Monday, November 11, 2013

CLARKE AND DALY TO PLAY IN BEKO CLASSIC IN tURKEY

NEWS RELEASE FROM PGAs OF EUROPE
Major Champions Darren Clarke and John Daly have been confirmed to compete in the 2013 Beko Classic, which will take place at Gloria Golf Club in southern Turkey from November 21st to 23rd.
A new challenge awaits the players at Gloria GC, where each will be playing in their second Beko Classic, with Daly having first played in 2010, and Clarke in 2012, of which both tournaments took place at Antalya Golf Club.
2011 Open Champion Clarke will be coming off the back of two US PGA Tour appearances, at the McGladrey Classic in Georgia and the OHL Classic in Mexico, and will be looking to better his tied-12th performance in last year’s tournament.
The five-time Ryder Cup player and two-time non-playing Vice Captain gained a five year exemption from the US PGA Tour and is looking to play the required number of tournaments in the US to remain a member, and will make a return in the new year for the AT and T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.
Daly, the colourful winner of the 1991 US PGA Championship and 1995 Open Championship, makes a return to the Beko Classic after his 15th place in 2010 and will again bring his huge hitting prowess and adventurous attitude to the 54-hole Pro-Am format tournament.
The 2013 Beko Classic is the 12th PGAs of Europe-sanctioned edition making it the longest running Pro-Am in the Association’s calendar. 

For updates, information and news from the 2013 Beko Classic, visit the Beko Classic Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter and search the Hashtag #BekoClassic, or like the PGAs of Europe Facebook Page.
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TIGER'S TURKEY PERFORMANCE ANALYSED IN DETAIL BY PANEL

Our scribes go head-first into those topics and more in this week's edition of Monday Four-Ball.

1. What did Tiger do best (and worst) in his T-3 finish at the Turkish Airlines Open?

Michael Collins, ESPN.com senior golf analyst: Tiger's best was averaging 26.5 putts per round. His worst was only hitting 38.5 percent of his fairways, which is atrocious. There's plenty of time to work it out until Augusta, though.

Farrell Evans, ESPN.com senior golf writer: It's hard for some people to believe, but Tiger gets beat sometimes. He shot 20 under in Turkey. In most tournaments, that's good enough to win. Yet he struggled with his swing Sunday.
That's not news with Tiger, but he held it together, despite battling his driver and fighting a minor arm injury. Increasingly, his occasional poor rounds and swing breakdowns are costing him tournaments. That's good news for the rest of the players.

Bob Harig, ESPN.com senior golf writer: He gave himself a lot of chances, mostly due to strong iron play, which resulted in 27 birdies and his second-lowest 72-hole total (268) of the year. But his driver let him down, as evidenced by his lack of domination of the par-5s. He played the 20 par-5s in 10 under. He needed an eagle at the par-5 18th on Sunday to have any chance and instead missed the fairway, leading to a par.

Kevin Maguire, ESPN.com senior golf editor: For the best aspect, he minimised his mistakes. On two separate occasions in 2013, Woods' fewest number of bogeys or worse in a tournament was six (both were victories at the Players Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.) This past week in Turkey, Woods only had seven bogeys or worse. Also, what reminded me of the Tiger of old was how on the 18th hole in the third round, he hit his tee shot so far left that he had to reload and hit a provisional. Well, he found his first one and didn't just avoid dropping a shot but made a birdie on the par-5. 
That's the Tiger who could turn 74s into 68s.
On the downside, Tiger was 10 under on the 20 par-5 holes for the week. Winner Victor Dubuisson was 14 under on those same holes. That's a 4-shot difference, and Woods finished 4 shots behind the Frenchman.

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EXCLUSIVE SEMINOLE GOLF CLUB TO HOSE 2021 WALKER CUP

FROM THE GOLFCHANNEL.COM WEBSITE
By RYAN LAVNER
The best amateurs in the world will soon compete on another of America’s hidden treasures. 
This past summer, the Walker Cup match between the United States and Great Britain and Ireland returned  to National Golf Links for the first time since 1922, when the first matches were played on C.B. Macdonald’s links-style course. 
Now, Golf World senior writer and Golf Channel insider Tim Rosaforte is reporting that the 2021 Walker Cup contest is headed to another of America’s most exclusive courses: Seminole Golf Club, in Juno Beach, Florida, which will host its first public competition since the club opened in 1929. 
Seminole’s president, Jimmy Dunne, was impressed by how National hosted the Walker Cup and convinced the board and USGA in less than two months, according to the report.
Upcoming venues for the biennial matches: 
2015 Royal Lytham and St. Annes
2017 Los Angeles Country Club
2019 Royal Liverpool. 

EDITOR: Has Donald Trump thought about making a bid to host the 2023 Walker Cup at Trump International Links, Balmedie, 12 miles north of Aberdeen?

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FORSYTH FEELS HE HAS TURNED THE CORNER ... JOINT THIRD AFTER TWO ROUNDS OF EUROPEAN TOUR Q SCHOOL


Alastair Forsyth in action during his second round at PGA Catalunya. Picture by courtesy of Getty   Images(c)

REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Alastair Forsyth believes he has turned a corner following a spell of disappointing form.
The Scot was speaking after moving a step closer to a European Tour return thanks to a two under par second round 70 at Qualifying School Final Stage.
The two-time European Tour winner endured one of the most 
difficult seasons of his long career in 2013 making just eight 
cuts in 21 appearances on both the Challenge Tour and The 
European Tour, but will enter the third round in Girona just 
three strokes off the lead.

The Glaswegian has not managed to finish inside the top 100 in The 
Race to Dubai since 2008, having risen to prominence in his rookie 
season back in 2000 following victory at the Qualifying School 
Final Stage the previous year.

Forsyth thinks the long hours of work he has done with coach Ian 
Rae have begun to pay dividends though, and is hoping the 
memories of his win at the gruelling Qualifying School 14 years ago 
can help him return to the top tier of European golf, and the kind of 
form which yielded victories at the 2002 Malaysian Open and 2008 
Madeira Islands Open.

“It’s been a terrible three or four seasons for me,” said Forsyth, who 
moved to seven under par heading into day three at PGA Catalunya 
Resort. 
“But I feel as if myself and my coach have got to the bottom of the 
problems so I'm a lot more positive going forward.

“This is a very different week, obviously, a big one. But I am a lot 
more positive I can turn it around now because I feel like we’ve 
worked it out and we just have to get the improvements into my 
swing and get rid of the problems.

“It’s difficult doing that and also being at such a high pressure 
tournament but I've managed to keep it in play this week reasonably 
well.

“There’s no getting away from it, it’s a different kind of 
environment here and a very high pressure tournament. You don’t 
play in any higher pressure than this. It’s not always enjoyable but 
you try to treat it like a normal golf tournament as much as you can.

“I'm not flushing it by any means out there but if I can play a 
bit better out there then I can avoid the kind of situation I had 
at the seventh, where I had to get up and down for a double 
bogey.

“A couple of times this week I've ended up in weird and wonderful 
places on the course without doing a lot wrong and that’s been the 
case in the last few years. I've been in these places too often but the 
better you play the less often those things happen and I think I'm 
working on the right stuff so I’d like to think things can only get 
better.”

John Hahn, meanwhile, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of 
American European Tour trailblazers Peter Uihlein and Brooks 
Koepka after he moved top thanks to a superb six under par 66 in 
Spain.

Having come through the First and Second Qualifying Stages en 
route to this week’s six-round marathon, Hahn fired seven birdies 
on the more testing Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya Resort in 
Girona to go two clear of Sweden’s Jens Dantorp.

+To find out how Alastair Forsyth's nine Scottish colleagues 

and West Linton-based Welshman Gareth Wright fared today, 

scroll down past the following scoreboard

  ALL THE SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
   Par 142 (1x70, 172)
+Stadium Course Par 72, Yardage: 7,333.
+Tour Course Par 70, Yardage: 6,610


132 J Hahn (USA) 66 66

134 J Dantorp (Swe) 66 68

135 A Forsyth (Sco) 65 70; J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 64; L Bjerregaard  (Den) 65 70; R Finch  (Eng) 64 71; B Stone (RSA) 69 66

136 A Gee  (Eng) 66 70; D Brooks (Eng) 65 71; R McGee (Irl) 70 66; O Wilson (Eng) 69 67; M Jonzon (Swe) 64 72; E Goya (Arg) 66 70; F Zanotti (Par) 66 70; E Espana (Fra) 62 74; W Ormsby (Aus) 69 67

137 D Kemmer (USA) 67 70; T Whitehouse  (Eng) 68 69; K Pratt (Aus) 71 66; M Lundberg (Swe) 69 68; O Stark (Swe) 66 71; G Wright  (Wal) 72 65; T Pieters  (Bel) 64 73; C Paisley  (Eng) 67 70; S Wakefield (Eng) 69 68; G Lockerbie  (Eng) 72 65; A Saddier (Fra) 71 66; A Hartø  (Den) 67 70; F Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 68; M Tullo (Chi) 67 70

138 H Leon (Chi) 68 70; P Sjöland (Swe) 66 72; E Kofstad (Nor) 70 68; J Doherty  (Sco) 68 70; J Elson  (Eng) 64 74; W Harrold (Eng) 65 73; C Del Moral (Esp) 67 71; J Barnes (Eng) 66 72; C Shinkwin (am) (Eng) 68 70

139 S Manley (Wal) 68 71; A McArthur  (Sco) 66 73; J Knutzon (USA) 70 69; O Floren  (Swe) 72 67; G Stal  (Fra) 71 68; D McGuigan (Sco) 71 68; J Watts (Eng) 68 71; M Lafeber (Ned) 71 68; A Domingo (Esp) 66 73; J Lagergren (Swe) 65 74; B Dredge (Wal) 68 71; R Pettersson (Swe) 70 69; T Lee (USA) 64 75; A Björk (Swe) 74 65; J Morrison  (Eng) 72 67

140 D Higgins (Irl) 67 73; K Horne (RSA) 72 68; K Phelan (Irl) 73 67; J Huldahl (Den) 72 68; M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 67 73; S Hodgson (Eng) 71 69; L Gagli  (Ita) 74 66; J Heath  (Eng) 69 71; E Dubois (Fra) 75 65; M Korhonen (Fin) 69 71; A Johnston (Eng) 67 73

141 B Henson (USA) 71 70; A Marshall (Eng) 71 70; M Delpodio  (Ita) 70 71; P Price (Wal) 74 67; J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 76 65; T Van Der Walt (RSA) 72 69; C Ortiz  (Mex) 73 68; B Paolini (USA) 70 71; D Dixon (Eng) 73 68; N Lemke (Swe) 66 75; J Guerrier  (Fra) 73 68; M Crespi  (Ita) 71 70; D Gavins (Eng) 69 72; J Lucquin (Fra) 68 73; O Fisher  (Eng) 72 69; W Besseling  (Ned) 68 73

142 J Edfors (Swe) 69 73; N Quintarelli (Ita) 68 74; M Orrin (Eng) 71 71; P Archer (Eng) 72 70; F Fritsch  (Ger) 72 70; P Martin Benavides (Esp) 73 69; A McLardy (RSA) 77 65; A Haig (RSA) 68 74; J Robinson (Eng) 71 71; P Edberg (Swe) 73 69; S Henry  (Sco) 72 70; A Dodt (Aus) 71 71; C Arendell (USA) 72 70; A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 72 70; M Grönberg (Swe) 75 67; T Nørret (Den) 71 71; D McElroy (am) (Nir) 68 74

143 C Bouniol (Fra) 73 70; M Zions (Aus) 72 71; G Cambis  (Fra) 71 72; V Phillips (Eng) 72 71; C Hanson (Eng) 66 77; D Im (USA) 70 73; R Karlberg  (Swe) 66 77; P Hedblom (Swe) 69 74; T Sluiter  (Ned) 68 75; L Bond (Wal) 69 74

144 R Russell (Sco) 76 68; B An (SKor) 71 73; M Wiegele  (Aut) 71 73; O Lieser (Cze) 74 70; G Murray  (Sco) 67 77

145 C Suneson (Esp) 72 73; N Fenwick (Sco) 72 73; J Timmis (Eng) 67 78; Z Scotland  (Eng) 71 74; A Maestroni  (Ita) 73 72; J Ahlers (RSA) 73 72; K Benz (Sui) 69 76; G Main (USA) 73 72; D Stewart (Sco) 68 77; C Monasterio (Arg) 67 78; M Brier (Aut) 74 71; Y Tsukada (Jpn) 75 70

146 S Drummond (Sco) 75 71; B Åkesson (Swe) 75 71; D Ulrich (Sui) 77 69; N Nissen (Den) 73 73; J Rask (Swe) 77 69; B Ritthammer (Ger) 76 70; S Arnold  (Aus) 75 71; M Hensby (Aus) 69 77; T Linard (Fra) 69 77; J Lara (Esp) 74 72; C Dammert (am) (Ger) 70 76

147 I Garrido (Esp) 72 75; O Henningsson  (Swe) 77 70; R Davies (Wal) 71 76; D Vancsik (Arg) 69 78; N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 74;

148 R Steiner (Aut) 74 74; A Bernadet  (Fra) 74 74; J Fly (USA) 72 76; R McGowan  (Eng) 77 71; B Evans  (Eng) 71 77

149 E Cole (USA) 71 78; L Goddard  (Eng) 75 74; J Granberg  (Fin) 73 76; O Bekker (RSA) 73 76; K Ferrie (Eng) 71 78

150 N Ravano (Ita) 69 81; J Sjöholm (Swe) 77 73

152 A Kaleka  (Fra) 79 73

160 J Bäckström (Swe) 76 84

Retired: D Popovic (Aus) 73 ret.

 

 
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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ONLY FOUR SCOTS IN QUALIFYING SCHOOL CUT ZONE

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
First hurdle to be cleared by the field of 156 in the six-round European Tour Final Qualifying School is to survive the cut to the leading 70 and ties after 72 holes at PGA Catalunya Golf Resort, near Girona, north-east Spain.
Only four of the 10 Scots, Alastair Forsyth (tied third), Jack Doherty (jt 31st), Andrew McArthur and Doug McGuigan (both jt 40th), are within the safety zone after today's (Monday) second round when the players exchanged courses.
For Scott Henry (jt 81st), Raymond Russell and George Murray (jt 109), Neil Fenwick and Duncan Stewart (both jt 113rd) and Scott Drummond (jt 126th) already any dividend on their £1,650 entry fee looks a forlorn prospect.
No first-cut worries for Forsyth. He shot a two-under-par 70 over the more difficult and longer Stadium Course and his seven-under 135 tally has him in joint third place overall, only three shots behind American leader John Hahn (66 for 132).
That Forsyth is playing with a confidence that augurs well for him to be one of the top 25 and ties who will gain playing rights for next season's European Tour at the end of play on Friday.
A previous winner of the Q School, he shrugged off a double bogey 7 at the long seventh and came romping home in 33 shots, thanks to an eagle 3 at the long 15th and birdies at the 11th and 17th.
West Linton's Welshman Gareth Wright is not a Scot but worth mentioning that he is within the leading 20 at the moment after a five-under 65 over the Tour Course for a 137. Wright had a bag of one eagle and five birdies.
Doherty will be happy to be sharing 31st place at this stage of the marathon. He matched the Tour Course par of 70 for 138.
McArthur looked set to following his Sunday 66 with another sub-70 round when he stood three under par  with two holes to play on Stadium course. But double calamity then struck the Glaswegian with double bogey 6s at the 17th and 18th holes for 39 shots home and a one-over 73 for 139.
On the same mark is Clydeside-born South African-based McGuigan who was in the doldrums at one over par after nine holes before he stepped up a gear to birdie the 10th, 16th and 18th for 32 home and a two-under 68.
So much for those who are not under real pressure yet.
Henry had an eagle for the second day running but a two-under 70 at the  Stadium Course for a tally of 142 still leaves him with a lot of good work to do.
Russell and Murray are both on 144 after a day of constrasting fortunes. Russell shot a two-under 68, eight shots better than Sunday's opener while Murray plummeted from a Sunday 67 to a Monday five-over 77. The Fifer shed five shots over the last seven holes, a slump climaxed by a double bogey 6 at the 18th for an inward half of 40.
Fenwick and Stewart both started with double bogey 6s and will both start the third round on the 145 mark. Fenwick's three inward birdies helped him salvage4 a one-over 73 but Stewart signed for a 77 (40-37).
Drummond's PGA championship success a few years back must seem like a distant dream although he did play better to return a one-over 71 for 146 and bring up the rear for the 10 Scots hopefuls.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (1x70, 1x72).
132 J Hahn (US) 66 66
134 J Dantorp (Swe) 66 68
135 A Forsyth (Sco) 65 70, R Finch (Eng) 64 71, B Stone (SAf) 69 66, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 64
136 M Jonzon (Swe) 64 72, E Espana (Fra) 62 74, D Brooks (Eng) 65 71, W Ormnsby (Aus) 69 67, O Wilson (Eng) 69 67, R McGee (Ire) 70 66, E Goya (Arg) 66 70, F Zanotti (Par) 66 70.
SELECTED SCORES
137 G Wright (Wal) 72 65 (T17)
138 J Doherty (Sco) 68 70 (T31)
139 A McArthur (Sco) 66 73, D McGuigan 71 68 (T40)
142 S Henry (Sco) 72 70 (T81)
144 R Russell (Sco) 76 68, G Murray (Sco) 67 77 (T109).
145 N Fenwick (Sco) 72 73, D Stewart (Sco) 68 77 (T113)
146 S Drummond (Sco) 75 71 (T126).


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TOM BUCHANAN LEADING SCOT IN MENA TOUR EVENT ON HOME COURSE

FROM THE MENA TOUR WEBSITE

AL AIN – Young Moroccan amateur Ahmed Marjan surprised a deeply-talented field when he shot a sizzling six-under 65 to take joint control in the opening round of the MENA Golf Tour's season-ending Tour Championship at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and
Golf Club on Monday.
Marjan, who reeled off four birdies in a row from the fifth and added two more on the back nine in his bogey-free round, matched the day's best score carded by seasoned professionals Faycal Serghini (Morocco) and Lee Corfield (England) and take a good two-shot lead.
On a day when four amateurs broke par, England's James Allan and Switzerland's Michael Harradine also made their presence felt, taking a share of the fourth on a four-under 67 along with the English trio of Ian Keenan, Matthew Turner and Yasin Ali.
Another amateur James Yeomans of England joined England's Christopher Cannon and Dale Marmion and Switzerland's Nicholas Mullhaupt in tie for the ninth on a three-under 68, raising the prospects of a thrilling finish.
It was Marjan, the winner of the 2011 Order of Merit title for amateurs, who held sway with a solid round on a day when as many as 22 players broke par.
"I hit my approach shots close the pin and that created a plenty of birdie opportunities," said the 21-year-old from Rabat. "I have been playing really well on this tour, but it was poor putting that prevented me from posting a good number.
"Today was a different story. I holed almost all putts which was great," said Marjah, who hit 16 greens and 12 fairways.
His fellow countryman Serghini was equally delighted with his round. "Except for one silly bogey, I think I played really well. I was pretty straight off the tee and found a good rhythm on the greens," said Serghini, who played the back nine at four under.
"The course is really looking well and I had a good fun all day," said 38-year-Moroccan, who finished solo fourth at last week's Ghala Valley Open in Oman.
England's Corfield, the last week's winner, stayed in contention for finishing among top three on the Order of Merit with a tidy bogey-free round.
England's Yasin Ali felt overall he played good and made just one bogey when he three-putted on the par-3, 17th. "You have to take advantage of scoring opportunities on the first six holes, which include two par-5s, and that's the key to a good round here," said Ali. Stranraer-born Tom Buchanan, 32, playing on his home course at Al Ain, shot a two-under-par 69. Buchanan, who was two seasons at Kilmarnock and one year with Rangers as a teenage football prospect, has been in his Middle East post for two years. Buchanan birdied the first, third, ninth and 10th but bogeyed the fifth and 11th to be joint 13th at the end of the first day. Fraser McKennan and Greg Nicolson were joint 27th on 72. McKenna had a double bogey 6 at the second and a bogey 6 at the long ninth but he picked up birdies at the 12th, 14th and 15th before slipping over par again with a bogey a the 16th. Greg Nicolson was going well with birdies at the fourth and sixth until he dropped shots at the 12th, 13th and 17th. Elsewhere, Welsh ace Stephen Dodd, who is assured of a second place on the Order of Merit behind England's Zane Scotland, settled for a level-par 71 while Morocco's Mustapha El Maouas, who is currently leading the Order of Merit for amateurs, carded one-over 72.

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 71
65 Faycal Serghini (Morocco), Lee Corfield (England), Ahmed Marjan (Morocco) (am).
67 Yasin Ali (England), Matthew Turner (England), Ian Keenan (England), Michael Harradine (Switzerland) (am), James Allan (England) (am)
68 Dale Marmion (England), Nicholas Mullhaupt (Switzerland), Christopher Cannon (England),
69 Jake Shepherd (England), Tyler Hogarty (South Africa), James Housby (England), Tom Buchanan (Scotland), Sergio Gutierrez Sánchez (Spain), Trevor Marshall (New Zealand), Younes El Hassani (Morocco)
70 Gary Knight (Kenya), Juan Salcedo (Mexico), Joshua White (England).
OTHER SCORES:
72 Fraser McKenna (Scotland), Greg Nicolson (Scotland).
73 Clarke Lutton (Scotland).

 

 

 


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SCORES FROM JUNIOR TOUR DEVELOPMENT DAY AT DUNFERMLINE

FROM WALTER BURNS
Scottish Junior Tour
Here are the results from the  Junior Tour Development Day at Dunfermline yesterday. It was a level 1 and 2 event. The morning session consisted of a series of skill challenges which were won by Harry Clark of Auchterarder. 
A competition was held on the par 3 course in the afternoon. Ewan Wheat (Royal Montrose) had the best score with a 57 to a par of 54. Valdemar Hundeboll won the Under-10 years  competition with 66.
Thanks once again to Dunfermline Golf Club for allowing us to use their great facilities.


  LEADING SCORES
Under 12yrs
57  Ewan Wheat (Royal Montrose)
65  Connor McKinney (Canmore)
68  Scott Souter (Hilton Park)
69  Roddy McCauley (Fereneze)
 
Under 10yrs
66  Valdemar Hundeboll (Machrihanish)
68  Aamar Saleem (Ladybank)
69  Ruben Lindsay (Troon Welbeck)
 
 
The handicap prize was won by Rory McKinney (Canmore) with nett 47.
 
 
Walter Burns
Scottish Junior Golf Tour
 
Mob: 07951 103 827
 
 
 

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