Monday, March 09, 2015

FERGUSON LEADING SCOTS' CHALLENGE IN

SOUTH AFRICAN NORTHERN OPEN


Ewen Ferguson is lying fifth and Scott Gibson joint ninth at the halfway stage of the South African Northern Amateur golf championship over the Bushwillow course at Randpark Golf Club.
Ferguson (pictured) has had rounds of 71 and 69 for four-under 140 - four strokes behind the leader, South African Jade Buitendag (67-69 for 136)


Gibson is on 142 (71-71) and Jamie Savage (174-69) is 15th on 143.
Greig Marchbank has had scores of 70-74 for a share of 16th place on 144 - one more than the new South African amateur champion, Daniel Young from Perth. He scored 73-72 for a share of 23rd place.
Ben Kinsley shot 75-71 for 156 and joint 31st place.
Craig Ross is lying joint 36th on 147 (74-73).
Murray Naysmith (74-74) and Calum Fyfe (75-73) made the halfway cut with a stroke to spare on 148.
The only Scot to miss the cut was Connor Syme wth 78 and 73 for 151, two shots too many.

SOUTH AFRICAN NORTHERN OPEN AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Randpark GC Bushwillow Course.
LEADING HALFWAY SCORES
Par 144 (2x72)
Players from S Africa unless stated

136 J Buitendag 67 69
138 R Dreyer 68 70, A Nel 67 71

SCOTS' SCORES
140 E Ferguson 71 69 (5th)
142 S Gibson 71 71 (T9)
143 J Savage 74 69 (15th)
144 G Marchbank 70 74 (T16)
145 D Young 73 72 (T23)
146 B Kinsley 75 71 (T31)
147 C Ross 74 73 (T36).
148 M Naysmith 74 74 (T47)

MISSED THE CUT (149 and better qualified)
151 C Syme 78 73.



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 Minister for Sport Jamie Hepburn, with Simon Payne immediately behind him, in this picture  at the formal opening of the refurbished Cowglen GC clubhouse

MINISTER FOR SPORT OPENS 

COWGLEN'S NEW CLUBHOUSE
 NEWS RELEASE
Cowglen Golf Club in Glasgow  has welcomed Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Sport, Health Improvement and Mental Health to formally open their newly-developed clubhouse and take a golf lesson, courtesy of resident Advanced PGA Professional Simon Payne.
The newly refurbished clubhouse marks the culmination of what has been a busy period for the club, based in Glasgow’s south-side, in which they have invested heavily in improving the golf course and developing their practice facilities.
This includes the new Cowglen Golf Academy, a new six-bay covered driving range and teaching centre to add to the existing short-game area and putting green.
The club is now recognised as a Scottish Golf Development Centre and the facilities are the envy of clubs locally and nationwide.
These new facilities, coupled with a vigorous approach to challenging traditional golf club stereotypes, has also led to the club reporting membership growth for each of the last three years, one of only a handful of clubs nationwide to do so.
Club secretary and Advanced PGA Professional Simon Payne, said:
“It was a privilege to welcome the Minister to Cowglen this morning, a reward for a lot of hard work that the members have done over the past few years to transform the club.
"We are rightly proud of the facilities we now have at our disposal but more so, of the positive family-orientated culture which we have created which has been the catalyst for our fantastic year-on-year increase in members.
"For juniors taking up the game in particular, I honestly can’t think of a better place to start playing than Cowglen.”

Jamie Hepburn MSP said:
“It was great to visit Cowglen and get some expert tuition from Simon Payne. The new clubhouse is looking fantastic, and the facilities are a real asset to the club. The 2014 Ryder Cup will leave a great legacy for Scottish golf, but it’s crucial that young people all over Scotland have a chance to be involved, at clubs just like Cowglen right throughout Scotland.
“Through Club Golf, over 350,000 children have been introduced to golf at school. The Scottish Government is fully committed to the development and implementation of Scotland's Junior Golf Strategy that will provide new opportunities for every child in Scotland to take up this great game.”

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DUNCAN STEWART HAS EIGHT-BIRDIE 
ROUND ON ALGARVE PRO TOUR

Duncan Stewart crammed eight birdies into a four-under-par round of 68 to be joint second in a field of 40 at the halfway stage of this week's Algarve Pro Tour event at the Seve Ballesteros-designed Quinta do Vale course near the border with Spain.
The Grantown on Spey man, pictured, birdied the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th. He dropped five shots in a five-hole span round the turn - bogeys at the sixth and eighth plus a double bogey at the 10th.
Jamie McLeary is tied fourth on 69 and Jay Taylor is sharing 10th place on 73.
Belgium's Hugues Joannes leads with a five-under-par 67.

ALGARVE PRO TOUR
Quinta do Vale golf course, Tavira.
LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
67 Hugues Joannes (Bel)
68 Ricardo Melo Gouivea (Por), Duncan Stewart (Sco)

SELECTED SCORES
69 Jamie McLeary (Sco) (T4)
73 Jay Taylor (Sco) (T10)
Field of 40 players
ends

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DUSTIN JOHNSON NOW WORLD No. 7 AFTER 

CADILLAC CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY

With his win at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Dustin Johnson moved back into the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking, jumping nine spots from 16th to seventh.
This is the first time Johnson has ranked top-10 in the world since a tie for fourth at last year's WGC-Cadillac Championship put him at No. 8. He fell out after withdrawing from his next event, the Shell Houston Open. The 30-year-old's highest ranking is No. 4, a spot he reached in 2011.
The win was the ninth for Johnson in his career. He's won a US PGA Tour event at least once in each of the past eight years.
With a top-five finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Adam Scott switched spots with Jason Day, moving to No. 4 from the fifth spot. J B Holmes jumped 22 spots, coming in at 19 from 41 after a runner-up showing.
Alex Cejka, winner of the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open, moved from 285 to 163 after his first Tour title.
Tiger Woods, who did not compete last week, fell from No. 75 to 79. 

REVISED WORLD TOP TEN
  1. Rory McIlroy
  2. Bubba Watson
  3. Henrik Stenson
  4. Adam Scott
  5. Jason Day
  6. Jim Furyk
  7. Dustin Johnson
  8. Sergio Garcia
  9. Justin Rose
  10. Jordan Spieth

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TRIPLE TIE ON 69 AT TARTAN TOUR FOUR-BALL 

BETTER BALL AT FAIRMONT ST ANDREWS

 
Alan Reid (West Lothian) and Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf), outright winners of the first two weekly competitions in the PGA in Scotland  four-ball, better ball winter series, went close to becoming the first pair to notch up a third clear-cut victory over the Torrance Course at  Fairmont St Andrews today (Monday), writes Colin Farquharson
In the end, their three-under-par 69 was matched by seniors Stephen McAllister (McAllister) and 1989 Ryder Cup player Ronan Rafferty (Monte Rei), as well as Mark Loftus (Mearns Castle) and Simon Payne (Cowglen).
Each pair earned £360 for heading a small field which became even smaller when Gareth Wright (West Linton) fell ill this morning and Norman Huguet (Musselburgh) was left without a partner.
Reid and Fox had halves of 35-34, and the other joint winners had matching halves of 33-36.


PGA IN SCOTLAND FOUR-BALL BETTER-BALL WINTER SERIES
Fairmont St Andrews Torrance Course
Par 72 Yardage 7,230

69 Mark Loftus (Mearns Castle) and Simon Payne (Cowglen); Alan Reid (West Lothian) and Graham Fox (Clydeway Golf); Stephen McAllister (Stephen McAllister Golf) and Ronan Rafferty (Monte Rei).
70 Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Caslte) and Paul Robinson (Largs).
71 Colin Brooks (Braid Hills) and Alan Hogg (Kingsbarns); Shaun Clark (Castiglion del Bosco) and Fraser Robertson (Lundin). 
72 Colin Fairweather (Kirkintilloch) and Paul Edgecombe (Forrester Park); Gary Lister (unatt) and Stephen Gray (Hayston); Jonathan Porteous  and David Laing (Craigielaw); Stewart Savage (Dalmuir) and Craig Everett (Caldwell).
73 David Snodgrass (Crail) and Michael Patterson (Kilmacolm); Ciar Porciani and Fraser Thmson (Turnberry Hotel).
75 Richard Clark (Direct Golf UK) and David Broadfoot (Kirkcudbright).
76 Vincent Brown  (Palacerigg Family GC) and Nigel Scott-Smith (Palacerigg); Ian Howieson (Howieston GS) and Graeme Leggat (Pitlochry).

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Montrose Links Junior Open on Tuesday, April 14
The Montrose Links Junior Open - open to boys and girls aged under 18 years on the day of the competition, will be held on the Medal and Broomfield courses on Tuesday, April 14.

Times are available between 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on both courses.
The entry fee is £5 per person.

To enter contact 01674 672932 or download an entry form from http://montroselinks.com/tournaments/forthcoming-tournaments/


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BANCHORY EXILE BRUCE DAVIDSON 


NAMED PGA MASTER PROFESSIONAL

PGA NEWS RELEASE
Bruce Davidson, who cites legendary US golf coaches Claude and Dick Harmon among his biggest influences, has stamped his own mark on golf by earning PGA Master Professional status.

The Texas-based Scot, pictured left by courtesy of Adrian Milledge, coach to two-time Major champion Mark O’Meara, has notched the PGA’s highest accolade after a long and successful career as a PGA pro which began in the mid-1980s after returning from a golf scholarship in Houston.
“It seems like only yesterday when I ran into Sandy Jones (PGA chief executive) at the Carnoustie Challenge in1985,” said Davidson. “I had just turned pro, and like a lot of boys was not sure whether to go down the PGA route or not. 

"Sandy convinced me to join the PGA and it was the best thing I ever did. I don’t think I would have made a living as a Tour player so the PGA route was the correct decision for me.
“When I look at around at other pros that have been awarded PGA Master Professional status, guys like David Leadbetter and Pete Cowen, both of whom I know, it is an honour to be considered in their league.”
Davidson’s golfing journey started as a 12-year-old when he first laid his hands on an old set of hickory clubs and would spend hours in his back garden at Banchory, perfecting his swing.
His playing prowess as a junior earned him selection for the North-east District boys’ team and a trip to Texas where he managed to win a tournament. US Ryder Cup player Jackie Burke saw him play and suggested he gave an American college a go and helped Davidson get a scholarship in Houston.
Davidson worked his way through college helping out at River Oaks Country Club under the late Dick Harmon – one of four golfing brothers of the legendary Masters champion, and PGA pro Claude.
After setting up the Kings Links Golf Centre in Aberdeen, Davidson later returned to Texas. spending 14 years working at director of golf River Oaks and acknowledged the influence of the Harmon family.
“Dick and the Harmon family are always very close to my heart and I learned how to teach because of Dick and his dad Claude,” added the 53 year old.
Davidson remains an advocate of the golf scholarship route.
“I would say to any young person looking to further their career to may be not turn pro before they get a college education and to go on a scholarship to the US is one way and at least if you don’t make it as a pro you have a university qualification.”
As he enters his fourth decade in the golf industry, Davidson, who paid tribute to his wife Laura for her support during his career, is now embarking on a new adventure. He is working for Houston company Friedkin Golf and is based at Diamond Creek in North Carolina.
In addition, with business partner, best friend and fellow PGA pro John McNeely, he is using all his knowledge and experience to build a golf club from scratch in South Carolina for Dan Friedkin and Bob McNair, owner of the Houston Texans American football team.
Davidson was honoured in the latest APAL (Accreditation for Professional Achievement and Learning) awards which recognise outstanding PGA Members.
Other Scots celebrating awards were Anthony Caira (Kirkcaldy), Neil Marr (Meldrum House), who all become PGA Fellow Professionals.



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Scottish Junior Tour three-way, match-play


 Kirkhill's Kane wins individual match-play at Buddon

FROM WALTER BURNS
Scottish Junior Tour
The Scottish Junior Golf Tour event at Carnoustie Buddon on Sunday was the second in our series of "Three-way Match-play" competitions.
East and Central won the team event with an average of 1.7 holes up. Midland were second with 1.5 holes up.
Fraser Kane (Kirkhill) won the individual event with an average of 4.5 holes up. Andrew Gibson (Blairgowrie) and Aidan Husenne (Haggs Castle) were joint second with an average of 4 holes up.
Brad Bannerman (Strathmore) won the stroke-play event on the “Nestie” par 3 course with 2 under par 16.
Andrew Thompson (Lanark) is leading the singles series with four matches won.
Again the match-play style made for an exciting  day with a lot of close matches. Four matches were halved and five were won by only one hole.



Next event (Super Stroke-play) is at Monifieth on March 15



Walter Burns
Scottish Junior Golf Tour
Mob: 07951 103 827
Email: walter@scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk
Web: www.scottishjuniorgolftour.co.uk


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