Thursday, December 03, 2015

Has Rory McIlroy got engaged to Erica Stoll? Facebook post from Paris sets tongues wagging

Rory McIlroy celebrates with Erica Stoll after winning the DP World Tour Golf Championship in Dubai.
Rory McIlroy celebrates with Erica Stoll after winning the DP World Tour Golf Championship in Dubai.
FROM THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Reports have emerged that Rory McIlroy has popped the question to girlfriend Erica Stoll in France.
The Holywood, Belfast golfer, this morning posted on Facebook that he was in Paris, setting tongues wagging on a possible proposal.
Since then Central Golf Daily has reported that he has got engaged.
It reported that McIlroy got on bended knee to pop the question last night.
There has been no confirmation from McIlroy or Erica as yet.
When the world-class golfer ended his relationship with ex-fiancee Caroline Wozniacki - in a 10-minute phone call after claims that the tennis player had become a 'bride-zilla' - McIlroy was reported as being in no mood to settle down and was linked to a string of beauties, including Irish model Nadia Forde.
But American Erica appears to have changed the world number three's mind.
Friends have said that Rory (26) has finally found 'the one'.
Last week friends said they expected an engagement announcement.
Those close to the star said he was very confident that the blonde beauty is the woman for him.
"Don't be surprised if you hear he pops the question, it's going very, very well," a friend said.
Another source revealed Erica met Rory's friends in Florida and Ireland recently and that his circle have warmed to her and delight in the effect she has on the golfer.
"She's a really, really nice girl," said the well-placed source. "Very nice and down to earth and the one thing everyone is saying is how good she is for Rory. I wouldn't be surprised if they do tie the knot. You know the saying 'when you know - you know' [you've met the right person] and I think Rory is there now.
"She's met his family too. His parents are very fond of her. And she gels well with everyone. You'd be hard pressed to find a better match."
They say a picture paints a thousand words and Rory's triumph in the DP World Tour Championship to claim a third Race to Dubai title in the last four years gave the golfer the chance to show the world exactly how he feels.
Placing Erica by his side at the awards ceremony, putting her front and centre of his life, was significant for the golfer.
He was badly burned in his last relationship, with so much of it flaunted like a running soap opera in the press. He learned the hard way not to allow his personal life to become fodder for gossip columns and vowed never to repeat the same mistakes.
Unlike his relationship with Wozniacki, where pictures of the couple's daily life - from spars on the tennis court to life at home - were feverishly tweeted and Instagrammed for their millions of social media followers, Rory has been staunchly protective of his relationship with Erica.
For her part, she has shied away from the media attention, putting her hood fully up and shades on when faced with the glare of photographers.
The PGA employee has never publicly posted or spoken about the relationship, choosing to guard it with a dignified silence. Even close friends of the American are kept out of the loop when it comes to her love life, which she believes should be kept strictly between the couple.
So when their first official photo together was beamed around the world at Dubai, it was a significant gesture on behalf of Rory.
It was his moment to tell his fans that he is happy, not just in his sporting and professional life but in the one that matters most - his personal life.
"You just needed to see the way he looked at her," said a friend, "he's head over heels for her".
The source continued: "The lack of drama too, how supportive she is of his game and how genuinely obsessed with golf she was long before she met Rory, means they have loads in common and Rory has a great balance in his life now. Where his game suffered when he was dating Caroline, Erica is the antidote to all that."
Erica famously came to the golfer's rescue at the Ryder Cup October 2012, when she noticed he was not on site for the final day of the competition. Rory narrowly avoided missing disqualification after mixing up his tee time and was given a police escort to the course after quick-thinking Erica came to his rescue.

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Tiger and ex-wife have 'fantastic' relationship:
  
Told his boys he 'made some mistakes'

NASSAU, Bahamas --  Tiger Woods says he has a "fantastic" relationship with his ex-wife and he has taken steps to explain to his two children what happened to their marriage.

In a rare and extensive interview with Time magazine, Woods also shared the same sentiments about his future that he did Tuesday at the tournament he is hosting in the Bahamas. 
He still wants to play golf at the highest level, though he is resigned that it might not happen if the nerve damage in his back doesn't allow it.

The world's former No. 1 player was interviewed by Canadian golf author Lorne Rubenstein at Woods' new restaurant in Florida. They covered topics ranging from his greatest joy on the golf course to his family.
Woods, who turns 40 on December 30, says he has told 8-year-old Sam and 6-year-old Charlie that his parents don't live in the same house because "Daddy made some mistakes."
"I just want them to understand before they get to the Internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something," Woods said. 
"I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I'll just tell them the real story.
"And so, that's part of the initiative -- `Hey, it was my fault, too. I was to blame' -- and so I'm taking initiative with the kids," he said. "I'd rather have it come from me as the source. And I can tell them absolutely everything so they hear it from me."
In the meantime, Woods said he is stressing to his children that they have two parents who love them.
His marriage crumbled at the end of 2009 when he was exposed for having multiple extramarital affairs, and Elin Nordegren divorced him the following August. 
Woods endured leg injuries in 2011, got back to No. 1 in the world with eight victories in 2012 and 2013 and has been in a free fall because of back injuries since.
He had surgery to alleviate a pinched nerve the week before the 2014 Masters and has had two more procedures in the same spot over the last three months.
"One, I don't want to have another procedure," Woods told the magazine. "And two, even if I don't come back and I don't play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries."
Asked what he would have done differently before and after the scandal in his personal life, Woods said he would have had a more open, honest relationship with his wife.
"Having the relationship that I have now with her is fantastic," he said. "She's one of my best friends. We're able to pick up the phone, and we talk to each other all the time. We both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then."
Woods last played tournament golf on August 23 when he tied for 10th and thought the pain he experienced was from his hip. Instead, it was a recurrence of his back problems. The uncertainty of his health has led to plenty of speculation that his career might be over.
"Put it this way. It's not what I want to have happen, and it's not what I'm planning on having happen," Woods said. "But if it does, it does. I've reconciled myself to it."
On other topics:
-Woods pointed out again that the chart of Jack Nicklaus he kept on his bedroom wall as a kid had nothing to do with the record 18 majors. It was related to age -- the first time Nicklaus broke 40, broke 80, won his first golf tournament, his first state amateur, his first U.S. Amateur and first U.S. Open.
"To me, that was important," he said. "This guy's the best out there and the best of all time. If I can beat each age that he did it, then I have a chance at being the best."
-He came to know the late Seve Ballesteros when the Spaniard was working with Butch Harmon and they would spend time together in Houston.
"We'd hit balls and then he'd show me short game, for hours," Woods said. "Then we'd go play till dark. It was awesome. To see how he could do it, and I could never do it. But I could take pieces. I'd ask him, but man, I couldn't do a lot of them. But I realised I don't have to do a lot of them. I can do it my way."
-Before the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, which he won with shredded knee ligaments and two stress fractures his leg, Woods tried to wear a brace for nine holes at his home course in Southern California. It was his first time playing golf since the Masters, and the brace kept him from rotating. He lost eight balls in nine holes and shot 54.
"I'm grinding my butt off and I said, `OK, you're the No. 1 player in the world and you just lost eight balls on a home course that you could play blindfolded,' and I shot a 54. This is going to be an interesting week," he said.
-He loves playing alone at the Medalist Golf Club in the evening because it reminded him of time he spent with his father as a kid. Woods said they would retreat to the far corner of the Seal Navy golf course in California.
"We'd be on the tee back there just hitting golf balls, not saying a word to each other," he said. "Going out in the evenings brings me back to that happy place."

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MAURITIUS MASTERS
First-round scores
Par 72 
66 Jimmy MULLEN (ENG) 
67 Max ORRIN (ENG) 
69 Jerome LANDO CASANOVA (FRA) 
70
Hennie OTTO (RSA)
Damien MCGRANE (IRL)
Francois CALMELS (FRA)
Johan CARLSSON (SWE) 

71
Joel STALTER (FRA)
Philip GOLDING (ENG) 

72
Edouard ESPANA (FRA)
Niclas FASTH (SWE)
Victor RIU (FRA)
Leo LESPINASSE (FRA)
Ashley CHESTERS (ENG)
Julien GUERRIER (FRA)
Mathieu DECOTTIGNIES-LAFON (FRA) 

73
Jean-Baptiste GONNET (FRA)
David ANTONELLI (FRA)
Phillip PRICE (WAL)
Adrian OTAEGUI (ESP) 

74 Clement BERARDO (FRA) 
75
Nicolas COLSAERTS (BEL)
Sebastien GROS (FRA)
Christian CEVAER (FRA) 

76  Damien PERRIER (FRA) 
79 Matthieu PAVON (FRA) 
80
Ignacio GARRIDO (ESP)
Edouard DUBOIS (FRA)
Christophe BRAZILLIER (FRA) 

81
Ludovic BAX (MRI)
Xavier PONCELET (FRA) 

82  Andy PALAYANDI (MRI)

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Russell Knox joint 6th with a 69

Stenson and Van Zyl share lead on 66 at 

Nedbank Challenge 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Henrik Stenson overcame illness to fire an opening 66 and take a share of the lead at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa today.
The Swede had been unwell in the build-up to the event but showed no signs of fatigue as he made six birdies in an unblemished effort at Gary Player Country Club to sit alongside Jaco Van Zyl at the top of the leaderboard.
A late burst of birdies on the 14th, 15th and 17th fired Van Zyl alongside Stenson, with the South African in search of his first win on The European Tour.
Stenson has nine of those to his name but was fighting form as well as fitness on Thursday after the two-time defending champion finished in a share of last place at the 2015 season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
His touch had very much returned in South Africa, though, and the 2008 champion opened with two birdies before making further gains on the sixth, seventh and ninth to turn in 31.
An impressive up and down from the sand on the next got him to six under and he parred his way home, missing the chance to go ahead on the 17th after a brilliant recovery from a deep fairway bunker.
Van Zyl, who has 13 Sunshine Tour wins, was also bogey-free with birdies on the second, third and ninth accompanying his fast finish to leave him a shot ahead of defending champion Danny Willett.
The Englishman matched playing partner Stenson with a pair of opening birdies and when he rolled in a nerveless six-footer on the fifth, he looked to have picked up straight from his four-shot victory last year.
But he could not keep pace with Stenson and, despite matching him with a birdie on the tenth and picking up another on the 15th, he will go into the second round a shot off the lead.
Marc Leishman and Branden Grace were then at four under with Leishman the man to make the early running.
The Australian had been in the first group out and had an early contender for shot of the week with just his second stroke as he played from the side of a path on the right to four feet. He missed the birdie putt but made gains on the fifth and ninth to turn in 34. Further birdies followed on the 14th and the last to hand the 32 year old a solid start.
Grace finished in the top ten at the Alfred Dunhill Championship last week and birdies on the second, third, ninth, tenth and 14th had put him within touching distance of the lead. But he failed to get up and down on the 17th and dropped back into a share of fourth.
English duo Ross Fisher and Matthew Fitzpatrick were then in the group a shot further back alongside World Golf Championships - HSBC Champions winner Russell Knox and American Robert Streb.
Fisher has an excellent record at this event, never finishing outside the top five in his three appearances so far, and last year's runner-up was four under through 12 holes before making his only bogey of the day on the 15th.
Fitzpatrick had gains on the second, third and tenth and, while he also dropped a shot on the 15th, he got it back on the last as he attempts to follow up a rookie campaign that yielded ten top ten finishes.
Knox was making his debut as a full European Tour Member following his win in Shanghai and the Florida-based Scot has stated his desire to qualify for Darren Clarke's Ryder Cup Team.
He did those chances no harm today with four birdies and a bogey leaving him alongside Streb who also had a single dropped shot.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thongchai Jaidee, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Louis Oosthuizen, Bernd Wiesberger and Chris Wood were then two under with Victor Dubuisson, Tommy Fleetwood, Andy Sullivan and Charl Schwartzel making it 19 of the 30-man field under par for the day.
Keegan Bradley was at level par after a remarkable round that saw him recover from a triple-bogey on the first with five straight birdies. He then dropped two shots in a row before a birdie at the 11th got him to one under, but two more bogeys followed on the 14th and 16th with a closing gain getting him back level.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 72 
66 H Stenson (Swe) , J Van Zyl (RSA)
67 D Willett  (Eng)
68 B Grace  (RSA) , M Leishman (Aus)
69 M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) , R Knox (Sco) , R Fisher (Eng) , R Streb (USA)
70 B Wiesberger  (Aut) , M Jimenez (Esp) , K Aphibarnrat (Tha) , C Wood  (Eng) , L Oosthuizen  (RSA) , T Jaidee (Tha)
71 T Fleetwood  (Eng) , V Dubuisson  (Fra) , A Sullivan (Eng) , C Schwartzel (RSA)
72 K Bradley (USA) , L Westwood (Eng) , E Grillo (Arg) , B An (SKor) 
73 T Aiken (RSA) , S Piercy (USA) 
74 S Kjeldsen (Den) , S Lowry  (Irl)
75 M Kaymer (Ger) , W Simpson (USA)
77 S Bowditch (Aus)



EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS










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NE District AGM at Murcar on Sunday (10am)
The North-east District Association of the SGU will hold its annual general meeting at Murcar Links Golf Club on Sunday (December 6) at 10am.

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ENGLAND GOLF NEWS RELEASE


England name six for Costa Ballena 


Quadrangular in January

Six players from the England men’s A squad will bid to regain the trophy in the Costa Ballena International Quadrangular Tournament in Spain on January 20-22.
They are: Ben Amor of Wiltshire, Will Enefer of Shropshire, Scott Gregory of Hampshire, Josh Hilleard of Somerset, Will Whiteoak of Yorkshire and Andrew Wilson of Durham.
The Costa Ballena competition is played on a round robin basis against teams from Finland, Germany and the hosts, Spain. England won the tournament in 2014 and were only beaten in a title decider on the final day last year.

The players:
Ben Amor, 20, (Marlborough) was in England’s winning Costa Ballena team in 2014. Last season he was runner up in the Darwin Salver and led the southern qualifiers for the Brabazon Trophy, where he went on to finish 15th.
Will Enefer, 18, (Wrekin) represented England in the Boys’ Home Internationals.  He was runner-up in the German boys’ amateur and had eight top ten finishes in the 2015 season.
Scott Gregory, 21, (Corhampton) was in last year’s Costa Ballena team. He was third on the England Golf men’s order of merit with results including fourth place in the European Amateur and second in the Lagonda Trophy.
Josh Hilleard, 20, (Farrington Park) was fourth on the men’s order of merit after a season in which he was top qualifier at the English amateur and won both the Midlands amateur and North of England Youths.
Will Whiteoak, 21, (Shipley) won the Tillman Trophy and led the northern qualifiers for the Brabazon Trophy, alongside a number of top 20 finishes. 
Andrew Wilson, 21, (Wynyard) was runner-up in the North of England Youths and was 10th in the French amateur stroke play.



Lyndsey Hewison
Press Officer
England Golf
pr@englandgolf.org
07825 752 193

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Jamieson 79, Shields 82 Down Under

Mark Foster flies the European Tour flag with  

a second-placed 69 at Australian PGA
 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Englishman Mark Foster’s outstanding three-under-par 69 was beaten only by the Herculean effort of South African Zander Lombard, who carded a bogey-free 67 to lead by two after round one of the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines Resort, Queensland.

Lombard lost to Bradley Neil in the final of the British Amateur championship at Royal Porthcawl last year.
Lombard’s countryman Dylan Frittelli lies joint third alongside leading Australian Ashley Hall on two under, while the only two other players in the field of 156 to get under par were the Aussie pair of Todd Sinnott and Adam Stephens.
Foster almost pulled out of the event after a disappointing weekend at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, but has now put himself firmly in contention to produce a memorable week some 10,000 miles from his home.
England’s Tom Lewis and Irishman Paul Dunne, who both have the claim to fame of leading recent Open Championships whilst still playing in the amateur ranks, are among the chasing pack on level par.
Lewis should have been one shot better off, but after his ball moved on the 18th green when he was about to address his putt, the 24 year old called a one shot penalty on himself for the avoidance of doubt to finish the day on level par.
Sweden’s David Lingmerth, winner of Jack Nickalus’s Memorial Tournament earlier this year, carded a one over par 71 but American Brandt Snedeker – the highest ranked player in the field – had a day to forget as he slumped to a 12 over par 84..

Snedeker, ranked 38th and one of only three players in the top 100 at Royal Pines this week, was 7 over after five holes. Starting on the back nine, he had two bogeys, a double-bogey and a triple-bogey to start, and made the turn in 9-over 45.
On his last nine, the American golfer had four bogeys and his only birdie of the day, on the par-4 sixth. He starts the second day with only four players behind him at the bottom of the scoreboard.
The course played tough early with rain showers and strong, gusting winds. Just six players shot under par.
Player Quotes
Mark Foster: “It was a great day obviously. I laughed my socks off walking to the 18th green when a spectator said ‘they’ve had it easier this afternoon’, and I was like, I don't know what he was watching but the wind was everywhere.  So I was really pleased with it. At breakfast this morning you could hear the flag poles banging and I looked at the scores so I knew what we were getting. But the one thing the wind did was focus me really well – I played good. Three under feels like seven or eight under.”
Zander Lombard: “I played really well, hit the ball solidly and always helps things when you strike it well. It definitely got tricky out there, some of the greens with the wind to read them and get the pace right was tough, but I think I managed well.  But it’s still early days.  See how the rest of the week goes. I was fortunate to travel a bit earlier and had some time to get over the jetlag.  I got a nice rhythm on Wednesday on the range and kept it going today. The Gold Coast is a lot like home for me – similar weather so I’m enjoying it at the moment.”
Tom Lewis: “It was a bit of a shame on the 18th, my ball moved a tiny bit so technically I feel like I shot one under but I didn’t know whether it was the wind or not. I didn’t touch the ball but I called John Paramor to the scorers hut and after a chat with him I called the one shot penalty because we couldn’t be certain if it was wind that had moved it even though that was pretty obvious. I suppose that’s one of those things that happens to everyone at some point and it just happened to me today.
“I feel happy. I’ve had some time off.  Obviously I’m disappointed with my finish for the year so I’m kind of going to move on and assess my situation, but I put way too much pressure on myself over the last four years and didn’t really enjoy it that much. I thought I might have walked away and did something else for a while but then I thought there’s a lot of things I need to improve and it’s going to be a battle and I just need to get my head down and start fresh.”
Paul Dunne: “Obviously I grew up playing lots of wind golf on the Irish Amateur circuit. I think Irish people are just more used to it. I think they just don’t lose the plot as much. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s just a matter of trying to make pars. If you make some birdies, the birdies will come. That’s great, it’s a bonus but it’s just kind of putting it in spots to give yourself the easiest chance of a par. I’m really happy with the start. I didn’t even get a second of sleep last night.  I think I slept in too much yesterday, I slept about 14 hours yesterday and then it was just a long night.  I was in bed at 11 and I was awake till 4.30 when my alarm went off, so I’m looking forward to a bit of rest.”

FIRST-ROUND SCORES 

par 72
67 Z Lombard  (RSA)
69 M Foster (Eng)
70 D Frittelli (RSA); A Hall (Aus)
71 T Sinnott (Aus); A Stephens (Aus)
72 M Millar (Aus); J Scrivener (Aus); N Cullen (Aus); A Pike (Aus); T Lewis (Eng); P Dunne (Irl); J Kruyswijk (RSA); B Virto Astudillo (Esp)
73 A Brown (Aus); N Ravano (Ita); J Zunic (Aus); J Senden (Aus); J Wilson (Aus); R Green (Aus); D Lingmerth (Swe)

74 S Fernandez  (Esp); C Wood (Aus); N Basic (Aus); R Bourke (Aus); D McKenzie (Aus); H Varner Iii (USA); B Rumford (Aus); M McCardle (Aus); B Åkesson (Swe); W Ormsby (Aus); S Strange (Aus); B Eccles (Aus); R Fox (Nzl)
75 O Bekker (RSA); D Nisbet  (Aus); D Lawson (Aus); P Uihlein  (USA); D Papadatos (Aus); J Younger (Aus); D Fox (Aus); A Price (Aus); N Bertasio (Ita); S Dartnall (Aus); P Martin Benavides (Esp)
76 R Allenby (Aus); P Lonard (Aus); M Griffin (Aus); M Fraser (Aus); A Murdaca (Aus); L McKechnie (Aus); J Ritchie (RSA); B Wharton (Aus); M Wright (Aus); G Chalmers (Aus); A Curlewis (RSA); H Bateman (Nzl); T Bond (Aus); A Houston (Aus); S Surry (Eng); G King (Eng); E Van Rooyen (RSA); A Martin  (Aus); S Lee (SKor); B Rankin (Aus); M Goggin (Aus); X Li (Chn); J Nitties (Aus); B Shilton (Nzl); M Brown (Nzl); N Green (Aus); R Van Der Spuy (RSA); J Walters (RSA); Y Liu  (Chn); J Hook (Aus); T Van Der Walt (RSA); D Van Den Heever (RSA)
77 D Bransdon (Aus); J Lyle (Aus); T Wood (Aus); D Klein  (Ger); S Manley (Wal); S Allan (Aus); J Fahrbring (Swe); N Holman  (Aus); L Herbert (Aus); R Enoch  (Wal); P Senior (Aus); E Molinari  (Ita); C Parry (Aus); V Sexton-Finck (Aus); L Jensen (Den); E Stedman (Aus); P Edberg (Swe); J Geary  (Nzl); B Jones (Aus)
78 K Phelan (Irl); C Nel (RSA); C Ford (Eng); J Norris (Aus); A Evans (Aus); M Sim  (Aus); G Fairfax (Aus); C Hale (Aus); M Long (Nzl); R Cairns (Zim); D Lloyd (RSA); R Pampling (Aus); C Smith (Aus); S Arnold  (Aus); C Wright (Aus)
79 J Blaauw  (RSA); P Cooke (Aus); L Canter (Eng); R Gibson (Aus); S Jamieson  (Sco); A Blyth (Aus); R Lynch (Aus); T Mordt  (RSA); T Cooper (Aus); K Mueck (Aus); M Baldwin (Eng); M Moore (Aus); R Ruffels (am) (Aus)
80 A Summers (Aus); P O'Malley (Aus); L Tighe (Aus); C Hanson (Eng); H Park (SKor); M Docking (Aus); R Carter (USA); T Moore (RSA); O Goss (Aus)
81 D Valente (Aus); N O'Hern (Aus); F Bergamaschi (Ita); L Nemecz (Aut); J McLeod (Aus)
82 G Paddison (Nzl); S Leaney (Aus); S Ferreira (Por); J Zhang  (Chn); J Choi (SKor); P Shields (Sco); N Gillespie (Nzl); S Kim (SKor), A Horne (Swz); P Hayden (Aus); D Popovic (Aus);
84 J Lagergren (Swe); M Mandhu (Zim); B Snedeker  (USA)
86 A Wilkin (Aus)
87 R Haller (Aus)
88 L Boezaart (RSA)
89 A Gaugert (USA)


EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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  Stoke Park named UK Golf Resort of the Year

NEWS RELEASE
The prestigious five-star Stoke Park Country Club, Spa and Hotel has been named the ‘UK golf resort of the year' for 2015 by Square Mile, the City of London's leading lifestyle magazine.
The magazine, whose readership is described as ‘senior executives working in the financial services industries based in the City, Mayfair and Canary Wharf', said that Stoke Park was "all about understated elegance … with the iconic clubhouse providing a suitably impressive backdrop to any day where golf and a bit of business are combined".
It also mentioned the venue was a ‘popular haunt' for One Direction's Harry Styles, and that Davis Cup hero Andy Murray plays there in the annual Boodles tennis tournament.
The director of golf at the Buckinghamshire resort, Stuart Collier, said: "We were naturally delighted to learn that such a well-respected publication as Square Mile has chosen Stoke Park as the UK's golf resort of the year. We are ideally situated for Square Mile's readership too, just 25 miles from the City of London and 12 from Heathrow Airport, into which many of their clients will fly.
"With many clubs increasing their fees while ours remain constant we are already seeing an increasing number of enquiries from people working in the financial district and to have this on our CV will merely add to Stoke Park's allure, I'm sure."
Stoke Park Country Club, Spa and Hotel is one of just two five-AA Red Star golf clubs in England and the historic land on which it stands is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was awarded the accolade of ‘Ultimate Members Club' at the fifth annual 59Club Service Excellence Awards, held earlier this year.

  • Laid out across 300 acres of mid-19th century, Lancelot ‘Capability' Brown-landscaped parkland, the 27-hole golf course was designed by the legendary Harry Colt and opened in 1908 and comprises:
    • The Colt course (holes one to nine): The Colt nine will be the first loop to undergo the bunker renovation and will reopen in April 2016. The seventh hole was the inspiration for the original 16th at Augusta National, home of the US Masters, before the latter was amended in the 1940s. Augusta designer Alister MacKenzie (1870-1934) was part of Colt's original Stoke Park design team and a partner in the short-lived practice of Colt, MacKenzie and Alison.
    • The Alison Course (holes 10-18): Holes 17 and 18 on the Alison - which will be the second of the nine-hole loops to be renovated, in winter 2016/17 - featured in a classic cinematic exchange in 1964, between Sean Connery's James Bond and the eponymous super-villain Auric Goldfinger. Their round of golf ended in front of the iconic clubhouse - purportedly ‘Royal St Mark's' golf club - which itself dates from the late 18th century and has featured in many other films including Layer Cake, Bridget Jones's Diary, and Wimbledon.
    • NOTE: The iconic still from Goldfinger, which shows Bond and Oddjob looking on in front of the clubhouse as Goldfinger putts out, is owned by Stoke Park Country Club, Spa and Hotel and may be available for editorial use in features about the venue.
    • The Lane Jackson course (holes 19-27): Holes 19 to 27 - which will be upgraded in winter 2017/18 - were turned over to potato fields during World War II and were not fully restored to use as a ‘Colt' golf course until 1998. The nine-hole loop is named after the creator of the Stoke Park Club, Nick ‘Pa' Lane Jackson (1849-1937), who also launched the famous Corinthian Football Club. Hole 21 features the much photographed Repton Bridge, which takes its name from the gardener, Humphry Repton, who picked up the mantle at Stoke Park from ‘Capability' Brown.
    • Practice facilities: The striking monument at the bottom of Stoke Park's practice area is of Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), a former Solicitor General and speaker of the House of Commons, who was a tenant on the estate from 1598. He was the country's first Chief Justice and, as Attorney General, tried Guy Fawkes and Sir Walter Raleigh, among many others.

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Royal Aberdeen's Director of Golf Ronnie 

MacAskill looks back on 40 years' service

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Director of Golf Ronnie MacAskill completed 40 years' service with Royal Aberdeen Golf Club a couple of months ago. He is the longest serving member of the Balgownie club staff in the long history of the sixth oldest golf club in the world, having been formed in 1780.
Ronnie's career has flourished since he came down to Aberdeen from the Highlands - he was a member at Alness Golf Club - to join Ian Smith as an assistant professional at his Hazlehead base in the summer of 1971 as a 17-year-old with a handicap of two.
MacAskill was only 21 when he was appointed head club professional at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club to succeed John Campbell who retired after 28 years in the post.


In 1990, Ronnie's duties expanded into a club managerial role which soon evolved into a PGA Director of Golf post, Royal Aberdeen being one of the first golf clubs to make such an appointment.
Those are the highlights. Now let Ronnie himself put flesh on the bare bones:




 


THE RONNIE MACASKILL STORY
By Ronnie MacAskill
"As an 11-year-old, in 1965, I became a junior member of Alness Golf Club in Ross-shire and played amateur golf at Alness, Tain, Royal Dornoch and Brora.a
"From a non-golfing family, clubs were begged and borrowed until my father appeared one day with three woods, a four-iron and a putter, all from the 1940s.
I was able to reduce my handicap to six with these fine implements.
"Two more clubs were added two every year for Christmas and birthdays, meaning I nearly had a full compliment of 14 golf clubs when I joined Ian Smith at Hazlehead as his assistant in June 1971. My handicap at that point was two.

(Ronnie pictured left in 1975).
"I could not have obtained a better grounding in the game of golf than under the tutelage of Ian Smith, as a coach, clubmaker and club pro. This apprenticeship lasted from 1971 to 1974. Through the later part of 1974 and through the summer of 1975 I was attached to the Orkney Golf Club
and played on the Scottish and African circuit.
"In October 1975, at the tender age of 21, I was appointed head club professional at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, following on from John Campbell who had been with the club for 28 years. In 1975 we were still using the 1.62 golf ball, persimmon- headed woods and blade irons.
"Winters were spent polishing wooden heads, fitting new face inserts and sole plates, whipping and varnishing, leather grips on favourite putters etc etc, all the clubmaking skills I had learned from Ian Smith.
DEATH KNELL FOR PERSIMMON
But later in the 70s, the coming of all-metal clubs signalled the death knell for persimmon and the art of the club maker.
"During his lifetime, my predecessor John Campbell had witnessed the transition from hickory shafts to steel shafts and during my tenure the move from wooden heads to metal heads was completed. Where next?
"In my early years at Royal Aberdeen I had the opportunity to spend the quiet winter months playing on the Far East circuit, occasionally as the only European in the field. Changed days now with the variety of worldwide
tours encompassing all nations.
"I soon discovered that the security of a club pro’s job was my true vocation in life. The next 15 years or so were spent building up a successful pro-shop business at Balgownie, where the members of both Royal Aberdeen and Aberdeen Ladies Golf Clubs were hugely supportive.
"In 1990 I was approached by the committee at the time to consider taking on a managerial role alongside that of the club professional. The game was booming at the time and a more permanent management system was required to look after club affairs on a day to day basis.
SANDRA FIRST LADY CLUB SECRETARY
"PGA Professional/Club Manager was the first dual title with Sandra Nicolson (the first lady secretary in the club’s history) also coming on board to handle the day-to-day running of the club. This soon evolved into PGA Director of Golf when Royal Aberdeen became one of the first clubs in the UK to make such an appointment. Quite a revolutionary step for an historic and ancient golfing establishment.
"In 2008, after 33 years, I took the decision to step down from the role as club professional to concentrate on the management side of the club. The golf course has made such progress since the appointment of Robert Patterson
as course manager with a host of major events under our belt now and most recently announced the Amateur Championship coming in 2018.
"My 40 years' service was notched up on October 1 this year, the longest serving member of staff in the club’s history.
"Of course it has not really been a job because I have enjoyed every minute of it."

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