VOLVO CHAMPIONS' EVENT PRIZEFUND GOES UP BY NEARLY HALF IN JANUARY

EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE
The Volvo Golf Champions, The European Tour’s elite ‘Tournament of Champions’, today announced an increase in the prize fund of more than 50 per cent to US $4million ( approximately $2.6million in 2013), reinforcing the championship’s position as one of the most prestigious tournaments on The European Tour International Schedule.
Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen confirmed his participation in the 2014 event at the Durban Country Club from January 9-12,  with many more winners on the European Tour to be added over the coming weeks.
The elite group of players will battle it out for their share of the $4million prize fund at the start of the year when so many players are looking to secure their entry into the other big events such as The Masters and stake their claim to a place on the 2014 European Ryder Cup team.
The increased prize fund means the winner will receive a cheque for $700,000 with every last player in the field richly rewarded for qualifying for this prestigious tournament and receiving a welcome boost to their standing on The Race to Dubai Rankings. 
As a result the Volvo Golf Champions' prize fund is one of the top few on the European Tour, excluding WGC events and Majors.
Oosthuizen, confirmed to defend his title, said: “It is fantastic for South Africa to get to host the European Tour’s ‘Tournament of Champions’ again. It is an impressive boost to the prize fund and I am delighted to be defending my title at the Durban Country Club – I love the course and enjoy the advantage of playing in front of my home crowd. I look forward to opening my season there very much.”
Only European Tour players who have won an event on the previous year’s International Schedule and current Tour Members with more than ten European Tour victories qualify and Tournament organisers IMG and Volvo will announce more of these players in the coming weeks once the 2013 season ends and entries open for the 2014 season tournaments.

MURRAY, FENWICK, WRIGHT THROUGH TO FINAL Q SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

Only two Scots - George Murray and Neil Fenwick - plus West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright - are definitely through to the European Tour Final Qualifying School at PGA Catalunya, where the six-round tournament will tee off on November 10.

Two of the four Stage 2 venues in Spain have been hit by bad weather and their fourth and final rounds will not be completed until Wednesday.

Scoring was relatively high for the completion of the Stage 2 competition at El Saler Golf Club, Valencia where 291 was the maximum qualifying score for the 17 qualifiers.

Murray shot a final round of 73 for 288 to tie for eighth place, eight shots behind the winner, Spain's Carlos Del Moral (71 for 280).

Fenwick had an error-strewn closing effort of 78 but he was lucky that the par on the day was probably one or two shots higher than 72. The Dunbar man made it through in a share of 10th place on 289.

Lloyd Saltman (75 for 294), Paul Ferrier (76 for 295), Scott Crichton (78 for 299) and Wallace Booth (81 for 310) were among the failures at El Saler.

At Las Colinas, Alicante, Gareth Wright qualified comfortably for the Final Stage with a fourth-round 70 for a total of five-under-par 278 and joint 10th place. Maximum qualifying total at this venue was 282.
Like Valle Romano, the final round at Lumine Golf Club, where high winds forced a suspension at 12.55pml will be completed on Wednesday. Play did resum at 4.15pm but was again halted 25 minutes later.
Northern Open champion David Law was one of the few to finish his fourth round. He had a par 71 - not a bad effort in the conditions - for total of three-under-par 281.
Law reckons that four or five under par will make the play-off for the last of the 17 places in the Final Qualifying.
He could be a shade unlucky in that conditions might improve considerably for those who still have to finish their rounds and their scores could be better than if they had had to play all 18 holes today (Tuesday).
Raymond Russell and Jack Doherty, currently joint seventh on 205 at Lumine, should make it through. Paul Doherty (213) and Elliot Saltman (218) look out of the running.

The delayed third round was played at Valle Romano, Estepona where Paul McKechnie and Calum Macaulay did not improve their prospects.

McKechnie had a 78 for 217 and joint 53rd place while Macaulay is joint 59th on 218 after a 75.

EL SALER GOLF CLUB, VALENCIA

FINAL TOTALS

Par 288 (4x72)

280 Carlos del Moral (Spa) 70 67 72 71

285 Jason Barnes (Eng) 71 72 70 72.

SCOTS QUALIFIERS

288 George Murray 73 70 72 73 (T8)

289 Neil Fenick 70 68 73 78 (T10)

SCOTS WHO FAILED

294 Lloyd Saltman 73 72 74 75 (T26)

295 Paul Ferrier 76 71 72 76 (T30)

299 Scott Crichton (ak) 71 73 77 78 (T41)

310 Wallace Booth 76 75 78 81 (68th).

LAS COLINAS GOLF CLUB, ALICANTE

FINAL TOTALS

Par 284 (4x71)

269 James Heath (Eng) 64 66 64 75

270 Brandon Stone (SAf) 64 69 68 69

SELECTED QUALIFIER

279 Gareth Wright (Wal) 69 71 69 70 (T10)

VALLE ROMANO GOLF CLUB, ESTEPONA

THIRD-ROUND LEADERS

Par 213 (3x71) Leading 18 to qualify after 4 rounds

201 Edouard Espana (Fra) 67 67 67

203 Scott Arnold (Aus) 69 66 68

SCOTS' SCORES

217 Paul McKechnie 69 70 78 (T53)

218 Calum Macaulay 72 71 75 (T59)

LUMINE GOLF CLUB, TARRAGONA

FOURTH ROUND SUSPENDED.
Completed total
Par 284 (4x71)
281 David Law 70 73 67 71

SCOTS' SCORES AFTER THREE ROUNDS
205 Raymond Russell, Jack Doherty (T7)

213 Paul Doherty (T49)

218 Elliot Saltman (T70).

KEEP SCROLLING DOWN TO VIEW ALL 

THE STAGE 2 SCORES

 

 

Heath leads the Qualifiers home from Las Colinas 

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Despite enduring a difficult final day at Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, James Heath still led 17 qualifiers home as the European Tour Qualifying School Second Stage came to a close at the Alicante venue in Spain.

The Englishman, who held a substantial lead overnight, signed off with a round of 75, but that closing effort was still good enough to finish top of the pile on 15 under par.

Heath was followed home by rising South African star Brandon Stone, who closed with a 69 for a 14 under par aggregate total.

Welshman Liam Bond (13 under), England’s James Robinson (12 under) and American John Hahn (11 under) rounded out the top five.

The qualifying mark fell on two under par, with six players contesting a play-off for the last four places in the Final Stage.  

The Swedish duo of Oscar Floren and Joakim Rask emerged triumphant alongside German amateur Christopher Dammert and Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, with France’s Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Germany’s Max Glauert the men to miss out – although they could still make the Final Stage as alternates, in the event of injuries or withdrawals.

At Campo de Golf El Saler, home favourite Carlos del Moral romped to victory by five shots after signing off with a round of 71 for an eight under par aggregate total.

England’s Jason Barnes finished second on three under par, one shot ahead of Frenchman Thomas Linard and Italian Niccolo Quintarelli.

With 18 players progressing from El Saler, there was a five-way play-off for the final two spots after Jerome Casanova, Christophe Brazillier, Matthias Grönberg, Chris Lloyd and Andrey Pavlov all finished on three over par.

The two who prevailed were Casanova, courtesy of birdie at the first extra hole, and Grönberg, who eventually saw off Lloyd on the sixth extra hole.    

Meanwhile, over at Valle Romano Golf in Estepona, the third round was finally completed with Frenchman Edouard Espana leading the way on 12 under par.

High winds had forced officials to suspend play on Monday, but Espana made the most of the calmer conditions on Tuesday to lead by two strokes from Australian Scott Arnold and Sweden’s Alexander Björk, who posted respective rounds of 69 and 68.

The fourth round will be completed on Wednesday, as will the final round at Lumine Golf and Beach Club, where high winds forced a suspension at 12.55pm. 

Play resumed at 4.15pm but was again halted 25 minutes later, meaning the hopefuls will have to return to the course at 9am in a bid to secure one of the 18 Final Stage spots on offer at the Tarragona venue.

 

Final scores from El Saler:

  QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL Q SCHOOL

280 C Del Moral (Esp) 70 67 72 71,

285 J Barnes (Eng) 71 72 70 72,

286 T Linard (Fra) 68 72 72 74, N Quintarelli (Ita) 67 70 72 77,

287 T Pieters  (Bel) 71 75 71 70, F Fritsch  (Ger) 75 67 71 74, C Ortiz  (Mex) 69 70 79 69,

288 G Murray  (Sco) 73 70 72 73, J Ahlers (RSA) 68 72 75 73,

289 N Fenwick (Sco) 70 68 73 78, A Saddier (Fra) 69 74 71 75, V Phillips (Eng) 70 74 72 73,

290 E Cole (USA) 72 70 72 76, W Harrold (Eng) 70 70 76 74, K Phelan (Irl) 71 72 74 73, P Edberg (Swe) 66 74 75 75,

291 (after play-off) J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 71 73 74 73, M Grönberg (Swe) 73 71 75 72

NON-QUALIFIERS
291 (after play-off) C Lloyd (Eng) 69 73 78 71, C Brazillier  (Fra) 72 70 74 75, A Pavlov (Rus) 71 73 75 72,

292 W Roebuck (Eng) 72 73 70 77,

293 A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 75 76 70, S Heisele (Ger) 71 69 80 73, B Hopfinger (USA) 72 67 78 76,

294 J Westwood (Eng) 71 73 76 74, L Saltman (Sco) 73 72 74 75, A Bruschi  (Ita) 70 72 75 77, R Evans (am) (Eng) 71 70 80 73,

295 A Belt (Eng) 72 78 71 74, P Ferrier (Sco) 76 71 72 76, C Moriarty (Irl) 73 71 76 75, P Francis (USA) 74 68 79 74,

296 A Velasco (Esp) 73 72 77 74, P Oriol (Esp) 76 72 73 75, M Veijalainen (Fin) 75 72 74 75,

297 J Howarth (Eng) 74 71 72 80, J Moul  (Eng) 72 75 71 79,

298 F De Vries  (Ned) 68 76 79 75, C Rodiles (Esp) 78 70 72 78,

299 S Crichton (am) (Sco) 71 73 77 78, J Abbott (Eng) 73 79 72 75, L Claverie (Esp) 75 75 72 77,

300 L Canter (Eng) 71 71 79 79, Z Blair (am) (USA) 74 75 76 75, L Lee (Bra) 69 74 75 82,

301 F Jahn (Ger) 73 76 76 76, F Adarraga (Esp) 76 72 74 79, C Batut (Fra) 78 72 75 76, R Han (Chn) 73 73 71 84, A Dunbar (Nir) 73 80 73 75,

302 N Bjorling (Swe) 76 72 76 78, R Wallis (Eng) 69 75 80 78,

304 K Ichihara (Jpn) 82 72 75 75, D Wuensche  (Ger) 78 71 76 79, M Pastor (Esp) 72 74 78 80, S Campbell (Eng) 78 75 77 74,

305 A Rai (Eng) 81 68 78 78, A Jacobsson (Swe) 77 71 77 80, P Couvert (Fra) 72 73 77 83, D Lloyd (RSA) 81 70 74 80,

306 M Lampert (Ger) 73 76 79 78, D Callaway (Eng) 74 70 78 84, K Crossland (Eng) 80 71 77 78,

307 F Figueroa (Esa) 84 70 75 78,

308 G Boyd  (Eng) 79 75 76 78,

309 Y Benson (Can) 73 74 84 78,

310 W Booth  (Sco) 76 75 78 81,

 ** R McEvoy  (Eng) 71 68 78 WD, J Winther (Den) 75 75 79 WD, J Chamberlain (Eng) 83 79 82 WD, J Legarrea (Esp) 84 74 73 WD, J Guiney (Irl) 82 75 78 WD, F Praegant (Aut) 77 74 80 WD, N Johansson (Swe) 76 73 81 WD, K Thompson (USA) 74 73 82 WD, P Reed (Eng) 71 74 78 WD,

 

Final scores from Las Colinas:

QUALIFIERS FOR FINAL Q SCHOOL
269 J Heath  (Eng) 64 66 64 75,

270 B Stone (RSA) 64 69 68 69,

271 L Bond (Wal) 67 67 67 70,

272 J Robinson (Eng) 69 68 71 64,

273 J Hahn (USA) 69 68 69 67,

274 G Cambis  (Fra) 64 73 65 72,

275 R McGee (Irl) 67 70 67 71,

277 J Knutzon (USA) 67 69 68 73, N Ravano (Ita) 70 71 68 68,

279 D Kemmer (USA) 69 70 68 72, G Wright  (Wal) 69 71 69 70,

281 S Hodgson (Eng) 72 69 67 73, D Ulrich (Sui) 70 69 69 73,

282 J Rask (Swe) 75 69 69 69, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 72 71 70 69, C Dammert (am) (Ger) 74 69 67 72, O Floren  (Swe) 71 72 68 71

NON-QUALIFIERS

282 M Glauert (Ger) 73 70 67 72, M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 73 68 69 72

283 W Homan Jnr (USA) 71 66 69 77, G Cunningham (am) (USA) 69 69 68 77, M Rominger  (Sui) 74 70 68 71, T Sherreard  (Eng) 70 71 70 72, J Kennegard  (Swe) 69 75 71 68

284 D Lokke (Den) 66 76 69 73, P Maddy (Eng) 71 70 75 68, S Allan (Aus) 66 75 68 75, C Griffiths (Eng) 71 70 67 76, K Borsheim  (Nor) 69 72 72 71,

285 P Relecom  (Bel) 66 75 71 73, J Kelly (USA) 70 70 69 76, J Ruth  (Eng) 67 70 67 81, M Richardson (Eng) 69 73 67 76, A Wrigley (Eng) 68 70 71 76, J Webber (Eng) 73 70 68 74,

286 R Coles (Eng) 72 68 70 76, N Kearney (Irl) 70 71 69 76, N Bruzelius  (Swe) 75 71 67 73, F Laporta (Ita) 72 74 71 69, N Henriques  (Por) 72 69 68 77,

287 M Clemens (Mex) 70 71 69 77, H Joannes  (Bel) 72 70 74 71, R Prophet (Eng) 72 70 71 74, G Porteous (am) (Eng) 69 71 67 80,

288 H Leon (Chi) 72 69 73 74, P Williamson (USA) 70 77 69 72, F Eriksson (Swe) 67 73 72 76,

289 L Astl (Aut) 66 71 74 78, V Blazquez (Esp) 68 75 74 72, S Grant  (Irl) 67 78 70 74, B Chapellan (Fra) 74 71 70 74, M Van Dijk (Ned) 71 74 69 75, K Samooja (Fin) 73 76 68 72, D Mooney (Nir) 74 69 70 76,

290 S Jeppesen  (Swe) 74 72 68 76, R Busher (am) (Eng) 74 72 66 78

291 J Sloan (Eng) 72 74 71 74

292 M Jedrzeyczyk (Pol) 72 76 74 70, J Camargo (Esp) 72 71 73 76, R Goger (am) (Aut) 80 71 68 73, J Kaske (Fin) 68 74 72 78,

293 M Jensen (USA) 68 79 71 75, P Erofejeff (Fin) 71 77 70 75,

294 A Kirstein (Ger) 71 76 71 76, M Jager (Aus) 76 76 67 75,

296 J Banbury (Eng) 74 77 72 73

297 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 74 69 81

298 S McNamara (USA) 73 76 69 80,

299 A Bolognesi (Ita) 71 75 75 78,

301 D Booth (Eng) 74 74 71 82,

303 S Robertshawe (Eng) 73 76 77 77,

304 G Schultes (Ger) 74 69 77 84,

306 B McCarroll  (Irl) 69 79 72 86,

 ** M Sell  (Eng) 73 70 68 DQ, G Axell (Swe) 72 75 75 WD, D Balin (USA) 73 77 70 WD, D Rawluk (Irl) 75 76 RT  0,

 

Scores after round  3 from Valle Romano Golf

*Final round to be played on Wednesday

201 E Espana (Fra) 67 67 67

203 S Arnold  (Aus) 69 66 68, A Björk (Swe) 65 69 69,

204 D Perrier (Fra) 66 67 71, G Stal  (Fra) 67 65 72, M Bremner (RSA) 68 67 69, A Johnston (Eng) 66 70 68,

205 H Leon (Chi) 69 66 70, D Skinns  (Eng) 67 69 69, A Bernadet  (Fra) 68 69 68, L Bedford (USA) 67 65 73,

206 N Nissen (Den) 65 67 74,

207 A Maestroni  (Ita) 68 70 69, J Fly (USA) 70 68 69, R Steiner (Aut) 68 70 69, S Little (Eng) 70 69 68, T Whitehouse  (Eng) 68 71 68, C Hinton (Eng) 68 67 72,

208 T Bertoni (USA) 68 69 71, O Zetterwall (Swe) 67 66 75, C Arendell (USA) 70 69 69,

209 M Orrin (Eng) 68 67 74, D Berger (USA) 69 65 75, C Lange  (Den) 67 69 73, J Watts (Eng) 67 70 72, O Lieser (Cze) 72 70 67, R Pettersson (Swe) 67 66 76,

210 C Berardo (Fra) 70 70 70, M Laskey  (Wal) 70 68 72, G Main (USA) 71 67 72

211 R Hjelm (Den) 68 67 76,

212 P Widegren  (Swe) 64 74 74, M Salminen (Fin) 72 68 72, F Delamontagne  (Fra) 68 69 75, S Einhaus (Ger) 67 70 75,

213 J Gonnet  (Fra) 71 70 72, G Shaw (Nir) 73 68 72, L Jensen (Den) 70 70 73,

214 C Aronsen  (Nor) 72 72 70, L Cornford (Eng) 72 69 73, A Vongvanij (Tha) 73 71 70,

215 A Tadini (Ita) 69 73 73, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 69 76, M Trappel  (Aut) 75 65 75, G Piris Mateu (Esp) 73 69 73, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 72 70 73, B Newman (USA) 74 69 72, R Kind (Ned) 71 68 76, W Strickler (USA) 67 73 75, C Corbin (am) (Eng) 73 69 73,

216 A Rota (Ita) 71 70 75, R Neil-Jones (Eng) 73 72 71,

217 J Lomas (Eng) 76 70 71, P Mejow (Ger) 69 71 77, B Fowles (Eng) 71 71 75, P McKechnie (Sco) 69 70 78, B Hebert  (Fra) 73 67 77, G Canizares (Esp) 72 65 80,

218 C Macaulay  (Sco) 72 71 75, R Cazaubon (Mex) 70 72 76, B Gielow (USA) 74 70 74, M Schneider (Ger) 70 73 75, J Gallegos (am) (Esp) 70 67 81,

219 D Coupland (Eng) 71 78 70, S Brown (Eng) 74 76 69, D Markle (Can) 70 75 74, A Romano  (Ita) 72 73 74,

220 C Mivis  (Bel) 75 69 76, P Fendt (Aut) 69 74 77, H Hilford Brander (Swe) 78 71 71,

221 J Wilkinson (Eng) 70 72 79, J Garcia Del Moral (Esp) 78 70 73,

222 S Wiedergrün (Ger) 78 69 75, F Ewing Iv (USA) 73 67 82, D Hupfer (Can) 74 70 78, W Harmston (Eng) 77 72 73,

225 D Wood (Eng) 76 74 75, R Harris  (Eng) 72 76 77,

228 I Gregory (Eng) 75 75 78,

233 M Daley (Eng) 76 76 81,

 ** C Russo (Fra) 70 72 RT,

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

 

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CLARKE LUTTON NOW LEADING SCOT IN GHALA VALLEY OPEN

Pollok rookie pro Conor O'Neil dropped out of a leading position in the MENA Tour's Ghala Valley Open in Oman with a second-round 76 for a 36-hole tally of level par 144.
O'Neil had six birdies in an opening-day 68 but none at all in Round 2. Bogeys at the fifth, sixth, eighth and 13th dropped him to a share of 21st place at Ghala Valley Golf Club, Muscat
The honour of being leading Scot has been taken over by ex-pat Clarke Lutton who is joint 12th on 142 after a second-round 70. Lutton birdied the third, seventh, 12th and 13th in halves of 35 to be eight shots behind the London-born leader by four, Joshua White, who had a 69 for 10-under 134.

GHALA VALLEY OPEN
Ghala Valley Golf Club, Muscat, Oman
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
134 Joshua White (Eng) 65 69
138 Roberto Rodriguez Cacho 67 71
139 Sandro Piaget (Bra) 73 66, Ahmed-Reda Rhizali (Mor) 69 70

SCOTS' SCORES
142 Clarke Lutton 72 70 (T12)
144 Conor O'Neil 68 76 (T21)
146 Tom Buchanan 73 73 (T29)
149 Fraser McKenna 71 78 (T45)

SCOTS THO MISSED THE CUT (151 and better qualified)
154 Greg Nicolson 76 78
156 Ted Innes Ker 78 78
158 Graeme Stewart 77 81

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

CLICK HERE