Scotland's off-beaten-track courses worth visiting: Grantown-on-Spey

FROM GOLF DIGEST

By David Owen

Grantown-on-Spey is a small town on the Spey River, near the northern edge of Cairngorms National Park, in Scottish whisky country. It was the birthplace of Bobby Cruikshank, a Scottish golf pro whose principal claim to fame was that he twice lost (1922 and 1923) to Gene Sarazen in the semi-finals of the US PGA championship when it was a match-play event.

The town of Grantown-on-Spey was founded in 1765 and was named after a local rich guy, James Grant, who is at the far left in the foursome pictured below. I don't know why the golf clubs these guys are holding don't have heads!

The Grantown-on-Spey course isn't one I would plan a trip to Scotland around, but I did enjoy playing it. It was designed by Willie Park and James Braid in 1890, during the second Scottish golf boom, which accompanied the rise of the railroads. 

The first American golf boom took place at the same time. In those days, just about the only thing you needed to be a golf-course architect in the United States was a Scottish accent.

There's a practice area in a field next to the course. A member with a tube of shag balls was working on his short game.

Ladies' Daywas about to begin, but the pro said I could tee off ahead of the crowd. A member of another club had told me that Grantown is really three distinct six-hole golf courses -- and he was right. 

The first six holes are flat; Nos. 2-5 work around the corners of a big triangular field, at upper right in the aerial shot below. They were more fun to play than you might think.

To get to the To play the second six holes, I went through a gate and across a road, into much more dramatic terrain.

       I liked those six holes the best.

     The final six holes are quirky, and are squeezed into a sort of open valley bordered by two schools. I surprised myself, after my round, when I realised that I could mentally walk through all 18 holes and recall the characteristics of each, something I'm usually terrible at unless I've played a course four or five times.

As I finished, I saw the last of the women's groups heading out -- the grans of Grantown. There were several foursomes, and then the last group was a sixsome:

Two guys were drinking beer on a bench in front of the golf shop when I finished. A carnival had been set up in a field next door, but I didn't stick around for that.

Bridgestone balls shock: Pulling out of UK and Ireland market

NEWS RELEASE
Although it is one of the more popular brands in the United States, golfers this side of the Atlantic won't be teeing Bridgestone balls much longer.

Bridgestone Golf, based in Japan, will stop selling in the United Kingdom and Ireland this March. A somewhat shocking announcement as, according to joint findings from Golf Datatech and Yano Research, the UK is the fourth-largest golf market in the world at a 5.2 percent share.

“Despite having lifted market share in the ball sector in the last three years, it has been determined that any future investment was unsustainable,”said Bridgestone UK managing director Steve Kettlewell.

Paul Lawrie wins PGA Reconition Award 

for outstanding contribution to golf

PGA NEWS RELEASE

By Matthew Suddaby

The 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie OBE is the 2015 recipient of the PGA Recognition Award for his outstanding contribution to golf.

The Aberdonian collected the honour today at The PGA’s annual fundraising lunch at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London

Lawrie, who as a young golfer qualified as a PGA professional before establishing himself on tour, has tasted many career highlights, notably winning the 1999 Open, at Carnoustie and as a key member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team at the Miracle of Medinah in 2012

But despite his personal success, Lawrie has always found time to support golf in Scotland both at grass roots with the Paul Lawrie Foundation and up to elite level where he is a mentor to a number of promising players in their bid to succeed on tour.

His foundation also supports a number of other sports.

Despite winning arguably golf’s greatest tournament, and playing a vital part in one of the most memorable Ryder Cups ever, thoughts of playing tour golf were not a high priority for a teenage Lawrie.

But his fledgling talent was spotted by the late Banchory Golf Club pro Doug Smart during one of Lawrie’s outings with the taxi drivers of Aberdeen – one of whom was his dad who owned a cab firm

Eagle-eyed Smart was impressed by the young Lawrie and hinted to his father that a potential career route with The PGA beckoned.

From raw beginnings as an assistant at Banchory, Lawrie turned himself into one of the finest ball-strikers on tour and with 25 years on tour under his belt, can reflect on an impressive career which has brought eight European Tour wins and most memorably his famous Open triumph at Carnoustie in 1999.

An Honorary Life Member of the European Tour, Lawrie’s commitment to golf was highlighted this year by hosting his own Tour event - the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play at Murcar Links.

“I’m honoured to receive the PGA’s Recognition Award as I’m proud to be a member of The PGA,” said Lawrie who joins an illustrious list of names to have won the award including the late Seve Ballesteros, Colin Montgomerie and current Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke.

“I started my career as an assistant at Banchory, training under Doug Smart, and learned skills that I still put in to practice today.

“It means a great deal that the work that my wife Marian and I have done building the Foundation to the level it is at today is being recognised by The Association, alongside my playing career.”

Sandy Jones, PGA chief executive, said: “I’m delighted that Paul has received the PGA Recognition Award. Having known Paul since he was a young PGA assistant, I know how hard he has worked to scale the heights of the game and no-one deserves their success more than him.

“What is even more remarkable is his determination and dedication to give something back to the sport through the Paul Lawrie Foundation.

“He is a credit to the PGA, the European Tour and the wider game of golf.”

Money raised from the lunch will go towards the PGA Bevenolent Fund which goes towards helping PGA Members who have fallen on difficult times.

Picture at the top of the article by courtesy of Tom Dulat/Getty Images. 

Paul Lawrie   receives his PGA Recognition Award from PGA captain Nicky Lumb.

Lothians Golf Association's new competition schedule

 and  championships format for 2016

NEWS RELEASE 
 The Council of the Lothians Golf Association has approved a new competition schedule and championships format for 2016.The Association completed a governance review in 2015 which placed a renewed focus on core activities, including at their heart delivering excellent championships, competitions and value for money for participants.Following the very poor performance by the Lothians' team in the men's Scottish Area Team Championship (ATC) at Blairgowrie in 2015 and with a reduction in numbers taking part in our events, LGA vice-president Paul Gibson chaired a group to conduct a comprehensive review of the Association’s tournaments, matches and competitions.The review not only focused on proposals for 2016 but also looked to establish a rota for our main competitions at some of the Lothians outstanding courses into 2017 and 2018.The key aims of the review are to agree venues and dates with host clubs into the future to assist with fixture planning, and to implement a progressive competitive programme through the year, to help raise the profile of Lothians events and to create a desire amongst players to participate in thetournaments and aspire to represent the Lothians in matches, the Men’s ATC and national events.The key outcomes from the review are:• The Lothians men's championship will be moved from May to July, with the qualifying and the match-play over the one course. This interestingly was the format back in the early 1920s when the championship began• The 2016 Men's championship will be held at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian• The qualifying rounds will be played on Saturday and Sunday July 9 and 10, 2016• Entry qualification will be a handicap of 4 with entries limited to 96 and a ballot will operate should the entry limit be exceeded• The draw for the match-play stages will be reduced to 16 with the matches taking place on Tuesday and Thursday, July 12 and 14, with the semi-finals and final on Saturday July 16, 2016• Venues for the LGA Men’s Championship in 2017 and 2018 will be Bruntsfield Links and Archerfield respectively• The LGA Team Tournament will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at Kingsknowe Golf Club. The format will be for teams of three from clubs, playing one round overKingsknowe• The Champion of Champions semi-finals and final be held at Luffness New Golf Club on August 10 and 12, 2016
• The LGA Men's Order of Merit has been revamped and will include the re-introduction of the Duncan Bowl at Duddingston and the Willie Park 36-hole tournament at Musselburgh GC• Points from the Order of Merit and from Scottish Golf national events will be taken into account when selecting teams for Lothians matches and for the men's ATC team in September• The leading four players in the LGA Men’s Order of Merit will automatically qualify for selection for theMen’s ATC team• Prize vouchers will be presented to the winner and runner- up in the Order of Merit• The South-east District Championship (SED) will be held at Royal Musselburgh on Saturday and Sunday, August 27 and 28, 2016• In 2017 the SED will be staged at Dunbar and the Champion of Champions at Longniddry• To create a team spirit ahead of the season, a squad of 22 players has been selected to come together in the early New Year and all players will be provided with Lothians branded apparelLGA vice-president Paul Gibson said: "After our extremely disappointing performance in this year's Area Team Championship, it was obvious that changes were necessary and I was delighted to chair a small committee to review our competition offer”He added: “Following consultation with players and meetings with over 20 member clubs to discuss our aims and objectives, as can be seen from our re-vamped tournaments; fixture list, OoM and selection strategy, we have, I hope, delivered what the players want and what the review demanded."
• Lothians Golf Association represents 70 clubs and 40 societies across the area, home to over 26,500 individual golfers.
• A complete list of fixtures for men and boys in the Lothians can be viewed at :
 www.lothiansgolfassociation.org.uk

+ Entries for the LGA men's, boys and seniors championships will be live on the Lothians website from January 1.

Golf Writers name Rory McIlroy as their Player of Year for a third time

NEWS RELEASE

Rory McIlroy has won the Association of Golf Writers trophy, joining Seve Ballesteros and Lee Westwood as the only golfers in the long history of the prestigious award to win it on three separate occasions.

The 26 year old, a runaway winner in 2012 and last year, was a narrow victor on this occasion, just edging Britain and Ireland’s Walker Cup team, who pulled off a record 16.5-9.5 triumph over America’s leading amateurs at Royal Lytham and St Annes in September.

Third place went to Englishman Andy Sullivan following his wonderful breakthrough campaign on the European Tour when, alongside McIlroy, he was the only three-time winner.

McIlroy’s tremendous performance in winning the season-ending DP World Tour Championship to claim the Race to Dubai was clearly the clinching factor, and the Northern Irishman was delighted to receive the news in Dublin yesterday.

‘When you think of the contributions that Seve and Lee made to European golf over the years, I am delighted to be linked with them at such an early age, and clearly I’m hoping to do enough to win the AGW trophy in future years as well,’ said McIlroy.

‘Winning in Dubai again meant a huge amount to me and enabled me to look at the year as a whole in a different light. It has also given me that bit of momentum going into next season. I’d also like to congratulate our Walker Cup team as well on their stunning success. It must have been a very difficult decision for the golf writers.’

The AGW trophy, started in 1951, seeks to award the person or persons, born or resident in Europe, who have made the most outstanding contribution to golf over the previous 12 months. Mcilroy became just the fourth golfer to win it in consecutive years, following Tony Jacklin (1969 and 1970), Peter Oosterhuis (1973 and 1974) and Padraig Harrington (2007 and 2008).        

Derek Lawrenson, golf correspondent of the Daily Mail and Chairman of the AGW, said: ’This was the closest vote we’ve seen for the AGW Trophy in over a decade and while you get the feeling that come the end of his career this will not go down as one of Rory’s great seasons, the fact is he still won four times worldwide, which made him a worthy recipient. No golfer has ever won the AGW Trophy four times but, given his age and ability, this will surely prove to be one more European record Rory will hold in the not too distant future.’

Bernie McGuire

Secretary,

AGW

No change this week in the Fife MGRankings but Season's Greetings from MyGolfRanking and here's to a highly ranked and peaceful 2016.

 

 

David Moir

MyGolfRanking

In League with Golf Ltd

info@mygolfranking.net

Jack Steven honoured with prestigious John Panton Award

PGA IN SCOTLAND NEWS RELEASE              

Jack Steven bought his first set of golf clubs from John Panton, learned life lessons from the great man and has now picked up a prestigious prize named after one of Scottish golf's legendary figures.

"This completes a remarkable cycle for me which stretches over many years," said Steven as he received the John Panton Award for "outstanding service to golf" at the PGA in Scotland luncheon in Glasgow this week.

His PGA career started in 1962 as an assistant to Alex Fox at Dalmahoy, but it was at Glasgow Golf Club that Steven served as head professional for 37 years before retiring in 2007.

"To say I was completely overwhelmed when I received the letter informing me of this honour is putting it mildly," he said after joining Finlay Morrison, Jimmy Taylor, Ian Marchbank, Frank Rennie, Willie Skinner and David Huish as recipients of the award.

"Most people, especially the overworked members of the PGA, dream of something good happening to them. Well, it has happened here for me with this award as accepting it is a great privilege."

Admitting he felt humbled, Steven added: "I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for John Panton. He was my boyhood hero and my inspiration and my mentor. 

"From the committed club professional, an ambassador for Scottish golf and a true gentleman, I learned etiquette, responsibility and behaviour at a very young age. 

"I bought my first set of clubs from John. I met him when I was a junior member at Tulliallan when he visited the club with his renowned film show. 

"At the end of this, I had the nerve to ask him for a golf lesson. Off I went to Glenbervie, duly got my lesson and he gave me that friendly smile and said ‘I think you’d better come back for other lessons.’ 

"Later, after learning I was playing in the Scottish Championship, he invited me to play 18 holes with him at Glenbervie and that was something special. I informed him that I was considering turning pro. 

"He had no vacancies at Glenbervie, but he organised for me to go to Dalmahoy as an assistant to Alex Fox. 

"My future had been decided by this quiet, modest man who had the respect of us all. He is also the only golfer I know who has a drink (ginger beer with a dash of lime cordial) named after him."

Paul McGinley was the guest of honour at the event in Glasgow, regaling the audience, which included Paul Lawrie, with tales from his winning Ryder Cup captaincy at Gleneagles in 2014.

Former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Derby County striker Dean Saunders was the guest speaker. 

Picture at top of article shows Jack Steven on left and Stuart Syme, captain of the PGA in Scotland, on the right.

 Canadian Renolds leads Philippine Open

 with a 66

Tarlac, Philippines: Lindsay Renolds of Canada produced a flawless six-under-par 66 to take the first-round lead at the weather-shortened Philippine Open today.

The Phuket-based Canadian fired six birdies at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event to revive his hopes of securing an Asian Tour card for the new 2016 season. 

He is followed closely by home favourite Miguel Tabuena, Chinnarat Phadungsil of Thailand, Gaganjeet Bhullar of India and Korean rising star Jeunghun Wang, who posted matching 67s at the Luisita Golf and Country Club.

Former Philippine Open champion Mardan Mamat of Singapore, 2011 Order of Merit winner Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines, Johnrey Pactolerin, Giwhan Kim of Korea and Tirawat Kaewsiribandit of Thailand were a further shot back in tied sixth place.

Officials had earlier postponed the opening round and reduce the Philippine Open to 54 holes due to inclement weather. 

Renolds, ranked 95^th on the Order of Merit, is on a do-or-die mission to save his Asian Tour card for next year. The Canadian needs nothing less than a victory this week to break into the top-63 on the Order of Merit to retain his Tour card for 2016.

“It is a case of winning or going back to Qualifying School for me this week. I got nothing to lose. I’m trying to stay motivated and focused,” said the 29-year-old Renolds. 

“It was a good day. I hit my driver and irons well. Everything was good and I played the best I could. I don’t have one single highlight, my proximity to the hole was good all day,” he added.

The 20-year-old Wang opened his account with six birdies against one bogey as he seeks a first Asian Tour win to repay the faith of Jeev Milkha Singh who selected the Korean as a Captain’s pick to represent Team Asia at the EurAsia Cup next year. 

“The course is wet so it is playing long. I holed some long birdies putts which was nice. I only played nine holes (back nine) during the practice round. I was so afraid when I played on the front nine especially on the last hole where I missed a short birdie putt,” said Wang.

Tabuena, who won at the Luisita course on the local circuit with a 22-under score earlier this year, took full advantage of the postponement of round one as he recovered from a cold and high fever to stay in the hunt for a first Asian Tour title. 

“I can’t complain with my score considering my condition. I’m feeling much better which is good. I was very lucky play was called off yesterday because I got an extra rest day. I made the most out of it,” said the 21-year-old Tabuena.

Bhullar, a five-time Asian Tour winner, carded six birdies against one bogey without playing a practice round and hitting a single golf shot in the last two days.

“I didn’t play a practice round. I just walked a few holes and that’s about it. I didn’t do anything on Wednesday and Thursday and was really eager to get out there and hit some good shots which I did,” Bhullar smiled.

New father Chinnarat, who welcomed a new born son last month, stayed patient in a pressure-packed week where he must maintain or better his 62^nd position on the Order of Merit. 

“I need to make some money to keep my Asian Tour card,” he said. “I have big pressure because I know I need to have a good result this week. I must stay patient and I hope I can continue to play good.”

 

FIRST-ROUND LEADERBOARD

Par 72. Yardage 7,402

66 - Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN).

67 - Chinnarat PHADUNGSIL (THA), Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND), Jeunghun WANG (SKOR), Miguel TABUENA (PHI).

68 - Giwhan KIM (SKOR), Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI), Johnrey PACTOLERIN (PHI), Tirawat KAEWSIRIBANDIT (THA), Mardan MAMAT (SIN).

69 - Shubhankar SHARMA (IND), Niall TURNER (IRL), Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA), Seukhyun BAEK (SKOR), Kalle SAMOOJA (FIN), Keith HORNE (RSA), Scott BARR (AUS).

70 - KOH Deng Shan (SIN), Khalin JOSHI (IND), Jhonnel ABABA (PHI), Mithun PERERA (SRI), Adam GROOM (AUS), LU Wei-chih (TPE), Clyde MONDILLA (PHI), Brett MUNSON (USA), Taewoo KIM (SKOR), GOH Kun Yang (SIN), Poosit SUPUPRAMAI (THA), Simon GRIFFITHS (ENG), Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA), Matthew GILES (AUS), HUNG Chien-yao (TPE), Poom SAKSANSIN (THA), Nilo SALAHOG (PHI), Charlie WI (SKOR), George GANDRANATA (INA), Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA).

 TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES


CLICK HERE