COLIN FARQUHARSON IS ON HOLIDAY. UPDATES WILL BE LIMITED WHILE HE IS AWAY

GREAT EFFORT BY AILSA BAIN TO BE JOINT FOURTH WITH A 70

HIGHLANDER HAY CLICKETY-CLICKS 

TO LEAD YOUNG PROS' FIELD WITH A 66

Nairn's Gavin Hay put together a brilliant round of five-under-par 66 to be the surprise leader at the end of the first round of the Scottish young professionals' championship at West Lothia Golf Club, Bo'ness today.
Hay had an eagle (at the par-5 fourth) and six birdies, at the second, third, fifth, seventh, 14th and 15th.
He bogeyed the first before covering the next fife holes in six under par.
But even that great effort did not put daylight between the Highlander and his closest challengers.
Defending champion Paul O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) and Keir McNicoll (Gullane) are only a shot behind the leader in this 72-hole event for which the leading 34 and ties at the end of the second round will qualify to play the final two rounds on Thursday
Hats off to former Scottish U18 girls champion Ailsa Bain from Peebles and now an assistant pro at Macdonald Hotel and Golf Resort at Cardrona.
Danniel Flannery Caldwell) will have to go a bit to repeat his joint second finish 12 months ago. He is way back after a 75 and he faces a fight to beat the cut.
  
SCOTTISH YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP
West Lothian Golf Club, Bo'ness
LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71
66 G Hay (Nairn Dunbar)
67 P O'Hara (Clyde7way Golf), K McNicoll (Gullane).
70 Ailsa Bain (Macdonald Hotel, Cardrona), P Betty (Hayston), F Thomson (Turnberry Hotel), R Clarke (Gamola Golf), M Patterson (Cruden Bay)
 71 F Clarke (Newmachar), R King (Carrick on Loch Lomond)
72 F Rummers (Canmore), I Lowdean (Murrayfield), C Marr (Musselburgh), G Smith (Gleneagles).
73 S Costello (Strathaven), O Huish (North Berwick), T Dingwall (Kemnay), I McNab (Dundonald Links), R Munro (Duddingston).
74 R McConnachie (Petercultere), C Robinson (Elie SC), M Shaw (Whitecraigs, C Porciani (Turnberry Hotel), A Todd (Prestonfield).
y
75 Ian Anderson (Colville Park), C Beveridge (West Kilbride) C Brown (Carrick on Loch Lomond), J Gallagher (Douglas Park).




TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES 

CLICK HERE

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R AND A

TOM WATSON TO MAKE 40TH ANIVERSARY APPEARANCE IN THE OPEN AT ST ANDREWS IN 2015

The R and A announced today that the exemption of five-time Open Champion Tom Watson will be extended to enable him to make his 40th anniversary appearance in the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews.

The 64-year-old, who came so close to winning the 2009 Open at Turnberry, will play once again at the home of golf next year and make a remarkable 37th appearance in golf’s oldest and most international Major Championship.

The R&A presented Watson with a special commemorative solid silver Players’ Badge to recognise his 40 years in The Open Championship.

A true legend of the game, Watson is one of a select group of players to win The Open on five occasions along with James Braid, JH Taylor and Peter Thomson. Only Harry Vardon has won more Championships with six victories.

In his first appearance in The Open at Carnoustie in 1975 Watson defeated Jack Newton by one shot after an 18-hole play-off. Two years later at Turnberry he won again by one shot after a memorable battle with Jack Nicklaus in what became known as the “Duel in the Sun”.

At Muirfield in 1980, Watson won by four shots from his countryman Lee Trevino. At Royal Troon in 1982 he won by one shot from Peter Oosterhuis and Nick Price and at Royal Birkdale the following year he successfully defended his trophy edging out Andy Bean and Hale Irwin by a single shot.

ENTERPRISING MOVE BY DUMFRIES AND COUNTY GOLF CLUB HEAD PROFESSIONAL

STUART SYME RE-OPENING DRUMOIG 

AND SON CONNOR WILL BENEFIT

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Dumfries and County Golf Club pro Stuart Syme has done has bought what used to be the SGU's Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig. 
It has been closed since October 2012. Under Syme's ownership and hands-on management, it re-opens for business as the Drumoig Golf Centre, near Leuchars in north Fife on Saturday, July 5.
"I don't feel that comfortable divulging the price I have paid for it but suffice to say it is a significant investment and I think I have got a great deal for the golf centre and the surrounding land," said Stuart.
Stuart won the Scottish schoolboys championship when he was in his teens and son Connor followed in his old man's footsteps by winning the same title, now sponsored by the Paul Lawrie Foundation, not once but twice - 2012 and 2013.
Said Stuart: "We are returning home to Fife after being in Dumfries for 17+ years to take on our new golf venture. Golfers who visited the SNGC when the SGU were there will be familiar with the previous lay-out. But I have changed it somewhat.
Stuart Syme went to school in St Andrews and represented St Andrews Golf Club international before moving to Ladybank Golf Club, also in Fife, and achieving further international honours.
"My son Connor (2013)  and I (1988) are the only father and son to have played for the Great Britain and Ireland boys' team," said Stuart.
"I turned professional in 1991, did my PGA training and worked in Fife before moving to Dumfries and County as club professional in 1997.
"I didn't plan to stay there for all those years but Dumfries was good for us and the familiy settled well.
"With Connor emerging as a very good player over the last few years I have been looking to invest in our own facility for a while. To get the chance to take on a wonderful set-up like Drumoig and return home to Fife at the same time was to good a chance to miss.
"Connor has been at the forefront of my mind during all this time. He has shown his potential through his boys' golf career and reaching the semi-final of the recent British Amateur championship at Royal Portrush.
"I look forward to helping him develop as a player at our own facility with plenty time to practice compared to the life of a club pro."
Syme says that it was "quite a complicated deal" to buy Drumoig Golf Centre.
"Effectively I've bought it from the Adminstrator. After the SGU left what chief exec Hamish Grey once described as a "world-class practice facility," it fell back into the ownership of Torith Ltd, a building company in Dundee, who used the main big building as offices until they went bust in 2012
The driving range was operated by the owners of the Drumoig Hotel and golf course until it shut in October 2012.
"I have spent the last few months getting the grass all cut down, renovating the driving range building and we are all set to open our doors for business on Saturday," says Syme.
"We will have a pro shop, custom-fit studio and a 25-bay driving range to begin with.  Obviously I will be available for all individual and group lessons from when I start there. I am also delighted to continue my previous work with Clubgolf and we have been approved as a Scottish Development Centre.
"There is an extensive grass tee area which is starting to look great now too and will be back in use as soon as possible. I'm sure our customers will enjoy playing from it in the future.
"The SGU had some training holes and practice greens around the perimeter of driving range in the past. I am restoring some of them and I have actually designed a par-3 course incorporating as many of the old tees and greens as possible. 
"I have had a great reaction to this being part of our facility. It is a really fun course with water and other features to contend with and I look forward to introducing youngsters to the game on our par-3 lay-out from early next year.
"Unfortuately, the big building (which contained a gymnasium, golf shop and an indoor golf hole, etc)  is not part of the future plans. Fife council wanted £60,000  a year for rates so there is a demolition order in for it and it'll come down later this summer.
"I plan to put a cafe and kids' soft play centre on the site of the front of where that building is at the moment,  hopefully in time for next season.
"All in all, lots of hard work ahead but I've never been troubled by that and in the end I just look forward to bringing Drumoig back to the outstanding facility it was in the past.
"I did swither about the name but decided Drumoig Golf Centre was still appropriate.  Calling it anything else would just have had people wondering 'is that the old SGU place?.'  It is incredibly well known around the country as the SNGC so I thought even previous bad advertising is still making headlines so I would stick with Drumoig as the title."


ends

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE R AND A - OPEN COMING TO CARNOUSTIE IN 2018

ROYAL BIRKDALE AND CARNOUSTIE TO HOST THE OPEN IN 2017 AND 2018

The R and A announced today that Royal Birkdale will host The Open Championship in 2017 and Carnoustie will host the Championship in 2018.

Five-time Open Champion Tom Watson, who won The Open at Royal Birkdale in 1983 and at Carnoustie in 1975, joined The R and A to make the announcement at the Greenbrier.

“I am delighted to see The Open returning to two great venues in Royal Birkdale and Carnoustie,” he said. “I know both courses are held in high regard by the players and I certainly consider them to be wonderful tests of golf.

“When I first played in The Open at Carnoustie I still had a lot to learn about links golf but I quickly adapted to the challenge of playing in the wind and keeping the ball low. I played well that week and was thrilled to win the play-off.

“Royal Birkdale is also a fine links course and I have always thoroughly enjoyed playing there. I think the players and the fans will be excited to see the top players playing these courses once again.”

Royal Birkdale will host The Open for the tenth time in 2017. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington won by four shots from Ian Poulter the last time the Championship was played there in 2008. Mark O’ Meara emerged victorious from a play-off with Brian Watts in 1998 and Ian Baker-Finch enjoyed a two-shot victory over his fellow Australian Mike Harwood in 1991. Another Australian, Peter Thomson, won The Open when it was first staged at Royal Birkdale in 1954, and again in 1965, and he was joined by Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971) and Johnny Miller (1976) as winners in the North West.

Richard Hunt, the Captain of Royal Birkdale, said, "We will be delighted to welcome The Open Championship back to Royal Birkdale in 2017.‎ The club has a long and proud history of hosting The Open and some of the game's greatest players have won here. We regard it as a privilege to host the Championship and look forward to seeing the world's top players facing the challenges of Royal Birkdale once again."

2018 will be the eighth occasion on which Carnoustie has hosted The Open Championship and the first since Harrington lifted the Claret Jug there in 2007 after defeating Sergio Garcia in a play-off. In 1999, Scotland’s Paul Lawrie triumphed after a play-off with Justin Leonard and Jean Van de Velde. Ben Hogan famously won The Open at Carnoustie in 1953 on the only occasion he played in the Championship and the other winners at the Angus links are Tommy Armour (1931), Henry Cotton (1937) and Gary Player (1968).

Pat Sawers, Chairman Carnoustie Golf Links, said, “We are very much looking forward to welcoming The Open Championship back for an eighth time to the historic links at Carnoustie in 2018 and feel sure the Championship will generate just as much interest and excitement as in previous years. We believe the fact The R&A has invited us to stage the 2018 Championship will provide a big boost to golf in the local area and will have a beneficial effect on our on-going efforts to attract more local youngsters into the game.”
The Open Championship will be played at Royal Birkdale from 20-23 July 2017 and at Carnoustie from 19-22 July 2018.

For more information visit TheOpen.com.