ABERDEEN LINKS FINALS POSTPONED TO FRIDAY EVENING

Tonight's Handicap Championship and Murray Cup finals at the Kings Links have been postponed 48 hours because of heavy and prolonged rain.
They will be played on Friday evening - weather permitting - alongwith the Aberdeen Links scratch championship final.

TUESDAY WINNER JASON McCREADIE FINISHES SECOND THIS TIME

PAUL O'HARA OPENS
2014 WIN ACCOUNT 
AT POLLOK

Paul O'Hara scored his first win in his sixth start on the Tartan Tour this year.

The Clydeway Golf tour pro shot a six-under-par 65 to win the £833 first prize by one shot in the Pollok Golf Club shotgun pro-am in Glasgow.

O'Hara, starting at the ninth, birdied the 11th, 13th, 14th, first and second before he got an eagle 3 at the seventh and finished his rough with his only bogey, at the eighth.

Runner-up, a shot behind on 66, was Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle). the winner at Strathaven on Tuesday. 

Mark Loftus (Mearns Castle) led the Armstrongs team of Adam Armstrong (handicap 13), Joe Frame (8) and Robert Ross (8) to victory with a net two-ball score of 124.

LEADING PRO SCORES

Par 71

65 P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) £833

66 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) £666

67 G McBain (Paul Lawrie GC), S Henderson (Kings Links), D Orr (Mearns Castle) £391 each

68 G Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie GC) £250

69 C Currie (Caldwell), G Fox (Clydeway Golf), M Loftus (Mearns Castle), C Gillies (Kingsfield), S Taylor (Bothwell Castle), J Lomas (Caprington) £157 each.

70 M Kerr (Marriot Dalmahoy), C Ronald (Carluke) £104 each.

71 G Brown (Montrose Links), S Gray (Hayston)

£87 each
73 J McKinnon (Irvine)
75 D Patrick (Kingsfield)
79 J McTear (unatt)

SPECIAL OFFER AT TRUMP INTERNATIONAL LINKS, BALM EDIA

FATHER'S DAY GOLF COMPETITION

Sunday, June 15

NEWS RELEASE FROM TRUMPINTERNATIONAL LINKS
Make this Father's Day extra special at Trump International Golf Links. Spoil your father and take part in our celebratory two-ball competition* and guarantee a fantastic day to remember. 
If you are looking for the perfect gift we have deluxe Trump Gift Boxes for £60 and gift vouchers that can be used in our restaurants, Pro Shop, MacLeod House and golf course.


Telephone: 01358 743300
Email: bookings@trumpgolfscotland.com
Website: www.trumpgolfscotland.com 
*Entry fee: £125 per two-ball

BIG TASK FOR FORMER SGU NATIONAL JUNIOR COACH

SPENCER HENDERSON GIVEN JOB OF PUTTING AZERBAIJAN ON WORLD'S GOLFING MAP

FROM TODAY'S SCOTTISHF DAILY EXPRESS
By JOCK MACVICAR

Former SGU national junior coach Spencer Henderson has found a new challenge in Azerbaijan.
There are fewer golfers in that European country than in the smallest golf club in Scotland and the first golf course has just been completed.
However, oil-rich Azerbaijan is massively ambitious and and its golf federation president Anar Mammadov is determined to develop the sport in the run-up to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. That is where former Duffr House Royal Golf Club, Banff assistant professional  Spencer Henderson comes in.
Having had spell as national golf coach in Turkey, Henderson has been charged with golf development plans in the former Soviet state.
Spencer said: " Mr Mammadov clearly has a passion to develop every area of golf - educating juniors, developing a PGA-coaching system, building world-class golf facilities, hosting professional events and having players capable of competing on the world stage.
"They have just completed their first 18-hole golf course, designed by Troon Golf, and will host a European Challenge Tour event at the beginning of August.
"It's a really exciting project - a chance to make golfing history in Azerbaijan."

MORE ABOUT SPENCER HENDERSON'S

NEW POST IN AZERBAIJAN

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
SPENCER Henderson, who worked for the Scottish Golf Union for eight years, has become Azerbaijan’s first national coach and can’t wait to get his teeth into trying to put a country that has just one 18-hole course on to the golfing map.
It’s the second time in his career that Falkirk-born Henderson has taken up a ground-breaking post in the game, having left his role as the Scottish national junior coach four years ago to become Turkey’s first national coach.
An enjoyable spell for the most part there ended in frustration as money was eventually channelled more towards hosting events like the one in Belek that has Tiger Woods signed up to play for three years, rather than investing in emerging Turkish talent.
However, Henderson’s enthusiasm for a coaching challenge, even one that involves starting from scratch, has been well and truly restored by the remit he’s been handed by the fledgling Azerbaijan Golf Federation.
“I will be based primarily at the newly-opened Azerbaijan Golf Federation Golf Academy in the capital city Baku,” said the 40-year-old Henderson. 
“It is certainly the most impressive Federation headquarters that I have encountered on my travels.
“They have completed a ‘mini’ golf academy with driving range, short game area, huge putting green and two indoor simulators, which will give locals the opportunity to experience golf for the first time.
“The vision of the Federation president, Mr Anar Mammadov, to develop golf in Azerbaijan is the main reason that I accepted the offer. He clearly has a passion to develop every area of golf, from educating juniors, creating an Azeri PGA coaching system, building world-class facilities, hosting professional events to competing on the world stage.”
The country’s first 18-hole course has just been completed by Troon Golf, a renowned design company, and Azerbaijan will join Kazakhstan as a host venue on the European Challenge Tour in August.
“As the Federation is only one year old, the golf scene has yet to really be established but, with the Academy and National Golf Club, it is a really exciting time to be involved,” added Henderson, who was based in Cupar when he worked for the SGU.
“I will be primarily responsible for putting structures and strategies in place from grass-roots level to developing and coaching the Azerbaijan national teams in the future.
“Having worked with clubgolf, the SGU and the Turkish Federation, seeing what was and was not successful gives me a clear vision of where I would like AGF to develop over the next 10-20 years.
“What is really exciting is how open-minded and hungry everyone working at the Federation is to succeed. Not many people get this opportunity in their lifetime so I feel privileged and excited about the role. It’s a chance to make history.
“The challenges will be prioritising the key objectives over the next couple of years. I believe we have to develop the coaches, players, facilities and tournaments, as we currently have nothing in place. This will obviously take time and is vital to do correctly from the beginning.”
In his previous role, Henderson was responsible for preparing Turkish teams when the country hosted the men’s and women’s amateur world championships in 2012. Both sides improved by 40 shots on their previous efforts in those events, with the women achieving their best finish in the Espirito Santo Trophy.
“I feel I instilled a good work ethic and desire, which was certainly lacking before I took up that post,” reflected Henderson.
“On a personal level it was great experiencing a new culture, learning a new language and living in a city of 20 million people was a wee bit different from being back in Cupar.
“Following the World Amateur Team Championships, though, I was told that the Federation decided to go down a totally different route, focusing more on establishing the Antalya region in southern Turkey  as a tourist destination and hosting events such as the World Final [now the Turkish Open], Challenge Tour and LET.
“The President of the Federation has done an incredible job in this respect and has put Turkey firmly on the golfing map. Sadly, in my opinion, the national team and developing junior golf in Turkey was no longer a priority.
“They have not had a qualified coach or structured national programme for the past 15 months and as a result the players I worked with have certainly suffered.”
While Henderson makes no secret of the fact that he’d like to test himself against the top college coaches in America one day, he’s happy for the time being on a journey that is gradually taking him in the opposite direction.
“I must admit that, if five years ago, standing freezing on the range at the Scottish boys' championship, you had told me that I would end up in Azerbaijan via Turkey I would have questioned your sanity,” he joked.
 “But I am a firm believer in the adage of ‘better to regret something that you have done than to regret something that you have not done’.”

RandA CHIEF PRESENTS PRIZES AT W O M E N ' S TOURNAMENT!

    
Colin Farquharson writes:  I cannot recall the CEO of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club presenting the prizes at the St Rule Trophy - one of the premier amateur women's tournaments in Britain - in any of the years I have been reporting on the St Andrews event - but Peter Dawson did it with great aplomb on Sunday evening.
Is it just a coincidence that later this year RandA members will be voting on whether or not to admit women as members ... or am I reading too much into the message being conveyed by the above picture which sees Peter Dawson standing beside St Rule Trophy winner Jess Meek (Carnoustie Ladies).

SGU PERFORMANCE COACH PAULDING LAYS IT ON THE LINE

GETTING TO TOP IN AMATEUR GOLF IS 

NOT JUST ABOUT PLAYING, PRACTISING
 
FROM TODAY'S SCOTTISH DAILY EXPRESS
By JOCK MacVICAR
Steve Paulding believes Scotland's young amateurs are beginning to "get it."
Just 18 months ago, the Scottish Golf Union's performance manager said he was embarrassed to wear a Scotland top when their three-man team finished 40 shots behind USA in the Eisenhower Trophy in Turkey.
In a desperately depressing time for the amateur game in this country, Scotland finished behind Guatemala, Puerto Rico and Russia, and, as a consequence, not one Scot was selected for the Walker Cup match in New York.
Paulding promised a period of "tough love" and now is confident such an awful two years will not be repeated.
He said this week: "I'm optimistic. Getting nobody into the Walker Cup team and the performance in the Eisenhower were really low points.
"But we've vot a big group of young players who are showing a great deal of petential and there's a big shift with them now realising you've really got to commit to everything.
"It's not just playing and practising golf: it's your fitness, how your nutrition helps, working on all aspects of your plan and organisation. Everyone's starting to realise how important that is.
"Year on year they get better and they're making good decisions now, especially around turning professional."
On the tough decision of switching from amateur to pro, Paulding and the SGU have two former European Tour winners, Dean Robertson and Andrew Coltart, on hand to offer assistance.
 Paulding said: "Many of the guys will turn pro but they'll do it at the right time for them with the right kind of advice from Dean and Andrew. We're very happy to have their support. There's a massive difference from where we are  now to where we were when I first came in, so I'm optimistic.
"But it's still quite a big leap going from being among the best boys' golfers to being a top men's player."
Although more upbeat, Paulding concedes that it doesn't mean Scottish players are guaranteed good results in the coming months and years. 
He said: "Golf is one of the toughest sports to predict performance in. One day someone's winning, the next day they're missing the cut. It's a brutally tough gam.e
"But if we create the right level of perparation and expectation, these guys will have every opportunity to be as good as they can be."
At the same time, Paulind , perhaps surprisingly, believes amateur golf in the UK as a whole is on the slide.
He said: "We're seeing the basic level going down. That's because the guys who stayed career amateurs - and kept the quality high - are either having to go and work, or turn pro and don't make it.
"Very few professionals who don't make the grade come back and play at the very top level of amateur golf.
"I think the strength in depth in GB and Ireland amateur golf has actually gone down because of all these mini-pro tours are there for the young pros to play in. 
"At the same time, the world level is going up.
Emerging nations such as China and the Asian nations use different training regimes.
"A lot of these guys are in the American college system, so its going to get harder for a small nation like oureselves to keep producing top players."

PAUL ASKED ALL GOLF'S BIG NAMES TO PLAY AT BALGOWNIE

        Paul Lawrie on the first tee at Balgownie today. Picture by Kenny Smith

   PAUL LAWRIE HAS DONE HIS BIT AS

  AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE ABERDEEN

  ASSET MANAGEMENT SCOTTISH OPEN

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Paul Lawrie has been on the European Tour longer than he cares to remember but he admits that even he is quite excited at the prospect of playing in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open over the Royal Aberdeen Golf Club's Balgownie links from July 10 to 13 next month.

"It's a fabulous course ... it's one of the biggest events on the European Tour ... and it's in my home town," said Paul at today's preview Press Conference in the Royal Aberdeen clubhouse.
"It doesn't get much better than that. I can hardly wait. In fact I wish it started tomorrow."
It's one of the best ever international golf fields assembled at a Scottish venue, apart from at the Open championship, and Paul has done his best to get the World of Golf's big names to enter the tournament which will give them a real test of links golf the week before the Open championship.
"I spoke to my Ryder Cup team-mates, asking them to add the 2014 AAM Scottish Open to their schedules," said Paul.

"I did not have to work hard to persuade them. It was easy to 'sell' the chance to play Royal Aberdeen to them. I spoke to Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose, guys like that ... and they were quite enthusiastic about coming to Royal Aberdeen.
"They asked me questions about the course ... and
about Aberdeen as a city. 
"I think Phil Mickelson winning the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart and then going down to win the Open the following week at Muirfield changed the minds of a lot of the big names who would normally not play the week before the Open." 
So what about the 1999 Open champion's own prospects of winning on his doorstep as it were?
"Before I stop (playing), I would love to have a Scottish Open victory on my CV. And to win it
at Royal Aberdeen would be fantastic. I'll get a 
lot of support from the Aberdeen fans, I am sure of that, but I won't feel under any more pressure than I would at any European Tour event," said Paul.
"I give 110 per cent every time I tee it up in a tournament, wherever it is, so there is no way I
can try harder because it's the Scottish Open at Royal Aberdeen, because I give it my best shot every week on the European Tour.
"Yes, if I did manage to beat this fantastic field that is gathering, it could revive my hopes of making the Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles in September.
"I cannot really blame my neck problems for falling way down the Ryder Cup points table. I just didn't play well enough to amass enough points.
"But winning the Scottish Open or even THE Open again would certainly put me in the Ryder Cup picture as one of the captain's picks.
"But even if I don't make the team, I would be prepared to help captain Paul McGinlay in any way he wants at Gleneagles ... from driving a buggy to getting the bottles of water.
"I am sure every European Tour player who doesn't make the team would say the same. We all want to do our bit, be part of the team effort." 
So what will it take to win the AAM Scottish Open at Balgownie. Who better to ask than Paul who plays the course three or five times a year?
"Richie Ramsay knows the course a lot better than I do so he has a big advantage, having grown up on the Balgownie links, as it were.
"But the key to playing links golf, wherever the venue, is to control the flight of the ball in what will almost certainly be a windy conditions for at least one of the days,"said Paul.
"There will be wind, there will be rain but all the European Tour players are used to playing in conditions like that so it would be wrong to say I am hoping that the Scottish Open will have a week of bad weather.
"Attitude also plays a big part in being able to cope with a links course. On a "normal" European tour course, if you hit a good shot, you get a good finish.
"But in links golf, you can get a bad bounce which sees a good shot finish up in a bad lie. I'm used to it. I've grown up playing my golf in the North-east of Scotland."

ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT FIELD GETS EVEN STRONGER

RICKIE FOWLER IS LATEST AMERICAN 

STAR TO ENTER SCOTTISH OPEN 

NEWS RELEASE
Rickie Fowler, a Ryder Cup team-mate of Phil Mickelson in 2010, is the latest big-name American golfer to accept the challenge of Royal Aberdeen in next month's Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
With five-time Major champion Mickelson set to defend his title over the Balgownie linkes from July 10 to 13, Fowler has added his considerable talent and charisma to the truly international field which currently includes 24 of the world's top 60.
Fowler, a 25-year-old from California, is instantly recognisable on Sundays in the vivid orange colours of Oklahoma State University (at which he was a student for four years). He won the Wells Fargo Championship  on the US PGA Tour in 2012, two years after making an impressive Ryder Cup debut at Celtic Manor Resort in Wales.
It will be Fowler's debut appearaNce in the Aberdeen Asset4 Management Scottish Open and he said: "I am really looking forward to playing in the Scottish Open for the first time and checking out one of the great Scottish links courses which everyone is talking about."