Peterculter 12-hole course open for play

Tarland's fourth hole bears brunt of flooding 

... but not as bad as courses close to River Dee

FROM RAYMOND REID
Tarland Golf Club vcaptain

Have attached a couple of pictures of the flooding on the fourth hole at Tarland Golf Club. This is the worst area but the rest is not great.

Still it is a lot better than the courses near the river Dee.

Peterculter course also badly hit but 12 

unaffected holes open for play

FROM THE EVENING EXPRESS 
A golf course manager has told how the club has been left with damaged greens after being hit by flooding.
Six holes at Peterculter Golf Club are now under water following the latest bout of heavy rainfall in the North-east.
It is thought it could take months to repair the damaged greens.
Course manager Paul Sharp said "It's severely worse than it has ever been in the club's entire existence. There's a fair bit of damage. 
"We have only six holes in flood plains but the damaged to the green at the fifth hole is particularly bad."
The force of the floodwater was such that the grass was literally pulled from the surface of the course on one green.  
"The fifth green is now covered in sand and mud," said Mr Sharp. 
"It could take months to repair it."
Despite the devastation, Peterculter Golf Club's course on the banks of the River Dee will remain open for play over the 12 holes on the higher ground unaffected. 
The Peterculter course was opened in 1989.
The Met Office are forecast further heavy downpours on Thursday.  

Happy birthday, Miguel Angel Jimenez 

 - 52 years old today

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

Miguel Angel Jimenez turned 52 today, and wouldn't you love to be at that party? You know it will be a glorious celebration. So raise a glass of Rioja tonight to the Most Interesting Golfer in the World, and take a look back at Jimenez's career through the years. Check out the images by clicking here

 SPANIARD'S BEST QUOTES,
COURTESY OF GOLF DIGEST

Jimenez keeps things in perspective

From an interview with SI's Alan Shipnuck, regarding a bad round at Augusta: "I am here with the sun shining, I'm surrounded by friends and family, tonight I will eat good food, drink good wine, smoke a good cigar and make love to my beautiful wife. It's a good life, no?"

He doesn't care what you think

From that same interview, on haters: "I come from a different generation. And I'm not a hypocrite. I don't hide the way I am. If I want to have a drink, I have a drink. Why shouldn't I? Is it illegal to drink alcohol? Is tobacco illegal? 

So why should I care if people see me smoking? I do what I do out in the open. If people have a problem with that they can stick their tongue up their a--- and let the rest of us do what we want to do."

The MGR Angus Golfers of Week 15/52 are Sakuna Ramsay (Edzell Ladies), who retains her No 1 position on the MGR Angus Ladies Ranking, and Brechin's Graeme Fulton, who has jumped seven places to No 2 on the Angus men's equivalent.

ANGUS MEN

1 Aidan Smith (Edzell) 1097 pts

2 Graeme Fulton (Brechin) 1002

3 Louis Perera (Edzell) 1000

4 Lindsay Taylor (Kirriemuir) 991

5 George Herd (Kirriemuir) 975

                                                                                       

ANGUS CLUBS – MEN

1 Edzell 687 pts

2 Kirriemuir 623

3 Montrose Caledonia 619

4 Logie 563

5 Arbroath 559

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 so PLEASE EMAIL THIS TO YOUR MEMBERS in order that they may sign in.

Clubs wishing to participate should register on www.mygolfranking.net or email info@mygolfranking.net for information..

Copyright © 2015 My Golf Ranking, All rights reserved.

 David Moir
Past President
SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
Hon Life President
FIFE GOLFING ASSOCIATION
Managing Director
in LEAGUE with GOLF Ltd
23 Links Road
Lundin Links
Leven
Fife KY8 6AS
Scotland

davidmoir@mail.com
+44 (0)7789 373216

Now Inverallochy is flooded - tomorrow's NE Alliance postponed

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Bad news from Inverallochy Golf Club. Tomorrow's North-east Alliance, scheduled to be the first of the year, has now been postponed. 
Sustained rain, with a 20mph+ wind flooded parts of the Buchan links
The first NE Alliance competition of 2016 will now be Wednesday, January 13 at Murcar Links.
Hope the rain stops before then!
Interestingly enough. today's postponement of the Inverallochy fixture is the first weather call-off since the competition at Peterhead two years ago.
Thanks to joint-sec David Wilson for that piece of information.

Sea of heartbreak at Paul Lawrie Golf Centre

The Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, on the banks of the River Dee and off the South Deeside Road at Ardoe, is meantime under gallons of floodwater.

Paul Lawrie says he is "Gutted."
 @PaulLawrieGC has flooded again today but all committed to get it back on its feet ASAP 

Don't blame River Dee for Banchory course flooding - it's water running from main road!

FROM ANN SMART

Banchory Golf Club secretary

Below is  a picture of the river that is presently running across Banchory golf course.  No flooding from the River Dee, just from water running from the main road!  

The pool in the background of the picture is the fourth green.

 There must be more golf courses in the North-east, other than Deeside and Banchory,  under water.

Tell us about them and send a picture as well, if possible.

Colin@scottishgolfview.com

A month after an 84 in Australia, Brandt Snedeker smiling again at Kapalua

Brandt Snedeker ( Getty Images )

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By Jim McCabe

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Enveloped in pulsating sunshine, with majestic views of Lanai and Molokai as a backdrop, Brandt Snedeker’s perpetual smile was even wider and brighter.
For good reason, too. He’s back at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the fourth time.
So it didn’t appear to be the time to spoil his day in paradise, but there was that round in Australia one month ago that seemed so out of character, and so ... well, what the heck happened?
Snedeker being Snedeker, he laughed softly and shook his head. “The worst round of professional golf I’ve ever played,” he said of that first-round 84 at the Australian PGA. “Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. It was awful.”
The round featured back-to-back 7s on his inward nine, one a double bogey, the other a triple bogey. And yes, it was made worse by the fact that he had flown halfway around the world to play in Australia, where he loves the golf.
“I wasn’t hurt. It was tough conditions, but not 84 tough,” he said. “And I felt ready to play, too. I wanted to play well. I shot 66 in a practice round.”
His trip Down Under cut to just 36 holes, Snedeker was so upset with his play that he called swing coach Butch Harmon and went straight from Australia to Las Vegas. “It turned out to be a good thing for me. I saw Butch, worked on my ball-striking, and, as it always is, it was a simple thing,” he said.
Taking the fix to Florida, Snedeker, 35, teamed with Jason Dufner to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout. “Silly Season” stuff that it might have been, it was affirmation that Snedeker had righted the ship after running aground in Australia, and the Hyundai couldn’t come at a better time.
He’s ready, he’s excited, and he’s on a stage, the Plantation Course, on which he feels comfortable. Finishing T-10, third, and T-11 in his previous three trips is proof of that.
Then again, isn’t the Hyundai played in January, that time of year when Snedeker seems to always be on top of his game?
Indeed, it is, and in coming weeks he’ll play several venues that have always treated him well. At Torrey Pines he has a win, a second, a third, and a ninth; at Pebble Beach he has two wins; at TPC Scottsdale there have been four top 10s.
“I can’t explain it. I’ve tried, but I can’t,” Snedeker said with a laugh, when asked why it is that he plays so well in the early months. Not that he hasn’t fared well late in the year — he did roar to victory in the Tour Championship and take the FedEx Cup in 2012 — but clearly Snedeker has annually been sharp in these winter months.
And after a quick tune-up to Harmon, Snedeker is anxious to continue that trend.

 Jim Furyk's  wrist injury keeping him on 

sidelines indefinitely

Jim Furyk is one of four no-shows at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions this week. But unlike Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose, Furyk is unsure about when or where he will start his 2016 campaign.
The 17-time US PGA Tour winner hasn’t played competitively since a bone contusion on his left wrist forced him to withdraw during the first round of the BMW Championship in September.
At the time, Furyk decided to withdraw after playing just six holes so that he would be ready to play in the Presidents Cup in South Korea three weeks later. But Furyk couldn’t hit a ball at home and instead became a late pick as an assistant captain for the ultimately victorious American side.
Furyk has undergone numerous MRIs and seen different doctors who have provided the same diagnosis.
“Sometimes it can be tricky,” Furyk said via phone from his home in Florida. “I thought it would be healed by now, but the doctors did say it can take a while.”
In hopes of being able to play this week, Furyk tried hitting balls in early- to mid-December. Though never in pain, he said he also was never close to 100 percent and didn’t think his wrist was strong enough to continue.
Because of previous injuries, Furyk, 45, also knows that coming back too soon never has been good for him and generally hasn't worked for others, with one exception: Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
“Its hard to compete on our Tour 70 or 80 or 90 percent," Furyk said. “I’m not ready, and I’m not 100 percent.”
There are no treatments or drugs that Furyk can receive aside from taking anti-inflammatory medicine.
One bright spot for Furyk is that he generally rests during the fall and most of the winter. With the exception of the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup and Tiger’s Woods year-end event, Furyk usually ends his season at the Tour Championship in September and starts back up at the AT and T Pebble Beach Pro –Am in early February.
That makes this time off to recover feel more like a normal break.
The plan going forward for Furyk is to play at Pebble Beach in five weeks and then the Northern Trust Open and then be ready to compete at 100 percent when the Florida Swing starts in late February.
“I think I have some goals where I’d like to be at two weeks and at four weeks and when I get on the plane,” Furyk said of his timetable to play at Pebble Beach. “But right now it's more a frustrating, wait-and-see-type thing.”