LET US HAVE YOUR VIEW
Talking points: BUCHAN FIRKIN, LACK OF BOYS' AND GIRLS' ENTRIES, MORAY OPEN'S UNSEEDED MATCH-PLAY
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Talking points from recent tournaments:
1 Why has the Buchan Firkin lost its appeal to the professionals?
2 Why are the entries so low at this week's North-east District boys and youths' championships?
3 Why does the Moray Five-Day Open not have a seeded match-play draw?
Let's start with the Buchan Firkin, a 36-hole tournament hosted by Fraserburgh Golf Club and open to professionals as well as amateurs.
I can remember reporting on this event when pros of the calibre of Harry Bannerman - when he was Scottish pro champion - were entering this end-of-July competition.
So how many pros do you reckon played in the 2014 Buchan Firkin last Sunday? Only ONE - and he did not figure on the prizelist.
In the Buchan Firkin's hey day - a Firkin is a small barrel of fish (don't ask me what kind!) - there were not so many competitions around for professionals and they were glad to play in the Firkin.
So is the prize money not big enough to attract them to the Buchan Firkin these days? I don't know the answer to that one.
Maybe Fraserburgh Golf Club did not publicise this year's event to draw pro entries from the South.
Again I don't know.
RESPONSE from Iain Taylor (an amateur)
One of reasons I did not play in the Buchan Firkin was the £40 entry fee - one of most expensive 36-holers in the North east plus with living in Aberdeen there's cost of travel plus food and drink so it would have been a very expensive day and one I could not justify entering.
Played Newmachar's 36-hole open a few weeks ago. Their entry fee was £30 and that included soup and sandwiches.
In my opinion Fraserburgh Golf Club should bring down entry fees in line with other clubs and then they will get a bigger field.
====================================================================
I was at Inverurie Golf Club this past week for the North-east District's Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 boys' championships.
And I will be at Auchmill on Sunday for the North-east District Youths Championship.
There is one common theme running through all three events - the number of entries is pathetically low.
Hardly an entry from boys who are members of the Aberdeen Links clubs and not many either from Hazlehead. These used to be the breeding grounds of our next generation of leading North-east amateurs.
Once upon a time being a North-east District champion at whatever age meant something.
We live in a changing world.
By the way, the situation is no better, possibly even worse, as far as Aberdeenshire girls are concerned.
I was at their monthly medal competition at Craibstone last Sunday when there were only FIVE entries.
Various reasons put forward from visits to watch the Commonwealth Games to family holidays but again the trend is for fewer and fewer Aberdeenshire girls to be (a) taking up the game and (b) wanting to play competitively.
They've been playing the Moray Five-Day Open (for men) at Lossiemouth for over 100 years now.
But I was astonished when I was reporting on the most recent tournament to find that the leading qualifier after the 36-hole eliminator was playing another of the leading qualifiers in the first round of the scratch match-play stages.
How could this be? I asked myself.
The No 1 qualifier should be playing the No 32 qualifier, the No 2 v No 31 and so on.
But NOT in the Moray Five-Day Open.
When I queried the situation I was told that they have never had a seeded draw for the match-play.
All the qualifiers' names go into the hat and they are drawn out that way ... which is the reason by the top qualifiers were paired together early on - purely by chance.
But don't the organisers know that every male or female amateur championship of any standing adopted automatic seeding based on places in the qualifying tournament years ago.
Tradition is a fine thing ... but isn't it time the 100+years old Moray Five-Day Open caught up
with the way things are run nowadays?:
IF YOU HAVE A VIEW ON ANY OF THE ABOVE TOPICS, PLEASE SEND THEM TO
Colin@scottishgolview.com
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Talking points from recent tournaments:
1 Why has the Buchan Firkin lost its appeal to the professionals?
2 Why are the entries so low at this week's North-east District boys and youths' championships?
3 Why does the Moray Five-Day Open not have a seeded match-play draw?
Let's start with the Buchan Firkin, a 36-hole tournament hosted by Fraserburgh Golf Club and open to professionals as well as amateurs.
I can remember reporting on this event when pros of the calibre of Harry Bannerman - when he was Scottish pro champion - were entering this end-of-July competition.
So how many pros do you reckon played in the 2014 Buchan Firkin last Sunday? Only ONE - and he did not figure on the prizelist.
In the Buchan Firkin's hey day - a Firkin is a small barrel of fish (don't ask me what kind!) - there were not so many competitions around for professionals and they were glad to play in the Firkin.
So is the prize money not big enough to attract them to the Buchan Firkin these days? I don't know the answer to that one.
Maybe Fraserburgh Golf Club did not publicise this year's event to draw pro entries from the South.
Again I don't know.
RESPONSE from Iain Taylor (an amateur)
One of reasons I did not play in the Buchan Firkin was the £40 entry fee - one of most expensive 36-holers in the North east plus with living in Aberdeen there's cost of travel plus food and drink so it would have been a very expensive day and one I could not justify entering.
Played Newmachar's 36-hole open a few weeks ago. Their entry fee was £30 and that included soup and sandwiches.
In my opinion Fraserburgh Golf Club should bring down entry fees in line with other clubs and then they will get a bigger field.
====================================================================
I was at Inverurie Golf Club this past week for the North-east District's Under-18, Under-16 and Under-14 boys' championships.
And I will be at Auchmill on Sunday for the North-east District Youths Championship.
There is one common theme running through all three events - the number of entries is pathetically low.
Hardly an entry from boys who are members of the Aberdeen Links clubs and not many either from Hazlehead. These used to be the breeding grounds of our next generation of leading North-east amateurs.
Once upon a time being a North-east District champion at whatever age meant something.
We live in a changing world.
By the way, the situation is no better, possibly even worse, as far as Aberdeenshire girls are concerned.
I was at their monthly medal competition at Craibstone last Sunday when there were only FIVE entries.
Various reasons put forward from visits to watch the Commonwealth Games to family holidays but again the trend is for fewer and fewer Aberdeenshire girls to be (a) taking up the game and (b) wanting to play competitively.
They've been playing the Moray Five-Day Open (for men) at Lossiemouth for over 100 years now.
But I was astonished when I was reporting on the most recent tournament to find that the leading qualifier after the 36-hole eliminator was playing another of the leading qualifiers in the first round of the scratch match-play stages.
How could this be? I asked myself.
The No 1 qualifier should be playing the No 32 qualifier, the No 2 v No 31 and so on.
But NOT in the Moray Five-Day Open.
When I queried the situation I was told that they have never had a seeded draw for the match-play.
All the qualifiers' names go into the hat and they are drawn out that way ... which is the reason by the top qualifiers were paired together early on - purely by chance.
But don't the organisers know that every male or female amateur championship of any standing adopted automatic seeding based on places in the qualifying tournament years ago.
Tradition is a fine thing ... but isn't it time the 100+years old Moray Five-Day Open caught up
with the way things are run nowadays?:
IF YOU HAVE A VIEW ON ANY OF THE ABOVE TOPICS, PLEASE SEND THEM TO
Colin@scottishgolview.com
Labels: GOLF NEWS
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, August 01, 2014
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