AMERICAN TYCOON'S SON CLARIFIES SOME POINTS

  Chip off the old block: Donald Trump junior (left) and his father. Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

TRUMP WILL NOT INVEST MORE BUT 

HE WILL KEEP MENIE ESTATE COURSE

Donald Trump's son has clarified the Trump Organisation's position over the development of his Menie Estate at Balmedie, 12 miles north of Aberdeen.

1 No more money will be invested in the Aberdeenshire project other than to keep the existing course operation.
2 The organisation is considering selling to a developer the land within the Menie Estate on which it had been planned to build  950 holiday homes and 500 houses plus a four-storey hotel and state-of-the-art clubhouse (there is a temporary clubhouse on site).
3 "The golf course is not for sale," said Donald Trump, junior. "It will remain part of the Trump portfolio of golf courses." The Trump Organisation own several in the United States, the best know being the "Blue Monster" Doral Resort.

Doonbeg Resort bought for £12.5million
Donald Trump junior was speaking in Ireland where the Trump Organisation has bought the Doonbeg Golf Resort out of Receivership for £12.5million.
Doonbeg, within Co Clare and easy reach of Shannon International Airport, had gone bust - overheads too high and income too low although no one has ever doubted that the five-star Doonbeg facility is first class.
"We did the deal to move to Ireland in six days. You can't tie your shoe laces in six days in Scotland," said the American tycoon's son.

Permission would be denied to developer seeking to building houses on Menie Estate 

Aberdeenshire county council leader Jim Gifford is adamant that permission would not be granted for the building of homes on Menie Estate if the Trump Organisation sold the land to a developer.
"He can do what he wants with the land he owns but he won't be selling it to build houses on because the houses are absolutely tied in to building the golf course, the clubhouse and the hotel," said Councillor Gifford.
"Donald Trump was never going to build these houses. Someone else was going to go in there and do that for him.
"But there is no way that they can build houses on the land as it's tied in to a progressive sequence of building. That was done specifically so that we didn't get 500 houses and nothing else."

IT'S STILL ANYBODY'S NORTHERN TRUST OPEN 2014

SOUTH KOREAN BAE LEADS BY ONE 

FROM BADDELEY AND GARRIGUS

 FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
LOS ANGELES -- Sang-Moon Bae is off to another great start at the Northern Trust Open. The next step is a better finish.
Bae shot a five-under 66 for nine-under 133, giving him a one-stroke lead over Aaron Baddeley and Robert Garrigus when the second round was suspended by darkness.
Baddeley, who won at Riviera three years ago, birdied his last four holes for a 65. Garrigus had a 67.
Dustin Johnson, who led after the first round at five-under 66, opened with two birdies but never got any closer. He had a 70 and joined Jim Furyk (68) among those three shots behind.
SCOTSWATCH: Martin Laird made the cut with 70-73 for 143 but Russell Knox missed out with 75-73 for 148.

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The 27-year-old South Korean was tied for the lead going into the weekend at Riviera last year but struggled to a 76 in the third round and never got back into contention.
"It was really, really good experience, and I learned a lot," Bae said. "I improved a lot from last year."
He wound up winning the HP Byron Nelson Championship a few months later for his first US PGA Tour victory.
Patience surely will be required at some point over the weekend on what has shaped up as one of the best weeks of weather at Riviera -- an abundance of sunshine and only a trace of wind. 
Despite what would appear to be pristine scoring conditions, no one has reached double digits under par this week, a testament to one of the toughest golf courses on the US PGA Tour.
"It's a strong course, especially when it's dry and firm like it is," Baddeley said. "If you miss it out of position, it's really hard to get the ball up-and-down. Today was good, because I made a couple good saves but coming in, I had some good looks and made them."
And while Bae is in the lead, the tournament remains wide open, with the leading 22 players separated by only five shots.
One of them is Johnson, who dropped shots on the 12th and 15th holes and missed several "good looks" inside 12 feet. He is at 6-under 136.
"I played pretty solid today, just hit a couple of bad drivers on the back. But that's going to happen," Johnson said. "But I still had a lot of really good looks at birdie and just couldn't capitalize on any of them."
Among those missing the cut was Matt Kuchar, who failed to qualify for the weekend for the first time since the 2012 US PGA Championship. His streak of 30 straight cuts made was the longest active on the tour , though still behind the record 142 by Tiger Woods.
Baddeley was in the middle of the pack until he hit his approach on the 15th hole to about 8 feet. 
The Australian followed with a short birdie putt on the par-3 16th, rolled in a birdie putt from 15 feet on the par-5 17th and finished it off with a 25-foot birdie on the 18th.
Garrigus has made the cut only once in four previous trips to the Northern Trust Open. He decided to bring a new attitude, and it seems to be working.
"I have pretty good willpower, so as soon as I stepped on the first hole this week, I'm like, `I absolutely love this place.' ... And I'm really starting to like it," Garrigus said.
Not so fortunate was Fred Couples, who had a tiny cut on the tip of his left thumb that opened up to the size of a dime, making it difficult for him to hang onto the club. 
Couples has gone his entire World Golf Hall of Fame career without wearing a glove.
Asked if it bothered him, he said, "Yeah. I couldn't hit the ball." Couples made his 32nd appearance in this tournament, but at 2-over 144 was certain to miss the cut. 
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) Players from USA unless stated
133 Sang-Moon Bae (S Korea) 67 66
134 Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 69 65, Robert Garrigus 67 67
135 Charlie Beljan 67 68
136 Brian Harman 67 69, William McGirt 69 67, Dustin Johnson 66 70, Jim Furyk 68 68

SELECTED SCORES
139 Lee Westwood (England) 69 70 (T23)
140 Francesco Molinari (Italy) 67 73 (T32)
141 David Lynn (England) 70 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spainb) 71 70 (T40)
142 Ian Poulter (England) 72 70, Justin Rose (England) 70 72 (T55).
143 Martin Laird (Scotland) 70 73 (T69)
 
CUT FORECAST (143 and better to qualify)
145 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 72 73, Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark) 73 73, Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 75 70.
148 Brian Davis (England) 75 73, Russell Knox (Scotland) 75 73, Louis Oosthuizen (S Africa) 72 76
149 Matt Kuchar 74 75. 

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND, THIS EVENINGS UPDATES FROM THE THIRD ROUND

CLICK HERE


Remember California is about 10 hours behind 
UK time.

LINK TO LIVE SCORING FROM WEB.COM TOUR OPENER IN COLOMBIA

Follow Jimmy Gunn's bid to beat the halfway cut in his debut on the Web.com Tour's opening event, the Colombia championship at Bogota.
After a first-round of six-over-par 77, he has it all to do to hit the forecast cut mark of level par 142.
But, starting at the 10th, the Dornoch exile has got an early birdie in his second round, so that's one fewer to pull back.
To follow the live scoring on the US PGA Tour website

CLICK HERE

ENGLISHMAN NEEDS A REPEAT 67 TO HAVE VICTORY CHANCE

LUKE JOHNSON ONLY 2 OFF THE PACE

WITH A ROUND TO GO IN PORTUGAL
 
Luke Johnson  - only two shots behind the Swedish leader - is the best placed English player with one round to go in the Portuguese men's amateur international championship at the Montado Golf Resort on the Costa Azul.
Johnson has had rounds of 72, 72 and 67 for four-under-par 212 and a share of third place with Spain's Javier Sainz (71-71-70).
Next in the English hit parade comes Nicholas 
Marsh with three steady rounds of 71, 72 and 72 to be tied ninth on one-under-par 215.
Compatriot Paul Howard is also in the top 20 with up-and-down scores of 74, 67, 76 for 217 and a T15 position.
Edward J Richardson is T21 on 218 with rounds of 75, 71 and 72.
Leading the field at six-under-par 210 is Sweden's Marcus Kinhult (72-69-69).
He leads by one from Italy's Renato Paratore (68-69-74)
 Then comes Johnson and Spain's Javier Sainz (71-71-70). If Luke can reproduce that Friday 67 on Saturday, he would be in with a chance to following in the footsteps of Englishmen who have won the Portuguese title.

TO VIEW ALL THE THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

CLICK HERE

FORMER PANMURE MAN CULLEN FAILS TWICE TO BREAK 80

NEIL HENDERSON MAKES TOP 20 ON

EVOLVE PRO TOUR OPENER IN SPAIN

Scots Neil Henderson (Renaissance Club) and Andrew Cullen, former Panmure staff professional, finished down the field in this week's first Spanish Evolve Pro Tour 36-hole event of the year.
Henderson, pictured, shot 75-77 for 152 and a share of 20th place in a field of 52. He had no birdies in his six-over-par second round.
Cullen finished 42nd on 168 with rounds of 87 and 81.
Spaniard Carlos Aguilar held on to win by a single shot from Welsh challenger Bradley Dredge. Aguilar had scores of 65-72 for five-under 137; Dredge 67-71 for 138. They were the only two players to finish under par over 36 holes.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
137 Carlos Aguilar (Spa) 65 72
138 Bradley Dredge (Wal) 67 71
142 Alex Belt (Eng) 69 73.
143 Hyummin Byun (SKo) 73 70, John Paul Banbury (Eng) 69 74.
144 Jordan Gibb (Eng) 71 73

SCOTS' SCORES
152 Neil Henderson 75 77 (T20).
168 Andrew Cullen 87 81 (42nd)
Field of 52 players

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

CLICK HERE

MY GOLF RANKING INTERNATIONAL WEEK 2014/06

1 Toni McDonagh (Fortwilliam, N Ireland) 1217pts

2 Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) 1185

3 Alastair Wastson (Langlands) 1175

4 Craig Meeks (Thornton) 1157

5 Lewis Blyth (Prestonfield) 1133

6 Adam Jobes (Seacroft) 1129

7 Gary Barclay (Torrance Park) 1125

8 Roger Leslie (Spey Bay) 1105

9 Ricky McNeill (Dunnikier Park) 1102

10 Douglas Taylor (Dunfermline) 1100

11 Kevin Wood (Prestonfield) 1085

12 Daniel Alexander (Kingsknowe) 1075

13 Alex McKenzie (Lothianburn) 1061

T14 Graeme Cox (Drumoig) 1058

T14 Jack Owens (Bangor, NI) 1058

T14 Jim Rice (Aberdour) 1058

17 Conal Duffy (Fortwilliam, N Ireland) 1057

18 Paul Page (Kingsknowe) 1056

19 John Douglas (Leven Thistle) 1055

20 John Boag (Blairgowrie) 1048,

T21 Greig Denton (Balfron) 1043

T21 Laura McGeachy (Windyhill) 1043

23 John Nelson (Massereene, N Ireland) 1036

24 Russell Bracey (Ashridge Artisans) 1034

T25 William Barwood (Langlands) 1031

T25 James Batchelor (Kirriemuir) 1031.

For up-to-date ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Regional, National and International Rankings and how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net.

The MyGolfRanking service is free to clubs and members. Clubs wishing to participate should register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for information.

MGR Scotland Men Top 25, 2014/06:

1 Scott Hunter (Tillicoultry) 1185 points, 2 Alistair Wastson (Langlands) 1175, 3 Craig Meeks (Thornton) 1157, 4 Lewis Blyth (Prestonfield) 1133, 5 Gary Barclay (Torrance Park) 1125

6 Roger Leslie (Spey Bay) 1105, 7 Ricky McNeill (Dunnikier Park) 1102, 8 Douglas Taylor (Dunfermline) 1100, 9 Kevin Wood (Prestonfield) 1085, 10 Daniel Alexander (Kingsknowe) 1075

11 Alex McKenzie (Lothianburn) 1061, 12= Graeme Cox (Drumoig) 1058, Jim Rice (Aberdour) 1058, 14 Paul Page (Kingsknowe) 1056, 15 John Douglas (Leven Thistle) 1055

16 John Boag (Blairgowrie) 1048, 17 Greig Denton (Balfron) 1043, 18= William Barwood (Langlands) 1031, James Batchelor (Kirriemuir) 1031, 20 Peter Miller (Milngavie) 1029

21 Ian Gorn (Aberdour) 1021, 22 Stan Thain (New Club, St Andrews) 1019, 23 Mark Evans (Lothianburn) 1017, 24 John Mitchell (St Andrews GC) 1008, 25 Sean Davidson (Craigie Hill) 1004.

For up-to-date ranking lists of participating clubs, the full Regional, National and International Rankings and how it works, visit www.mygolfranking.net.

The MyGolfRanking service is free to clubs and members. Clubs wishing to participate should register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for information.

SIX ENGLISH PLAYERS AND ONE IRISH STILL IN CONTENTION

ONE ROUND TO GO ON ASIAN TOUR FINAL 

QUALIFYING SCHOOL IN THAILAND

Six English players and one from Ireland are still in contention to win one of the 40 (and ties) cards available at the Asian Tour Final Qualifying School at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Guy Woodman is best placed in joint 15th place after the third round, following scores of 74, 66 and 68.
Scotland's James Byrne missed the 36-hole cut.

THIRD-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 214 (1x72, 2x71)
202 Nathan Holman (Australia) 63 72 67
203 Seb Gros (France) 68 67 68
204 Akinori Tani (Japan) 73 67 65

ENGLISH AND SCORES
208 Guy Woodman 74 66 68 (T15)
209 Craig Hinton 68 69 72, Simon Griffiths 70 72 67 (T24)
213 Miles Tunnicliff 68 71 74 (T59)
214 Nial Kearney (Ireland) 71 70 73.
215 Grant Jackson 72 69 74 (T70)

VERY LOW SCORING OVER SHORT COURSE AT EAST LONDON

DRYSDALE SAFE: McLEARY, DOAK MUST

KEEP COOL TO MAKE CUT IN MORNING


David Drysdale (lying joint 28th on seven-under 135 will make the cut in the Africa Open and so should Jamie McLeary and Chris Doak who will not complete their second rounds until just after 7.15am Saturday morning.
A 95min suspension of play while torrential rain fell on the second day meant that the later starters
could not finish before it got dark at East London Golf Club on South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Jack Doherty, like McLeary and Doak, has to get up early to finish his second round but unlike his two compatriots he has no chance of making the forecast cut mark of five-under-par 137.
Until they, and a handful of others, complete their rounds, there will not be an official cut mark announced.
The shortish course, only 6,616yd and a par-71 with only two par-5s, means that the cut mark will be the lowest for some time.
Drysdale is safe because he followed up his opening 65 with a 70 for seven-under-par 135.
McLeary is T38 on the overnight scoreboard after a first-round two-under 69 and  the fact that he is four under for Friday's play with three holes to play, having birdieing the third, fifth, sixth, 12th, 13th and 15th. His only bogeys - so far - have come at the seventh and ninth.
So Jamie is six under overall with three to play. He can afford to slip to five under and still make it. But two bogeys or a double bogey would ruin it all. Fingers crossed that McLeary can keep his early-morning nerve.
Doak, who had a two-under 69 on Thursday, is also now six-under-par overall and he has four holes to play early Saturday morning. Here again he can afford one bogey but no more than that.
Chris bogeyed the second in his second round but reeled off the birdies after that - the third, sixth, 11th, 12th and 13th 
Doherty, however, is a dead duck in metaphorical terms. His Thursday 76 meant he was five over the card at the start of his second round. He played a lot better today to be one-under par for the day with one hole to play. So even with a birdie or eagle finish, he is not going to make the cut.
The rest of the Scots have completed their 36 holes and are "goners" too, although some of them had sub-70 scores in the second round.
Alastair Forsyth shot three-under 139 with rounds of 71 and 68; Duncan Stewart on trhe same total after a 72 and 67. Two shots too many by both to get into the weekend action.
Craig Lee scored 69 and 71 for 140 as did South Africa-based Scot Doug McGuigan (72-68) 
Another South African Scot, Alan McLean missed out on 145 (70-75) while Peter Whiteford totalled 146 with a tremendous slump from a first-round 68 to a Friday 78. 
Lesser-known American John Hahn burned up the course with a 10-under-par second round of 61 for 126 which dislodged the long-time clubhouse leader, Ricardo Santos (Portugal). He had added a 66 to his first-day 62 for a 128.
 total.
Qualifying School graduate Hahn completed the inward half of his second round in just 28 shots to equal the course record of 61.
Hahn fired eight birdies and an eagle to finish 16 under par with a two-shot lead.
Ranked 881st in the Official World Golf Ranking, Hahn started from the ninth with a birdie and picked up further shots at the 14th and 18th before a brilliant scoring burst took him to the top of the leaderboard.
The 24 year old birdied the first and second, eagled the par five third and then birdied the fourth, sixth and eighth to effectively cover the front nine in just 28 shots, one outside The European Tour record.
A 95-minute delay caused by torrential morning rain meant the second round was not completed on schedule on Friday evening, with play due to resume at 0715 local time on Saturday.
Santos, former Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, had picked up two shots in his first nine holes before play was suspended.
When play resumed, Santos carded further birdies at the third, fourth and seventh to boost his chances of a second European Tour title, his first coming in the Madeira Islands Open in 2012.
South African players have won nine of the last 12 European Tour events on home soil and Jean Hugo, Ulrich van den Berg and Ruan de Smidt were all a further shot back on eight under after rounds of 66, 68 and 66 respectively.

SECOND ROUND TOTALS 
(Round will not be completed until early Saturday morning following
a 95min suspension of play for torrential rain).
par 142 (2x71) Yardage 6,616yd.
126 John Hahn (USA) 65 61
128 Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 62 66
129 Oliver Fisher (England) 66 63
130 David Horsey (England) 66 64
131 Fabrizio Zanotti (Paraguay) 65 66, Lucas Bjerregaard (Denmark) 64 67, Adam Gee (England) 66 65, Emiliano Grillo (Argentina) 68 63, Thomas Aiken (South Africa) 66 65

SELECTED SCORES
135 David Drysdale (Scotland) 65 70

FORECAST CUT MARK - 137 and better
to qualify.
139 Alastair Forsyth (Scotland) 71 68, Duncan Stewart (Scotland) 72 67
140 Craig Lee (Scotland) 69 71, Doug McGuigan (Scotland) 72 68
145 Alan McLean (Scotland) 70 75
146 Peter Whiteford (Scotland) 68 78
SCOTS TO FINISH early Saturday morning
Jamie McLeary is 6 under par with three to play
Chris Doak is 6 under par with four to play.
Jack Doherty is 4 over par with one to play.

IF AMERICAN TYCOON ABANDONS ABERDEENSHIRE PROJECT

Trump is biggest example of someone throwing

their toys out of the pram ...

Email from D Neal Stewart
While I am no fan of wind turbines I am not sure that the policy of the Scottish Government should be dictated to by an American billionaire who has not been elected to a position in the Scottish Parliament.  

One of the worst examples of wind turbine siting surely must be the wind turbine erected just outside the course boundaries at Royal Aberdeen's Balgownie Links? 

If Mr Trump (pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency) has evidence that Alex Salmond or anyone else in the Scottish Parliament/Government promised that no wind farm would be built offshore from the golf course he has built, then why doesn't he produce this evidence?  

He is not usually slow to go to the courts and it would seem appropriate for that evidence to be produced and tested before the Scottish Courts.  Surely he must either put up or shut up?

In any event I presume that the temporary clubhouse will have been given planning permission for a limited period only, presumably three years, and therefore will require to be demolished by early 2015.  

I also presume that his (Doonbeg) Castle/Clubhouse wi11 then require to be in place having been built over the coming year.  If Mr Trump walks away then this must be the biggest and best example ever of someone throwing their toys out of the pram.  

All the threats about compulsory purchase orders and uncertainty which arose for the house owners in the vicinity will therefore have been for nought. 

At the end of the day Mr Trump's much vaunted claim that Trump Links is the best course in the world is laughable.

Having played 544 courses in Scotland in my opinion it is not to be the best course in Scotland or even the best course in Aberdeenshire.

D Neal Stewart

LEVEL PAR FINAL ROUND BY KIRKHILL PRO

PAUL SHIELDS  EARNS $2,765 FOR 8th 

PLACE IN ARIZONA

REPORT FROM WILLIE SHARPE

Kirkhill's Paul Shields shot level par 72 in his final round in the All-American Gateway 54- hole pro tournament at Anthem Golf Club, at Ironwood, Arizona. 

This gave Paul a share of eighth place on seven-under-par 209 with earlier scores of 72 and 65. 
Winner of the North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play title in 2010, Shields picked up $2,765 for his Arizona efforts, compared with the $15,000 prize for the winner with a 15-under total of 201 (70-66-65), American Ryan Hogue who won by three shots from another American, Darren Angel (69-68-67 for a $7,500 pay-out).

Paul has entered three more tournaments in the in USA before he embarks on his season on the EuroPro Tour in England.

The experience should prove invaluable and especially the lesson that low score final rounds pick up the prize-money.

Harking back to the All-American Gateway Tour event this week, one of the 65 players who missed the cut with 36-hole totals of 143 and worse (36 players made the cut) was a man from Irvine, Ayrshire - Andrew Gunson (pictured).
Andrew shot 75 and 74 for 149. 
Andrew is a son of Brian Gunson who was the head pro at Turnberry Hotel until he emigrated to California with his family to become director of golf at Shady Canyon, a private club.
Andrew then went to the University of California-Santa Barbara and when he graduated from there he quickly turned professional and also quickly won as a rookie on the All-American Gateway Tour.

LEADING TOTALS AT ANTHEM GC
Par 216 (3x72)
201 Ryan Hogue (USA) 70 66 65 ($14,000)
204 Darren Angel (USA) 69 68 67 ($7,500)
205 Corey Renfrew (Canada) 71 67 67, Ryan Dillon (USA) 69 69 678 ($5,500 each)

SELECTED TOTAL
209 Paul Shields (Scotland) 72 65 72 (T8) ($2,675).