND LEADERSPar 144 (2x72)  139 Stephen Dodd (Wal) 70 69.142 Fredrik Quicker (Swe) 72 70, Zane Scotland (Eng) 72 70.143 Duncan Stewart (Sco) 73 70, Daniel Wardrop (Eng) 73 70.144 Dale Marmion (Eng) 70 74, Ian Keenan (Eng) 76 68, Amine Joudar (Mor) 77 67, El Hali Abdelkader (Mor) 75 69. SELECTED SCORES150 Clarke Lutton (Sco) 77 73 (T24).156 Greg Nicolson (Sco) 74 82.

HUTCH LEADS NE ALLIANCE CHSHIP BY TWO AT HALFWAY

            GREIG HUTCHEON .... two shots of a start in second round at Banff
 
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolview.com
Tartan Tour No 1 Greig Hutcheon, runner-up in last year's North-east Golfers' Alliance championship, is hot favourite to go one better in this year's 36-hole event.
The Banchory tour pro opened up a two-stroke lead at the end of the first round with a six-under-par 64 over a snow-free Montrose Links today
Only four players in the field of 77 got under the 70 par mark with Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon), pictured below left, Hutcheon's nearest challenger on 66 when the second round tees off at Duff House Royal next Wednesday.



The others to break 70 were John Duff (Newmachar) with a 67 (33-34) and Craig Lawrie (Deeside) with a 68 (34-34).
Hutcheon crammed seven birdies into his round - at the second, fourth, fifth, 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th. His only slip was a bogey at the 10th in halves of 32.
Duncan was leading the field when he turned in 31 with the help of birdies at the third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth to offset a bogey at the first. 
But he came slightly off the boil on the inward nine with bogeys at the 12th and 16th cancelling out birdies at the 10th and 17th.
John Duff was the only one of the leaders not to have a bogey on his card in halves of 33-34. He birdied the fourth, eighth and 17th.
Craig Lawrie started moderately with bogeys at the first and third but then had a four-under-par run over six holes, of which his father would have been proud - birdies at the fifth, sixth, ninth and 10th. 
A bogey at the 12th robbed him of some of his momentum but always nice to finish with a birdie, which he did to be on the two-under 68 mark on his own.
Former Aberdeen Links champion Stewart Finnie (Caledonian) did not look like matching the par of 70 when he took 38 to the turn - and had, in some players' opinion, the more difficult half to come. But Stewart rattled home in 32 with three birdies and no bogeys.
Also on the 70 mark, the best score yet from Kamran Zeynalov from, and I will not attempt to spell it, but it begins with an "A" and has a "z" in it and finishes "an."
Playing out of Portlethen and working behind the counter at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, Kamran had halves of 35. He will have the bragging rights over another young Portlethen member North-east boys champion Sam Kiloh whose 87 reflects one of those days when very little went right for him.
Scotland international Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) would have been expecting to do better than a one-over 71.  He could have done with Stewart Finnie's inward half because it cost Adam 37 blows for the second nine after turning in 34.   

MONTROSE LINKS

Par 70
64 G Hutcheon (Banchory) 32-32
66 K Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 31-35
67 J Duff (Newmachar) 33-34
68 C Lawrie (Deeside) 34-34
70 S Finniie (Caledonian) 38-32, K Zeynalov (Portlethen) 35-35.
71 A Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 34-37.
72 C Nelson (Mackenzie Shop) 37-35.
74 G Paterson (Northern) 36-38, F Clarke (Newmachar) 40-34, C Carnegie (Kemnay) 38-36, J Nicolson (Auchmill) 36-38.
75 S Murray (Craibstone) 37-38, J Hopwood (Royal Aberdeen) 35-40, H Roulston (Stonehaven) 36-39.  
76 D Leslie (Northern), J Emslie (Royal Aberdeen), S Mackie (Auchmill).
78 J Duncan (Newburgh), J Hamilton (Murcar Links), A Campbell (Deeside), K Watson (Deeside).
79 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), M Winton (Caledonian), M Forster (Cruden Bay), F Bisset (Banchory), I Bratton (Newburgh).
80 A Graham (Aboyne), K Beveridge (unatt).
81 D McKay (Caledonian), G Milne (Newburgh), B Harper (Newburgh).
82 P Adams (Ballater), I D Smith (Hazlehead), D Mackay (Newmachar), M Duncan (Murcar Links).
83 L Roger (Royal Aberdeen), S Thomson (Caledonian).
84 T Collie (Kemnay), D Bisset (Banchory), D Fleming (Portlethen), H McNaughton (Cruden Bay), A Petrie (Oldmeldrum).
85 A Gall (Deeside), N Chisholm (Kemnay), J Borthwick (Craibstone), L Prouse (Hazlehead).
86 W Shaw (Banchory).
87 M Merchant (Newmachar), E Allan (Newmachar), S Kiloh (Portlethen), D Nelson (Aboyne), C Brindley (Banchory).
88 N Stewart (Northern), B Lumsden (Northern), D Wilson (Duff House Royal).
89 G Homer (Northern), R Brown (Newburgh), P Cheyne (Northern), J Forrest (Northern), G Dillon (Kemnay).
90 M Smith (Inverurie).
91 D Wright (Northrn).
92 P Cornfield (Auchmill), M Brown (Newburgh), M Rogers (Kemnay).
97 S Dillon (Kemnay).

TOP CARDS' BIRDIES-BOGEYS
GREIG HUTCHEON: 64
Birdies: 2-4-5-12-13-15-18
Bogey: 10

KEVIN DUNCAN: 66
Birdies: 3-4-5-7-8-10-17
Bogeys: 1-12-16

JOHN DUFF: 67
Birdies: 4-8-17
Bogeys: 0   

CRAIG LAWRIE: 68
Birdies: 5-6-9-10-18
Bogeys: 1-3-12
  
HANDICAP PRIZEWINNERS
Class 1 - K Zeynalov (Portlethen) (4) 66; H Roulston (Stonehaven) (7) 68; C Carnegie (Kemnay) (4) 70; J Hamilton (Murcar Links) (7), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (3) 71. 

Class 2 - M Winton (Caledonian) (11) 68; I D Smith (Hazlehead) (11) 71; T Collie (Kemnay) (12), L Roger (Royal Aberdeen) (11), S Thomson (Caledonian) (11) 72.

+SECOND ROUND WILL BE PLAYED AT 
DUFF HOUSE ROYAL GC, BANFF NEXT 
WEDNESDAY   

TEE TIMES FOR ROUND 2 
OF CHAMPIONSHIP
 

08:15 Charlie Cassie, Keith Watson, Brian Harper

08:23 Ian Bratton, David Mackay, Andrew Campbell

08:31 Stephen Dillon, G Dillon.

08:39 Donald Macandrew, Fraser Clark,  Gordon Munro

08:47 Grant Leslie, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ed Allan

08:55 S Davidson, Mike Brown, Raymond Brown

09:03 Harry Roulston, John Hamilton, John Borthwick

09:11 Michael Rendall, Leslie Roger, John Duff

09:19 

09:27 Hamish McNaughton, Lawrence Prouse, Colin Nelson

09:35 Christopher Lamb, Robert Lamb, Manson Merchant
09:43 Stuart Thomson, Mike Winton, Stewart Finnie

09:51 John Jessiman, Alister Petrie

09:59 Jackie Forrest, Norman Stewart, George Paterson

10:07 Ian Grant, Mike Smith

10:15 Peter Walker, Alan Gall, Martin Forster

10:23 Jim Emslie, Les Fowler, David Fleming

10:31 Willie Shaw, David Leslie, Gary Homer

10:39 Peter Cheyne, Dick Wright, Benny Lumsden

10:47 Neish Chisholm, Philip Adams, Eric Adams

10:55 

11:03 Robbie Duncan, Alister Clark, Willie Skene

11:19 Craig Carnegie, Tommy Collie, Mark Lawrie

11:27 Nigel Parker, Peter Guthrie, Mike Rogers

11:35 Jim Duncan, Gordon Milne, Duncan Clark

11:43 Chris Brindley, Fergus Bisset, Greig Hutcheon

11:51 David Nelson, Alister Graham, Mike Booth

11:59 Adam Dunton

12:07 David Bisset, Derek Randall, Jim Murray

12:15 Kamran Zeynalov, Sam Kiloh, Craig Lawrie

12:23  
12:31
12:39
12.47
12:55 John Nicolson, Paul Cornfield

13:03 Steve Allan, Scott Mackie, Steve Murray

TWELVE YEAR OLD CHINESE BOY QUALIFIES FOR VOLVO CHINA OPEN

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
Twelve-year-old Ye Wocheng became the youngest golfer to qualify for a European Tour event when the Chinese schoolboy survived a late wobble to grab a place at the Volvo China Open today. 
Ye's two round two-under-par total of 142 at the Western China qualifier earned him a spot at the May 2-5 European and OneAsia Tour event and his participation will see him better the mark of his compatriot Guan Tianlang, who competed last year as a 13-year-old.

The amateur, who lives in the industrial city of Donggaun in Guangdong province and is a member of the local Hillview Golf Club,had his father caddying for him as he belied his age and lack of experience to claim one of the three places on offer.

After shooting an opening four-under 68 on Tuesday, Ye raced to the turn in his second round, leading the field on seven-under after four birdies today, but the pressure began to tell on a tumultuous back nine.

Shots were dropped at the 11th and 14th before he appeared to settle down with a birdie 2 at the 15th only to rack up a horror 8 at the par five 16th.

His opening 27 holes had, however, provided an ample cushion and he could even afford to drop another shot on the last hole and claim the third and final place with two shots to spare.

Eighteen-year-old Li Xinyang and Jin Da Xing finished joint first on five-under 139 at the Wolong Valley Country Club with no other player finishing under par.
The 19th edition of the Volvo China Open will take place at the Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club in north-east China.
(Reporting by Patrick Johnston in Singapore, editing by Amlan Chakraborty

TOM WATSON SAYS HE WANTS ONLY THREE WILD CARDS FOR GLENEAGLES

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
United States Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson has reduced his number of wild card picks for next year's contest at Gleneagles from four to three.

The 63-year-old took up the captaincy in December and has been charged with the task of building a team to try and wrestle the title away from Europe, who recorded an astonishing win at Medinah Country Club last year.

"There's not a lot of method in my madness but I think the players ought to have another shot of getting on the team by merit," Watson said.

"I will use all possible resources in choosing these three captain's choices to complete the best possible team in order to win the cup back for the United States."

Paul Azinger was the first US captain to have four picks in 2008 and is also the last to taste success after his side won by five points at Valhalla.

Opposite number Nick Faldo had two wild cards - Ian Poulter and Paul Casey - while 2010 European captain Colin Montgomerie opted for three wild cards and 2012 captain Jose Maria Olazabal chose just two.

DAVID LAW SIX SHOTS OFF THE LEAD IN RED SEA CLASSIC

David Law goes into the final round of the German PGA Developmental Tour's Red Sea Egyptian Classic with only five players ahead of him on the leaderboard and a six-shot leeway to make up on the leader. 
The Aberdonian shot a second-round, one-under-par 71 for a three-under 36-hole tally of 141, birdieing the long eighth, short ninth and long 13th but dropping shots at the fifth and 16th. 
Tiago Cruz (Portugal) leads by one with scores of 66-69 for nine-under 135. 
The only other Scot to survive the cut - with two shots to spare - was David James on 146. The Dumfries man, however, slipped from joint ninth to joint 32nd. Five bogeys and two birdies (13th and 17th) added up to a 75, four strokes worse than on Tuesday.
 Law's Paul Lawrie Golf Centre stablemates, Jordan Findlay from Fraserburgh and Peterhead's Philip McLean missed the cut by a considerable margin.
 Findlay had a 79 (41-38) for 153 while McLean had a 77 for 156.

RED SEA EGYPTIAN CLASSIC

 Sokhana GC, Egypt.
 LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS 
Par 144 (2x72)
135 Tiago Cruz (Por) 66 69.
136 Romain Schneider (Fra) 71 65.
139 Christian Baunsoe (Den) 69 70, Nuno Henriques (Por) 68 71.

SELECTED SCORES 
141 David Law (Sco) 70 71 (T6).
146 David James (Sco) 71 75 (T32).

 MISSED THE CUT (148 and better qualified)
153 Jordan Findlay (Sco) 74 77.
156 Philip McLean (Sco) 79 77.

LA MANGA CLUB BOOKS UP BY ONE-THIRD ON 2013

NEWS RELEASE

Spain’s La Manga Club resort is proving more popular than ever among UK golfers with bookings up by more than a third in 2013 on the corresponding period last year.

The award-winning five-star venue in Murcia, south-east Spain, has seen a 36 per cent growth in golf break bookings from the UK golf market, helped by a significant increase in packages booked with tour operators.

With facilities including three 18-hole championship courses and a nine-hole academy course, and having hosted the Spanish Open five times, La Manga Club is regarded as one of Europe’s foremost sports destinations and has made a flying start to 2013.

Under the guidance of new Scots-born director of golf Gary Silcock, pictured, the resort successfully staged the prestigious Spanish International Amateur Championship and Ladies Golf Cup last month.

It also hosted the ECCO Tour’s Nordic League Winter Series for a fourth time this month, featuring European Tour star Bradley Dredge, and some of football’s top names, both past and present, including Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish will head to Spain later this spring to compete in the 17^th edition of the popular Addison Lee Footballers’ Classic.

Silcock said: “It’s fantastic to see the number of golfers visiting the resort so far this year and these positive trends demonstrate the high regard that La Manga Club is held within the UK golfing community.

“With guaranteed sunshine, first-class golf and other sporting facilities plus numerous bars and restaurants, it is the perfect place to enjoy yourself both on and off the course. There really is no other place like it in Europe.

“The resort has established a deserved reputation for excellence over the last four decades and it’s our aim to continue building on this in the months and years to come by delivering the best possible experience for our guests.”

CLARK ALEXANDER MAKES IT FOUR HOLES IN ONE AT MURCAR'S 12TH

Murcar Links Golf Club senior member Clark Alexander aced his tee shot on Sunday, March 16 on the Murcar course at the 145yard 12th hole using a 5 iron.  His playing partners were Mike Duncan and Harry Reid.Clark, pictured, says it's fourth hole in one and they have all been at the 12th hole.

NE ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIP HAS STARTED AT MONTROSE

The North-east Alliance Championship First Round has started at Montrose – players are all wrapped up and out from 8.30 a.m.

Claire Penman
Company Secretary
Montrose Golf Links Limited

ARNOLD PALMER: THE TIMELESS SUPERSTAR WHO LIKES MEETING PEOPLE

FROM GOLF.COM WEBSITE
ORLANDO, Florida  (AP) — Arnold Palmer bought Bay Hill Club and Lodge because he loved the golf course and wanted it for his own, not having any idea where it all would lead.
Now his name adorns a US PGA Tour event that has been a staple of the Florida Swing for 35 years. It's also carried by two hospitals that specialise in children — one named after his late wife, Winnie, and where more than 93,000 babies have been born since 2006.

Oh, and he's having dinner with Kate Upton this week.
"Did you see this?" Palmer said, holding up the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue with Upton on the cover. "She's coming here. Did you know that?"
He put it back on his desk, gave it one last look, and then grabbed a stack of papers to place over the magazine.
"I better cover this up," he said.
He grinned. The man is simply timeless.
How a supermodel wound up at Bay Hill explains so much about 83-year-old Palmer, who built his kingdom by being a man of the people.
The manager for Upton is Lisa Benson, whose father is from Punxsutawney and used to play golf regularly with Palmer at Latrobe Country Club. She was looking for a job at IMG, which, in addition to managing sports and entertainment, also represents top models. Her father talked to Palmer, who talked to IMG to arrange an interview. She got the job and years later connected with Upton.
Upton grew up in Melbourne on the central coast of Florida, and her parents were huge Palmer fans. 
Given the back story, Upton thought it would be a great idea to come to Bay Hill, meet with Palmer and see the work he is doing with the hospitals. She also plans to take part in a social media campaign involving the "Arnold Palmer" tea drink.
So in a roundabout way, a casual round of golf leads to dinner with a supermodel?
"That's been a fun deal," Palmer said when he finished telling the story.
There have been thousands of casual rounds like that for Palmer, whose passion for golf never dies. There have been more friends than he can count. There are probably more stories like this, all because he takes an interest in people.
"It's easy," Palmer said. "And I love it."
Brad Faxon surely had Palmer in mind when he said years after a golf trip, "I wish we had more guys on tour who liked meeting people."
Palmer is one of those guys. Always has been. And that's why so many people want to meet the King.
A staff member came into the room and mentioned two men who were outside the office and wanted to say hello. One was Seth Jones, the editor of Golfdom magazine who recently interviewed Palmer for a project he was working on.
"Well, bring him in," Palmer said, rising from behind his desk with a broadening smile. Dressed in slacks and a pink shirt, Palmer made sure the two men met everyone in the room and made small talk for a few minutes before closing with that powerful handshake and a smile. "Nice to see you guys," he told them.
He sat back down at his desk and picked up a sheet of paper. It was a letter to David Frost, who won the Toshiba Classic on the Champions Tour the day before.
"Congratulations on your strong performance in the Toshiba Classic," he said, reading the letter aloud. "He's playing pretty good."
He reached for a black pen and signed his name, as famous as any signature in sports.
The other letter on his desk was for Kevin Streelman, who won the Tampa Bay Championship for his first US PGA Tour title in 153 tries. Palmer watched most of the back nine on television and was impressed with what he saw. He had this letter placed in Streelman's locker downstairs.
Talk about a tradition like no other. For years, Palmer has written a note of congratulations to the winners on every tour every week.
Palmer looked down at his desk and found two index cards that had been marked up, and then started rattling off numbers. The 443 beds in the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies. The 13,000 babies born last year alone. The only high-level trauma center in central Florida dedicated to children. More than 3,500 employees and 450 doctors employed by both hospitals.
"That's just a few of the things that we are pushing," Palmer said. "It's a big deal. We'd like to be the No. 1 children's hospital in the world for children and women."
He rapped the wooden desk for luck.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational starts this week with one of the strongest fields among PGA Tour events this year. Tiger Woods is the defending champion and a seven-time winner, with a chance to go back to No. 1 in the world with another victory.
Brandt Snedeker is playing for the first time since his win at Pebble Beach, missing the next five weeks with a rib injury. Masters champion Bubba Watson will be there, too.
Palmer smiles at the mention of Watson's shot out of the trees on the 10th hole at Augusta National last year to win a playoff.
"It was a great shot, but I don't think it was spectacular," Palmer said. "It was more natural for him to hit than anything in the world."
Not many can appreciate the art of recovery quite like Palmer. It's part of what made him so famous. He was willing to take on any shot, hitching up his pants and slashing away. It was never boring watching Palmer play golf.
"People enjoyed that," he said. "That was one of the things that attracted them to what I did and how I played. I was reckless. I was in the trees. I was everywhere. But it was part of my life, the way I lived and the way I played."
Could he have imagined any of this when he first showed up at Bay Hill in 1965 for an exhibition and fell in love with the place?
"Hell, I didn't have anything in mind except getting a golf course and hitting balls," he said with a laugh. "And it worked."
An assistant came back into the office. Some Japanese photographers were hoping to take his picture. They were outside his door and when Palmer saw them, he rattled off his best Japanese greeting. His voice was animated. The words probably didn't come out the right way. It didn't matter. They all laughed together and Palmer wrapped his arms around one of them and gave her a big hug.