Thursday, October 02, 2014

BAD WEATHER HITS CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN ROME

By George! Murray is 11 over par and still 

has  three holes to play in Rome

 George Murray is one of the most consistent players on the European Challenge Tour.
But not in the EMC Golf Challenge Open which began in Rome with a weather-hit first day.
The Anstruther man, pictured, had only played 15 holes when play was suspended due to darkness following morning delays due to flooding on parts of the course.
But Murray with three holes still to play is 11 over par!
Out in 42. George had a triple bogey 7 at the eighth and double bogey 6s at the third and 11th.
Duncan Stewart from Grantown on Spey did not fare much better. He completed his round in 77 strokes for a share of 96th place (Murray is lying last of 120 at the moment). Also round in 77 was Jack Doherty
Paul McKechnie is doing OK. The Edinburgh man is T23, having completed a par 71 and Raymond Russell is par for the 12 holes he played before the early finish called by officials.
Wallace Booth shot a 74 for a share of 60th place.
Scott Henry is T73 on the 75 mark. 
Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka led the field in Rome with a four-under 67
The two-time Challenge Tour winner did not let the difficult conditions affect his game early on as he birdied the par three second hole to set the ball rolling, before picking up a shot each at the fifth and ninth to reach the turn in three under.
A bogey at the tenth knocked back his charge but the 27 year old finished with a flourish, carding an eagle three at the 17th hole to card a four under 67 and take a one shot lead into the second day, when a number of groups will finish their first rounds before the second round’s play begins at 8:50am local time.
Three players were in the clubhouse just a shot off the pace, with winner already on the Challenge Tour this season Antonio Hortal of Spain joined in a share of second place by experienced Frenchman Julien Guerrier and promising young Portuguese Ricardo Gouveia after they all signed for three under par rounds of 68.
Another Frenchman, Edouard Espana, was three under while still out on the course, as was Englishman Jason Palmer.
Former European Tour winners, Jeppe Huldahl pf Denmark and Swede Michael Jonzon, both carded two under par rounds of 69 to lie two strokes off the summit on two under par.


TO VIEW THE FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD

CLICK HERE

Labels:

2014 HAS BEEN BIG BREAKTHROUGH SEASON FOR WELSHMAN

LATE BLOOMER JAMIE DONALDSON 

SIGNS DEAL WITH TAYLORMADE

FROM THE GOLF CHANNEL WEBSITE
Jamie Donaldson may not have been well-known to many American golf fans - nor even British golf fans for that matter -  entering this year, but the Welshman has done plenty to distinguish himself in 2014 and later this month will begin a new endorsement contract with TaylorMade Golf.
Donaldson was a runner-up at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March, then went 3-1-0 in his Ryder Cup debut last week, scoring the cup-clinching point in singles' play against Keegan Bradley. 
Donaldson's new equipment deal, which will begin at the Volvo World Match Play (October 16-19), calls for the 38-year-old to use TaylorMade woods in addition to donning a staff bag and hat.
A relative late-bloomer in the game, Donaldson turned pro in 2000 but didn't record his first European Tour victory until 2012
This year he played part-time on the US PGA Tour, making nine cuts in 12 starts with top-25 results at both the Masters (T-14) and US PGA Championship (T-24).
Donaldson earned enough FedEx Cup points during the 2013-14 season for special temporary membership, and will begin the new season as a fully-exempt member on both the PGA Tour and the Eu

Labels:

ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP DAY 1

 OLLY WILSON EQUALS CARNOUSTIE 

   RECORD WITH A 64

"I can play this course with my eyes shut" - leader Oliver Wilson during his 64 at Carnoustie     today. Picture by courtesy of Getty Images(c).

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Oliver Wilson repeated his first-round heroics of 2013 in the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with a brilliant, record-equalling 64 at Carnoustie to establish a one-stroke lead over Raphaël Jacquelin.


The only other players who have scored that low at the Angus venue previously are@
Alan Tait - 1994; Colin Montgomerie - 1995; Steve Stricker and Richard Green - 2007; Thomas Levet, Shane Lowry - 2014
Wilson, a Ryder Cup player in 2008, has struggled with his game since losing his tour card in 2011 but his performance over one of the world’s fiercest tests of golf gave evidence of a man on a mission to return to the game’s highest level.
Three-time Major Champion and double Dunhill Links Champion Padraig Harrington and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry are two strokes off the lead after rounds of 66 at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns respectively, while the four European Ryder Cup heroes from Gleneagles in the field enjoyed mixed fortunes at Carnoustie in the unique pro-am competition played over three of the world’s most iconic links venues in the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
Stephen Gallacher made the best start of the Gleneagles stars with a four under 68.  

Victor Dubuisson posted a 71 while World Number One Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer struggled to respective scores of 73 and 74.
Their Ryder Cup Captain, Paul McGinley, meanwhile posted a level par 72 at Carnoustie.

Key Player Quotes

Oliver Wilson: “It's nice to just get out there and take advantage.  Looking at the forecast, getting Carnoustie out of the way is theoretically the best thing, but you've still got to go and play and shoot a good score to take advantage of it, and I'm delighted that I have.
“It's been a while since I played like that, but I want to be back there, definitely, and it's inspiring to watch The Ryder Cup. The boys played awesome last week.  You look at the team, they are so strong now, got so many big, big names, big players in there.
“It will be tough to get back in there, but for me, you watch it and then you come and play a tournament like this, which is fantastic.  The Dunhill Links is always one of the best tournaments of the year.  I'm obviously grateful to be here, but just trying to work on my own game to try to get a chance to get back on that team.”
Padraig Harington: “Every week is a new week on Tour. I certainly enjoyed last week, and I particularly enjoyed Sunday night. You know, maybe my preparation wasn't ideal coming in here on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, but I know the golf courses well, so it wasn't a golf course that I didn't have to play a lot before I got into the tournament to play here.  I'm comfortable on them.
“I really like the Dunhill Links.  I play with the same partner every year and we get along great and work hard as a team but we also enjoy it a lot. I was playing with Monty today and we had good fun, we always do on the golf course.  It certainly one of the most social events of the year and one of the most enjoyable events.”
Stephen Gallacher: “I played lovely, just a wee bit tired at the end but happy. I didn’t play any holes in practice. I thought the best preparation for this was just to go to my bed early for three nights given how draining it was last week. So I did nothing really.”
Rory McIlroy: “I was a little flat if I'm honest.  Obviously you know with the crowds and everything that we were playing in front of last week to come back here, obviously seems a little quiet out there.  

"But it was good fun to get to play with my dad.  It was a nice round of golf.  Wish I had played a little bit better and made a few more birdies, but hopefully that will happen over the next couple of days.

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS


FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD IN BRIEF
64 O Wilson (England)
65 R Jacquelin (France)
66 P Harrington (Ireland), S Lowry (Ireland)
67 R Evans (England), R Rock (England), J McLeary (Scotland), E De La Riva (Spain), A Otaegui (Spain), G Bourdy (France)

OTHER SCOTS' SCORES
68 S Gallacher (T11)
69 R Ramsay, P Lawrie (T18)
70 S Jamieson, C Doak (T28)
71 D Drysdale, C Lee, S Lyle (T40)
72 C Montgomerie (T70)
73 M Warren (T97)
74 P Whiteford (T121)

TO CHECK OUT WHICH COURSES THEY WERE PLAYING AND THEIR SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE
 

Labels:

EUROPEAN TOUR Q SCHOOL STAGE 1 REPORT, LEADING SCORES

CHRIS ROBB WITHIN QUALIFYING ZONE

WITH ANOTHER 18 HOLES TO GO

Scottish amateur champion Chris Robb (Meldrum House) from Banchory is lying joint 14th at the end of the third round of the European Tour Q School Stage 1 eliminator at Frilford Heath Golf Club, Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
He needs only to finish in the leading 23 and ties after 72 holes to progress to Stage 2 at one of the four venues in Spain.
Robb matched the par of 72 in the third round for a running total of four-under 212 but he had only two birdies - and they came after the turn - compared to a bag of eight over the first two rounds.
Score of the day came from a Scot, Jay Taylor, who conjured up a seven-under-par 65 after earlier efforts of 77 and 78. Taylor had eight birdies in halves of 32-33. But he is still only joint 50th and unlike to make the qualifiers for Stage 2.
The third Scot in the field, Magnus Eilertsen shot a 77 for 233.
Leading the field is American Charlie Harrison on 13-under-par 203, two ahead of England's Ryan Brown with Welshman Mark Laskey in third place on 206.

EUROPEAN TOUR Q SCHOOL STAGE 1 
Frilford Heath GC, Abingdon, Oxfordshire
LEADING THIRD ROUND SCORES
Par 216 (3x72)
203 C Harrison (USA) 68 66 69
205 R Brown (Eng) 67 65 73
206 M Laskey (Wal) 66 71 69

SCOTS' SCORES
212 C Robb 69 71 72 (T14)
220 J Taylor 77 78 65 (T50)
233 M Eilertsen 79 77 77


Labels:

TOMATIN SINGLE MALT 54-hole PRO-AM FINAL TOTALS

Par 213 (Royal Dornoch 70, Nairn 71, Castle Stuart 72)

207 G Hay (Nairn Dunbar) 68 68 71 (£6,000)
208 N Fenwick (Dunbar) 63 70 75, S Gray (Hayston) 70 67 71 (£4,500 each)
209 P O'Hara (Clydeway Golf) 68 69 72 (£3,000)
212 D Orr (Mearns Castle) 69 69 74. G Hutcheon (Paul Lawrie GC) 70 70 72 (£2,400 each)
213 C Lawrie (Paul Lawrie GC) 73 69 71, G McBain (Paul Lawrie GC) 69 72 72 (£1,900 each)
214 C Currie (Caldwell) 71 71 72, G Fox (Clydeway Golf) 71 73 70, L Saltman (Archerfield Links) 72 71 71 (£1,400 each).
216 G Wright (West Linton) 74 69 73, S Taylor (Bothwell Castle) 71 73 72 (£950 each)
217 C Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) 71 70 76, G Brown (Montrose Links) 71 71 75, M Kerr (Marriott Dalmahoy) 73 68 76 (£700 each)
218 S Henderson (Kings Links) 69 74 75, R Arnott (Bishopbriggs) 71 71 76 (£450 each)
219 N Walton (Glasgow) 73 72 74, G Shoesmith (West Hill, Surrey) 77 72 70, M Isaacs (Newmachar) 73 73 73 (£166 each). 
220 C Ronald (Carluke) 72 74 74
221 A Scrimshaw (Close House) 77 70 74
222 J Lomas (Caprington) 71 75 76, B McColl (Scotland for Golf) 74 70 78
223 J McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) 73 73 77, W de Vries (Netherlands) 73 74 76
225 K Hutton (Downfield) 72 78 75
226 F Cromarty (Nairn) 79 70 77
227 G Forbes (Murcar Links) 75 72 80,  P Wardell (Whitekirk) 75 77 75, M Urquhart (Spey Valley) 72 79 76
229 N Lythgoe (Royal Norwich) 76 72 81
230 C Elliott (Haggs Castle) 73 72 85, G Dingwall (Royal Dornoch) 70 76 84 
231 J Martin (unatt) 75 75 81, S Mitchell (Golf at Goodwood) 80 72 79
232 B Davidson (River Oaks CC, Texas)
234 G Nethercott (Deeside) 79 76 79, R Harrower (Boat of Garten) 78 79 77, S Morrison (Tain) 71 80 83
235 I Colquhoun (Loch Lomon) 82 78 75, P Cairns (unatt) 81 77 77
236 R King (Carrick on Loch Lomond) 79 79 78
237 C Everett (Caldwell) 81 77 79
242 T Dingwall (Kemnay) 82 82 78
255 Simone Minjuto (unatt) 84 83 85
260 D Thomson (Carnegie Club) 90 83 87

LEADING TEAMS
Stableford points totals
258 W de Vries (£600) and High Clay: Edwin Clave (4), Bastiaan Geurtsen (10), Roy Van Vessen (18) 88 88 82
257 L Saltman (£500) and Sectorwide Security: Gordon Gilhooley (3), David Hill (7), Graham Hillan (4) (better inward half);  G Shoesmith (£400) and West Hill, Surrey 90 80 87
252 Neil Fenwick (£300) and Surprise Winners 90 84 78

CHEERS, GAVIN! HAY SHOWS THE RIGHT SPIRIT TO

WIN THE TOMATIN £6,000 FIRST PRIZE

                                                                       By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Nairn Dunbar's Gavin Hay capped a breakthrough season - he won the Scottish young professionals' title earlier and finished runner-up, beaten in a play-off, at the Paul Lawrie Invitational a couple of weeks ago - by winning the lucrative Tomatin Single Malt 54-hole pro-am over the classic links of Royal Dornoch, Nairn and Castle Stuart.
A five-under par total of 208 with a three-under 68 at Nairn, a four-under 68 at Castle Stuart  and a one-over 71 to close at windy Royal Dornoch earned the 23-year-old (pictured above) victory by one shot and with it a £6,000 prize.
Hay's glory run actually began in the second round on Wednesday when he covered the last nine holes at Castle Stuart in 31 shots.
Conditions much more difficult at all three venues for the final round but Gavin, who hails from Grantown on Spey, kept calm under mounting pressure.
Joint runners-up Neil Fenwick (Dunbar) and Stephen Gray (Hayston), winner of the tournament for the past two years, had already posted their totals of five-under-par 208 while Hay was birdieing the fifth, sixth and ninth to be out in 33 at Royal Dornoch.
Then came a potentially catastrophic triple bogey 7 at the 11th followed by bogeys at the 13th and 16th. Hay probably did not know it at the time but that put him one shot behind Fenwick and Gray, needing a birdie-birdie finish to leapfrog of them.
Which is precisely what he did. Birdie at 17 ... level in the lead. Birdie at 18 ... winner by a shot!
Fenwick and Gray had the consolation of earning £4,500 for their good, but not quite good enough efforts.
Dutchman Wouter de Vries and the High Clay team of four-handicapper Edwin Clave, Bastiaan Geurtsen (10) and Roy Van Vessen (18) won the three-round pro-am with 258 Stableford points. That earned de Vries £600
They won by a shot from Lloyd Saltman ande the Sectorwide Security trio of Gordon Gilhooley (3), David Hill (7) and Graham Hillan (4). Saltman earned £500, his team's better inward half earning them second place ahead of Guy Shoesmith's West Hill, Surrey trio who also totalled 257.



Labels:

THORNTON'S STEVE ELIAS IS FIFE GOLFER OF THE WEEK


 
The My Golf Ranking  Fife Golfer of the Week is Steve Elias of Thornton GC, who has broken into the Top 10 of the MGR Fife Men’s Ranking, presently sitting at No 9.
 
The Fife Club of the Week is Forrester Park Resort.
                                                                                                                                                                                                           
 

www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Men, Week 2014/39

1 Colin Campbell (Aberdour) 1317 points,

2 Ryan Brown (Dunfermline) 1158,

3 Barry Logan (Dunnikier Park) 1156,

4 Thomas Cuthbert (Dunfermline) 1121,

5 Gary Sharp (St Andrews GC) 1110,

6 John Murray (Balbirnie Park) 1100,

7 Ross Burnett (Scotscraig) 1075,

8 Michael Henderson (St Andrews GC) 1058,

9 Steve Elias (Thornton) 1009,

10 Roger Turnbull (Leven GS) 1000,

11 John Holguin (Burntisland GH) 981,

12 Paul Manderson (Forrester Park) 978,

13 George Glen (Earlsferry Thistle) 975,

14= John Douglas (Leven Thistle) 971, Robbie MacMillan (Elmwood) 971,

16 Robert Watson (Balbirnie Park) 957,

17= Lawrie Clark (Kinghorn) 956, Kenny Kelly (Kirkcaldy) 956,

19= Gordon Girdler (Leven GS) 942, Brian Manderson (Pitreavie) 942.



www.mygolfranking.net, Fife Clubs, Week 2014/39

1 Dunfermline 905 points,

2 St Andrews GC 868,

3 Dunnikier Park 862,

4 Balbirnie Park 854,

5 Aberdour 832,

6 Kirkcaldy 824,

7 Scotscraig 818,

8 Canmore 815,

9 Burntisland GH 812

10 Pitreavie 800,

11 Thornton 799,

12= Kinghorn 798, Ladybank 798,

14 Forrester Park 785,

15 The New Club 780,

16 Crail 775,

17= Cupar 772, Glenrothes 772,

19 Leven Thistle 768,

20 Lundin 766.

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.

Labels:

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google