News from satellite professional tours in United States

KIRKPATRICK HEADING FOR FISTFUL
OF DOLLARS IN FLORIDA

Florida-based Scot David Kirkpatrick put himself in left for one of the leading pay-outs at the end of the NGA Pro Tour Winter Series' event at West Orange Golf Club in Florida today.
Kirkpatrick had a second-round, four-under-par 67 for a 36-hole tally of six under par 136.
That gave him a quadruple share of second place, only one shot behind the leader, American George Bradford (65-70).

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
Players from US unless stated
135 George Bradford 65 70.
136 David Kirkpatrick (Sco) 69 67, Travis Perkins 66 70, Rob Johnston 67 69, Casey Wittenberg 70 66.
Other scores:
147 Paul Curry (Eng) 72 75 (jt 63rd).
148 Tom Tryon 74 74 (jt 71st).

LEE RHIND PULLS OUT OF TEXAS EVENT

Lee Rhind from Uphall withdrew from the Tight Lies Tour Winter Series' event, which started at The Clubs of Kingwood Forest, Kingwood in Texas.
Mike Wendling led the field at the end of the first round with a four-under-par 68.

Field of 95 for North-east Alliance meeting at Buchan venue

CARNEGIE AND CORMACK
TIE ON FOUR-UNDER-PAR
61 AT INVERALLOCHY

Inverallochy’s winter course will never stage the Open but it gave a lot of fun to most of the field of 95 for today's North-east Alliance.

It provided a bonanza of scores in the 60s with Kemnay amateur Craig Carnegie and Inchmarlo assistant professional Paul Cormack, pictured right, jointly heading the birdie parade on the four-under-par 61 mark.
Two-handicapper Carnegie had the “magic” figure of 29 for his outward half with birdies at the third, fifth, seventh and ninth but he was caught over the last two holes by Cormack.
Carnegie finished bogey 5-par 4 while Cormack’s scores at the 17th and 18th were birdie 3-birdie 3 – a three-shot swing in favour of Paul who had halves of 30 and 31.

Cormack had eight 3s in a row on his scorecard, from the fourth to the 11th inclusive
Third placed Ian Bratton, the Newburgh professional, had seven 3s in his inward half of 29 for a 62.

Almost everyone was "raving" about the quality of the Inverallochy greens. "Better even than Buckpool" - and that's praise indeed - was the general comment.

Deeside's Gordon Gray, for instance, had only 23 putts on the finest greens he has played on for many a long day.

Gordon had only 23 putts - 12 for the first nine holes, followed by a three-putt and then single putts on the last eight greens. Pity Gordon's tee-to-green game had not been of the same standard but we'll draw a veil over that!

Leading returns:

SCRATCH
Par 65
61 C Carnegie (Kemnay), P Cormack (Inchmarlo) ap.
62 I Bratton (Newburgh) p.
63 I Welsh (Nigg Bay), S Finnie (Caledonian), J Nicolson (Auchmill).
64 A Campbell (Deeside).
65 G Grimmer (Nigg Bay), C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) p, E Kennedy (Stonehaven),T Mathieson (Murcar Links).
66 B Main (Murcar Links), R Hyland (Newmachar), R MacDonald (Kemnay) p.
67 S Scott (Auchmill), R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) p, S Murray (Aspire) p, N Reid (Deeside) ap, G Ingram (Inverurie), N Murray (Cruden Bay) p, W S Urquhart (Murcar Links).
68 J Hamilton (Murcar Links), F Bisset (Banchory), S Troup (King’s Links) ap, S Fraser (Northern), C Clark (MacKenzie Club) p.

(p denotes professional; ap, assistant professional)

HANDICAP
Class 1 – C Carnegie (Kemnay) (2), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4) 59; J Kinsella (Braemar) (8), K Davidson (Turriff) (8) 62; I Welsh (Nigg Bay) (scr), S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), G Grimmer (Nigg Bay) (12), G Ingram (Inverurie) (4), J Hamilton (Murcar Links) (5), K Minty (Turriff) (8), A Stewart (Hazlehead) (8) 63.
Class 2 – K Lumsden (Northern) (16) 61; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11), I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11), J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) 62; M Kydd (Newburgh) (10), G Homer (Lumphanan) (12), R Addison (Newburgh) (18) 63.

LEADING SCORECARDS

Inverallochy par 65

OUT: 4-3-4-4-3-4-3-4-4-33. IN: 3-4-4-3-4-3-4-4-3-32

CRAIG CARNEGIE 61

OUT: 4-3-3-4-2-4-2-4-3-29. IN: 3-4-5-3-3-2-4-5-3-32

PAUL CORMACK 61

OUT: 5-3-4-3-3-3-3-3-3-30. IN: 3-3-5-3-5-3-4-3-2-31

IAN BRATTON 62

OUT: 4-3-4-5-3-5--3-3-3-33. IN: 3-4-3-3-3-3-3-4-3-29

+Next Wednesday's meeting is at Montrose.

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JORDAN’S BEEN A SILLY
LAD, SAYS HIS DAD
Fraserburgh boy, recovering from
pneumonia, was told not to play golf

Former British boys golf champion Jordan Findlay has been given a rollicking by his dad Iain in a transatlantic telephone call after the 18-year-old from Fraserburgh had to retire, feeling “desperately unwell,” before the end of the third round in the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate tournament.
“Jordan’s been a silly lad. He should never have started this 54-hole tournament. He had pneumonia while he was home over the Christmas holidays. But he insisted in going off on a short holiday with his pals to Tenerife where he spent most of the time in bed with sickness and diarrheoa. He lost a lot of weight, something like 1 1/2stone,” said Mr Findlay.
“I took him to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary before he returned to East Tennessee State University and the specialist’s advice was to rest as much as possible and not to pick up a golf club for several weeks until he built up his strength again.
FEELING ROTTEN
“But, even though he had been feeling rotten, Jordan decided that he owed it to the college coach to play in this the first tournament of the second half of the American college season.
“Jordan should have known he was just too weak, still too dehydrated to attempt to play tournament golf. He said to me on the phone last night after he had been taken from the course to hospital in Tucson for a check-up because he was feeling so bad, ‘This could ruin my whole year.’ I said to him: ‘It will ruin your year if you don’t listen to medical advice.’ ”
Starting with a quintuple bogey 9 at the par-4 first hole, Findlay was 26 over par for his first two rounds (an 87 and an 81). He was a further 12 over par for the 10 holes he completed in his third round before the East Tennessee State University head coach took him off the course and back to the clubhouse for his own good.
“I could hardly swing the club, I felt so weak,” said Jordan who was a member of the Scotland team who won the British boys' team championship at Lossiemouth last summer when he also played for Scotland in the European youths' team championship in Spain.

EUROPEAN TOUR GOLFER OF THE MONTH

Retief Goosen’s spectacular birdie-eagle finish for a one-stroke victory in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters has earned him the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award for January.

HSBC ENDING SPONSORSHIP
OF WORLD MATCH-PLAY
EVENT AT WENTWORTH

Five years after announcing a 10-year deal to sponsor the World Match-Play Championship at Wentworth, banking giants HSBC have announced that this October's event will be their last.
The company created the biggest first prize in the sport - £1million - when they took over in 2003, but have decided to switch their main focus after this year to the Champions tournament in China.
Giles Morgan, head of global sports marketing and sponsorship for HSBC, said: "It's been a very difficult decision. We've had five great years but have decided as a business it's time to move on."
He added: "We are going to leave on a high this year. We want to make it the best ever and go out with a bang. It's a brilliant event and I think we have helped to rebuild it."
Guy Kinnings, managing director of golf in Europe and Australia, added: "HSBC have been a excellent partner to the World Match Play Championship and have been integral in developing the qualification system and working with the European Tour to turn it into an official world ranking event.
"We are looking forward to delivering another great Championship in 2007 with HSBC, and will then look to work with a new partner to deliver the 45th event and beyond."

R&A GOLF COURSE COMMITTEE
ISSUE TURFGRASS CLIMATE MAP

The R&A Golf Course Committee has launched a worldwide climate map, to provide guidance on grass species selection. The climate map can be viewed at The R&A’s best practice website, www.bestcourseforgolf.org
The interactive map shows the parts of the world where warm or cool season grasses are most appropriate and defines the Transition Zone where neither warm nor cool season species grow to their optimum potential.
The grasses used to establish a course often dictate its future sustainability and through time, with the correct management practices, grass composition can be influenced towards a mix of the more sustainable species. The map, which is linked to text describing the turfgrass species in detail, will help course developers, architects, turf managers and facility managers make an informed choice of the most sustainable grasses for their situation.
It has been developed in conjunction with Maplecroft, specialists in interactive mapping of complex environmental, social, economic and political issues.
Robert Webb, Chairman of The R&A Golf Course Committee, said: “We have made many improvements and enhancements to our best practice website since it was launched nearly three years ago, but this particular feature is particularly noteworthy. Everyone concerned with the development and management of the golf course will now be able to access information that will help in meeting our target of making courses more sustainable. This is a big step forward, and we are delighted with the work done by Maplecroft.”

Further information:

Steve Isaac
Assistant Director – Golf Course Management
The R&A
Tel: 01334 460000

Worrying news from Texas for Fraserburgh teenager's family

JORDAN FINDLAY IN HOSPITAL
AFTER ARIZONA NIGHTMARE

Fraserburgh exile Jordan Findlay was taken to hospital in Tucson after feeling so unwell that he was unable to complete the third round in the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate tournament over the Arizona National course. It was the first event of the second half of the American college golf season.
While 18-year-old Jordan was back home in Fraserburgh over the Christmas holidays, it had been thought then that he was suffering from some kind of flu. He had lost weight and was not feeling 100% but after being taken to various doctors by his father, no particular illness could be pinpointed.
Findlay returned to East Tennessee State University, where he is in the middle of his second year, and though he still felt very much below par – in a personal health context – he felt he had to play for the team in the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate.
But Jordan’s mystery illness was soon reflected in his standard of scoring.
A 9 AT PAR-4 FIRST HOLE
The former British boys’ champion began the tournament with a 9 at the par-4 first hole and returned an 87 (45-42) – 16 over par for the 6,793yd course – in the first round and then an 81 (38-43) in the second.
He began the third and final round in last position in the high-class field of 89. Starting at the 12th, he had double bogeys at the 12th, 16th and 17th and was 12 over par for the day – with eight holes still to play – which meant he was 38 over par for the 46 holes he had completed over the three rounds – when Jordan indicated that he could not go on.
He was taken off the course and then to hospital. His father Iain is waiting anxiously to hear if the doctors can find out what is wrong with his son.
+Later the East Tennessee State University website said that Jordan Findlay had been suffering from pneumonia.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
199 Brian Prouty (Arizona) 62 67 70.
203 Charlie Beljan (New Mexico) 70 65 68, Seamus Power (East Tennessee State) 69 66 68.
Other totals:
206 Gareth Shaw (East Tennessee State) 68 69 69(jt 5th).
211 Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 69 76 66.
228 Cian McNamara (East Tennessee State) 76 74 78.
Retired (during third round): Jordan Findlay (East Tennessee State) 87 81 -.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
829 UNLV.
833 Brigham Young.
840 Arizona.
841 Tennessee.
842 UC-Irvine.
848 East Tennessee State.
850 Arizona State.
856 Arizona B.
857 Pepperdine.
862 Oregon.

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KIRKPATRICK ON TRAIL OF
A FEW DOLLARS MORE

Florida-based Scot David Kirkpatrick, a Scotland amateur international player in the early 1990s, was sharing 11th place at the end of the first round of the NGA Pro Tour Winter Series event at West Orange Golf Club, Winter Garden, Florida.
Kirkpatrick returned a three-under-par 69 (35-34) to be four shots behind the leader, American George Bradford (33-32).
Englishman Paul Currey is back in joint 38th place with a 72 (36-36).
And there's a once-familiar name "down among the dead men."
It's Ty Tryon, the teenager who won his way on to the US PGA Tour less than a decade ago but whose game went into a spectacular decline. For the last few years he has been playing the mini-tour events, such as this one. Tryon's golf does not get any better. He had halves of 38 and 36 for a two-over-par 74.
Even on mini-tours, that's not going to win a fistful of dollars.
LEADING SCORES
Par 72
Players from US unless stated
65 George Bradford 33-32.
66 Travis Perkins 34-32, Matt Stanchina 33-33.
Other scores:
69 David Kirkpatrick (Sco) 35-34 (jt 11th).
72 Paul Curry (Eng) 36-36 (jt 38th).
74 Ty Tryon 38-36 (jt 67th).

ANDREW HAY JOINT FIFTH IN FLORIDA

Playing in his second tournament within a week, former North-east boys' champion Andrew Hay from the Aberdeen suburb of Westhill, a second-year student at Webber International University in Florida, shot a five-over-par 77 (36-41) to finish joint fifth this week in a field of 34 for the Webber International invitational stroke-play college event at Lake Wales Country Club, Lake Wales in Florida.
The tournament was won by three shots by one of Hay's team-mates, Craig Isabel from Stanford-le-Hope, England, with a 69 (33-36).
Another Webber International student, Iain Stoddart from Uphall finished joint 17th on 83 (43-40).
Eight of the Webber International men's golf roster of 17 players come from Scotland or England.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 72, 6,489yd course
69 Craig Isabel (Webber International) 33-36.
72 Curtis Alford (Warner Southern College) 34-38.
74 Alex Evans (Webber International) 35-39.
76 Brian Brennan (Webber International) 37-39.
77 Andrew Hay (Webber International) 36-41, Dustin Young (Warren Southern College) 389-39, Rob Turner (Webber Intenational) 38-39.
Other scores:
78 Craig Taylor (Webber International) 36-42.
83 Iain Stoddart (Webber International) 43-40.
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DAVID CORKEY (81) WINS

EAST ABERDEENSHIRE

WINTER OPEN

East Aberdeenshire member Dod Laing had by far the best net score of the day in winning the Class 1 handicap section of the East Aberdeenshire Golf Centre Winter Open.
Dod, with a net 72 off 11 of a handicap, had two shots to spare from Gary Thompson (EAGC) in a field of 55.
Inchmarlo member Raymond Smith won the Class 2 by a single shot from Darren Stuart.
The scratch section, offering the highest prize voucher of the day (worth £100) was won by regular North-east Alliance campaigner David Corkey, pictured right, with an 81. John Nicolson and Alec Allan, both of Auchmill, finished one stroke behind on 82.
Dod Laing, who plays off 11, did not get off to the best of starts with a 6 at the 274 yd first hole. However, he steadied himself to play the next 12 holes in five over par, good going considering playing conditions were as tough as many could remember with winds of up to 40 mph which delayed the event by almost an hour.

SCRAMBLED WELL
Afterwards Dod reflected that he struggled with his driving but scrambled very well, getting up and down on numerous occasions to save par.
Raymond Smith, who plays off 19, had never played the course previously and he also found the conditions tough, commenting “It was a great challenge, the weather was very strong. It was a little wet underfoot but for January the course was fantastic.”
Raymond’s score could have been even better had it not been for an errant tee shot at the 15th (the dreaded “Hill,” 515yds uphill all the way) where he carded a 9! Darren Stuart was left to rue three closing bogeys to miss out by a shot.
Due to the success of the event (55 of the initial entry of 84 played), a third Winter Open is being considered by the East Aberdeenshire council for a Sunday in March, which gives golfers a great opportunity to get some pre-season preparation.
+++East Aberdeenshire Golf Club has been given the honour of staging the Aberdeen Pennant League final (Sunday, July 22) and the City of Aberdeen men's foursomes for Maitland Shield (May 21-25) for the first time in the upcoming season.

Leading scores:

SCRATCH
1st DAVID CORKEY (East Aberdeenshire) 81 (£100 voucher)
2nd JOHN NICOLSON (Auchmill) 82 (£50 voucher)
3rd ALEC ALLAN (Auchmill) 82 Better inward half (£25 voucher)

HANDICAP
Class 1
1st DOD LAING (East Aberdeenshire) (11) 72 (£50 voucher)
2nd GARY THOMPSON (East Aberdeenshire) (11) 74 (£25 voucher)
3rd KEVIN SELLAR (Auchmill) (7) 76 (£15 voucher)
Class 2
1st RAYMOND SMITH (Inchmarlo Golf Club) (19) 74 (£50 voucher)
2nd DARREN STUART (East Aberdeenshire) (14) 75 (£25 voucher)
3rd GEORGE FYVIE (East Aberdeenshire) (14) 77 (£15 voucher)

CLARE QUEEN PIPPED IN

PLAY-OFF FOR PLACE

IN AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Clare Queen, pictured right, was beaten in a four-way play-off for the last qualifying spot in the MFS Women's Australian Open which starts at Royal Sydney Golf Club on Thursday.
English amateur Danielle Montgomery tied with the best score of 71 with another amateur, Jenny Lee, in the qualifying round at St Michael's Golf Club, Sydney.
The play-off on 75 featured the Scottish tour pro from Drumpellier and amateurs Stacey Keating, Sylvia Donohoe and Justine Lee.
Keating won the sixth and last qualifying place with a birdie at the first sudden-death hole.

California-based Mhairi McKay has withdrawn from the MFS Women's Australian Open and next week's ANZ Masters.

Mhair, who partnered Janice Moodie, as Scotland finished fourth in the recent Women's World Cup in South Africa, says she is "too tired" for further tournaments at the moment.

WATSON THIRD AND McEWAN
SIXTH IN NEW SOUTH WALES
INTERNATIONAL EVENT

Craig Watson (East Renfrewshire), pictured left, and Steven McEwan (Barassie) finished a very creditable third and joint sixth in the prestigious Lake Macquarie International tournament at the Belmont Golf Club, New South Wales.
The 72-hole event ended in an all-Australian play-off over three holes between Blake McGrory and Justin Roach after they had tied on 282. McGrory won the title.
Watson, in his 41st year, did splendidly to be the leading international player in third place only two shots behind the play-off contestants on 284.
Craig had rounds of 74, 70, 70 and 70.
McEwan, Scottish boys’ open stroke-play champion in 2005, achieved his best ever men’s international field finish with scores of 72, 69, 72 and 73 for a share of sixth place on 286.
Bryan Fotheringham from Forres, the third Scot in the big field, finished joint 63rd on 300 after a nightmare opening round of 83. He did well to beat the cut with a second-round 72 and finished off with scores of 74 and 71.
England’s Stephen Lewton finished joint 13th on 290, Gary Wolstenholme joint 27th on 292 and David Horsey joint 36th on 294.

LEADING TOTALS
282 Blake McGrory (Aus) 72 69 71 70, Justin Roach (Aus) 71 67 75 69 (McGory won three-hole play-off).
284 Craig Watson (Sco) 74 70 70 70.
Other totals:
286 Steven McEwan (Sco) 72 69 72 73 (jt 6th).
290 Stephen Lewton (Eng) 72 75 70 73 (jt 13th).
292 Gary Wolstenholme (Eng) 70 74 75 73 (jt 27th).
294 David Horsey (Eng) 72 71 75 76 (jt 36th).
298 Jason Palmer (Eng) 72 70 78 78 (jt 49th).
299 Llewellyn Matthews (Wal) 71 76 77 75 (jt 54th).
300 Bryan Fotheringham (Sco) 83 72 74 71 (jt 63rd).

PROFESSIONAL NEWS FROM ROUND THE WORLD

MONTY AND SAM TO PLAY IN
JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC

An impressive contingent of Ryder Cup stalwarts and Canada’s No 1 player have further boosted the star-studded field for this year’s Johnnie Walker Classic, which tees off at the Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket, Thailand, from March 1-4, 2007 and is presented by Johnnie Walker, the world’s leading Scotch whisky brand.
The European Ryder Cup team’s talisman, Colin Montgomerie, reigning captain Ian Woosnam and former captain Sam Torrance will line up alongside past US Masters champion, Mike Weir in the US$2.44 million tournament, referred to as Asia’s premier golf event since its inception in 1990.
This year’s star attractions at the Johnnie Walker Classic already include three of the world's top 10 players: Adam Scott of Australia at No. 3, South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, currently ranked fifth and eighth in the world respectively, plus Englishman, Paul Casey, who won the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago and is currently ranked 13th in the world.
FANTASTIC FIELD
Ben Anderson, Global Brand Director for Johnnie Walker, commenting on the latest signings said, “Once again the Johnnie Walker Classic is bringing a fantastic field of top international golfers to Asia and it will be a real treat for local golf fans to be able to watch some truly inspiring world-class golfing action right on their very own doorstep. “And as for the players themselves, we wish them the very best of luck and hope that in the spirit of Johnnie Walker’s 'Keep Walking' message, which aims to inspire people to progress towards their dreams and ambitions, their performance at the tournament will inspire many others to take their own first step towards their own goals,” concluded Anderson.

OMEGA TO BE TITLE SPONSORS FOR WORLD CUP

The International Federation of PGA Tours has announced that Omega has further enhanced its involvement in golf with the signing of an agreement to become title sponsor of the Mission Hills World Cup in China.
The World Cup is the oldest and most prestigious global golf team event in the world inviting two-man teams from as many as 28 nation.
It is hardly surprising that it has been labelled “The Olympics of Golf”, a title of huge significance in today’s China.
The 12-year contract, concluded at the European Tour’s headquarters at Wentworth, Surrey, will see Mission Hills Golf Club, China, host the Omega Mission Hills World Cup through to the year 2018.
Meanwhile, this year's World Cup - November 22 to 25 - will lose its association with the World Golf Championships (WGC), officials said on Monday.
The two-man team competition, which began as the Canada Cup in 1953, had been a WGC event since 2000 when Americans Tiger Woods and David Duval triumphed in Buenos Aires, "The event, although sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, will not fall under the umbrella of the World Golf Championships," the federation said in a statement.
In recent years, the WGC-World Cup has failed to attract the game's best players.
World number one Woods has not played since 2001 and other notable absentees from last December's edition in Barbados included Americans Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk and South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Tiger Woods is greatest golfer ... but is he a golf architect?

"If a top player is involved in course
design, it usually means it will be
over-budget and over-schedule"
- says leading designer Harradine

Tiger Woods’ first course design globally will raise the stakes in Dubai by up to 50 per cent but the craze for signature courses is being driven too much by marketing, leading course designer Peter Harradine has claimed.
In the liveliest debate of the first day of GolfEx Dubai 2007, Harradine questioned whether money is becoming the only criteria for course designs.
“The whole world is based on marketing,” said Harradine. “Tiger is the best athlete that’s ever walked the earth, but as a golf architect? If a top player is involved in a course design, it usually means it will be over budget and over schedule. My signature stands for quality, built on time and on budget.”
Harradine didn’t reserve criticism for the players so much as developers and owners. “The players aren’t daft, if they know they can ask for $1 million or $2 million more they will, and good luck to them – they realise that daft people will pay them.”
TOP PLAYERS DEFENDED
Jeremy Slessor, Managing Director of European Golf Design, defended the use of top players putting their names to projects, saying the increased pulling power invariably leads to higher revenues. “It may be marketing, but as a mechanism it works. If you put Langer’s name on a course you know it will be played by Germans,” he said.
KPMG’s Andrea Satori said that a financial definition of a signature course would be one costing between $800,000 and $2 million.
Harradine also called for designers to offer uncomplicated layouts, saying the current trend was for fancy championship par-72 courses over 8,000 yards. “We have forgotten the normal punter who just wants a good experience,” he added.
Despite his reservations for the unbridled growth in signature courses, the Managing Director of Harradine Golf welcomed the fact that the world number one has chosen Dubai for his first design worldwide.
“The fact Tiger is developing his first course here is great news,” he said. “It will raise the stakes by 50 per cent not only it terms of fees but also budgets. We now have a very high benchmark.”

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MICHELE'S "SUFFERING"
WILL CONTINUE IF
SHE KEEPS ON
PLAYING MEN'S EVENTS,

says KEN SCHOFIELD
Michelle Wie will continue to “suffer” if she persists in taking on the men at their own game – that’s the view of Ken Schofield CBE, former CEO of the PGA European Tour, speaking on the opening day of the second GolfEx Dubai, the premier exhibition for the region’s golf industry.
“Will someone please tell the lovely Michelle Wie that the ladies have a superb tour and history?” said the Scot (pictured right).
“She would do well to focus on that and add to it – or maybe she believes she is right to play with the men and suffer and suffer.”
But Alexandra Armas, Ladies European Tour Executive Director, said: “If she (Wie) believes she can do it, then why not? These players are there to elevate women’s golf to another level and we have to work with that.”
Schofield, who is part of a seven-man panel looking into why England’s cricketers suffered so humiliatingly to Australia this winter, also questioned whether co-sanctioned tours are beneficial to mid-range professionals who struggle to play enough tournaments.
WAY FORWARD?
“If you look at the Buick Tournament that’s played over two courses, maybe that is the way forward,” he said. “I’m sure that a prize money cap wouldn’t be popular with the players.”
Schofield also paid tribute to Tiger Woods’ remarkable consistency over the last ten years and his willingness to play worldwide and be seen as the premier ‘global golfer’.
He also rejected as an “insult” the suggestion that the US team’s poor record in the Ryder Cup was down to an uncaring approach.
Armas highlighted the ongoing growth in the Ladies European Tour, which has four new tournaments this year, taking the total to 24. But she acknowledged greater efforts still need to be made in promoting the women’s game and challenging old perceptions - the average prize fund for women’s events is 400,000 Euros, far below that of most men’s events.
YOUNG AND FASHIONABLE
“There’s an image of it as boring, old and traditional but the reality is it’s young and fashionable,” she said. “We have to work hard to get the message across.”
The biggest event in the ladies’ calendar, the Solheim Cup, will be held in Halmstad from September 14-16.

FRED FUNK WINS BY ELEVEN
STROKES - AND THAT'S A
RECORD FOR SENIORS TOUR

Fred Funk set a US Champions (Seniors) Tour winning record on Sunday that will probably not be challenged until Tiger Woods starts playing the over-50s circuit.
Funk had rounds of 65, 64, 64 for a 23-under-par total of 193 over a par-72 course, designed by Arnold Palmer, at Kahuku, Hawaii.
That won him the Turtle Bay championship by 11 shots - and that's two shots more than the previous biggest winning margin on the Champions Tour.
Funk went to the turn in his final round in only 30 shots, six under the card.
"That has to be the finest three days of putting that I've had in my career," said Funk who, at 50, is still a regular on the US PGA Tour.
He has won two of his five starts on the Champions Tour.
His prize was $240,000.
LEADING TOTALS
193 Fred Funk 65 64 64.
204 Tom Kite 67 65 72, Loren Roberts 69 69 66, Tom Purtzer 70 68 66, Denis Watson 71 65 68.

NEW SGU PRESIDENT DAVID
MOIR PUTS THE
RECORD STRAIGHT:
NEVER ANY SUGGESTION
OF "A MUTINY"
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
David Moir has made his first public statement as the new president of the Scottish Golf Union.
“Mention has been made in the media of ‘a mutiny being averted’ at Sunday’s SGU agm. The record should be put straight - there was never any suggestion of a “mutiny,” said the Edinburgh-born R&A staff man who lives at Lundin Links, Fife.
“An overwhelming majority of golf clubs and areas of Scotland want to retain the existing two-tier system of governance but have instructed their representatives on the Scottish Golf Union Executive Council to investigate how the system can be improved in respect of accountability, communication and consultation.
“The SGU Executive Council, acting on behalf of the shareholders, is presently carrying out these instructions.”
David worked as an architect from 1962 to 1995 before he went to St Andrews University for two years (1996-97) at the age of 52 to gain a diploma in information technology.
That set him off in a new career and he became Entries manager with R&A Championships Limited in 1997.
IN GOLF ADMIN FOR 36 YEARS
Now 62, David has an impressive CV in golf administration stretching back over more than 30 years with the Fife Golfing Association, Lundin Golf Club, the Scottish Golf Union and the R&A.
“It is 36 years since I was elected to serve on the council of my club, Lundin Golf Club, which I joined as a junior Member in 1957, and, in 1972, I was elected to represent Lundie on the Executive Council of Fife Golfing Association of I am now Honorary Life President,” said David, an ardent Hibs supporter and also an international rugby fan.
“I have missed fewer than half a dozen Five or Six Nations matches at Murrayfield sincd 1956 and am a member of Glenrothes RFC.
“Being installed as President of the Scottish Golf Union is a great honour for me especially as I am the first President from the Kingdom of Fife since the late Alex Gardner some 25 years ago.
“I take it as recognition of 35 years of very enjoyable work in Scottish golf administration at all levels.”
“I take it as a great compliment that it is made by my peers, the representatives of the areas and golf clubs of Scotland on the SGU Executive Council.”

SCROLL DOWN TO READ DAVID MOIR'S IMPRESSIVE CV

TAYLOR (68) WINS BY FIVE

SHOTS IN NORTH

ALLIANCE AT BRORA

By ROBIN WILSON
After their failings at Tain the previous week, when neither returned a card, Wick’s Ronnie Taylor and Thurso’s Doug Thorburn made amends at Brora on Sunday by finishing first and second respectively to surge ahead in the North of Scotland Alliance Quaich rankings.
Switched to Brora due to the scheduled Struie course at Dornoch still recovering from the heavy rainfall over the past months, the Brora fixture came close to being called off even before the Caithness members arrived. An early morning gale made play near impossible.
The Alliance Secretary (Robin Wilson) said after his round: “I can’t remember playing the second hole in such difficult conditions as I did on Sunday. It was near impossible to find the fairway from the tee and while I was searching in the bent for the two balls I played, other golf balls from the players behind, whom I waved through, were flying over my head and onto the beach. I really did think of suspending play.”

STERNER STUFF
But Alliance golfers are made of sterner stuff and the gale abated slightly to allow Taylor and Thorburn show their class. Taylor opened with two birdies, something close to impossible had he been out an hour earlier, and, taking further advantage of Brora’s excellent greens, the Wick +2 handicapper recorded three more birdies in halves of 33 and 35 to win by five shots from Thorburn.
Scratch player Thorburn matched Taylor’s birdie 2 on the ninth hole but was five behind with 38. He also matched Taylor over the next nine holes to remain five behind with a 73.

It was significant that the handicap winners also came from where they are exposed to windy conditions. Early starter Bruce Fraser (Tain) posted a very creditable net 72 but was overtaken on the inward nine-hole count by Steve Efemey (Reay) with Robin Wilson recovering after his opening problems to get a third place.
Ullapool members will tell you something about gales and their weather experience paid off in the higher handicap section. Gary MacDonald became the first Ullapool member to take a first place in an Alliance outing. Almost last off the course. he recorded a 71 to win by five from clubmate Angus MacDonald.

+Picture shows Ron Taylor and son William getting in some putting practice before the round at Brora (picture by Robin Wilson).

Results:

SCRATCH

68 R Taylor (Wick).

73 D Thorburn (Thurso).

75 M Ferries (Tain).

77 B Fraser (Tain), B Ferries (Tain), D MacKay (Reay), W Taylor (Wick), L Parnell (Reay).

HANDICAP

Class 1 – S Efemey (Reay) (9), B Fraser (Tain) (5) 72; R J Wilson (Brora) (5), W R Taylor (Wick) (4), P O’Hare (Thurso) (9) 73.

Class 2 – G MacDonald (Ullapool) (13) 71; A MacDonald (Ullapool) (15) 76; D Mackenzie (Thurso) (12), P Etheridge (Brora) (11) 77.

DAVID GRANT MOIR ... NEW PRESIDENT OF THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

T H I S I S H I S L I F E

DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH 01/11/1944/Edinburgh (within shouting distance of Easter Road!)

MARRIED 10/04/1969 to Elena

FAMILY

Grant Moir
Assistant Director - R&A Rules Limited
Antonia Pettifer
Primary Teacher, St Agatha’s School, Leven

Four grandchildren – Chloe, Jacob, Zoe and Lucia

HOME

23 Links Road
Lundin Links
Fife KY8 6AS

BUSINESS

R&A Championships Limited
St Andrews
Fife KY16 9JD

CONTACT

+44 (0) 1333 320373 (home)
+44 (0) 7789 373216 (mobile)
+44 (0) 1334 460000 (business)
+44 (0) 1334 460005 (fax)
davidmoir@randa.org (email)

EDUCATION

1956 to 1961 Buckhaven High School
1962 to 1969 Dundee School of Architecture, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art
1969 Diploma in Architecture (Dip Arch)
1971 Associate of the Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (ARIAS)
1971 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
1996-97 St Andrews University. Diploma in Information Technology.

EMPLOYMENT
1969 to 1974 Glenrothes Development Corporation Architect
1974 to 1980 Sinclair & Watt, Kirklandhill House, Den Walk, Methil Project Architect
1980 to 1995 David Moir - Architect, 5 Scoonie Place, Leven Sole Principal Architect
1995 & 1996 Intergolf Ltd - part-time Tour Manager for American golfing visitors to Scotland
1997 to 2002 Entries Manager, R&A Championships Limited
Responsible for the liaison with and administration of players and management agencies in the organisation of all pre-event aspects of R&A Championships – The Open, Amateur, Seniors, Boys, Mid-Amateur and Junior Open Championships. Designer of The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking.

GOLF ADMINISTRATION

SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

1989 to 1996 Co-opted member of the SGU Championship Committee with special responsibility for the mobile office and on-course scoring systems. Communications Sub-Committee.
1994 Scotland Team Manager, Greek Amateur Championship, Glyfada, Athens. Accompanied the Scottish Ladies team to the same Nations Cup.
1996 to 2002 Fife Area Representative on the SGU Executive Committee.
SGU Championship, Golf, Special Tasks and President’s Committees.
1997 Qualified Referee at the Rules of Golf Schools of the R&A and SGU. Refereed at all Home Internationals since 1997 and at The St Andrews and Jacques Leglise Trophy matches abroad, the finals of the Scottish Amateur and Boys Championships and international matches between Scotland and France, Italy and Sweden.
1998 Scotland Squad Manager, European Individual Championship, Celtic Manor, Wales.
2000 to 2002 Championship Convenor. In addition to normal convenor’s duties, involved in the set-up of the SGU Events Department and in the design and installation of pre-championship and on-course communications and computer programs.
Scottish Golf Re-Structure Working Group.
2003 to 2006 SGU Championship Committee.
2006 to 2008 GB&I Zone Representive on the Championship Committee of the European Golf Association.
2006 Vice-President
2007 President

FIFE GOLFING ASSOCIATION

1973 to 2002 Executive Member
First Fife Youths Convenor with responsibility for the forming of a Youths Section.
Press Officer
Coaching Committee
Committee for the production of The History of Golf Clubs in Fife
1980 to 1984 Vice-President / President
1986 to 2006 Tournament Convenor and Chairman of Selectors
Publicity Convenor
1993 to 1995 Initiated sponsorship through Dunfermline Building Society for golf at “grass-roots” levels and successfully negotiated with the Scottish Sports Council for a Sportsmatch grant.
Arranged equipment sponsorship for the Fife County Team with Reebok UK to a retail value of approximately £8000.
2000 Committee Convenor for the publication of the 2nd edition of The History of Golf Clubs in Fife
2007 Elected Honorary Life President FGA Centenary Committee

LUNDIN GOLF CLUB

1956 to 2007 Club Member 1965 to 2003 Scratch Team Member
1971 to 1982 Council Member
1972 to 1978 Match Convenor
1974 to 2007 Convenor of the East of Scotland Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship - a counting event for the R&A WAGR, the Scottish Rankings and the SGU Order of Merit.
1978 to 1982 Vice-Captain / Captain

1992 to 1999 Match Secretary and member of the Match Committee.
1995 Chief Recorder at The Open Championship, Final Qualifying Competition at Lundin
2000 Elected Honorary Life Member

INTERESTS

Holding onto a single figure handicap which is increasing with age and girth

Watching golf, rugby union (missed less than 6 Five/Six Nations matches at Murrayfield since 1956 / member of Glenrothes RFC), football (Hibernian FC) and cricket

Travel

Inventing board games, amassing trivial facts, statistics and useless information, writing them down then throwing them away

SPAIN BEAT ENGLAND FOR
TITLE ON COUNTBACK

England's youngsters were denied a third successive victory in the annual Costa Ballena Quadrangular tournament in Spain where they were beaten by the hosts on the final day.
Having overcome Germany and Finland, England required a draw with Spain to complete a hat-trick and they were well on course after taking the foursomes 2-1.
But they slipped in the afternoon, winning only one of the six singles, that being secured by last year’s boy captain Sam Hutsby as Spain bounced back to complete a 6-3 victory.
That meant Spain, who had lost to Germany, and England had two wins each but the Spanish took top spot with 17 match points to England’s 15.5.
So close was the contest that just one more singles win would have given England overall victory by half a point.
England’s top scorers were Hampshire-based Hutsby and Gareth Evans from Yorkshire, the English Champion of Champions, both with five wins from six..
Fellow Yorkshireman Steve Uzzell scored 4.5 and Matthew Baldwin from Lancashire four. Results:
England 7.5 Germany 1.5.
Spain 7 Finland 2.
England 5 Finland 4.
Germany 5 Spain 4.
Finland 5.5 Germany 3.5.
Spain 6 England 3.

LOCH LOMOND APPOINTS
NEW GENERAL MANAGER
Niall Flanagan was today announced as the new general manager of Loch Lomond Golf Club, the private international club that is home to The Barclays Scottish Open golf championship.
Flanagan joins Loch Lomond with over 20 years of experience in the golf and club industries, most recently having held a senior management position in the St Andrews Links Trust in Scotland.
During his tenure at St Andrews, Flanagan was involved with the design and development of the Castle Course, sat on the committee for the 2005 Open Championship and was the inaugural chairman of the St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association.
Prior to working at St Andrews, Flanagan was a member of the Executive Management Committee of Dubai Golf, responsible for all aspects of the strategic and functional management of the Nad al Sheba Club.
TOP-POST EXPERIENCE
He has also held the position of Director of Golf at Celtic Manor, the host venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, been Tournament Director with the Professional Golfers Association, and from 1992 to 1995, he was the Club Administrator at the Wentworth Club, venue of the PGA and World Matchplay Championships.
Commenting on the appointment, Loch Lomond Chairman Lyle Anderson said:
“We are delighted to welcome Niall Flanagan as General Manager of Loch Lomond. He brings with him a wealth of experience from both an operational and a tournament perspective, which I am certain will be of great value as we further our goal of establishing Loch Lomond as the finest international private golf club.”
Flanagan said:
“I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to take over the reigns at Loch Lomond. It is an exceptional golf course with outstanding facilities, from the 18th century clubhouse to the luxury accommodation, the new spa and the links course at Dundonald

Seventh US PGA Tour win in a row by Woods

TIGER CLICKETY-CLICKS IN

LAST ROUND TO WIN BUICK

INVITATIONAL BY TWO

Tiger Woods caught the overnight joint leaders over the final round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Club, San Diego in California.

Tiger shot a closing round of six-under-par 66 for a 15-under-par total of 273 to have two shots to spare at the finish from Charles Howell.

It is the third year in a row that Woods has won the "Buick" and is his seventh straight tournament win on the US Tour.

Only one man has ever done that before - the late Byron Nelson who went on to set the mark of 11 in a row in the 1940s. Nobody thought that figure would ever be even threatened ... until now.

LEADING TOTALS

US players unless stated

Par 288 (4 x 72)
273 Tiger Woods 66 72 69 66.
275 Charles Howell III 70 64 73 68.
276 Brandt Snedeker 61 70 74 71.
277 Andrew Buckle (Aus) 66 71 68 72, Mark Calcavecchia 66 74 68 69, Bubba Watson 67 74 69 67.
278 Bart Bryant 66 73 70 69, Jeff Quinney 64 74 70 70.
279 Nick Watney 69 69 70 71, Charlie Wi (Kor) 63 72 73 71, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 70 71 68, Rich Beem 67 68 73 71, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 68 71 68.
280 Kevin Sutherland 65 71 70 74, Stewart Cink 68 71 71 70.
281 Ryuji Imada (Jap) 68 71 69 73, Michael Putnam 71 66 74 70, Lee Janzen 72 66 74 69, Ryan Moore 70 69 73 69.
282 Steven Marino 65 74 71 72, Bill Haas 69 66 72 75, Craig Kanada 66 75 72 69.
283 Dudley Hart 71 68 72 72, Robert Garrigus 65 73 72 73, Gavin Coles (Aus) 65 75 71 72, Parker McLachlin 70 67 76 70, Bob Estes 70 71 71 71, Kevin Stadler 68 72 69 74, Brett Wetterich 70 71 70 72, Troy Matteson 71 67 69 76.
284 Charley Hoffman 72 67 73 72, John Senden (Aus) 64 75 75 70, Cameron Beckman 70 68 72 74, Tripp Isenhour 71 70 73 70, Cliff Kresge 65 72 71 76, Johnson Wagner 65 74 70 75, Steve Allan (Aus) 67 73 71 73, Mark Wilson 73 68 71 72.
285 Vijay Singh (Fij) 75 66 74 70, Tom Johnson 74 67 69 75, Mark O'Meara 70 69 74 72, DJ Brigman 66 70 77 72, Jamie Lovemark 66 74 73 72, Rich Barcelo 70 68 71 76.
286 Chris Riley 70 71 74 71, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 68 73 75, Zach Johnson 72 69 73 72, Ted Purdy 74 67 73 72, Darron Stiles 65 73 71 77, David Duval 66 75 75 70
287 Phil Mickelson 74 66 73 74, Paul Gow (Aus) 71 70 73 73, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 72 69 70 76, Justin Rose (Eng) 68 73 73 73, Glen Day 73 65 76 73.
288 Hunter Mahan 75 65 75 73, Tom Byrum 71 70 72 75, Michael Allen 66 75 72 75, Craig Barlow 75 66 75 72
289 Matt Hendrix 70 70 74 75, John Merrick 72 68 76 73, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 70 73 75, Bob Tway 72 66 76 75
290 Harrison Frazar 74 67 74 75, Douglas Labelle 67 74 77 72, Tommy Armour III 68 73 76 73
291 Brett Quigley 67 71 78 75, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 70 76 75, John Mallinger 70 70 73 78, Jason Bohn 71 69 77 74
293 Jeff Gove 73 68 75 77
294 Todd Hamilton 71 67 80 76
295 Michael Bradley 72 68 80 75

MACDONALD WINS NORTH
ALLIANCE BY FOUR SHOTS

Mike Macdonald (Fortrose & Rosemarkie) was out on his own, recording a four-stroke victory in Saturday's North Scottish Golfers' Alliance fixture at Garmouth & Kingston Golf Club with a three-under-par 66.

LEADING SCORES
SCRATCH
66 M Macdonald (FR).
70 S Mitchell (M), M Menzies (E), G Morrison (F/R) p, G Hay (G).
71 K Thomson (M).
72 J A Grant (G), S Wilson (I), W Donnelly (F), S Johnston (E).
73 R Stewart (G), J S D Campbell (G).
74 J R Ingram (BG).
75 J Simpson (F), D F Sharp (BG), J Bellshaw (FR), B Inch (E), D Hexley (I).
76 M Smith (ND).
77 I Rodger (E) p, S G Milne (E).
78 D Milne (G), R Aitken (M), R McKerron (F), I Hamilton (E).

HANDICAP
Class 1 (handicaps eight and under)
64 S Mitchell (M)(6)
65 M Menzies (E)(5)
68 S Johnston (E)(4),R Stewart (G)(5);
69 W Donnelly (F)(3), J R Ingram (BG)(5)

Class 2 (handicaps nine to 14)
67 J Stephen (ND)(12).
69 R Barrett (BG)(14), D Milne (G)(9).
70 G B Thomson (I)(14).
72 D Macleod (LN)(11).

PROFILE OF NEW SGU PRESIDENT COMING UP

Coming up for you on Monday, Scottishgolfview.com will have a profile and picture of David Moir, the new Scottish Golf Union president, from Lundin Links with his chain of office.
The new vice-president is John Sommerville from Kirkcudbright.

Woods hits the front in finale of Buick Invitational

NOBODY CAN HOLD THAT TIGER
OVER CLOSING ROUND

Hold that Tiger! Well, it doesn't seem as if Charles Howell, Andrew Buckle or Brandt Snedeker can hold back Tiger Woods as he strides clear of the field in the final round of the Buick Invitational Torrey Pines, San Diego in Southern California.
Latest positions:
14 under par Tiger Woods after 15 holes.
13 under par Charles Howell after 15 holes.
13 under par Andrew Buckle (Aus) after 14 holes.
12 under par Brandt Snedeker after 14 holes.

COMPLETED TOTALS
279 (nine under par) Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 68 71 68.
287 (one under par) Justin Rose (Eng) 68 73 73 73

Find out how the Scots are faring in USA first on this website

WORLD'S BEST AMATEURS - INCLUDING SCOTS - IN

JONES CUP ACTION AT FREDERICA GC, SEA ISLAND

Scottishgolfview.com will be providing you with the first news nightly - and at breakfast time the following morning - on the big amateur golf tournament being played in the United States this week.
Several top Scots will be in the quality field at Frederica Golf Club (course pictured above, click on image to increase size), Sea Island for the Jones Cup.

So what is the Jones Cup?

Here is what the tournament website has to say on the subject:

JONES CUP HISTORY
The Jones Cup was first contested in 2001 as a prelude to the 38th Walker Cup Match. This event brings together many of the finest amateurs from the United States and abroad for three days of competition and camaraderie.
The Jones Cup was born from the A.W. Jones family and its commitment to amateur golf. The Jones family has owned and operated the Cloister Hotel and Sea Island Golf Club since 1928. The Sea Island Golf Club has played host to seven USGA championships. The Jones Cup is yet another extension of the family’s strong involvement in amateur golf.

O'HARA RUNNER-UP IN 2001
The Jones Cup Invitational was first contested in 2001 (when Scotland's Steven O'Hara finished runner-up to the American winner, D J Trahan). This biennial amateur competition originated as an opportunity to celebrate not only the game of golf, but also the camaraderie and fellowship associated with it.

This 54-hole individual stroke play event is normally contested at Ocean Forest Golf Club. The Rees Jones design opened in 1995 and has hosted the 1998 Georgia State Amateur Championship, the 1999 Southern Amateur Championship and the 2001 Walker Cup Match.
The Jones Cup brings together many of the finest amateurs from the United States and abroad for this three-day competition.
While the golf course proves to be a great venue for this unique event, the Jones Cup’s success and popularity can be attributed to the strength of the players who comprise its field and to the gracious southern hospitality for which Sea Island is known.
CHANGE OF VENUE
Ocean Forest Golf Club has been undergoing a major course renovation since this past December.

As a result, the 2007 Jones Cup will be contested this coming week (Thursday, February 1 to Sunday, February 4) at Frederica Golf Club, Sea Island’s newest private club.
Frederica Golf Club's course was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in the autumn of 2005. The golf course features a dramatic site with significant elevation changes, unique bunkering, and challenging putting greens. Frederica will provide an excellent venue for the 2007 Jones Cup Invitational.

THIS WEEK'S FIELD FOR THE JONES CUP
Seve Benson, Jonas Blixt, Gary Boyd, Seth Brandon, Alan Bratton, Tom Brennan, Tyler Brown, Jordan Byrd.

Jorge Campillo, Tarik Can.

Rhys Davies, Kyle Davis, Duke Delcher.

Austin Eaton III, Nigel Edwards, Gene Elliott.

Carlton Forrester, Rickie Fowler.

Robert Gerwin, Michael Green, Jake Grodzinsky, Rob Grube, Keith Guest, jun.

Jhared Hack, Scott Hardy, Brian Harman, Mark Harrell, Scott Henry, Morgan Hoffmann, Ryan Hybl.

Tim Jackson, Dustin Johnson.

John Kelly, Kevin King, Chris Kirk, Colt Knost, Jeff Knox, Trip Kuehne.

Luke List. Mark Love, Chip Lutz.

Callum Macaulay, Kevin McAlpine, Mike McCoy, Michael McDermott, Jon McLean, Sam MacNaughton, Keir McNicol, Brad Marek, Kevin Marsh, Ben Martin, Buddy Marucci, David May, Dalton Melnyk, Kris Mikkelsen, Jamie Miller, Kelly Miller, Adam Mitchell, Phillip Mollica,

Michael Morrison, Jamie Moul.

Patrick Nagle.

Eoghan O'Connell, Paul O'Hara.

Ben Parker, John Parry, Pat Patterson.

Kevin Quinn.

Toby Ragland, Richie Ramsay, Robert Reisen, Ed Richardson.

Lloyd Saltman, Todd Satterfield, Sam Saunders, Garrett Schneider, Brady Schnell, Gareth Shaw, Webb Simpson, Nathan Smith, Kyle Stanley, Gordon Strother jun, Hudson Swafford, Matthew Swan.

Pat Tallent, Ryan Thomas, Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Gator Todd, Kevin Tway.

Peter Uihlein.

Dawie Van der Walt, Arnond Vongvanij.

Paul Waring, Todd White, Brent Witcher, Dave Womack, Gary Woodland.

Danny Yates.

DRYSDALE SHARES 26th
PLACE AT SUN CITY
Scot David Drysdale had a par final round of 72 for a two-over-par final total of 290 and a share of 26th place in the Dimension Data pro-am tournament over 72 holes at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa.
David, whose hopes of a high finish were torpedoed by a third-ournd 76 earned 14,720 South Africa Rand.
Euan Little from Portpatrick had a nightmare last three rounds after opening with a one-under-par 71. He scored 75-78-77 from Friday through to Sunday for a share of 62nd place on 13-over-par 301. His pay cheque amounted to 4,160 SAR.
South African Louis Oosthuisen won the top prize of 253,600 SAR with a final round of 69 for 11-under-par 277. But he won only by one shot from his fast-finishing compatriot Omay Sandys who signed off with a 65 to pick up the runner-up prize of 184,000 SAR.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
Players from South Africa unless stated
277 Louis Oosthuizen 66 71 71 69.
278 Omar Sandys 77 68 68 65.
280 Michiel Bothma 69 68 70 73.
Other totals:
283 Ross McGowan (Eng) 67 72 70 74 (42,560 SAR).
280 David Drysdale (Sco) 71 71 76 72 (14,720 SAR).
301 Euan Little (Sco) 71 75 78 77 (4,160 SAR).

GOOSEN'S BIRDIE-EAGLE
FINISH PIPS O'HERN
FOR QATAR MASTERS

Retief Goosen of South Africa produced a miraculous finish to claim a one-stroke victory at the expense of Australian Nick O'Hern at the US$2.2 million Commercialbank Qatar Masters today.
The double US Open champion trailed by two strokes with two holes remaining before pulling off a remarkable birdie-eagle finish at the Doha Golf Club to deny a heartbroken O'Hern, who had to settle for a seventh career runner-up finish.
Goosen, the world's No. 8, signed off with a three-under-par 69 for a winning total of 15-under-par 273 and claimed his 14th European Tour victory.
O'Hern, who closed with a 70, had looked poised for a long-awaited triumph in Europe when a birdie on 16 pulled him two clear but the cool South African was given a lifeline with a birdie on 17 and then raised the roof by draining a 30ft eagle putt for a 3 at the par-5 18th. The left-handed Aussie could only par the home hole.
ERNIE ELS THIRD
World No. 5 Ernie Els of South Africa, the 2005 champion, rallied with a 67 to finish third a further stroke back.
The victory was a relief for Goosen, who decided to work with a swing coach last year after a less than fruitful season with only one victory at the Volkswagen Masters-China on the Asian Tour. "It's a great feeling to have a (big) win under the belt again. It's been a while since I last had a win," said Goosen.
"Nick played obviously great. He didn't drive it as well today as he normally does which was surprising. Obviously I never looked like winning, I thought if I could get it to 14-under I might tie with him, but I hit a great putt on the last.
"Having won this early, I'm now looking forward to the rest of the year," he added.
SOMETHING SPECIAL
With his back against the ropes, Goosen need something special and like all great champions, he pulled off the spectacular. "After 15, I said to Colin (his caddie), we somehow need to get to 15‑under.
"I hit a good three‑wood on (the reachable par-4) 16th and went for it but hit a poor chip shot and a poor putt. But I made two great finishing holes. On 18, I never hit the fairway once all week and finally I hit a good drive and hit a good three‑wood," said Goosen.
O'Hern, the co-overnight leader with Richard Green and Goosen, was expecting at least a play-off in front of record crowds before new champion rolled in the unlikely eagle putt. "Two‑up with two to play, I thought I was in good shape," said O'Hern.
"I didn't hit the ball well at all but just my short game kept the round going, which is what it's all about. I never really gave myself a chance to make birdie at the last. The tee shot missed the fairway by a couple of yards and I just had a horrible lie. If I had a wedge in my hand, I might have had a chance. I wasn't really expecting him to make eagle, but as they say, expect the unexpected. It's pretty frustrating," said O'Hern.
Els started the day four shots back before charging up leaderboard. An outstanding finish of three birdies over his closing four holes came up up short. At the end, missed birdie putts on 14 and 17 were decisive in his first 2007 appearance.
CRAZY GAME
"You know, you can't ever give up. Golf is a crazy game as we know. You might chip it in, you might hole a second shot. Something crazy might happen so you always try to keep your options open and keep trying to give yourself a chance for a birdie or an eagle.
"The 14th hole, I can't believe that putt missed. The front nine I was a little scrappy again. Then the back nine I really played nicely. It was really enjoyable," said Els.
Former tournament winner Paul Lawrie finished joint 11th on nine-under-par 279. The Aberdonian played his best golf over the first two rounds and lost his momentum with rounds of 71 and 72 on Saturday and Sunday.
Lawrie had 17 birdies over his first three rounds but only one in his final circuit - at the 10th. His only other deviation from par in his fourth round was a bogey 6 at the 18th, the only time he failed either to birdie or par the hole.
LEADING TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
Players from South Africa unless stated.
273 - Retief Goosen 65-68-71-69 (282,743 Euros).
274 - Nick O'Hern (Aus) 66-69-69-70 (188,495 Euros).
275 - Ernie Els 69-71-68-67 (106,200 Euros).
276 - Richard Green (Aus) 68-65-71-72, Graeme Mcdowell (NIr) 73-68-68-67, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70-69-71-66 (72,044 Euros each).
277 - Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68-68-70-71, Andres Romero (Arg) 70-71-67-69 (46,653 Euros each).
278 - Liang Wen-Chong (Chi) 69-67-72-70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71-67-72-68 (35,965 Euros each).
279 - Paul Lawrie (Sco) 69-67-71-72, Søren Kjeldsen (Den) 72-69-66-72, Chris DiMarco (US) 73-66-71-69, Oliver Fisher (Eng) 73-68-70-68, David Lynn (Eng) 73-69-71-66 (27,720 Euros each).
280 - Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73-67-67-73, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 68-71-71-70, Paul McGinley (Ire) 71-68-72-69.
281 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66-70-73-72, Ariel Canete (Arg) 69-70-72-70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70-71-73-67.
282 - Edward Michaels (US) 68-69-69-76, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70-69-70-73, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70-68-72-72, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70-71-70-71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69-68-75-70.
Other scores included:
283 Michael Campbell (NZ) 70 70 70 73 (jt 27th).
284 Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 70 72 71 (jt 34th).
285 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69 73 72 71 (jt 37th) (11,027 Euros)
289 Seve Benson (Eng) (am) 72 72 74 71) (jt 58th).

Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, San Diego

TIGER TAKES CLOSER ORDER
WITH ONE ROUND TO GO
Who would bet against Tiger Wood winning the Buick Invitational after the world No 1 shot a third-round 69 to go into the final round in joint fourth place on nine-under-par 207, only two shots behind the joint leaders, Andrew Buckle (Australia) and fellow American Brandt Snedeker?

Leading 54-hole totals at Torrey Pines, San Diego in California are:

205 Andrew Buckle (Aus) 66 71 68, Brandt Snedeker (US) 61 70 74.
206 Kevin Sutherland (US) 65 71 70.
207 Tiger Woods (US) 66 72 69, Troy Matteson (US) 71 67 69, Charles Howell (US) 70 64 73, Bill Haas (US) 69 66 72.

Other scores:
211 Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 68 71 (jt 26th).
214 Justin Rose (Eng) 68 73 73 (jt 50th).

MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT THE NEW SGU
SENIORS TOUR
FOR OVER-50s
By Colin Farquharson
Some snippets of information about the SGU Seniors Order of Merit amateur tour which will be launched in the new season.
Gordon MacDonald (Callander), pictured right, Scottish seniors champion the year before last, told me before he set off for a three-week break in Spain that:
+Each event would be over 36 holes.
+Each field would have a ceiling of 140 players.
+Entry fee for the events under the SGU jurisdiction would be £25.
+Apart from the Scottish seniors championship and British seniors championship which are over 54 holes, each tournament would be held on a Thursday and Friday.
+Players not old enough to play in the Scottish and British seniors championship will be able to play in the 36-hole events on the SGU Seniors Tour .... if they have reached their 50th birthday but there will not be a 50 to 55 years category in the prize lists.
+There will be seven handicap and seven scratch prizes at each event.
+Entries will be accepted from players with handicaps up to and including 12.
+Top voucher prize for the overall winner will have a value of £150.
+The SGU are sending out information packs to all the competitors who took part in last year's Scottish seniors championship.

Scottishgolfview.com hopes to contain regular news from the new SGU Seniors Tour including draws and the scores at the end of each day's play.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

DRYSDALE LOSES GROUND
WITH A 76 IN THIRD
ROUND AT SUN CITY

Scot David Drysdale dropped down to a share of 34th place with a third-round 76 in the Dimension Data pro-am 72-hole event on the South African Tour at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City.
Drysdale had a double bogey at the fifth on his way to an outward half of three-overp-ar 39.
On the way home, he had a birdie at the 11th but boteys at6 the 10th and 18th. David is on two-over-par 218.
Euan Little from Portpatrick had a nightmare inward half of 42 in returning a 78 for joint 62nd place on 224. Euan had a double bogey at the short 13th and was six over par for the last seven holes.
South African Michiel Bothman leads by one shot with a 54-hole tally of nine-under-par 207.
LEADERBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
Players from South Africa unless stated
207 Michiel Bothma 69 68 70.
208 Vaughn Groenewald 67 72 69, Brandon Peters 68 69 71.
209 Mark Murless 68 74 67, James Kamte 71 71 67, Ross McGowan (Eng) 67 72 70, Tyrne Van Aswegen 68 70 71, Louis Oosthuizen 66 71 72.
Other scores:
218 David Drysdale (Sco) 71 71 76.
224 Euan Little (Sco) 71 75 78.

Qatar Masters is up for grabs after Green's double-bogey finish

PAUL LAWRIE NOW
JOINT 6th, THREE
SHOTS OFF LEAD
Paul Lawrie, a previous winner of the tournament, will go into Sunday's final round in joint sixth place, three shots behind the three joint leaders, Retief Goosen (Australia) and Australian left-handers Richard Green and Nick O'Hern, in the Commercialbank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf The title remains on a sword's edge after a double bogey finish by Australian Green, pictured left, brought him back to his challengers.
Searching for his first win in 10 years, Green was cruising on three-under-par for the day at a wind-swept course before an errant drive at the 18th opened the door for playing partners O'Hern and Goosen who tied him on 12-under-par 204 after 54 holes
MID-ROUND SLUMP
Green's 71 was matched by Goosen, who clawed back from a mid-round slump with three brilliant birdies over his last four holes. O'Hern stayed in the hunt for a maiden European Tour title with a 69 that included five birdies.
Asian Tour stalwart Edward Michaels (US) extended his dream run in his first tournament back after a year-long battle with a shoulder injury, charging into tied fourth place with a stunning finish of two birdies and an eagle over his last five holes for a 69.
The American moved into a share of fourth place on 206 with defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who carded a 70 on a tough scoring day.
Green was, understandably, very disappointed with his 7 at the par-5 last hole. "The wind was out of the right and I always struggle when the wind is out of the right there, especially with a driver in my hand. I was trying to not play that shot, and so maybe focused a little bit too hard on not trying to play that shot and played it," he said.

NO LATE BIRDIES FOR LAWRIE

Lawrie bogeyed the third but got to three under par for the round with birdies at the fourth, eighth, ninth and 10th. He slipped up at the 11th and 13th and, unlike his first two rounds, the last five holes did not yield him a single birdie.

THIRD ROUND LEADERS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
204 Retief Goosen (SAf) 65 68 71, Richard Green (Aus) 68 75 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 66 69 69
206 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 68 79, Edward Michaels (US) 68 69 69.
207 Paul Lawrie (Sco) 69 67 71, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73 67 67, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 69 66, Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 69 67 72.
208 Ernie Els (SAfr) 69 71 68, Andres Romero (Arg) 70 71 67, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66 70 73.
209 Alexjandro Canizares (Spa) 70 68 70, Graeme McDowell (NIr) 73 68 68, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70 68 72.
210 Thogchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 67 72, Nick Dougherty (Eng) 68 71 71, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 69 71, Chris DiMarco (US) 73 66 71, Michael Campbell (NZ) 70 70 70, Ariel Canete (Arg) 69 70 72.
211 Paul McGinley (Ire) 71 68 72, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 70 71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 71 70, Oliver Fisher (Eng) 73 68 70.
212 Jeev Milka Singh (Ind) 69 68 75, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 69 68 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67 73 72, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 70 70 72.
Other scores:
213 Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 70 72.
214 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 71 73, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69 73 72, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 75 69 70.
219 Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 70 74 75.

POULTER AND ROSE SURVIVE HALFWAY
CUT IN BUICK INVITATIONAL

Brandt Snedecker, who shot a 61 in the first round, held on to his lead with a 70 in the second round of the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines, San Diego in California.
Snedecker's halfway aggregate of 13-under-par 131 gave him a three-stroke lead over Charles Howell.
Ian Poulter (140) and Justin Rose (141) made the cut. Players with 142 or over were packing their bags for the next stop on the US PGA Tour.
LEADING HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
131 Brandt Snedecker 61 70.
134 Charles Howell 70 64.
135 Bill Haas 69 66, Rich Beem 67 68, Charlie Wi 63 72.
Other scores:
138 Tiger Woods 66 72.
140 Phil Mickelson 74 66, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 68.
141 Vijay Singh (Fiji) 75 66, Justin Rose (Eng) 68 73.
Non-qualifiers included:
143 Brian Davis (Eng) 75 68.
144 John Daly 69 75.

McGHEE BEST OF SCOTS IN

AS US COLLEGE SEASON

RESTARTS IN FLORIDA

Scots Paul McGhee, Andrew Hay and Iain Stoddart finished in eighth, 15th and 23rd place respectively in a field of 34 players for the first event of the second half of the American college circuit.
The tournament – the Royal Winter Invitational at Oakwood Golf Club, Lake Wales in Florida - was restricted to teams from three Florida universities: Johnson & Wales ( Miami), Webber International University (Babson Park) and Warner Southern College at Lake Wales.
Drew Downs (Webber International) won the individual title with rounds of 71, 67 and 74 over the par-72 6,681yd course for a total of one-under-par 212.
He won by five shots from Bill Maguire (Johnson & Wales) with 71, 75 and 71.
East Renfrewshire GC member Paul McGhee (Johnson & Wales) shared eighth place on 227 with scores of 74, 75 and 78.
Andrew Hay (Webber International), pictured above, from Westhill, Aberdeen, a winner in his last tournament of the first half of the college season, put together disappointing rounds of 80, 79 and 77 for 236.
Iain Stoddart (Webber International) from Uphall, West Lothian came 23rd with scores of 85, 80 and 79 for 244.
Johnson & Wales won the team event with a total of 894. Webber International (906) were second and Warner Southern College (998) third.

DRYSDALE FIVE OFF THE
PACE IN SOUTH AFRICA


Four South African players shared the lead on seven-under-par 137 at the second of the second round of the Dimension Data pro-am tournament at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City.
Scotland's David Drysdale is five shots off the pace on 142 after a pair of 71s.
A total of 70 players with 36-hole totals of 147 or better qualified for the final two rounds.

LEADING SCORES
Players from South Africa unless stated
PAR 144 (2 X 72)
137 Louis Oosthuizen 66 71, Michiel Bothma 69 68, Brandon Pieters 68 69, James Kingston 69 68.
138 Tyrone van Aswegen 68 70.
139 Ross McGowan (Eng) 67 72, Bradford Vaughan 67 72, Vaughn Groenewald 67 72, Alex Haindl 70 69, C Davidson 68 71.
Other scores:
141 Jeff Inglis (Eng) 68 73.
142 David Drysdale (Sco) 71 71.
143 Justin Walters (Eng) 73 70.
146 Euan Little (Sco) 71 75.
147 Gary Lockerbie (Eng) 74 73.
DID NOT QUALIFY
149 Alan McLean (Sco) 74 75.

Curtain rings down on Florida's Orange Blossom Tour

SUSAN AND
ANGEL ARE
HOLLYWOOD
STARS WITH
FINAL WIN
Leading qualifiers Susan Choi (Natick, Massachusetts) and Angel Sze (San Marino, California) stayed at the top of the board all week as they won the 61st Women's International Four-ball championship at Orangebrook Golf & Country Club, Hollywood, Florida.
In the final they beat Mary Hanyak and Marianne Springer, conquerors of the title-holders in the semi-finals, but the "underdogs" from Wellington, Florida took the title favourites all the way to the 18th green before admitting defeat in what was the last event on the Orange Blossom Tour.
Both partnerships had a couple of birdies each and there was never more than a hole in it after the seventh.
Choi and Sze took a one-hole lead to the 18th tee after Angel holed a 5ft birdie putt at the 17th.
Needing "only" a par 5 at the 18th to clinch victory, Susan hit her second shot in the water. But she knocked her fourth to within 8ft of the flagstick and drained the eight-footer to win the title for her and her partner.
FINAL
Susan Choi and Angel Sze bt Mary Hanyak and Marianne Springer 1 hole.

*Scottishgolfview thanks Brian Gilchrist, director of golf at Orangebrook G&CC, for his daily news service and yet another picture above - "We won! We won!" Susan Choi and Angel Sze cannot contain their joy and excitement when the final putt drops at the 18th.

HERE’S A LITTLE TRICK
TO CALM YOUR NERVES
ON THE FIRST TEE

Don’t ever think you are the only person who gets nervous on the first tee, even if it’s only a club event with partners you know.
You will probably never have heard of Eddie Merrins, a veteran United States teaching professional, who played on the US Tour in his younger days.
But he has some words of comfort and advice:
“First-tee jitters are a real problem for people. Always have been, always will be. The best way to calm yourself a little--I say a little, because a little nervousness can work to your advantage--is to toss your golf ball a few inches in the air and catch it while you wait.
“Do it over and over again. It's an amazing little trick, a form of hypnosis, really. Hypnosis is nothing but deep relaxation, and tossing the ball has a hypnotic, calming effect.
“Just the fact that you're able to catch the ball will give you enough subliminal confidence to get the ball down the fairway when it's your turn to play.”

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Manager Neil Hobday says local golfers will not be forgotten

N.E. PUBLIC WILL BE
ABLE TO PLAY
DONALD TRUMP LINKS
AT CHEAPER RATE

ANOTHER EXCLUSIVE By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Where will the Donald Trump International Links, when it comes into play in 2009, slot into the golfing spectrum?
Will it have the members-and-guests-only exclusivity of say Loch Lomond Golf Club?
Or will it take a leaf out of the Kingsbarns book with an availability to anyone who is prepared to pay a visitor’s green fee of well over £100 a round?
That’s the question I put to Neil Hobday, the project manager of the multi-million pounds project on the Menie House Estate at Balmedie, 12 miles north of Aberdeen.
“You’ve hit the two business models absolutely on the head that we are going to be combining. We are going to combine private with public.
We have the space. We will have two courses with facilities. We will have a five-star hotel and a clubhouse. We have a mansion house (Menie House), pictured above, which is going to be the private members’ clubhouse,” said Neil.
“So, we can the Loch Lomond-style membership and they will have all those privileges and playing rights, staying in the luxury of a five-star mansion.
“Then there is Kingsbarns Links model, which is at the high-end of the pay-and-play market. So, yes, the public will be able to play over our courses.”
GOLF TOURISTS
And, like Kingsbarns, Hobday anticipates that the Donald Trump Internationals Links will attract a lot of golf tourists from North America, from Scandinavia, from Japan and so on.
But, whereas Kingsbarns has to advise potential visitors to book accommodation in St Andrews or elsewhere in Fife, the Donald Trump complex on the Menie Estate will have its own five-star hotel, less than the distance of a par-3 hole away from the first tee/starter’s office.
The next important question I put to Neil, on behalf of the thousands of golfers who live in the North-east, was: “Will local golfers be able to play the courses fairly regularly at a reduced green fee?”
Hobday did not have to think twice about his answer.
“Mr Trump is very clear about this. The answer is an emphatic ‘Yes.’
There will be a ‘local’ rate. He understands that the North-east is a huge golfing region and that people from here will want to play the courses – and so they shall, paying whatever the local green fee is going to be,” said Neil..
“We’re in the North-east golfers’ backyard. We’re their neighbours so we really do want to welcome them. That would be the big difference between us and Loch Lomond. But we also want golfers from anywhere in Scotland to come here and I’m sure they will once the word gets around that the Donald Trump International Links is a world-class links.
Neil Hobday had already explained to me that the five-star hotel on site would derive a lot of business from golf tourists. But wasn’t a multi-storey hotel with the best part of 500 bedrooms just a little bit over the top?
MAJOR DEVELOPMENT
“Colin, you’ve got to try to understand the size of this project. This is going to be a major development. Never mind on a Scottish scale, this will be the most significant mixed-use resort anywhere in Europe!” he said.
On the 1,400acre estate, planning permission is being sought for:
+Two championship links courses designed by Tom Fazio II.
+A golf driving range and short-game practice area.
+A state of the art golf academy.
+A luxurious clubhouse with sea views.
+A 450-room five-star resort hotel with conference and banquet facilities.
+A full service spa.
+A turf grass research centre.
+Tennis courts and recreational facilities.
+36 Luxury golf lodges, some with four bedrooms, the others with eight bedrooms.
+950 Holiday homes with sea views.
In a complex of these dimensions, the hotel will be the hub and Neil Hobday stresses that it will certainly not be a private, golfers-only hotel.
“The hotel will be there for the North-east public and business community to use. You know, there’s no big, five-star resort in the North-east of Scotland. Let’s keep the money in this part of the country that big businesses, big oil companies in Aberdeen spend on taking guests and clients to other resorts in Scotland. They can spend it right here.
SPECIAL FUNCTIONS
“People will be able to have their weddings, 21st birthday parties, special functions, etc at this hotel … they can have their conferences here … exhibitions … big fashion shows … pop concerts. The list is endless. They can all happen here, even though as I’ve said golf will be the bottom line here.
“There will be a golf academy, where people can come to learn the game. We’ll have some sort of golf scholarship programme. People will come here to learn not only how to play the game, but also to be a golf pro, to teach the game, and also to be a caddie or a greenkeeper.
“Moving away from the golf side, I can see young people coming here to learn how to be a chef, and other professions that need specialist training.”
But does the future of the Donald Trump Internationals Links project stand or fall by getting planning permission for every nut and bolt of the developers’ plan?
“Absolutely not. I think we are realistic enough to have applied for what we think we would like to have on the property but we will scale everything according to what we get out of the planning,” said Hobday.
“The response we’ve had from the North-east business community, the public and our neighbours has been so encouraging that we have very good vibes about this project.
“Mr Trump is a very shrewd individual. He does not go into things unless he feels there’s a strong sense of certainty that they are going to work out.
We feel comfortable and confident that we will be building the best links golf course in the world on this property.”

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SQUARE DRIVERS: THE
(COSTLY) SHAPE OF
THINGS TO COME

By CAL CARSON

Why, after all these years, are we suddenly being asked to buy SQUARE-headed drivers - and other shapes, it should be added, that depart from the traditional?
They have all been on display this week at the 54th US PGA Merchandise Show at Orange County Convention Centre in Orlando, Florida.
This trade show – and it is not open to the public – gives the manufacturers an opportunity to preview all their new clubs, new balls, new shoes, in fact everynew golf-related product you can think of ,for the new season.
What’s on display at the Convention Centre is so huge and so varied that it is practically impossible to visit every stand over the three days.
But, back to the original question. Why change the shape in things that are coming?
Well, it’s one way – perhaps the only way – round the United States Golf Association & R&A limits on the dimensions and spring-like effect off the face of the driver. Since the twin powers-that-be introduced the magic words – moment of inertia – the backroom boys employed by golf equipment manufacturers have been burning the midnight oil to come up with new, innovative ways of increasing the maximum performance possibility of a driving club.
Nike Golf’s head of club research and development, Tom Stites, explained it better than I can as he took the wraps off two new Nike drivers, one of them with a square head.:
“If we change the geometry of the club, we can change the inertial properties and the way we drive the ball,” said Tom Stites, Nike Golf’s head of club research and development.”
So what is this “moment of inertia?” Think of it as being equivalent to the stability of a club, i.e. its resistance to twisting. The higher the Moment of Inertia, the more stable a club should be.
Using a mathematical formula that determines MOI, the USGA and R&A have set 5,900 as the limit for golf clubs.
“A few years ago, the MOI of drivers was about 4,000,” said Stites. “With our SasQuatch driver (which will be phased out), we reached 4,700. Our new Sumo driver is 4,900 and our Sumo2 is in the 5,300 range.”
The SQ Sumo is shaped like a traditional driver head, more or less, but the SQ Sumo2 is square, no doubt about it. .
One of the three new drivers revealed by Callaway at the Convention Centre was also square in shape. It’s called FT-I, which is short for Fusion Technology Inertia.
It has to be said that not all the backroom boffins are certain that square is the way to go.
So while Nike and Callaway are convinced and will start mass production very soon, companies such as MacGregor, TaylorMade, Adams and Nicklaus have come up with new but traditionally-shaped drivers that will be into the 5,000 MOI range.
Cleveland, Cobra and Titleist did not reveal their hand at the Trade Show but, take my word for it, they’ll be coming up with something for the 2007 season. To stand still is to go backwards in the world of golf equipment.
TaylorMade’s top brass maintain, in their opinion, that the negatives of a square driver outweigh the positives.
One thing is certain – the new drivers, whatever their shape, will not be cheap in your club pro’s shop, or wherever you buy them.
I leave you to do the dollar to £ conversion but the suggested retail price for the Sumo is $359.99 and the Sumo2 will come in at $479.99.
The FT-i driver will set you back the sterling equivalent of $625.
Suggested retail price for the TaylorMade Superquad, which won’t hit the pro shops in the States until March 1, is $499. A TP (Tour Preferred) will come on stream on April 1 with a price tag of $699.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Goosen and left-hander Green share halfway lead

PAUL LAWRIE JT 4TH
ON EIGHT-UNDER 136,
THREE OFF PACE

Richard Green celebrated Australia Day in grand style today, shooting a brilliant seven-under-par 65 for the joint halfway lead with Retief Goosen at the Commercialbank Qatar Masters.
The left-handed Green produced the fireworks at the Doha Golf Club with seven birdies and remained as the only bogey-free player in the elite field in the US$2.2 million event jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour.
Tied atop the leaderboard is South Africa's Goosen, who carded a 68, and the duo are 11-under-par 133 and two shots clear of another Australian leftie, Nick O'Hern, who carded a 69.
China's Liang Wen-chong flew the Asian flag with a blemish-free 67 for a share of fourth place, three off the lead, with defending champion Henrik Stenson (68), Miguel Angel Jimenez (70) and 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie (67) who won the Qatar Masters in 1999.
Asian Tour No 1 Jeev Milkha Singh of India, Thai teenager Chinarat Phadungsil and American Edward Michaels continued to impress to lie in tied eighth place on 137.
AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL DAY
Green, whose lone European Tour victory came at the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic, was rock steady as he marked Australia's national day with an accomplished performance. "It is a day worth celebrating so it is a nice score to celebrate the day. I played nicely yesterday and today," said the 35-year-old.
With six runner-up finishes to his name, Green is eager to add a second European title to his resume. "It would be fantastic. I play well over here and always play well at this time of the year so I like to make the most of it.
"I played very nicely the first two days. It has been quite a pleasure being out there playing golf. I have hit some really nice shots and never looked like making a bogey. It has been nice," said Green.
WHAT'S VEGEMITE?
His only disappointment was his failure to find any vegemite on toast for breakfast, a staple diet amongst Australians. "I couldn’t find any. It would have been nice to have found something but the closest I could come up with was baked beans," he said.
World No 8 Goosen, the overnight leader, lipped out a par putt on his 14th hole of the day at the fifth to fall into a share of the lead. But the smooth-swinging South African was delighted with his driving display after finding only half the fairways in the opening round on Thursday.
"Much better driving today. I hit 11 fairways which was not bad. Just didn’t do it on the front nine, which was my back nine. Couldn’t get it going there," said the two-time US Open champion.
"I'm still struggling on the par-5s but I have given myself some birdie chances. There are
36 holes left and a lot can happen," he said.
Paul Lawrie birdied the fifth and long ninth to be out in two-under-par 34 and went three under the card with a birdie at the short 13th. The Aberdonian dropped his first shot at the 14th but finished strongly with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 18th for a 67.
The only other Scot to qualify was Andrew Coltart who won this title the year before Paul did. Andrew has had rounds of 72 and 70 to qualify safely with 142.
Par 144 was good enough to qualify for the final two rounds; one-over-par 145 was not.
PAUL CASEY NON-QUALIFIER
Shock non-qualifier was last week's impressive winner in Dubai - Ryder Cup ace Paul Casey. He had five bogeys and four birdies for a 73 and 145.
Barry Hume from Glasgow missed the boat on 145 also with a second-round 75 which had a terrible run from holes three to 15 inclusive. Barry, after birdieing the first, dropped shots at the third, 10th, 11th, 13th and 15th. A birdie at the short 17th was too little, too late.
Other Scots who failed were Scott Drummond (146), Marc Warren (147) and Simon Yates (148). Another Ryder Cup hero who will not be playing in the last two rounds is Darren Clarke. He was way off the mark with a total of seven-over-par 151.
HALFWAY LEADERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 Retief Goosen (SAf) 65-68, Richard Green (Aus) 68-65.
135 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 66-69.
136 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66-70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68-68, Paul Lawrie (Sco) 69-67, Liang Wen-chong (Chi) 69-67.
137 Edward Michaels (US) 68-69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69-68, Chinarat Phadungsi (Tha) 69-68.
138 Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 70-68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71-67.
139 Nick Dougherty (Eng) 68-71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69-70, Ariel Canete (Arg) 69-70, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70-69, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70-69, Paul McGinley (Ire) 71-68, Chris Dimarco (US) 73-66.
140 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 67-73, Ernie Els (SAf) 69-71, Michael Campbell (NZ) 70-70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70-70, Chris Rodgers (Eng) 70-70, Paul Broadhurst (Eng) 71-69, Stephen Dodd (Wal) 72-68, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 73-67, Johan Edfors (Swe) 73-67.
141 Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70-71, Andres Romero (Arg) 70-71, Scott Strange (Aus) 70-71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70-71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70-71, Simon Hurd (Eng) 71-70, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71-70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71-70, Anton Haig (SAf) 71-70, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71-70, Søren Kjeldsen (Den) 72-69, Gary Simpson (Aus) 72-69, Graeme McDowell (NIr) 73-68, Oliver Fisher (Eng) 73-68.
Other qualifiers:
142 Andrew Coltart (Sco) 72 70.
144 Kenneth Ferrie (Eng) 70 74, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 75 69.
NON-QUALIFIERS
145 Paul Casey (Eng) 72 73, Barry Hume (Sco) 70 75.
146 Scott Drummond (Sco) 71 75.
147 Marc Warren (Sco) 72 75.
148 Simon Yates (Sco) 74 74.
151 Darren Clarke (NIr) 75 76.

KRYSTLE CAITHNESS HAS

GEORGIA ON HER MIND:

OFF TO STATES IN

AUGUST FOR 4 YEARS

From COLIN FARQUHARSON

Under-21 girls champion Krystle Caithness, arguably the best home-based Scottish female golf prospect, has made a verbal commitment to join Georgia University in August for four years.
The 18-year-old from Cellar Dyke, Fife, meantime at the Desert Springs Golf Resort in Spain for warm-weather training with the Ladies Golf Union Elite Squad, made the decision after a seven-day tour of three American colleges – Georgia, Texas A&M and Ohio State Universities.
“Krystle and I had a great time in the States, meeting so many wonderful people at the three universities,” said her dad Jim who also made the trip.
“She had such a hard and agonising decision to make before opting for Georgia.
“Lorne Kelly and the team at ProDream USA have done a great job for Krystle. They have looked after her every step of the way and continue to do so. They could not have been more helpful. I am glad we signed up for ProDream once Krystle decided that her future as a golfer lay in America.”
Lorne Kelly is a former Walker Cup team member who played on the American college circuit. He founded ProDream USA to help talented young golfers in Britain realise their American dreams.
“We secured three official visits for Krystle and her family to look at three of America’s top golf colleges, all offering her full scholarships,” said Lorne.
“The fact that Krystle is such an exceptional talent made it an exciting job for me but ultimately my role was to ensure she made the correct decision.
“The track record and professionalism of coach Todd McCorkle at the University of Georgia proved to be the deciding factor.
“I firmly believe that Krystle will have a massive impact on US women’s college golf. She is a special ‘packaged’ player already at 18 years of age and has played herself into Curtis Cup reckoning.
“In my opinion, so long as she maintains her work ethic and desire to succeed, she could very well be the next Scottish player to penetrate the LPGA Tour in the States upon graduation.”
“We at ProDream expect big things of Krystle Caithness – and so too does the University of Georgia.”
Georgia University is currently No 1 in the US women’s college team rankings and they have two players in the top 10 individual rankings but one of them will graduate in May-June and coach McCorkle will see Krystle as a ready-made replacement in the Georgia squad of five.
The campus and golf facilities are at Athens, Georgia, about 70 miles from the city of Atlanta.
Krystle is in contention for a place in the Great Britain team of five for the Commonwealth team tournament in South Africa from May 7 to 11 and the GB&I team of nine for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Fairmont St Andrews Bay on July 27 and 28.
She was second reserve for the GB&I team of eight for the past summer’s Curtis Cup match at Bandon Dunes, Oregon.
For her the highlight of 2006 was winning the prestigious St Rule Trophy over 54 holes from a high-class field over her home courses at St Andrews last year, even ahead of winning the Scottish Under-21 girls title at Stirling by 11 strokes with a 20-under-par total of 202, which include a course-record round of 64.
+There are already nine Scottish girl golfers at colleges in America – Gemma Webster (Ohio State), Louise Fleming (Jacksonville State, Alabama), Ashton Ingram (Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina), Katy McNicoll (Lynn University, Florida), Kelly Brotherton (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Kate O’Sullivan (High Point, North Carolina), and Carly Booth and Sally Watson, both students at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida. Scottish Under-18 girls champion Roseanne Niven from Crieff enrolled at the University of California Berkeley earlier this month on a four-year golf scholarship and Sally Watson’s older sister Rebecca will start at the University of Tennessee next August.

MUIRFIELD HEADS LIST
OF NEW VENUES ON
2007 EURO SENIORS
TOUR SCHEDULE

A first visit to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers' course (clubhouse pictured above) at Muirfield, Gullane and new events in France and Turkey are three of the highlights of the 2007 European Seniors Tour schedule released today.
Sam Torrance will commence his bid to complete a hat-trick of Order of Merit triumphs when the season gets underway with the DGM Barbados Open at the spectacular Royal Westmoreland from February 28-March 2, before the Seniors Tour makes its first visit to Turkey since 2001 for the Gloria Turkish Seniors Open at Gloria Golf Resort, Belek, from May 11-13.
The biggest tournament of the year will undoubtedly be the British Senior Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management, at Muirfield from July 26-29 with former US Ryder Cup player Loren Roberts as defending champion.
Meanwhile, another of the Senior Majors, the US Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort is to count toward the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit for the first time in 2007.
Other venues making their debuts on this year’s schedule are the Christy O’Connor jun-designed PGA National Ireland course at Palmerstown House, Co. Kildare, Ireland, the Conwy Golf Club in Caernarvonshire, the first Welsh course to host Open Championship qualifying, and Golf du Domaine de Divonne in the Geneva region of France.
Palmerstown House will host the AIB Irish Seniors Open, in association with Greenstar and Fáilte Ireland from June 1-3, while a fortnight later Conwy stages the Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open before it’s the turn of the Open de France Senior de Divonne at Golf du Domaine de Divonne from July 12-14.
In total, the schedule features 17 counting tournaments with several more expected to be announced in the coming months. The season will conclude in traditional fashion with the elite field Seniors Tour Championship in November.


2007 European Seniors Tour Schedule

Feb 28 – Mar 02 (Fri)
DGM Barbados Open - Royal Westmoreland, Barbados
May 11 – 13
Gloria Turkish Seniors Open - Gloria Golf Resort, Turkey
May 18 – 20
Sharp Italian Seniors Open - Circolo Golf Venezia, Italy
May 24 – 27
US Senior PGA Championship - Kiawah Island Resort.
June 01 – 03
AIB Irish Seniors Open in association with Greenstar & Fáilte Ireland - PGA National, Palmerstown House, Ireland
June 08 – 10
Jersey Seniors Classic - La Moye GC, Jersey
June 15 – 17
Ryder Cup Wales Seniors Open - Conwy (Caernarvonshire) GC, Wales
June 22 – 24
London Seniors Masters - The London GC.
June 29 – July 01
TBC
July 05 – 08
US Senior Open*- Whistling Straits, USA
July 12 – 14 (Sat)
Open de France Senior Divonne - Golf du Domaine de Divonne, France
July 26 – 29
British Senior Open Championship, presented by Aberdeen Asset Management - Muirfield, East Lothian.
Aug 03 – 05
Wentworth Senior Masters - Edinburgh Course, Wentworth Club.
Aug 10 – 12
Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open - Golf Club Bad Ragaz, Switzerland
Aug 17 – 19
TBC
Aug 31 – Sept 02
European Senior Masters - Duke’s Course, Woburn GC.
Sept 7 – 9
TBC
Sept 20 – 22 (Sat)
Scandinavian Seniors Open - Royal Copenhagen GC, Denmark
Sept 28 – 30
Charles Church Scottish Seniors Open - Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel & CC,
Oct 19 – 21
OKI Castellón Open de España Senior - Club de Campo del Mediterráneo, Spain
Nov 08 – 10 (Sat)
Seniors Tour Championship - TBC

* Event does not count towards the 2007 European Seniors Tour Order of Merit

EDINBURGH & EAST OF SCOTLAND
ALLIANCE ORDER OF MERIT

Leading positions in the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance Order of Merit after Wednesday’s competition – the ninth of the season - at Gullane 3:
Amateurs unless stated (Abbreviations: p, professional; t, trainee professional):

SCRATCH
441.50 Neil Colquhoun p.
430.00 Andrew Dunsmore p.
428.50 Scott Grieve t.
386.50 Ross Harrower p.
376.50 Craig Imlah p.
373.00 Stevie Lamb p.
370.00 Ally MacKenzie t.
367.00 Mike Thomson.
336.50 Colin Fraser.
334.50 Andrew Marshall p.
329.00 Andrew Oldcorn p.
322.50 Steven Doyle.
310.00 Andrew Wight.
309.50 Adam Strang p.
270.00 Scott Walker.
263.00 Thomas Wilson.
262.00 Chris Morris p.
261.10 Alistair Anderson.
249.50 Tom Buchanan t.
243.50 Norman Forsyth.
239.00 Graeme D Johnston.
238.00 George Wither.
226.50 Derek Fish, John Kerr, Leslie Owen p.
22.50 Andrew Rothney.
211.50 Richard Johnston.
190.50 Alexander Culverwell.
186.00 Alastair McLean p.
184.50 Ross Neill t.
182.00 Callum Smith p.
179.50 Harry Cartmill, Mark Chaplin.
179.00 William Laing.
178.50 Ross Noon.
172.50 Derek P Miller.
169.00 Kenneth Glen t.

HANDICAP
127.75 Steven Doyle.
100.00 Thomas Flaherty.
91.00 Scott Walker.
84.00 Andrew Wight.
78.30 Graeme D Johnston.
73.80 John Kerr.
71.30 William Laing.
67.65 Harry Cartmill.
67.50 Walter Forsyth.
63.40 Robert Clapperton.
63.00 Andrew McLennan.
62.50 Ronald Grant.
61.30 Alistair Anderson,.
55.95 Colin Fraser.
53.50 Douglas Ferguson.
53.00 Brian Smith, Thomas Wilson.
52.90 Scott Watson.
50.00 Norman Forsyth.
49.00 Andrew Rothney.
44.75 Douglas Hume.
44.00 Peter Sewell.
43.50 James Laurieston.
42.00 William Marr, Wilson Morton.
41.30 Graham Grieve.
39.20 Ian A Fraser.
38.40 M David Graham.
35.50 James Aitken.
35.30 George Wither.
34.50 David Meldrum.
34.25 Stuart Wardlaw.
33.50 Alan Devlin.

LEE RHIND JT 12th FINISH
ON TIGHT LIES TOUR

Uphall tour pro Lee Rhind finished joint 12th in the rain-abbreviated River Plantation Open - the latest event on the Tight Lies Tour winter schedule - at River Plantation Country Club, Conroe in the Greater Houston area of Texas today.
The second round was washed out and the event reduced from 54 holes to 36.
Rhind had rounds of 73 and 72 for a one-over-par total of 145. In his second round, the former Scottish boys' open amateur stroke-play champion (at Downfield GC), birdied the seventh, 10th and 12th but had bogeys at the first, eighth and 14th.
The "killer" for Lee was a triple bogey 7 at the 14th in his first round.
Rhind collected a pay-out of $795 which is not as big a profit as it might seem. Tour members have to pay $600 dollars entry money per event. We are presuming Lee is a member because he won on the Texas Tight Lies Tour - and the PGA EuroPro Tour - last year. Non-members pay $725 per event, which suggests that that the winter schedule is more or less financed by entry monies.
The winner was Chad Ginn with scores of 68 and 70 for six-under 138. He collected $4,970. Joint runners-up on 139 were fellow-Americans Jay Reynolds (72-67) and Michael Mezel (69-70). They won $2,606 each.

TOP SEEDS v. GIANT-KILLERS
IN FOUR-BALL
FLORIDA FINAL

Friday's 18-hole final of the 61st Women's International Amateur Four-Ball championship at Orangebrook Golf & Country Club, Hollywood in Florida - the last event on this year's Orange Blssom Tour - will feature the top seeds, Susan Choi (Natick, Massachusetts) and Angel Sze (San Marino, California) against a pair of giant-killers, Mariane Springer and Mary Hanyak, both from Wellington, Florida.
In tough playing conditions, Susan (pictured driving at the first) and Angel (on the right, awaiting her turn) beat two Hall of Famers, Marlene Streit (Ontario, Canada) and US Curtis Cup captain and many times team member, Carol Semple Thomson from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, by 4 and 3 in the first semi-final today.
In the second semi-final, Mariane Springer and Mary Hanyak claimed the notable scalps of the defending champions, Diane Lang (Weston, Florida), a past US senior women's champion, and Monica Von Glahn (North Palm Beach, Florida), by one hole.
Mariane birdied the last to give the underdogs a place in the final of the better-ball tournament.
+Many thanks to Brian Gilchrist, Director of Golf at Orangebrook G&CC, for the information and the picture.

RETIEF GOOSEN LEADS
QATAR MASTERS BY
ONE WITH A 65

South African Retief Goosen led the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters by one shot after the first round at Doha Golf Club.
Goosen, pictured right, shot a seven-under-par 65 for the narrowest of leads from Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenex and Australian Nick O'Hern.
Paul Lawrie and Andrew Coltart are the leading Scots, both on 69.

FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD

(Players from Great Britain & Ireland unless stated);
Scots in blue print)
PAR 72

65 Retief Goosen (SAf).

66 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Nick O'Hern (Aus).

67 Shiv Kapur (Ind).

68 Edward Michaels (USA), Nick Dougherty, Richard Green (Aus), Henrik Stenson (Swe).

69 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Yasin Ali, Andrew Coltart, Mardan Mamat (Sin), Ernie Els (Rsa), Paul Lawrie, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Jong Yul Suk (Kor), Ariel Canete (Arg), Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha).

70 Mahal Pearce (Nzl), Kenneth Ferrie, Robert Karlsson (Swe), Peter Hanson (Swe), Juvic Pagunsan (Phi), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Stuart Appleby (Aus), Michael Campbell (NZ), Phillip Price, Scott Strange (Aus), Barry Hume, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Chris Rodgers, Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Kane Webber (USA), Andres Romero (Arg), David Bransdon (Aus), Emanuele Canonica (Ita).

71 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Prom Meesawat (Tha), Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Bradley Dredge, Anton Haig (Rsa), Steve Webster, Scott Drummond, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Paul Broadhurst, Thammanoon Srirot (Tha), Marcus Both (Aus), Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Lee Westwood, Paul McGinley, Simon Hurd, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind).

72 Rick Gibson (Can), Rahil Gangjee (Ind), Gary Rusnak (US), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Soren Hansen (Den), Edward Loar (US), Anthony Kang (US), Anthony Wall, Marc Warren, Stephen Dodd, Chapchai Nirat (Tha), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind), Simon Khan, Seve Benson, Paul Casey, Tony Carolan (Aus), Gary Simpson (Aus), Keith Horne (Rsa), Phillip Archer.

73 Wei Chih Lu (Tha), Christopher Hanell (Swe), Unho Park (Aus), John Bickerton, Oliver Fisher, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Johan Edfors (Swe), Niclas Fasth (Swe), Graeme McDowell, Chris DiMarco (US), Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha), David Lynn, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Jason Knutzon (US), Rolf Muntz (Ned), Angelo Que (Phi), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Peter O'Malley (Aus).

74 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Clay Devers (US), Simon Yates, Adam Groom (Aus), Amandeep Johl (Ind), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Danny Chia (Myn), Brad Kennedy (Aus), Adam Blyth (Aus).

75 Frankie Minoza (Phi), Joakim Haeggman (Swe), Jean Van de Velde (Fra), Simon Dyson, Darren Clarke, Lee Sung (Kor), Scott Barr (Aus), Markus Brier (Aut).

76 Jun-Won Park (Kor), Adam Le Vesconte (Aus), Graham Spring.

77 Bryan Saltus (US), Gaurav Ghei (Ind), Alexander Noren (Swe).

79 Richard Lee (Nzl), Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra).

80 Iain Steel (Myn).

SOUTH AFRICAN TOUR SCORES

Leading first-round scores in the South African Sunshine Tour Dimension Data pro-am at the Gary Player Country Club's Lost City Course, Sun City were:
Par 72 (Players from South Africa unless stated):

67 Chris Williams, Sammy Daniels.
68 Chris Davison, Bradley Davison.
69 James Kingston, Doug McGuigan (Sco), Charl Schwartzel.
70 Grant Veenstra, Nic Henning, Gerlou Roux.
71 Grant Muller, David Drysdale (Sco), Michael du Toit, Jaco Ahlers, Ryan Tipping.
Other scores:
74 Gary Lockerbie (Eng), Alan McLean (Sco), Malcolm MacKenzie (Eng).

R&A TO ALLOW WOMEN’S

BRITISH OPEN COMPETITORS

TO USE CLUBHOUSE

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club – which has an all-male membership – is to open the doors of its famous clubhouse at the Old Course to the competitors in the Weetabix Women’s British Open over the Old Course in August.

The ladies, expected to include Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenstam and all the other world's top female tour professionals, will be given full use of the entire building, including the Big Room and the locker rooms.

The Ladies Golf Union, which runs the Women’s British Open, has come out against any future events under its auspices being held at a club which debars female membership.

But the all the St Andrews courses are municipal venues, owned and run by the St Andrews Links Trust.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club does not own the Old Course although it has its clubhouse beside the 18th green and behind the first tee.

As Lesley Burn, pictured above by courtesy of Tom Ward, appointed chief executive of the LGU last year, explained: “If we had stuck to our principles, then we wouldn’t go there. But this is St Andrews and the opportunity to use such an iconic building and to work with the R&A is’nt something we should snub.

“If the R&A are prepared to welcome us, I, for one, am not going to turn down their offer. It’s an opportunity to cement our relationship with the R&A.

“Having the championship at the Old Course is a wonderful opportunity. It is a huge chance to the women’s game to raise its profile.”
Susan Simpson, Carnoustie-born LGU Director of Championships, said:

"This will be the first time most of the players will have played the Old Course and we are determined to do things properly.”

2007 PGA EuroPro Tour Schedule:
First 12 tournaments announced

THE PGA EuroPro Tour can confirm the first 12 tournaments for the 2007 season.
The PGA EuroPro Tour will return to action in April with the two-stage Sky Sports Qualifying School, giving ambitious young players the chance to win a Tour Card.
For the third successive year, Norfolk's Wensum Valley will host the opening tournament of the season, which will take place from 1-3 May.
A further 11 tournaments have now been confirmed, with more events to be added shortly.
The PGA EuroPro Tour season will once again finish with the Tour Championship, which will see the top 50 players in the Order of Merit competing.
Alongside Wensum Valley, the PGA EuroPro Tour will continue their established partnerships with Collingtree Park, Players Club, Maylands, Stoke-by-Nayland, Whittlebury Park and Ufford Park.
Following the staging of successful tournaments in 2006, the PGA EuroPro Tour will return to Bovey Castle and Stonebridge GC.
Waterford's Faithlegg GC will host the first ever PGA EuroPro Tour event in Ireland in May, with Surrey's Selsdon Park and De Vere Oulton Hall in Leeds also staging tournaments for the first time.
"This is shaping up to be an exciting year," said PGA EuroPro Tour Managaing Director Eddie Hearn.
"We have already seen record interest for the Sky Sports Qualifying School from players looking to follow in the footsteps of the stars of 2006 such as Matt Richardson and Kevin Harper.
"The success of so many rookies last year has given a greater incentive to the young professionals looking to make the breakthrough.
"Looking at the calendar, there will be many varying challenges for the players throughout the year at the different courses, some which they will know and others that they have not been used to as yet.
"We would like to pay tribute to all of the courses for the support that they are showing to developing the future stars of golf, and also our partners at Sky Sports who will be screening more coverage than ever before of the PGA EuroPro Tour."

The current PGA EuroPro Tour schedule is:

Qualifying School:
Stage One - 11-12 April - Beau Desert GC, Stoke-by-Nayland GC, Fulford GC, The Bedford GC.
Stage Two - 17-19 April; Frilford Heath GC
Wensum Valley GC - 1-3 May
Faithlegg GC - 16-18 May
Collingtree Park GC - 30 May-1 June
Bovey Castle - 20-22 June
Selsdon Park GC - 26-28 June
The Players Club - 17-19 July
Maylands GC - 1-3 August
De Vere Oulton Hall GC - 8-10 August
Stoke-by-Nayland GC - 14-16 August
Whittlebury Park GC - 22-24 August
Ufford Park GC - 29-31 August
Stonebridge GC - 5-7 September
Tour Championship - Date and Venue TBC

+++The PGA EuroPro Tour are delighted to announce that they have signed a three-year contract extension with BSkyB which will see coverage of events on Sky Sports continued until at least the end of 2010. Sky Sports currently screen highlights of every PGA EuroPro Tour event, with the existing contract running until the end of 2007. However, Sky Sports have furthered their commitment to the world's leading developmental tour with a three-year extension to their contract and an increase in the coverage to two hours per programme.

SGU SENIORS ORDER

OF MERIT EVENTS

(for over-50s) TO TEE

OFF IN NEW SEASON

Following last season’s success at the inaugural European Team Championships and the maiden home international victory at Dunbar, Scotland’s senior golfers have received a welcome boost to their game with the launch of a new SGU Seniors Order of Merit.
Four new championships - for men aged 50 and over - will complement the current Scottish and British Seniors Open amateur stroke-play events, and will be run by the newly established Scottish Seniors Golfing Society, in collaboration with the SGU who will administer the Order of Merit points system. The extension of the championship schedule will not only reap benefits for senior golfers who wish to increase their participation in competitions, it will also enable selectors more opportunity to view competitors and gain greater player knowledge in order to select potential recruits to the senior national squad.
The inaugural 36-hole stroke-play events will each take place over two days at four different venues in the North, East, West and Central Scotland and will conclude with a Seniors Order of Merit Finals day. The field of finalists will consist of the top 30 players who have accumulated the most points over the six events.
Scotland’s Seniors team captain Ian Hutcheon (pictured above), involved in founding the Scottish Seniors Golfing Society, commented: ‘These events will provide our experienced senior players who enjoy competing at the highest level greater exposure to competitions against other senior players in their sport and I would like to thank the clubs for their assistance in hosting the competitions."
He added: "Currently the age of competitors in the Scottish and British Seniors Championships and recruits to the senior national squad is 55 or over, whereas the four new events will target players aged 50 and over. This will not only boost entries to these competitions, but it will enable selectors to monitor the development and potential of players who may wish to represent their country over a greater time period.’
SGU Chief Executive Hamish Grey added: ‘The SGU is delighted with this development and is keen to ensure that golfers of every age and ability are given the opportunity to play the game to whatever level they choose.
"Following the senior team’s success at international level last season we are keen to support new competitions which will further the game and help us to build upon the highly successful season we enjoyed in 2006."
SGU Scottish Seniors Order of Merit competition schedule:

22-24 May
Scottish Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship - Drumpellier
28-29 June
Central Scotland Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship - Stirling
19-20 July
North of Scotland Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship – Nairn Dunbar
26-27 July
West of Scotland Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship - Hamilton
2-3 August
East of Scotland Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship - Monifieth
8-10 August
British Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship – Nairn & Nairn Dunbar
30 August
SGU Seniors Order of Merit Finals Day - Blairgowrie

+All the events bar the British Seniors Open Amateur Stroke-play championship, which is oranged by The R&A, will be administered by the new Scottish Seniors Golfing Society who will handle entries, etc.

The Scottish Seniors Golfing Society can be contacted at:
69 Russell Drive,
Bearsden,
Glasgow,
G61 3BB
Tel: 0141 943 0396

RAIN HITS TEXAS TIGHT LIES TOUR EVENT

Rain washed out the second round of the 54-hole River Plantation Open at River Plantaion Country Club, Houston - this week's event on the Texas Tight Lies Tour.
Lee Rhind from Uphall was in joint 12th place with a one-over-par 73 in the first round, five shots behind leader Chad Ginn.
The tournament has been reduced to 36 holes with the second and final round on Thursday.

TIGER WON'T COME
TO CARNOUSTIE IF
OPEN CLASHES
WITH BIRTH
OF FIRST BABY
Tiger Woods will pull out of the Open championship at Carnoustie from July 19 to 22 if there's a clash between the third Major of the season and the birth of his first child.
His Swedish wife Elin is due to have the baby during the month of July.
“If it happens, it happens. If it crosses over, it crosses over,” Woods told a Press conference on the eve of this week's US PGA Tour event, the Buick Invitational at San Diego.
“That’s the most important thing, not another golf tournament. I just wouldn’t go. If she’s going to have the baby during the week of the Open, I just don’t go.”

Orange Blossom Tour finale at Hollywood, Florida

DIANE AND MONICA
IN SEMI-FINALS
IN DEFENCE OF
BETTER-BALL TITLE
Defending champions Diane Lang and Monica Von Glahn are on course to retain the International women's amateur four-ball championship - the final event on the Orange Blossom Tour - at Orangebrook Golf & Country Club, Hollywood in Florida.
They won their quarter-final by 4 and 3 today.
The tournament is played under the better-ball format.
Today's picture from Florida: Diane Lang, a former US senior women's champion, in action.
Results:
QUARTER-FINALS
Sue Choi and Angel Sze bt Mary Hill and Peggy Woodard 2 & 1.
Marlene Streit and Carol Thompson bt Doria Cummings and Benedikte Grotvedt 4 & 3.
Marianne Springer and Mary Hanyak bt Taffy Brower and Gale Brudner 2 & 1.
Diane Lang and Monica Von Glahn bt Corey Weworski and Carolyn Creekmore 4 & 3.
SEMI-FINALS
Choi and Sze v Streit and Thompson.
Springer and Hanyak v Lang and Von Glahn.

SCOTT WALKER WINS
BERWICKSHIRE
TROPHY WITH A NET 62
OVER GULLANE No 3

By DUNCAN IRELAND
Secretary of Edinburgh & East of Scotland Alliance
A fine, but cold day for the 99 players who made it to Gullane. A bit of a tricky wind made the back half pretty awkward, so I'm told, but I think somebody forget to tell today's winner, Scott Walker (Ratho Park) as he didn't appear to have many problems.
His best equal (with professional Craig Lee, pictured right) scratch score of three under par 65 was impressive enough but once his handicap of three was taken off, his net 62 was good enough to beat his nearest handicap rival and long-time clubhouse leader, Willie Marr (West Lothian), by two shots and for him to take the Berwickshire Trophy.
Well done, Scott on winning your first event. With a score like that, it can't be long before you win another event and get your handicap down.
On the scratch side of things, it was very tight for the prizes with no fewer than four players tying for second scratch with 68s. Colin Fraser (Peebles) managed to ensure that the pros didn't collect all today's scratch prizes. He gets a £50 voucher for his efforts along with Ross Harrower, Andrew Marshall and the soon-to-be-married David Patrick.
FANTASTIC COURSE
A big thank you to Gullane for again allowing us the use of their fantastic course. I hope they will continue to support us for a long time to come.
I believe we are beginning to have some problems regarding tee-offs and that the time you have to wait between checking in and actually playing is getting to be a bit too long.
The committee are aware of these problems and will be meeting soon with a view to trying to find a solution for next season. At present there are a large group of members turning up from 7am onwards in order to get the early tee-off times.
This means that it is usually between 9am and 9.30am before that first group has cleared the first tee. If you do not turn up just after 7am then you will not get a tee off time until nearly 10am so there is really no point in turning up at 8am-8.30am as you will need to wait about one or 1 1/2hr.
Why not try turning up at 9.30am or even leaving it a bit later. The last group today arrived in the car park at 11.45am, played at 12.10 and were finished in plenty of light at 3.50pm. No wait, no hassle - worth a try? - but please remember that our last time at every course is no later than 12.30pm so if you are thinking of turning up a bit later than normal then please don't leave it too late that you don't get to tee-off.
SUGGESTIONS WELCOMED
Suggestions to help our problem with tee-off times and also with any ideas on combatting the slow-play problems we seem to always have will be most welcome.
Please speak to me, Bill or any of the committee or why not come along to the AGM at the Merchants and air your views.

TODAY'S PRIZE-WINNERS
Players are amateurs unless stated otherwise; p denotes professional, t trainee professional.
Overall winner (Berwickshire Trophy) - Scott Walker (Ratho Park) (3) 62.
SCRATCH
1st (£100) Craig Lee (All Swing Golf Centre, Stirling) p 65.
2nd (£50 each) Colin Fraser (Peebles), Ross Harrower (Cardrona) p, Andrew Marshall (Houston Golf Range) p, David Patrick (Mortonhall) p 68.
Other scores:
69 D Fish (Glenbervie), A McLean (Duddingston) p.
70 E Hogarth (Peebles) t, A Dunsmore (Bathgate) p, D Hume (Greenburn), C Imlah (Peebles) p, A Oldcorn (King's Acre) p, D Wallace (Glenbervie).
71 M Chaplin (Deer Park), N Colquhoun (Merchants) p, G Wither (Lothianburn), G Davidson (Peebles).
72 S Doyle (Liberton), G Johnston (Baberton) t, A MacKenzie (Liberton) t, W Morton (Dalmahoy), A Murdoch (King's Acre) p.
73 H Cartmill (Bathgate), R Grant (Baberton), S Grieve (King's Acre) t , N Huguet (Royal Musselburgh) t, J Kerr (Deer Park), J Noon (Leven), A Wight (Glencorse).
74 C Morris (Kingsknowe) p, S Lamb (unatt) p, G Walker (Kingsfield), I Fyfe (Musselburgh), G D Johnston(Glenbervie), O Leslie (Prestonfield) p, W Marr (West Lothian), I Marshall ( Baberton), A Rothney (Deer Park), C Smith (Royal Musselburgh) p, A Strang (Rothco Mortgages) p, J Wardrop (Niddry Castle), J White (Harrison), T Wilson (Glenbervie).
75 K Mungall (Lothianburn) p, A Culverwell (Dunbar), T Duchart (Falkirk), N Forsyth (Peebles), R Johnston (Glenbervie.

HANDICAP
1st (£100 voucher) Scott Walker (Ratho Park) (3) 62.
2nd (£80 voucher) Willie Marr (West Lothian) (10) 64.
3rd (£50 voucher each) Douglas Hume (Greenburn) (5), Richard McNeil (Baberton) (11) 65.
5th (£20 voucher) Walter Forsyth (Peebles) (10) 66.
67 D Fish (Glenvbervie) (2), C Fraser (Peebles) (1).
68 H Cartmill (Bathgate) (5), S Doyle (Liberton) (4), R Grant (Baberton) (5), J Laurieston (Easter Moffat) (10), W Morton (Dalmahoy) (4), J Wardrop (Niddry Castle) (6).
69 G Davidson (Peebles) (2), J Kerr (Deer Park) (4), I Marshall (Baberton) (5), P Ritchie (Bathgate) (8), P Sewell (West Linton) (8).
70 E Bird (Pumpherston) (6), S Brown (Glencorse) (6), T Duchart (Falkirk) (5), L Gibson (Glenbervie) (7), J Hay (Dunfermline) (14), G D Johnston (Glenbervie) (4), J Noon (Leven) (3), D Wallace (Glenbervie) scr), J White (Harrison) (4), G Wither (Lothianburn) (1).
71 A Bell (Mortonhall) (5), I Fyfe (Musselburgh) (3), K Liddle (Liberton) (6), D Scott (Falkirk) (5), W Smith (Harburn) (9), A Wight (Glencorse) (2).
72 R Allan (Cardrona) (5), M D Graham (Duddingston) (5), C McLachlan (Glenbervie) (4), D Meldrum (Prestonfield) (12), S Morrison (Braids Utd) (4), J Rae (Newbattle) (7), G Roberts (Liberton) (9), B Smith (Edinburgh Thistle) (5), T Wilson (Glenbervie) (2).
TRAINEE PROFESSIONAL
(£20) Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) t 70.
SENIOR
(£20 voucher) John Wardrop (Niddry Castle) (6) 68.

JANET BROWN TAKES OVER
AS CHAIRMAN OF
LADIES’ GOLF UNION
Borderer Janet Brown was appointed Chairman of the Ladies’ Golf Union at their AGM today in Edinburgh. She will serve for a period of 12 months.
Janet first became involved in golf administration in the period leading up to her taking over the captaincy of the ladies’ section of Melrose Golf Club, a nine hole course in the Scottish Borders. This was quickly followed by her captaincy of the Borders County and then a five year spell starting in 1993 on the Executive of the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, where for three years, she was chairman of the Girls’ Championship.
On leaving the SLGA Executive in 1998, Janet sat the R&A referee examination and since then has officiated at major championships and international tournaments including the Vagliano Trophy and the Weetabix Women’s British Open.
RETIRED PHYSIOTHERAPIST
She joined the Executive of the LGU in 2003 and served on the European Championship Committee for three years. As a handicap advisor she was involved in assisting clubs in the changeover to the CONGU Unified Handicapping System in 2004.
Since she retired from her career as a physiotherapist in 1998, Janet has been kept fully occupied in golf administration and in looking forward to her year in office said:
“This coming year will be a watershed for the LGU and with Chief Lesley Burn now reviewing our entire operation, it will be an exciting 12 months for ladies’ golf. We have many strengths within the LGU and we must reinforce these while at the same time taking forward new initiatives that will help to develop ladies’ golf.”
Janet lives in Melrose with her husband Derek, a past president of the Scottish Rugby Union. They have two daughters, Marnie and Jeni, a son Robbie and four grandchildren.

Also at today’s LGU annual meeting:
+The LGU and Breakthrough Breast Cancer announced a partnership that aims to raise awareness and funds with the help of lady golfers. Full details on our sister website: http://www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk/.
+Joan Neville from Wales, chairman of the LGU in 1990, took up the position of President for the next three years. Full details on http://www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk/

North-east Golfers' Alliance meeting at Buckpool

BRATTON, CAMPBELL, KENNEDY
TIE FOR VICTORY WITH 71s
Back on the North-east Alliance circuit after a wet week in Trinidad for a pro-am, Newburgh-on-Ythan professional Ian Bratton tied for victory at Buckpool Golf Club today with two scratch amateurs, Andrew Campbell (Deeside) and Euan Kennedy (Stonehaven).
It was the sixth time during the 2006-2007 season that Bratton has won outright or shared the honours.
There was no snow on the course but it was cold, wintry day and the trio headed a field of 68 on one-over-par 71, which was not bad scoring, given the conditions.
Bratton had the best finish. After going out in 37 and slipping to three over par after a bogey at the 11th, Ian covered the last eight holes in two under par with birdies at the 14th and 17th.
In contrast, Campbell, out in 36, bogeyed the last after birdieing the 17th and 18th and Kennedy, out in 35, also dropped a shot at the last when on the brink of matching par. Mind you, the Stonehaven player did well to finish so close after a double bogey 6 at the 10th.

LEADING SCORES (Par 70).
SCRATCH
71 A Campbell (Deeside), I Bratton (Newburgh), E Kennedy (Stonehaven).
72 B Ritchie (Inverallochy), S Finnie (Caledonian), S Troup (King’s Links).
74 J Nicolson (Auchmill).
75 P Cormack (Inchmarlo), R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo), S Fraser (Northern).
76 R Stewart (Cruden Bay), R Pirie (Caledonian), S Pert (Huntly), S Scott (Auchmill).
77 N Parker (Murcar Liks).
78 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club), F Bisset (Banchory).
80 G Ingram (Inverurie).
HANDICAP
Class 1 – B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2), J Nicolson (Auchmill) (4) 70; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), E Kennedy (Stonehaven) (scr), N Parker (Murcar Links) (6) 71; S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr) 72; R Pirie (Caledonian) (3), S Pert (Huntly) (3), S Scott (Auchmill) (3) 73.
Class 2 – M Kydd (Newburgh) (10) 71; S Florence (Oldmeldrum) (22), J Penny (Huntly) 912) 72; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11), D Wood (Newburgh) (11) 73; I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11), J Robb (Turriff) (11) 74.

LEADING SCORECARDS
Buckpool par 70
OUT: 4-4-5-4-4-3-4-3-4-35
IN: 4-4-4-3-4-3-5-4-4-35

ANDREW CAMPBELL 71
OUT: 3-3-5-5-5-4-4-4-3-36
IN: 5-3-5-3-4-3-4-3-5-35

IAN BRATTON 71
OUT: 4-4-6-4-4-3-4-3-5-37
IN: 4-5-4-3-3-3-5-3-4-34

EUAN KENNEDY 71
OUT: 4-5-5-3-5-2-5-3-3-35
IN: 6-3-4-3-4-3-5-3--5-36

Final event of the Orange Blossom Women's Tour in Florida

TITLE-HOLDERS QUALIFY IN
SECOND PLACE IN
INTERNATIONAL FOUR-BALL

Title-holders Monica Von Glahn and Diane Lang qualified in second place for the match-play stages of the 61st International Women’s Four-ball tournament, the final event of the Orange Blossom Tour, at Orangebrook Golf & Country Club, Hollywood in Florida.
Monica and Diane had better-ball rounds of 71 and 67 for 138.
Top seeds are Angel Sze and Susan Choi with scores of 68 and 69 for 137.
QUALIFIERS
137 Angel Sze & Susan Choi 68 69.
138 Monica Von Glahn & Diane Lang 71 67, Gale Brudner & Taffy Brower 72 66.
139 Carole Thompson & Marlene Streit 71 68, Daria Cummings & Benedikte Grotvedt 71 68.
140 Carolyn Creekmore & Corey Weworski 73 67.
143 Mary Hanyak & Marianne Springer 71 72.
146 Mary Hill & Peggy Woodward 74 72.
DRAW
Choi & Sze v Hill & Woodward.
Grotvedt & Cummings v Streit & Thompson.
Brower & Brudner v Hanyak & Springer.
Lang & Von Glahn v Creekmore & Weworski.
NON-QUALIFIERS
147 Debbie Mook-Sang & Michelle Hartnell 76 71.
148 Maddie Weder & Evelyn Blackmon 76 72.
153 Jana Morris & Leslie Henry 79 74.
154 Jewell Frei & Ronnie Hall 79 75.
158 Marcella Rose & Maureen O’Brien 82 76.
171 Judy Coker & Michie Walker 93 78.

Texas Tight Lies Tour Winter Series

LEE RHIND SALVAGES

A 73 FROM WRECKAGE

OF TRIPLE BOGEY 7

Former Scottish boys' open amateur champion Lee Rhind, a winner on the PGA EuroPro Tour and the Tight Lies Tour in America last year, is back in the States campaigning on the Tight Lies Tour circuit.
The Uphall tour pro salvaged a one-over-par 73 from the wreckage of a triple bogey 7 at the 14th in the first round of the River Plantation Open at River Plantation Country Club near Houston, Texas today.
Lee, pictured right, had bags of birdies - at the third, sixth, eighth and 16th but he dropped single shots at the fourth and 18th as well as his catastrophe at the 14th.
He is lying joint 12th behind leader Chad Ginn on four-under-par 68.
Under the mini-tour's Winter Series rules, only 30 % of the field contest the third and final round after a 36-hole cut.
There were 55 entries to this event, so roughly 18/19 players will beat the cut.
It costs $600 for a Texas Tight Lies Tour member to enter; $725 for non-members.

LEE VANNET WINS MIDLAND
ALLIANCE AT DRUMOIG

Carnoustie Links professional Lee Vannet, pictured right, ignored the bitterly cold conditions and the frozen ground to win the resumption of the Midland Golfers' Alliance season meeting with an excellent, par-matching round of 72 at Drumoig Golf Club.

Lee won by two shots from Alyth assistant professional M Rae.

Jack Rennie (Dunfermline), playing off 14, had the best net score of 72.

LEADING SCRATCH

72 L Vannet Carnoustie Links) p.
74 M Rae (Alyth) ap.
75 G McLeod (Monifieth) p, P Brookes (Pitreavie) p.
76 S Craig (Edinburgh Leisure) p.
79 E Walker (Burntisland) ap.
LEADING HANDICAP
72 J Rennie (Dunfermline) (14).
74 A Mason (Thornton) (7).
75 F Gemmell (Letham Grange) (13).
76 J Irwin (Muckhart) (8), D Anderson (Blairgowrie) (5).
77 H Salmond (Tulliallan) (4).
78 N Henderson (Scotscraig) (11), F McKay (Drumoig) (6), D Redford (Murrayshall) (6), J Watson (King James) (13), J Muirden (Glasgow) (14).
CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

Qualifiers for the Midland Alliance Championship at Scotscraig in April:

M Rae (Alyth) ap.
G McLeod (Monifieth) p.
P Wytrazek (Burntisland) p.

Next Weeks meeting, D. Redford (Powacaddy) Team Competition at Murrayshall Golf Course, Thursday 1st February. 8.30 – 12.30

PGA EUROPRO TOUR ANNOUNCE
DATES, VENUES FOR 2007
QUALIFYING SCHOOL

THE 2007 PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School will be held over two stages in April, and is once again open to amateurs as well as ambitious young professionals, with record numbers expected to compete.
First Stage of Qualifying School will take place on April 11 and 12 at four venues around the UK.
Entry is open to all male professional golfers and male amateur golfers with a handicap of three or better.
A total of 240 players will then compete at Final Stage the following week at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire.
The field will be cut after 36 holes to the leading 120 players and ties, who will play the final round on Thursday, April 19.
Entry costs £375, with a prize fund available at Stage One and the Final Stage to accompany the greater prize of Category ranking on the 2007 PGA EuroPro Tour.
"The Qualifying School is becoming an increasingly important for every young player stepping onto the PGA EuroPro Tour," said Managing Director Eddie Hearn."A record nine players went on from Qualifying School to win tournaments this year, which shows the quality of players coming into the professional game.
"Once again, amateurs who believe they have the ability to follow in those footsteps will get that chance, without penalty, at Qualifying School."
Entries close on Friday, March 23 for Stage One and on Wednesday, March 28 for players exempt to Final Stage.
VENUES
STAGE ONE
April 11-12
Beau Desert GC, Cannock.
Stoke-by-Nayland GC, Colchester (Constable Course).
Fulford GC, York.
The Bedford GC, Bedford.
FINAL STAGE
April 17-19
Frilford Heath GC, Oxfordshire (Red & Blue Courses).
The following players are exempt from Stage One and eligible for the PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School Final Stage:
1. Players 51-130 from the 2006 PGA EuroPro Tour Official Money List.
2. Players 2-10 from the seven 2006 PGA Final Regional Order of Merits.
3. Players holding Categories 7-11 on the 2006 & 2007 European Challenge Tour.
4. Tournament winners from the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2003, 2004 & 2005.
+++Entry forms for the Qualifying School events can be downloaded from the PGA EuroPro Tour: htpp://www.europrotour.com

WORLD AMATEUR GOLF

RANKING FROM THE R&A

GOES LIVE ONLINE

The World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) from The R&A is now available live online at www.randa.org/wagr
Created as the universal standard for entry into The British Amateur Championship, the ranking is a weekly performance table of the world’s top 1200 players in men’s amateur golf.
National handicapping systems will no longer be used as the primary condition to identify the international starting field of 288 players in The British Amateur, to be played this year at Royal Lytham & St Annes and St Annes Old Links Golf Clubs between 18 & 23 June.
The British Amateur field in 2007 will feature an established number of exempt players and approximately the top 250 that enter, from those ranked 1- 800, on The R&A World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Commenting on the launch of the WAGR website, R&A Director Mike Tate said:
“WAGR clearly identifies the top amateur players in the world based on current form and presents them with the opportunity to play in The Amateur Championship. Other organisers have indicated that they may wish to adopt the WAGR standard for their own tournaments and we are happy to maintain the ranking year round as a service to the game”
This week’s No 1 WAGR player is Scotland’s Richie Ramsay, the current US Amateur Champion, with players representing seven different countries in the top ten, including England’s Jamie Moul ranked 2, Spain’s Pablo Martin ranked 4, Kyung Tae Kim of South Korea ranked 5 and America’s Chris Kirk, number 7 in the world.

STEPHEN LEWTON WINS
IN NEW SOUTH WALES

England international Stephen Lewton has made a great start to his month in Australia by winning the 36-hole Avondale Medal in New South Wales.
The 23-year-old from Woburn carded rounds of 72 and 68, the latter a record for the recently lengthened course, for a total of two-under-par 140. That earned him a two-stroke victory in an event which many internationals and top-ranked Australian amateurs use in preparation for this week‘s Lake Macquarie International.
Four players finished on 142 -England’s Matthew Cryer, who also finished with 68, and Australians Richie Gallichan, Matthew Giles and John Lee. Gallichan took the runner-up prize on countback with 34 to Cryer’s 35 over the back nine.
Playing two rounds in a day in temperatures of 100 degrees on a tight but well- maintained course suited Lewton who was used to such conditions from his days at college in the United States.
Of the other England internationals in the field, David Horsey finished 10th on 146 with Gary Wolstenholme a stroke further back.
Like many more, the England quartet used the Avondale event as a warm-up for this week’s prestigious Lake Macquarie International at Belmont, won last year by Surrey’s Adam Gee, now a professional.
Lewton made his full England debut in last September’s home internationals in Wales.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
140 S Lewton (Eng) 72 68.
142 R Gallichan (Aus) 74 68, M Cryer (Eng) 74 68, M Giles (Aus) 73 69, J Lee (Aus) 68 74.
Other scores:
146 D Horsey (Eng) 73 73.
147 G Wolstenholme (Eng) 72 75.

COLIN FARQUHARSON writes: It is only a week or two short of 10 years since I wrote the following article for the "Press and Journal."
I believe it is worth another "airing," given that Vijay Singh is still going strong in his 40s, having won a tournament already this year and is the leading money winner on the US PGA Tour.
My one regret is that I have been unable to find out if Tom Gaddo-Bobo, the man who "discovered" Vijay Singh in the backwoods of Malaysia, is still alive and living in Portlethen. He is not listed in the Aberdeen telephone directory and the Shell HQ in Aberdeen could not throw any light on their retired employee.

SHELL WORKER TOM
PUT VIJAY SINGH
ON THE ROAD TO
FAME AND FORTUNE

Every time Vijay Singh wins a golf tournament, a retired oil executive at Portlethen near Aberdeen should stand up and take a bow.
Why? Because it was Tom Gaddo-Bobo, then working for Shell in Malaysia, who “discovered” Singh in the 1980s and set his golfing career on the road from obscurity to multi-million dollar earnings on the US PGA Tour.
“Shell had their own golf course at Miri in the state of Sarawak in eastern Malaysia. I used to go and play there and Vijay Singh was the club pro. He had been there about 18 months when I first met Vijay around about 1987,” said Tom.
“He had won the Malaysian PGA championship in 1984 and it was obvious he was a very talented player – a very long hitter and enthusiastic about the game. But there was a great danger that he was going to spend the rest of his life in that obscure club job which did not pay him all that high a wage.
NO MONEY TO TRAVEL
"Vijay did not have the money to travel, certainly not to Britain and Europe, where he needed to be for his playing ability to develop.”
Tom Gaddo-Bobo knew the right people to approach within the oil business to arrange financial assistance for Vijay.
Manfred Steinkamp and Werner Lau of The Red Baron oil tools rental company did not have to be asked twice.
“We paid for Vijay to come over for the 1987 Open at Muirfield. In fact, he did not make it through the pre-qualifying and could not play in the event,” recalled Tom.
“We did not let a little setback like that put us off. The difference in conditions from Malaysia to East Lothian was too great for Vijay to conquer at the first go. But the trip demonstrated that he needed to widen his playing experience.
TURNING POINT
“We assisted in paying for Vijay to return to Europe to play in the PGA qualifying school in 1988. He won his player’s card, picked up a bit more experience on the African Tour - and Vijay never really booked back after that.”
Singh did represented The Red Barony company in an Aberdeen Petroleum Club pro-celam, then played at Deeside Golf Club, but the great pity as far as it was concerned was that it failed to get Vijay Singh’s name on a contract before Mark McCormack and the IMG Group saw his big-time potential and stepped in to sign up the Fijian.
Tom Gaddo-Bobo says that stories suggesting Vijay was barefoot when he first knew him are an exaggeration although he did buy him his first pair of golf shoes and set of matched golf clubs.
Tom does admit that they had to kit out Singh in jumpers galore when he played in Europe for the first time.
“Vijay used to feel the cold very badly in contrast to the constant heat of Malaysia and he would wear three sweaters on top of each other on what we could call a typical British summer’s bay,” said Tom.
“Vijay is still a very nice guy even through he is a millionaire several times over these days.”
+Vijay means “Victory” in Hindi.

N E ALLIANCE COMPETITION DEFINITELY
ON AT NO-SNOW BUCKPOOL ON WEDNESDAY

Wednesday's North-east Golfers' Alliance competition at Buckpool Golf Club was given the thumbs up by secretary Ron Menzies this morning.
"I've been told by Buckpool officials that there is no snow on their course and the forecast overnight temperature is as high as four degrees so frost will not be a problem," said Ron.
"There are no bad-weather warnings for the roads on the way there, so it looks set fair."

TOP 20 IN EUROPEAN TOUR MONEY TABLE

+Money totals are in Euros.

1 Y E Yang (Kor) 655,884.
2 Paul Casey (Eng) 387,924.
3 Retief Goosen (SAf) 312,059.
4 Michael Campbell (NZ) 269,484.
5 Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 259,178.
6 Charl Schwartzel (SAf) 190,260.
7 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 184,929.
8 Ernie Els (SAf) 179,933.
9 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 173,456.
10 Justin Rose (Eng) 170,353.
11 Marc Warren (Sco) 167,651.
12 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 165,463.
13 Ariel Canete (Arg) 161,199.
14 Nathan Green (Aus) 157,815.
15 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 154,569.
16 Andrew McLardy (SAf) 141,173.
17 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 139,442.
18 Peter Hanson (Swe) 134,389.
19 Jeev Milka Singh (Ind) 134,183.
20 Darren Fichardt (SAf) 121,810.

TOP TEN IN US TOUR TABLES

1 Vijay Singh Fedex Cup pts 4,621 Money won: $1,126,325
2 Paul Goydos Fedex Cup pts 4,564 Money won: $948,720
3 Charley Hoffman Fx Cup pts 4,500 Money won: $900,000
4 John Rollins Fedex Cup pts 3,172 Money won: $655,229
5 Luke Donald Fedex Cup pts 3,038 Money won: $650,000
6 Adam Scott Fedex Cup pts 2,700 Money won: $630,000
7 Charles Howell Fed Cup pts 2,251 Money won: $467,850
8 Trevor Immelman Cup pts 1,790 Money won: $429,760
9 K J Choi Fedex Cup pts 1,709 Money won: $374,750
10 Justin Rose Fedex Cup pts 1,700 Money won: $340,000

*Fedex Cup is a scheme introduced this scene which will qualify players to play in a very big-money four-tournament eliminator at the end of the season.

GARY AND VIVIENNE PLAYER CHALK UP 50 YEARS OF HAPPINESS

Switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk, to read a sweet little story about Gary and Vivienne Player celebrating 50 years of marriage.

RAMSAY HELD BUT

SCOTS BEAT FRANCE

IN MOROCCO MATCH

Scotland scored a good win by 8 ½-5 ½ over France in a friendly golf match at Royal Golf Dar Es-Salaam to end their warm-weather training week in Morocco on a high note.
The Scots were trailing 4 1/2-3 1/2 going into the final singles series of the two-day match.
Although US amateur champion Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen and Stirling University), pictured right, was held to a square game by Victor Dubuisson in the top tie, Scotland won the next four ties and halved the other to emerge the overall winners by 3pt.
Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw), Paul O’Hara (Colville Park), Ross Kellett (Colville Park) and Scott Henry (Cardross) all won tight ties and Scottish champion Kevin McAlpine (Alyth) finished all square in the last game.
Scottish Golf Union national coach Ian Rae made the trip with the Scots.

Results of final programme of singles (Scotland names first):

Richie Ramsay halved with Victor Dubuisson.
Lloyd Saltman bt Alexander Kaleka 2 and 1.
Paul O’Hara bt Jean-Jacques Wolff 1 hole.
Ross Kellett bt Adrien Bernadet 2 and 1.
Scott Henry bt Benjamin Hebert 2 and 1.
Kevin McAlpine halved with Romain Schneider.

FIVE GB&I PLAYERS IN TOP
20 OF WORLD RANKINGS

There are five British and Irish players in the top 20 of the latest world professional men's rankings. Colin Montgomerie is the only Scot.
Paul Casey, winner of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Sunday, has moved up to 13th position - his highest ever in the world rankings. Still ahead of him are Luke Donald (No 7) and Padraig Harrington (No 9).
David Howell (No 15) and Colin Montgomerie (No 18) are the only other GB&I men in the top 20.
The leading 50 the week before the Masters automatically qualify for a place in the Augusta National field. Casey missed out last year on the first major because he was 51st in the rankings.

List is:
1 Tiger Woods (US) 19.60
2 Jim Furyk (US) 8.69
3 Adam Scott (Aus) 7.56
4 Phil Mickelson (US) 6.30
5 Ernie Els (SAf) 5.92
6 Vijay Singh (Fij) 5.83
7 Luke Donald (Eng) 5.61
8 Retief Goosen (SAf) 5.56
9 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 5.46
10 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 5.26
11 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 4.87
12 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 4.65
13 Paul Casey (Eng) 4.61
14 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 4.45
15 David Howell (Eng) 3.65
16 Davis Love (US) 3.57
17 David Toms (US) 3.37
18 Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 3.34
19 Jose M Olazabal (Spa) 3.30
20 Chris DiMarco (USA) 3.28

SWANSON WINS AFTER
COUNTBACK AT TAIN
IN NORTH ALLIANCE

BY ROBIN WILSON

Not one of the trophy contenders from the first half of the season had a day to remember when the North Alliance golf fixtures resumed at Tain.
Caithness duo Ron Taylor (Wick) and Doug Thorburn (Thurso), who each have three good scores to work with, will have to make another trip across the Ord in search of a fourth mandatory counting score after both failed to return cards.
Locals Munro and Billy Ferries, Mike Keay and Steve Holmes did not take home advantage to improve their positions.
Taylor ripped up his card at the 12th hole after knocking three drives out of bounds and Thorburn’s day ended before it began really. He started his round with three wayward shots from the first tee, resulting in two lost balls and a double figure score immediately on his card.
How Thorburn could have done with clubmate Alan Swanson’s opening birdie as Swanson, playing in only his second fixture of the year, came through a three-way scratch tie to take first place on 72 at the head of a smaller than usual field of 57.
COUNTBACK
Swanson beat local left-hander Munro Ferries (pictured above) and Helmsdale’s Graham Grant on the inward half count back from the Caithness player’s two consistent halves of 36 while Ferries collapsed over the last four holes to end up in second place, only because Grant had the leading net score in Class 1 .
Grant’s net 66 beat Wick’s Ron Barker on the inward half countback after Barker enjoyed a memorable first nine holes of 30 before throwing it all away over Tain’s much tougher inward stretch.
Grant’s score trimmed his net aggregate by 11 shots and he is now just two behind Mike Keay’s total of 282 with the Helmsdale member still having room to improve on a 77 from the Invergordon fixture.
Left-hander Ferries had the scratch prize in his sight on the 15th tee but went to the next tee reeling from a four-putt double-bogey 6. The par-3 16th was safely negotiated but his score went to the bottom of the river at the next hole.
From his tee shot, he was left with a delicate pitch over the left-hand bunker to the green. Catching the ball on the sole of his wedge, it flew over the green and into the river on the other side. He ended up taking a quadruple bogey 7.
Shell-shocked on the final hole, a bogey 5 completed his disappointing inward 40 to add to his outward 32 - a 72 that could so easily have been a sub-70 round. His 72 did lower his scratch aggregate tally by two shots to 297 but still in the lead, despite a 77, is Billy Ferries with 293.
WATER TROUBLE
Graham Grant also found trouble in the water towards the end of his round. He sliced into the river from the tee for halves of 34 and 38.
After 73s, Mike Keay and Steve Holmes did not improve on their respective net totals of 282 and 290. Tain’s Mike Sangster shot 76 (37-39).
The Thurso club found another winner in Class 2 where Billy Sutherland fronted the 24 players in this section with a net 71 from his handicap of 21.
Two stokes behind, Willie Dunbar (Reay) got into the frame for the first time and another first- time winner was Alf Williamson (Thurso), beating John Morrison (Durness) on a count back for third place.
Snow has hit the North and Sunday’s fixture over Dornoch Struie course is under threat due to an already wet course.

Leading returns:
SCRATCH
72 A Swanson (Thurso), G Grant (Helmsdale), M Ferries (Tain).
73 R Barker (Wick).
76 M Sangster (Tain), A Gill (Brora).
77 B Ferries (Tain).
78 S Cowie (Thurso).
79 A Watt (Tain), P Blyth (Tain), L Parnell (Reay), J Sangster (Thurso).
HANDICAP
Class 1 – G Grant (Helmsdale) (6), R Barker (Wick) (7) 66; A Gill (Brora) (5), P Blythe (Tain) (8) 71; S Cowie (Thurso) (6) 72.
Class 2 – W J Sutherland (Thurso) (21) 71; W Dunbar (Reay) (18) 73; W Williamson (Thurso) (18), J Morison (Durness) (19) 74.

PGA SETTING UP
TRAINING
ACADEMIES IN
MURCIA, SPAIN
The PGA has announced it is setting up its first
overseas branded academies in mainland
Europe.
The move follows a new partnership with Spanish
golf property developer Calidona and will see the
development of four academies plus two new PGA-
branded courses in the south-east of the country at
Roda, Corvera, Ballabona and Alhama.
The newly-opened and De Vere-managed Roda Golfand Beach Resort, which includes a Dave Thomas designed lay-out, will feature state of the art video and custom-fit golf technology, alongside its 150-room five-star complex (which has still to be built).
Future projects will see the development of a PGAs
of Europe Training Academy and PGA Golf Academy
at Corvera Golf & Country Club. An added attraction of
Corvera will be a Jose Maria Olazabal-designed
course.
Plans for Ballabona will incorporate both an academy
and PGA Golf Course while the resort will be renamed
The PGA of Almeria.
PGA OF MURCIA
Lastly, Alhama will also carry both a PGA golf academy
and course and be known as the PGA of Murcia.
Bruno Dureux, Calidona’s Managing Director, pictured
above with PGA chief executive Sandy Jones, said:
“Calidona is one of the most outstanding promoters of
residential golf complexes in unique locations. Our
privileged location, in the Region of Murcia, ten minutes
away from the airport of San Javier and five minutes
from the Mediterranean Sea, makes it possible,
for players from all of Europe, to enjoy the practice of
golf 365 days of the year.”
ONLY THE BEGINNING
He added: “We hope that this is only the beginning of
a long partnership with the PGA and that in the not too
distant future we can share other professional challenges
together.”
PGA Chief Executive Sandy Jones said: “We’re
delighted to be forging close links with Calidona and
seeing the development of these world-class golf facilities
which will not only help the PGAs of Europe train
the golf professionals of the future but provide excellent
coaching opportunities for golfers of all abilities
and ages from juniors through to elite golfers.”.

ENGLAND BOYS SECOND IN
SOUTH AFRICA MATCH

England were narrowly beaten into second place by the hosts in a round-robin boys' match also involving Canada at Zebula Country Club in South Africa.
The three-day event was originally scheduled as a quadrangular match, but when the Netherlands withdrew it turned into a three-way contest with singles on the first and third days and foursomes on day two.
The magnificent Zebula course in the South African bush proved a superb test for all 18 youngsters and with the temperature in the 30s, conditions called for strict concentration. England’s six-man team, all members of the Under 18 Squad, opened with a 5-0 victory over Canada with one match halved but were beaten 2-4 by South Africa.
With two points awarded for a win and one for a half, that left England on 15 points, two behind the hosts with Canada on four.
In the second day foursomes, England completed the double, beating Canada 3-0 and South Africa 2-1 to lead with 25 points to South Africa’s 21 and Canada on eight.
On the final day, England again wrapped up a 4-2 win over Canada but were beaten 4-1 by South Africa with one match halved.
That meant South Africa took the event with 40pt to England’s 36 with Canada on 14. But if England had managed one more win they would have tied with the Springboks.
Jack Hiluta and Eddie Pepperell were England’s top scorers, both being unbeaten. Hiluta, from Essex, had five wins and a half from his six matches while Oxfordshire-based Pepperell secured four wins and two halves.
“I was very proud of the way our boys played,” said team manager Brian Roake. “They were only pipped at the post by some magnificent play from the South Africans.”

NO MOBILE PHONES AT
OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

Spectators who intend attending The Open Championship, to be played at Carnoustie from Sunday 15 to Sunday 22 July 2007, are being advised that they will not be permitted to have mobile phones in their possession within The Open site.

This policy is in line with other major golf championships, including this year’s Ryder Cup at the K Club, and follows comments from players concerning the excessive numbers in evidence last year at Hoylake.

David Hill, Director of Championships for The R&A, said, “We have so far resisted the call to ban mobile phones on the grounds that it may be an inconvenience to the public. However, after receiving complaints referring to the numbers that were in use as play in The Open was proceeding, we feel there is no other reasonable option other than a complete ban.

“As at the Ryder Cup, we believe that spectators will understand that this measure is being put in place to make The Open a more enjoyable experience for all spectators and players. I would stress that we will install additional public telephones for use by members of the general public.”

In order to implement the ‘No Mobile Phone Policy’, security checks of every spectator will be in operation at the paygates.

40mph wind blows Justin off course for first win on US Tour

ROSE FINISHES THIRD,
BEATEN BY A SHOT
IN BOB HOPE CLASSIC

Justin Rose couldn't quite handle the 40mph wind which swept over the Palm Desert complex, California.
Leading by three strokes early in the day, then by one with six to play, the Johannesburg-born Englishman eventually finished third in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic after a 76 for a 90-hole total of 344.
That was one shot behind Americans Charley Hoffman and John Rollins. Hoffman, who had "come from nowhere" with a birdie at the 17th and an eagle at the 18th for a 71, birdied the first hole (after a downwind drive of 366yd) of a sudden-death play-off against Rollins who had finished with a 73.
San Diego native Hoffman, playing in his home state of California, won $900,000, Rollins $540,000 and Rose $340,000.
Rose, who had a double bogey 6 at the fifth, bogeyed the seventh, 11th and 13th but he played the last five holes in par for halves of 39 and 37. His only birdies came at the first and the 10th in halves of 39 and 37.
Jeff Quinney had a hole in one at the 17th in his 72 for 345 and a share of fourth place.
The average last-round score for the field was 74.7. Steve Lowery took 48 shots for the first nine holes; Phil Mickelson had a 78 on the final day, so Rose, under pressure in the final group, did not do too badly.
Ian Poulter had a closing 76 for 356 and earned $10,800.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 360 (5 x 72)
Players from US unless stated
343 C Hoffman 66 70 68 68 71, J Rollins 67 67 69 67 73 (Hoffman won play-off at first extra hole).
344 J Rose (Eng) 67 65 66 70 76.
345 H Slocum 68 68 69 68 72, J Quinney 68 69 69 66 73.
Other totals:
347 R Allenby (Aus) 63 70 70 70 74.
348 B Langer (Ger) 70 73 63 69 73.
353 P Mickelson 70 70 69 66 78.
357 I Poulter (Eng) 68 72 74 67 76.

+You can read all the scores and check the scorecards on the US PGA Tour website -
http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r002/index.html

Fluctuating fortunes in last round of Bob Hope Classic

ROSE SHARING LEAD
WITH FIVE HOLES TO
GO IN HIGH WIND

Justin Rose bogeyed the 13th to lose a slender one-shot lead with five holes to play in the fifth and final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic at Palm Desert, California.
He was level at 16 under par with John Rollins.
Rose jumped into a three-stroke lead when he birdied the first and parred the second compared with Glover's bogey-bogey start.
But the Englishman - born in Johannesburg - had a potentially very costly double-bogey 6 at the fifth and then shed another shot at the seventh to be two over par for the day.
Glover had his first birdie at the fourth but bogeyed the fifth, also to be two over par for the day.
Rose reached the turn in three-over-par 39 after another bogey at the eighth. Justin raised his hopes again with a birdie at the 10th but he bogeyed the 11th to go back to three over par for the day.
Everyone was dropping shots in the wild conditions. Steve Lowery required 48 shots for the outward half.
Glover slumped with a double bobey 6 at the eighth and then bogeyed the ninth to be out in five-over-par 41.
John Rollins came into the picture with a birdie 4 at the ninth to be out in 39 - and then he birdied the 10th to be snapping at Rose's heels.
Rose bogeyed the 13th which Rollins parred and the pair were level at 16 under par for the tournament.
LAST ROUND OVERALL POSITIONS
-16 after 13 Justin Rose.
-16 after 13 John Rollins.
-15 after 13 Lucas Glover.
-14 ... six players at various stages over the last five holes.

FLORIDA INVITE FOR TORRANCE

European Seniors Tour Order of Merit winner Sam Torrance has received a sponsors' invitation to play in the Allianz Championship - one of the events of the United States Champions (Seniors) Tour - over the Old Course at Broken Sound Golf Club, Boca Raton in South Florida from February 9 to 11.
Other invites have gone to Mike Donald, a winner on the PGA Tour, and South African Hugh Baiocchi.
The tournament has a prize fund of $1,600,000.

MICHELE WIE IS WORSE NOW AT 17 THAN SHE
WAS AT 14 - SAYS
BUTCH HARMON

Butch Harmon, one-time coach to Tiger Woods, won’t be getting any Christmas cards in future from Michelle Wie and her family.
The Sky TV golf pundit, who made his name as coach to the emerging Tiger Woods and now guides young Australian Adam Scott, has some very harsh things to say about the Wies in an article by Mark Reason in today’s “Sunday Telegraph."

"The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous," says Harmon.

"Michelle has regressed. She is worse now at 17 than she was at 14. To continue telling us that she is getting better by playing with the men is an insult.

“She says it's a learning experience. What is she learning by finishing last? It's hurting her mentally.
"She should go play with the women and dominate that competition first.

“But the whole Michelle Wie camp is about money. The biggest difference between Earl [Woods, the father of Tiger] and B J [Wie, Michelle's dad] is that Earl didn't worry about money.
“Earl knew it was more important for Tiger to learn to win and then the money would take care of itself. But Michelle Wie wins nothing.

"You should invite her to the next member-guest competition at your home club and she might actually win something because what's going on now is ridiculous. And it's not good for the game of golf."

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Women's World Cup of Golf at Sun City, South Africa

SCOTS FINISH JOINT

4th AS PARAGUAY

WIN BY SEVEN SHOTS

Scotland's Janice Moodie and Mhairi McKay finished with a better-than-average better-ball round of four-under-par 68 to finish joint fourth with Italy in the Women's World Cup of Golf at Gary Player Country Club, Sun City in South Africa.
Janice and Mhairi totalled level par 288 - to finish nine strokes behind the runaway winners, Paraguay's Celeste Troche (25) and Juliete Granada (20), left-right in picture, who had seven shots to spare at the finish from runners-up United States (Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst).
Janice partnered Catriona Matthew to second place behind the Swedes in last year's World Cup. Both players have since had babies, Catriona's the more recent and she is taking an extended break from the LPGA Tour.
The Paraguay pair, who led from start to finish, showed their class by producing the best better-ball score of the final day - a seven-under-par 65 which gave them a final total of nine-under4 279.

Granada was the first LPGA player to win a million-dollar first prize last season. In contract, her partner Troche played without much success on the Futures Tour and got only a handful of outings on the LPGA Tour.
The Americans finished with a 67 for 286 - one shot ahead of third-placed South Korea.
INVERNESS-BASED PLAYER
Liz McKinnon, who lives were her Scottish husband near Inverness, was a member of the New Zealand team who finished joint 10th on 296.
Defending champions Sweden were obviously not the same team without Annika Sorenstam and there was never much likelihood of them winning the trophy two years in a row. But one felt that Helen Alfredsson and Carin Koch might have finished higher up than 18th in the field of 22 with a total of 308.
Wales (Becky Morgan and Becky Brewerton) claimed eighth spot on 294, one shot and one place ahead of England's Laura Davies and Trish Johnson.
Ireland did not have a good tournament. Rebecca Coakley and Hazel Kavanagh did not play anywhere near their best in totalling 315 to finish second last in 21st place.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
279 Paraguay 139 75 65.
286 United States 149 70 67.
287 South Korea 143 77 67.
288 Scotland 145 76 68, Italy 145 73 71.
291 Australia 148 74 69.
293 Taiwan 150 77 66.
294 Wales 148 78 68.

295 England 154 74 67.
296 Finland 150 72 74, New Zealand 146 77 73.
297 Brazil 154 72 71299 France 157 73 69.

300 Denmark 149 83 68, Japan 155 78 67.

301 South Africa 157 78 66, Spain 155 80 66.

308 Sweden 157 81 70.

313 Germany 165 73 75, Norway 160 75 78.

315 Ireland 160 80 75.

339 Kenya 169 91 79.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Gary Orr is top Scot in United Arab Emirates event

CASEY SWOOPS WITH 65
TO WIN ABU DHABI
CHAMPIONSHIP

Paul Casey swooped with a final round of seven-under-par 65 (31-34) to win the Abu Dhabi Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates today.
Casey posted the clubhouse target of 17-under-par 271 and one by one his challengers failed to beat or even match it. It was the eighth European Tour victory of his career.
Overnight leader Padraig Harrington birdied the sixth, eighth and ninth but bogeyed the 11th and 18th for a 71 and a total of 274 which put him back into a share of fourth place.
Sweden's Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who represents Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort, Murcia on the European PGA Tour, tied for second place, one shot behind Casey. Both players had a 68 in the last round.
Casey, pictured above, had a three-putt bogey at the last hole, leaving the door open for his rivals. His cash prize was not in the same class as the £1million the Ryder Cup ace expert won at the world match-play championship at Wentworth but 257,876 Euros will still pay a few hotel bills.
Gary Orr finished as the leading Scot in joint 11th place on 11-under-par 277 after a closing 69 (33-37). Orr bogeyed the 17th. He earned 26,664 Euros.
Alastair Forsyth, the long-time leading Scot, slipped back with a 72 (35-37) for 278. The Paisley player bogeyed the ninth, 11th and 13th. Also on the 10-under-par mark was Colin Mongtomerie who had a 69 in the final round. They both earned 21,378 Euros.
Paul Lawrie signed off with a 71 for 278. He reached the turn in 37 after a double-bogey 6 at the sixth and another 6 at the eighth, having birdied the first two holes.
The Aberdonian got it going again with birdies at the 10th, 12th and 13th, only to let it slide again with bogeys at the 15th and 17th. He did finish with a birdie. Lawrie earned 16,573 Euros.

HOW THEY FINISHED
Par 288 (4 x 72)
271 P Casey (Eng) 71 68 67 65.
272 P Hanson (Swe) 70 68 66 68, M A Jimenez (Spa) 71 65 68 68.
273 C DiMarco (US) 69 70 68 66.
274 R Goosen (SAfr) 66 72 68 68, P Harrington (Ire) 68 67 68 71, J-F Lucquin (Fra) 70 68 67 68.
275 H Stenson (Swe) 66 72 70 67.
276 R-J Derksen (Nt) 70 69 69 68, P Price (Wal) 69 65 71 77.
Other totals:
277 G Orr (Sco) 70 68 70 69, P Archer (Eng) 63 75 71 68.
278 A Forsyth (Sco) 71 66 69 72, S Garcia (Spa) 68 72 69 69, C Montgomery (Sco) 69 71 69 69.
279 P Lawrie (Sco) 67 72 69 71.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Scot trails Pakistan Open winner by eleven strokes

HUME FINISHES 10th
AFTER INWARD HALF

BEATS HIM AGAIN

Former Scottish amateur champion Barry Hume from Glasgow tied for 10th place on eight-under-par 280 in the Pakistan Open at Karachi Golf Club today.
Hume, pictured right, who will be 25 on January 30, looked on target for a top-five finish when he reached the turn in three-under-par 33 shots in his final round, having birdied the second, third and fifth.
But, as in his three previous rounds, the Scot failed to master the inward half. Bogeys at the 11th, 15th and 16th more than cancelled out birdies at the 14th and 17th in his closing one-under-par 71.
Hume was a collective 12 under par for the opening nine holes but four over par for the second nine. He earned $5,124
Malaysian Airil Rizman Zahari was a first-time winner with a 19-under-par total of 269 – two shots ahead of Australian Scott Hend with Englishman Simon Hurd fading into third place on 274. His cash prize was $47,550.

Hurd bogeyed the fourth, fifth and sixth on his way to a closing 72.

Welshman Mark Mouland had a triple bogey 7 at the sixth but still finished with a 70 to be on the 280 mark alongside Barry Hume.

Scot Ross Bain shared 15th place on 281 after a closing 69 which included an outward half of 32 with birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and sixth.

Another ex-pat Scot, Simon Dunn, had a 68, easily his best round of the fourth, to tie for 26th place on 283. He birdied the third, fifth, eighth, 10th and 13th with only one bogey, at th12th.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
269 Airil Rizman Zahari (Mal) 67 68 64, 70.
271 Scott Hend (Aus) 70 66 66 69.
274 Simon Hurd (Eng) 68 65 69 72.
276 Muhammad Shabbir (Pak) 66 72 67 71.
278 Chris Rodgers (Eng) 69 70 68 71, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 71 67 69 71.
Other totals:
280 Barry Hume (Sco) 68 68 73 71, Mark Mouland (Wal) 70 69 71 70 (jt 10th).
281 Ross Bain (Sco) 71 71 70 69 (jt 15th).
283 Simon Dunn (Sco) 70 74 71 68 (jt 26th).
284 Simon Griffiths (Eng) 73 67 71 73 (jt 29th).
287 Steve Parry (Eng) 74 69 73 71 (jt 45th).
288 Ben St John (Eng) 73 71 71 73 (jt 52nd).

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Exciting finish on the cards in Bob Hope Chrysler Classic

GLOVER JOINS ROSE
IN LEAD WITH ONE
ROUND TO GO
Justin Rose goes into Sunday's final round of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic tied for the lead on 268 at Palm Desert, California. The new co-leader is 27-year-old former Clemson college star player, Lucas Glover, who shot a 65 to move alongside the 26-year-old Florida-based Englishman on 20-under-par for 72 holes.
A total of 76 players with aggregates of six-under-par 282 advanced to the fifth and final round at the Classic Club, the course over which Rose, pictured right, shot a 70, the highest of his tally so far.
Glover is one of the bigger hitters on the US Tour. He averages 303 yards off the tee and his putting is not bad either! He has an average 27.3 putts per round.

FOURTH-ROUND LEADERS
Par 288 (4 x 72)
Players from US unless stated.
268 J Rose (Eng) 67 65 66 70, L Glover 69 68 66 65.
270 J Rollins 67 67 69 67.
272 J Quinney 68 69 69 66, C Hoffman 66 70 68 68.
273 D Hart 66 70 70 67, J Durant 68 68 69 68, M Kuchar 66 69 71 68, H Slocum 68 68 69 68, R Allenby (Aus) 69 70 70 70, V Taylor 69 70 69 65, D Waldorf 71 71 65 66.
Other scores:
275 B Langer (Ger) 70 73 67 69, P Mickelson 70 70 69 66.
281 I Poulter (Eng) 68 72 74 67.
Non-qualifiers included:
286 B Davis (Eng) 69 68 70 79.
You can find all the scores and check the cards on the US PGA Tour website, one of the very best in the business:
http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/

Two juniors contest women's title at Coral Ridge C C

TEENAGER MARIKA LENDL

CONFIRMS CLASS WITH

VICTORY IN FINAL OF

'JONES/DOHERTY'

Marika Lendl, 11th in the Golfweek/Titleist American girl rankings and one of former world tennis ace Ivan Lendl’s golfing daughters, won her biggest title todate at Coral Ridge Country Club, Fort Lauderdale in Florida today.
Teenager Marika beat another classy junior, Lindy Duncan, by 3 and 2 to win the Ione D Jones/Doherty Challenge Cup women’s amateur tournament, the third event on the annual Orange Blossom tour in Florida.
Marika Lendl , pictured right with her father, won two American Junior Golf Association titles last year, including the McDonald's Betsy Rawls girls’ championship and she obviously has a great future, almost certainly in the pro ranks eventually after she goes to college.
Lindy Duncan, 14th ranked by Golfweek, was a quarter-finalist in last year’s US women’s amateur championship. Conqueror of two Stirling University students, Claire-Marie Carlton and Emma Tipping earlier in the week, Lindy is another with rosy prospects.
All four of the Jones/Doherty Challenge Cup semi-finalists were juniors.
The seniors’ championship was won by Connie Shorb who beat Therese Quinn by one hole. Connie beat the favourite, US Curtis Cup captain, Carol Semple Thompson, by 2 and 1 in the semi-finals.
Here’s a recap on all the results in the two main events:

CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST ROUND
Jordyn Hage def. Alexandra Bodemann 2 holes.
Taylor Collins def. Alexandra Frazie, 4 and 2.
Mary Jane Hiestand def. Gina Johnston 2 and 1.
Stefanie Kenoyer def. Patsy Ehret 8 and 7.
Maggie Weder def. Susan Choi 2 and 1.
Claire-Marie Carlton def. Rachel Cassidy 4 and 3.
Lindy Duncan def. Gia Fanelli 6 and 4.
Emma Tipping def. Dawn Dewar 5 and 4.
Marika Lendl def. Natalie McNicholas 5 and 3.
Rachel Carpenter def. Taffy Brower 2 holes.
Marilyn Hardy def. Julie Garner 2 and 1.
Susan Nam def. Julie Carmichael 4 and 3.
Isabelle Lendl def. Daria Cummings 1 hole.
Laura Carson def. Madison Pressel 3 and 2.
Kyle Roig def. Reggie Parker 6 and 5.
Kristina Wong def. Benedikte Grotvedt 2 holes.
SECOND ROUND
Taylor Collins def. Jordyn Hage 2 and 1.
Stefanie Kenoyer def. Mary Jane Hiestand 1 hole.
Claire-Marie Carlton def. Maggie Weder 4 and 3.
Lindy Duncan def. Emma Tipping 5 and 4.
Marika Lendl def Rachel Carpenter 2 and 1.
Susan Nam def. Marilyn Hardy 2 and 1.
Isabelle Lendl def. Laura Carson 5 and 4.
Kristina Wong def. Kyle Roig at 19th.
QUARTER-FINALS
Stefanie Kenoyer def. Taylor Collins at 20th.
Lindy Duncan def. Claire-Marie Carlton 4 and 3.
Marika Lendl def. Susan Nam 3 and 2.
Kristina Wong def. Isabelle Lendl 2 and 1.
SEMI-FINALS
Lindy Duncan def. Stefanie Kenoyer 3 and 2.
Marika Lendl def. Kristina Wong 4 and 2.
FINAL (18 holes)
Marika Lendl def. Lindy Duncan 3 and 2.

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
FIRST ROUND
Carol Semple Thompson def. Ronnie Hall 4 and 2.
Natalie Easterly def. Ginny Orthwein at 21st. .
Peggy Woodard def. Kathleen Cox 1 hole.
Linda Pearson def. Debra Mielke 4 and 3.
Barb Pagana def. Lynne Owen 5 and 4.
Diana Schwab def. Deborah Jamgochian 5 and 3.
Connie Shorb def. Pat Hughes-Gelardi 5 and 3.
Meredith Wolf def. Clate Aydlett 5 and 3.
Carolyn Creekmore def. Gale Brudner 2 and 1.
Cynthia Curry def. Sharon Baerenklau 2 and 1.
Angela Stewart def. Moe O'Brien 7 and 5.
Marlene Streit def. Tinker Sanger at 21st.
Therese Quinn def. Bonnie George 6 and 5.
Debe Schwedler def. Mary Hill 6 and 5.
Janice Wilson def. Ann Fulginiti 5 and 4.
SECOND ROUND
Carol Semple Thompson def. Natalie Easterly 2 and 1.
Peggy Woodard def. Linda Pearson 2 and 1.
Diana Schwab def. Barb Pagana1 hole.
Connie Shorb def. Meredith Wolf 5 and 3.
Carolyn Creekmore def. Cynthia Curry 4 and 2.
Marlene Streit def. Angela Steward 1 hole..
Therese Quinn def. Debe Schwedler 4 and 3.
Cathy Richey def. Janice Wilson 2 holes.
QUARTER-FINALS
Carol Semple Thompson def. Peggy Woodard 4 and 3.
Connie Shorb def. Diana Schwab 1 hole.
Carolyn Creekmore def. Marlene Streit 6 and 5.
Therese Quinn def. Cathy Richey 4 and 2.
SEMI-FINALS
Connie Shorb def. Carol Semple Thompson 2 and 1.
Therese Quinn def. Carolyn Creekmore 2 and 1.
FINAL (18 holes)
Connie Shorb def. Therese Quinn 1 hole.

One better-ball round to go on Sunday at Sun City

SCOTS SLIP TO

FIFTH PLACE
AS PARAGUAY

LEAD BY FOUR
Paraguay’s Julieta Granada and Celeste Troche survived the potential disasters of the foursomes round today to stay on course for a first victory in the Women’s World Cup at Sun City, South Africa.
They got it round in 75, three over par but only the United States – Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst – made any sort of charge with a two-under-par 70. Who said the Americans – any Americans – couldn’t play foursomes?
With Sunday’s third and final round played under the better-ball format, Paraguay are on two-under-par 214 with a four-stroke lead over Italy’s Giulia Sergas and Veronica Zorzi with the United States in third place, on 219.

SOUTH KOREANS PENALISED
Scotland’s Janice Moodie and Mhairi McKay, who should know how to play foursomes, could do no better than a 76 for 221, which put them down to fifth place, one spot behind South Korea who finished with a 77 for 220 after incurring a two-stroke penalty for an 8 at the very first hole.
A marshal moved an advertising board – without the South Koreans asking them to – so that they could play their shot, which they did.
If they had called a rules official before they played their shot, and explained the situation they would not have been penalised. But they didn’t – and they were!
Holders Sweden – missing Annika Sorenstam badly – fell further behind with a round of 81 for 238. Only Ireland (240) and Kenya (260) are behind them.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 216 (3 x 72)
First round: aggregate scores. Second round: foursomes.

214 Paraguay 139 75.
218 Italy 145 73.
219 United States 149 70.
220 South Korea 143 77.
221 Scotland 145 76.
222 Australia 148 74, Finland 150 72.
223 New Zealand 146 77.
226 Brazil 154 72, Wales 148 78.
227 England 154 74.
230 France 157 73.
232 Denmark 149 83.
233 Japan 155 78.
235 Norway 160 75, South Africa 157 78, Spain 155 80.
238 Germany 165 73, Sweden 157 81.
240 Ireland 160 80.
260 Kenya 169 91.
+Sunday’s third and final round will be better-ball.

SLGA NAME KEVIN
CRAGGS FULL-TIME
NATIONAL COACH

The Scottish Ladies Golfing Association has appointed Kevin Craggs to be its new full-time national coach in succession to Kirriemuir Golf Club professional Karyn Dallas who held the post in a part-time capacity for five years.
Kevin, a pro for more than 16 years, teaches golf at Drumoig and St Andrews. He also doubles as the "Golf Doctor" for a Scottish daily newspaper, a golf teacher for Bunkered Magazine and is also a golf commentator for BBC Radio Scotland.
Craggs was recently named one of the top 25 golf coaches in the United Kingdom by Golf Monthly.
"Scotland has some excellent young female golf stars waiting to burst on to the scene. I am confident that I can equip them with all that they need to play against the best in the world. I can't wait to start work," said Kevin.

FORSYTH, LAWRIE,

ORR IN TOP 20

AFTER ROUND 3

IN ABU DHABI
Alastair Forsyth from Paisley is lying joint sixth going into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates.
Forsyth had a third-round 69 for a 54-hole tally of 10-under-par 206 - three shots behind leader Padraing Harrington (pictured above) who had a 68 for 203.
Paul Lawrie and Gary Orr are sharing 18th place on eight-under-par 208. Lawrie birdied the first, 10th, 15th and 18th and had one bogey, at the ninth, in a round of 69 (36-33). His inward half was the best of his three rounds so far.
Orr had a 70.
Harrington, winner of last year's European Tour Order of Merit in a "photo-finish," leads by one shot from Sweden's Peter Hanson, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Shiv Kapur from India.

Overnight leader Philip Price from Wales dropped down to fifth place with a 71 for 205 but he is still only two off the pace and if he could reproduce his second-round 65 on Sunday, he might well still win it.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
203 Padraig Harrington (Ire) 68 67 68.
204 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 65 68, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 70 66 68.
205 Philip Price (Wal) 69 65 71.
206 Paul Casey (Eng) 71 68 67, Alastair Forsyth (Sco) 71 66 69, Retief Goosen (SAf) 66 72 68, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 71 67, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 69 67.
Other scores included:
208 Paul Lawrie (Sco) 67 72 69, Gary Orr (Sco) 70 68 70 (jt 18th).
209 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 72 69, Colin Montgomery (Sco) 68 71 69 (jt 30th).
214 Stephen Gallacher (Sco) 70 73 71 (jt 59th).

BARRY HUME SLIPS DOWN
PAKISTAN OPEN FIELD
TO SHARE OF 12th PLACE

Glasgow's Barry Hume, pictured right, dropped down to a share of 12th place after a one-over-par 73 in the third round of the Pakistan Open golf championship at Karachi Golf Club today.
Hume is on seven-under-par 209, having put together a pair of 68s in his first two rounds.
The former Scottish amateur champion and Haggs Castle GC member was vieing for the lead when he reached the turn in only 30 shots in his second round but that has been the high point of the tournament for Hume.
In the third round he birdied the second but covered the remaining 16 holes in two over par with bogeys at the 10th and 14th in halves of 35 and 38.
Barry, who will be 25 on January 30, is 10 shots behind leader Airil Rizman Zahari (Malaysia) who went three clear of the field with a superb third-round 64 for a 17-under-par tally of 199.

LEADING THIRD-ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3 x 72)

199 Airil Rizman Zahari (Mal) 67 68 64.
202 Simon Hurd (Eng) 68 65 69, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 66 66.
205 Muhammad Shabbir (Pak) 66 72 67.
206 Tony Lascuna (Phi) 70 69 67, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 71 69 66.
207 Chris Rodgers (Eng) 69 70 68, Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 71 67 69.
Other scores:
209 Barry Hume (Sco) 68 68 73.
210 Mark Mouland (Wal) 70 69 71.
212 Ross Bain (Sco) 71 71 70.
215 Simon Dunn (Sco) 70 74 71.

BP T&T Charity Week of Golf professional tournament

STEPHEN GRAY SHARING
LEAD IN TRINIDAD

Stephen Gray (Deer Park), pictured right, is sharing the lead on three-under-par 69 with three other players at the end of the first round of the professional section of the BP Trinidad & Tobago Charity Week of Golf at St Andrews Golf Clubl, Trinidad.

LEADING PLACINGS
(Players from US or Trinidad unless stated)
69 Stephen Gray (Sco), John Gibson, Dion Gonsalves, Johnny Bloomfield.
70 Lorne Kelly (Sco), Dean Robertson (Sco), Tim Thelen, Tim Weinhart, Chris Richards, Kevin Boyko, Robert Ames.
71 Andrew Crerar (Sco), Anthony Gill (Sco), Chris Kelly, Simon Edwards (Wal), Graham Fox (Sco).
72 Bernard Benny, Craig Lee (Sco), Damien Hale, John Greaves (Sco), Tom Sutter.
73 Craig Ronald (Sco), Kenny Hutton (Sco), Lee Vannet (Sco), Mark Reynolds, Scott Henderson (Sco).
74 Brandt Keishnick, Steve Bowman, Tommy Wolfenberger, Andrew Marshall (Sco), Paul Girvan (Sco).
75 Brian Smith, Casey Shoffit, Rob Toshack, Peter Latchmansingh.
76 Bruce Davidson (Sco), Gary McFarlane (Sco), Ian Bratton (Sco).
77 Eddie Blanton, Campbell Elliot (Sco), Murray Urquhart (Sco).
78 Jesse Fitzgerald, Neil Colquhoun (Sco).
79 Andrew Brooks (Sco).
80 Alan Millar.
82 John Levy.
83 Gary Weir (Sco).
84 Jeremy Dale, Hamish Love (Sco).

Orange Blossom Tour match-play event at Coral Ridge CC

SCOTS' CONQUEROR REACHES
FINAL IN FLORIDA

It may not be much of a consolation to Stirling University's Emma Tipping and Claire-Marie Carlton but the player who beat them in the earlier rounds of the Jones/Doherty Challenge Cup women's amateur tournament, No 5 seed Lindy Duncan, is through to today's final at Coral Ridge Country Club, Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Lindy beat Stefanie Kenoyer by 3 and 2 and will play teenager Marika Lendl, one of former tennis star Ivan Lendl’s daughters in the final.
US Curtis Cup captain Carol Semple Thompson, favourite for the seniors’ title, lost in the semi-finals.
Results:

CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Semi-finals
Lindy Duncan bt Stefanie Kenoyer 3 and 2.
Marika Lendl bt Kristina Wong 4 and 2.
FIRST FLIGHT
Semi-finals
Susan Choi bt Gina Johnston 5 and 4.
Julie Carmichael bt Grotvedt Benedikte 1 hole.
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Semi-finals
Connie Shorb bt Carol Semple Thompson 2 and 1.
Therese Quinn bt Carolyn Creekmore 2 and 1.

JUSTIN ROSE GOES TWO
SHOTS CLEAR IN BOB
HOPE CLASSIC

Justin Rose (26) leads the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic by two strokes with two rounds to play in the 90-hole marathon at Palm Desert, California.
The Johannesburg-born Englishman, who has lived in Florida for the past two years, had a third-round 66 for an 18-under-par tally of 198.
In second place in American Scott Verplank after a 68 for 200.
By California standards, it was a cold and windy day on the four courses used for the five-day event. But Rose said he had experienced far worse many a time playing in England as an amateur.
Former Ryder Cup player and captain Bernhard Langer had a hole in one at the 170yd par-3 seventh on Bermuda Dunes, a stroke of luck that helped him to return the day's lowest score, a nine-under-par 63, which polevaulted him into joint 13th position.
LEADING TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
198 Justin Rose (Eng) 67 65 66.
200 Scott Verplank (US) 66 66 68.
203 Lucas Glover (US) 69 68 66, John Rollins (US) 67 67 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 63 70 70.
Other totals:
206 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 70 73 63.
207 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 68 70.
209 Phil Mickelson (US) 70 70 69.
214 Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 72 74.

For all the scores and details of the rounds, log on to the US PGA Tour website:
http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/

FRASERBURGH HEAD

GREENKEEPER IS

CALIFORNIA-BOUND

... but he's coming back!

Fraserburgh Golf Club’s head greenkeeper John Littlejohn is heading for a memorable trip to California next month.
John, pictured left, has been invited by Fairways GM Ltd – who are Ransome Jacobsen golf equipment dealers for Scotland – to be their guest at the United States Golf Industry Show at Anaheim from February 22 to 24.
“John has been with us for the past 10 years and it’s because of his experience and expertise that he’s been selected for this trip,” said Fraserburgh club captain Bertie Baird.
“It may also have something to do with the fact the club has recently made a considerable investment in new Ransome Jacobsen equipment from the dealers!

BIGGEST GREENKEEPING SHOW
“This is the biggest greenkeeping show in the world with 1,200 exhibitors expected to attract some 25,000 visitors from the golf industry. It’s for owners and operators of golf facilities and professional members of the golf course and club management industry.
“John is looking forward to the opportunity to widen his already considerable knowledge and bring back some ideas to the benefit of Fraserburgh Golf Club.
"We're also hoping John will take a few thousand Fraserburgh Golf Club brochures in his luggage and pass them around at the show and in Anaheim (only joking, John!)."
+Anaheim, California is the original home of Disneyland.

THE WAY WE WERE: Murcar clubhouse in the 1950s

Murcar's first tee and clubhouse in the 1950s, as they would have been, certainly in Jock Lawson's early years at the club. Click on the image to increase its size.

BILL NICOL REMEMBERS JOCK LAWSON

We asked if any of you had your own personal members of Jock Lawson, who was Murcar Golf Club's popular professional from 1959 to 1972 (scroll down a few days to read Muriel Thomson's tribute and some of the highlights of Jock's career.
Here's a recollection from Bill (Job) Nicol:

"THAT'LL BE A TANNER FOR YOUR TEES,"
JOCK TOLD HARRY DENERLY

Jock was real character in his pro shop at the Saturday medal competition with his dry sense of humour. He also got a lot of business from local members but, though fair-minded, he did like his pound of flesh.
One Saturday, prior to driving off down the first fairway at Murcar with his new irons - bought from Jock Lawson - Harry Denerly discovered he had no tees. He had partedwith a £ or two for his new blades!
Back he went at a frantic pace and informed Jock of his problem.
"Nae bother," says Jock. "That will be one tanner, thank you"
Harry Denerly, originally from northern England. also worked at the Rowett Institute alongwith Messrs B Begbie, W S Mackie, John Mathieson and Ian Davidson.
I'm sure there were more in the happy 1970s, a lot no longer with us, playing on the easy course above.
Enjoy your coverage in the Scottishgolfview.com, Colin.
Keep them coming. All the best.
Bill (Job) Nicol

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Paraguay pair shoot four strokes ahead at Sun City

MHAIRI'S 69 GIVES SCOTS
A GOOD START IN
WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

Mhairi McKay, pictured right, recaptured some of her old form to return a three-under-par 69 and help Scotland end the first day of the Women's World Cup in joint third place at Sun City, South Africa.
Mhairi's partner, Janice Moodie - who partnered Catriona Matthew as the Scots finished runners-up to Sweden last year - had a 76, which gave Scotland a first-round aggregate of 145 - six shots behind the four-stroke leaders, Paraguay's Julieta Granada (70) and Celeste Troche (69).
Mhairi and Celeste had the lowest scores of the day.
Inverness-based Kiwi Liz McKinnon had a 74, two more than team-mate Lynn Brooky. The New Zealanders' 146 put them right behind the Scots and Italy in fifth place.
With the singles out of the way and the foursomes and better-ball ahead on the weekend, Paraguay will be hard to catch.
But Janice Moodie believes it’s not an impossible task.
“We’re pretty satisfied with our score and I think there are a number of teams that can still catch Paraguay. But to do that both players in the team have to play really well," said the Scot.

FIRST ROUND LEADERS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
139 Paraguay (Celeste Troche 69, Julieta Granada 70).
143 Korea (Ji Yai Shin 71, Young Kim 72).
145 Scotland (Mhairi McKay 69, Janice Moodie 76), Italy (Giulia Sergas 72, Veronica Zorzi 73).
146 New Zealand (Lynn Brooky 72, Liz McKinnon 74).
148 Wales (Becky Brewerton 74, Becky Morgan 74), Australia (Lindsey Wright 72, Nikki Garrett 76).
149 Denmark (Karen-Margrethe Juul 74, Iben Tinning 75), United States (Pat Hurst 74, Juli Inkster 75).
Other scores:
154 England (Trish Johnson 76, Laura Davies 78).
157 Sweden (Helen Alfredsson 78, Carin Koch 79).
160 Ireland (Rebecca Coakley 80, Hazel Kavanagh 80).

Abu Dhabi championship at halfway stage

SCOTS COACH MAKES
A DIFFERENCE AS
PHILIP PRICE LEADS

Welsh Ryder Cup player Philip Price paid tribute to his Scottish coach Gary Nicol after shooting a nine-under-par 65 to take the halfway lead on 10-under 134 in the Abu Dhabi Championship in the United Arab Emirates.

Price, who dabbled with the US PGA Tour and a new coach, lost his American player's card and joined up again with Gary Nicol when he returned to Europe.

Philip, who is 40, finished in style with a brilliant 90yd wedge to within a few inches of the hole for a tap-in birdie.

In contrast, Padraig Harrington bogeyed the last for a 67 and will start the second half of the tournament one shot behind Price.

Paul Lawrie, who is now playing TaylorMade clubs instead of Callaway, matched the par of 72 but the Aberdonian dropped down from a share of fifth place to joint 18th on five-under-par 139, underlining the quality of play on the second day.
Alastair Forsyth, pictured right, from Paisley is the leading Scot in joint seventh place with a 71 and 66 for 137. That puts him in joint seventh place. Compatriot Gary Orr had a 68 for 138.
Par golf was not good enough to make the 36-hole cut. Only those players with tallies of one-under-par 143 advanced.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
(Gbr & Irl unless stated).
134 Phillip Price 69 65
135 Padraig Harrington 68 67
136 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 68, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 70 66, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 65, A Tadini (Italy) 70 66..0
137 Gary Emerson 67 70, Alastair Forsyth 71 66, Garry Houston 70 67, Richard Sterne (SAf) 70 67.
138 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 66 72, Gary Orr 70 68, Graeme Storm 68, 70, Retief Goosen (SAf) 66 72, Philip Archer 63 75, Nick Dougherty 66 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68.
139 Paul Lawrie 67 72, Paul Casey 71 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 68, Oliver Fisher 68 71, Richard Green (Aus) 67 72, James Hepworth 68 71, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 68 71, Chris DiMarco (US) 69 70, David Carter 71 68, Robert-Jan Derkson (Net) 70 69, Stephen Dodd (Wal) 69 70, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 70 69.
140 Robert Karlsson 73 67 (Swe), Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69, Damien McGrane 72 68, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 71, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 68 72, Alvaro Quiros 70 70, Sergio Garcia 68 72, Colin Montgomerie 69 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 69, Gary Murphy 72 68, Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 70.
Other qualifiers included (143 and better):
143 Stephen Gallacher 70 73.
Non-qualifiers included:

145 Marc Warren 72 73
146 Andrew Coltart 73 73, Steven O'Hara 73 73
147 Scott Drummond 72 75
161 Craig Martin 82 79

HOT HUME COOLS OFF

BUT STILL LYING THIRD

IN PAKISTAN OPEN

Glasgow’s Barry Hume, pictured right, was contesting the second-round lead in the Pakistan Open when he raced to the turn in six-under-par 30 with birdies at the first, second, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth at Karachi Golf Club.
But the 2001 Scottish amateur champion at Downfield stumbled on the way home with bogeys at the 11th, 14th and 18th and only one further birdie, at the 12th, to finish with a four-under-par 68 and a halfway total of eight-under-par 136.
Haggs Castle GC member Barry, who will have his 27th birthday on January 30, goes into the final two rounds of the $300,000 event in joint third place, three shots behind the Leeds-born leader, Simon Hurd who has shot 68 and 65 for 11-under 133.
Two other Scots were among the 72 players with totals of level par 144 who survived the cut. Ross Bain has had a pair of 71s for 142 while Simon Dunn made it through with nothing to spare after a 70 and 74. Dunn’s scorecard included a double-bogey 7 at the 11th.

LEADING HALFWAY TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
133 Simon Hurd (Eng) 68 65.
135 Airil Rizman Zahari (Pak) 67 68.
136 Barry Hume (Sco) 68 68, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 66, Uttam Singh Mundy (Pak) 68 68.
Other scores:
139 Mark Mouland Wal) 70 69.
140 Simon Griffiths (Eng) 73 67.
142 Ross Bain (Sco) 71 71.
144 Simon Dunn (Sco) 70 74.

PLAQUE AT INDIANA
COURSE PAYS
TRIBUTE TO
DESIGNER
TOM FROM
ABERDEEN

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Stuart Bendelow, the American
born and bred grandson of Tom
Bendlelow, continues his uphill
struggle to gain greater recognition
of his grandfather's part in the
spread of golf in North America
through the first 30-odd years
of the 20th Century.
Aberdonian Tom, who was a compositor with the Aberdeen Free Press, boarded the boat from Greenock or Glasgow to New York in the 1890s. Tom, a low-handicap amateur golfer, went on to design between 600 and maybe 1,000 courses - we will never know the precise figure - the length and breadth of North America.
JOHNNY APPLESEED OF AMERICAN GOLF
But Bendelow's work had largely been forgotten or, even worse, "rubbished" by some ill-informed writers of the modern era until Stuart took it upon himself to research Tom's life and write his biography: "Thomas 'Tom' Bendelow: The Johnny Appleseed of American Golf." If you want to obtain a copy of the book, E-mail me at colin@scottishgolfview.com
Stuart Bendelow will never give up being his late grandfather's publicist. Now he has come across an golf course in Indiana by the quaint name of French Lick - and, even better news, at the course is a plaque (pictured above) in memory of Tom Bendelow.
It's a sad state of affairs that back in Tom's home city of Aberdeen, the Bendelow Pie Shop - run by his father and mother next to Causewayend School, was more famous than Tom's golf pioneering work in the States.

PLEASE READ OUR ADVERTISEMENTS DOWN
THE LEFT HAND COLUMN.

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic over 90 holes in California

JUSTIN ROSE HOLES TWO BUNKER
SHOTS TO SHARE LEAD
Last week Luke Donald ... this week Justin Rose as English players come to the fore in the early weeks of the US PGA Tour.
Rose, pictured right, holed two bunker shots on his way to a 65 and a share of the lead with American Scott Verplank after two rounds of the 90-hole Bob Hope Chrystler Classic at Palm Desert, California.
Justin's stats for his "good day at the office" were an average drive of 279 yards, an average of 1.417putts per green and 66.7 % greens hit in regulation.

He holed from sand for an eagle 3 at the fifth and from a bunker for a birdie 2 at the short 12th.

Rose broke a four-year spell without a tournament victory by winning the Australian Masters four months ago.
Verplank has had a pair of 66s. He bogeyed the last hole in the second round.
Phil Mickelson, making his seasonal debut, bogeyed the last two holes as he returned a 70 for the second day in a row.
Phil is sharing 51st place with England's Ian Poulter (68-72) on 140.
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
Players from US unless stated
132 Justin Rose (Eng) 67 65, Scott Verplank 66 66.
133 Robert Allenby (Aus) 63 70, Johnson Wagner 66 67.
134 Matt Kuchar 66 68, John Rollins 67 67.
135 Mark Calcavecchia 65 70, Ted Purdy 70 65, Shane Bertsch 67 68.
Other scores:
137 Brian Davis (Eng) 69 68 (jt 18th).
140 Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 72, Phil Mickelson 70 70 (jt 51st).
143 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 70 73 (jt 89th).
147 Greg Owen (Eng) 75 72.

Orange Blossom Tour continues at Coral Ridge Country Club

CLAIRE-MARIE CARLTON GOES

DOWN IN QUARTER-FINALS

Stirling University student Claire-Marie Carlton lost by 4 and 3 to the No 5 seed, Lindy Duncan from Florida in the quarter-finals of the Jones/Doherty women’s amateur tournament at Coral Ridge Country Club, Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Claire-Marie had been the 20th seed.
In the previous round, Miss Duncan beat another Stirling student, Emma Tipping from Sandiway, Cheshire by 5 and 4.
A third Stirling student, Dawn Dewar from Monifieth, went down by 5 and 4 to Susan Choi in the quarter-finals of the first-flight competition for those beaten in the first round of the championship. Results:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Quarter-finals
Stefanie Kenoyer bt Taylor Collins at 20th.
Lindy Duncan bt Claire-Marie Carlton 4 and 3.
Marika Lendl bt Susan Nam 3 and 2.
Kristina Wong bt Isabelle Lendl 2 and 1.
FIRST FLIGHT
Quarter-finals
Gina Johnston bt Alexandra Frazier 6 and 5.
Susan Choi bt Dawn Dear 5 and 4.
Julie Carmichael bt Natalie McNicholas 5 and 4.
Grotvedt Benedikte bt Dana Cummings 5 and 4.
SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Quarter-finals
Carol Semple Thompson bt Peggy Woodward 4 and 3.
Connie Shorb bt Diana Schwab 1 hole.
Carolyn Creekmore bt Marlene Streit 6 and 5.
Therese Quinn bt Cathy Richey 4 and 2.

THE WAY WE WERE: When "R D B M" ruled the roost

SHADE: MECHANICAL
MAN WHO WON FIVE
SCOTTISH AMATEUR
TITLES IN A ROW

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

After our recent article about Frank Stranahan, the wealthy American who was one of the best golfers in the world during his years as an amateur golfer, it is difficult to think of anyone in Britain on a par with Stranahan.
Perhaps (Sir) Michael Bonallack, possibly Ronnie Shade. We’ll tackle the Bonallack Life Story soon.
In the meantime, join me in having a look at the career of Ronnie David Bell Mitchell Shade (courtesy of The Shell International Encyclopaedia of Golf with some additional details from Duddingston Golf Club).
FATHER WAS HIS SWING MENTOR
Intensively coached by his father, John Shade, the Duddingston club professional, Ronnie Shade developed a swing of mechanical appearance and repetitiveness.
Its principal characteristic was the unusual length of time he kept his head down after the ball had been struck.
Ronnie – it was said his initials, “R D B M,” stood for Right Down the Bloody Middle – was a very straight driver of the ball. He very rarely missed a fairway and few amateurs of his generation were putting for birdies as often as he was.
Shade’s outstanding achievement as an amateur was to capture the Scottish title in five successive years, twice more than Jack McLean did in the 1930s.
Shade actually played in SIX Scottish amateur championship 36-hole finals in a row.
He lost to Stuart Murray by 2 and 1 in the 1962 final at Muirfield.
CHAMPION FROM 1963 to 1967
Then came his five winning finals in a row.

1963 – Shade bt Newton Henderson 4 & 3 (Royal Troon).
1964 – Shade bt Jim McBeath 8 & 7 (Nairn).
1965 – Shade bt Gordon Cosh 4 & 2 (St Andrews).
1966 – Shade bt Colin Strachan 9 & 8 (Western Gailes).
1967 – Shade bt Alan Murphy 5 & 4 (Carnoustie).

In the process, Shade won 40 matches, 35 of them over 18 holes.
His game travelled well too. In world amateur team championship for the Eisenhower Trophy he broke a course record in Japan and in Mexico he had the lowest individual aggregate.
Shade prepared meticulously, almost professionally, for an important event and so when he actually turned pro at the age of 30 in 1968 – “belatedly” as he readily admitted afterwards, - he quickly found his feet and won a big tournament in each of his first two seasons
As an amateur he was awarded the MBE./
Born in Edinburgh, Shade died tragically young. He was only 47 when he passed away in 1986 after a long illness that made him only a shadow of the man he had been.


THE CAREER OF R.D.B.M. SHADE M.B.E. 1938 - 1986
(details supplied by Duddingston Golf Club)


SCOTTISH BOYS’ CHAMPION 1956

ENGLISH OPEN AMATEUR STROKE PLAY CHAMPION 1961-63-67

SCOTTISH AMATEUR CHAMPION 1963-64-65-66-67
BEATEN FINALIST 1962

OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP 1966 - LEADING AMATEUR

CARLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1966 – LEADING AMATEUR

EISENHOWER TROPHY 1966 – LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTAL

SCOTTISH AMATEUR STROKE PLAY CHAMPION 1968

BRITISH AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP BEATEN FINALIST 1966

CARROLS IRISH OPEN CHAMPION 1969

SCOTTISH PROFESSIONAL CHAMPION 1970

MUFULIRA OPEN (ZAMBIA) 1975


REPRESENTATIVE HONOURS

SCOTLAND (HOME INTERNATIONALS) 1957-60-61-62-63-64-65-66-67-68

WALKER CUP 1961-63-65-67

GREAT BRITAIN v EUROPE 1962-64-66-68

WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 1962-64-66-68

WORLD CUP (PROFESSIONAL) 1970-71-72

SCOTLAND – DOUBLE DIAMOND INTERNATIONALS – 1971-72-73-74-75

ANY MEMORIES OF RONNIE SHADE? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

Good start by Aberdonian to his 2007 campaign

PAUL LAWRIE (67) SHARING
FIFTH PLACE AFTER FIRST
ROUND AT ABU DHABI
Paul Lawrie got his 2007 golfing campaign off to a flying start with a five-under-par 67 in the first round of the Abu Dhabi championship at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates today.
The Aberdonian finished the opening day in joint fifth place after a bogey-free scorecard in which he had birdies at the second, third and fourth - what a start, indeed! - and further birdies at the 10th and 16th.
Second Scot in the top 20 is Lawrie's new Aberdeen Asset Management-sponsored team-mate Colin Montgomerie. Monty had a 69 to be sharing 18th place. Colin birdied the third, fifth, 17th and 18th with just one bogey, at the ninth.
Leader at nine-under-par 63 is Englishman Phillip Archer the man who came close (he faced a 6ft putt for a 59) to posting a sub-60 score in last year's Celtic Manor Wales Open.
Archer, 34, made 10 birdies and one bogey in his round, which carried him three shots clear at the top of a high quality leaderboard containing fellow Englishman Nick Dougherty, Retief Goosen (who required only 21 putts) and Henrik Stenson, who was involved in a collision with a lorry while driving to the golf course.
PUTTING LABORATORY VISIT
As birdie putt after birdie putt bolted into the hole, Archer was inwardly congratulating himself on the decision to improve that element of his game after managing to keep his card at a pinch at the end of 2005.
He booked a consultation with Dr Paul Hurrion at the latter’s “putting laboratory” near Birmingham, an establishment used by Padraig Harrington and David Howell among others, and last year improved 138 places on the putting statistics.
“It’s common sense what he tells you what to do” explained Archer. “It’s got me better in terms of my weight distribution over the ball and the big thing he changed was my putting grip. He’s got me gripping with both palms facing each other, so my thumbs are basically the same height and it levels up my shoulders.
“I saw Paul again just before Christmas. I just go for check-ups. I don’t over-do it. He gives me some really good things to work on and I do the drills every week.” he added.

FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 72
Players from Great Britain & Ireland unless stated)
63 Phillip Archer.
66 Retief Goosen (SAf), Nick Dougherty, Henrik Stenson (Swe).
67 Paul Lawrie, Richard Green (Aus), Gary Emerson.
68 James Hepworth, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Graeme Storm, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Anthony Wall, Padraig Harrington, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Ariel Canete (Arg), Oliver Fisher.
69 Colin Montgomerie, Chris DiMarco (US), Stephen Dodd, Robert Rock, Ian Garbutt, Francesco Molinari (Ita), Phillip Price.
70 Emanuele Canonica (Ita), Stephen Gallagher, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg), Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Robert-Jan Derksen (Net), Brett Rumford (Aus), Peter Hnason (Swe), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Jean Francois Lucquin (Fra), Alessandro Tadini (Ita), Richard Sterne (SAf), Andrew McLardy (SAf), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Oliver Wilson, Gary Orr, Garry Houston, Steve Webster.
71 Juan Parron (Spa), Graeme McDowell, Marcel Siem (Ger), Thomas Bjorn (Den), David Carter, Yasin Ali, Juan Parron (Spa), Paul Broadhurst, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Maarten Lafeber (Net), Peter Hedlom (Swe), Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha), Paul Casey, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Mardan Mamat (Sin), Andres Romero (Arg), James Kingston (Rsa), Lee Slattery, Peter Lawrie, Alastair Forsyth.
72 Christopher Hanell (Swe), Richard Bland, Gary Murphy, Notah Begay III (US), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind), Scott Drummond, Marcus Fraser (Aus), Miles Tunnicliff, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra), Damien McGrane, Mark Foster, Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Mattias Eliasson (Swe), Kyron Sullivan.
73 Matthew Millar (Aus), Mark Pilkington, Marc Warren, Richard Finch, Soren Hansen (Den), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa), Cesar Monasterio (Arg), Joakim Backstrom (Swe), Alexander Noren (Swe), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Andrew Coltart, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Markus Brier (Aut), Andrew Marshall, David Lynn, Barry Lane, Steven O'Hara, Christian Cevaer (Fra), David Park.
74 Kenneth Ferrie, Tom Whitehouse, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por), Jamie Spence, Terry Price (Aus), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Johan Axgren (Swe), John Bickerton, Simon Khan, Jean Van De Velde (Fra), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Gregory Havret (Fra).
75 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Christian L Nilsson (Swe), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Benn Barham, David Griffiths.
76 Peter Gustafsson (Swe), Simon Dyson.
77 Ross Fisher, Steven Jeppesen (Swe), Jose Manuel Lara (Spa).
81 Johan Edfors (Swe).
82 Craig Martin.
85 Alan Johnson.

ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

TICKETS ON SALE FOR SGU DINNER
nr FALKIRK ON FRIDAY, MARCH 30

The seventh annual Scottish Golf Union Dinner will be held on Friday, March 30 at the Macdonald Inchyra Grange Hotel near Falkirk . Tickets are on sale now.
The evening provides the traditional kick start to the amateur golf season, featuring a look back on what was a hugely successful year for Scotland’s amateur golfers in 2006 as well as a preview of the 2007 Scottish golfing season.
The Dinner will include the presentation of awards to leading amateur players from the SLGA & SGU Order of Merits.
Two excellent speakers will provide the evening’s entertainment. John Beattie, the former Scottish rugby international and British Lion, will take to the stage to air his amusing tales on rugby and life working as a sports journalist.
John will be followed by Brian Voyle-Morgan. Brian has been a frequent contributor to TV and radio shows and has had three books published, including “After Dinner Horror Stories”, a hilarious group of anecdotes about life on the speaking circuit. He currently writes a weekly sporting column in Dubai.
The Scottish Golf Dinner is a black tie function and tickets are available to golf club members, SLGA and SGU County/Area Associations, as well as corporate organisations.
Tickets are priced at £40 each or £400 (per table of 10) VAT inclusive. To make a reservation please call the SGU Events Department on 01382 549504.
Accommodation at the Macdonald Inchyra Grange Hotel is available on a first come, first served basis priced at £42 B&B per person sharing or £55 B&B single occupancy. To book, please call the hotel on 01324 711911 quoting “Scottish Golf Dinner."

BARRY HUME (68) UP WITH
LEADERS IN FIRST ROUND
OF PAKISTAN OPEN
Barry Hume was lying joint third at the end of the first round of the $300,000 Pakistan Open golf championship began at Karachi DGolf club today.
Barry, pictured right, shot a four-under-par 68 to be two shots behind the leader, local hero Muhammad Shabbir.
The former Scottish amateur champion from Haggs Castle birdied the long fourth, the par-4 eighth, the long 14th and the par-4 15th. He did not drop a shot in halves of 34.
England's Simon Hurd is on the same mark as the Scot.
Defending champion Chris Rodgers (England) enjoyed a bogey-free 69.
Scots-born Simon Dunn had a two-under-par 70.
FIRST-ROUND LEADERS
(Players from Pakistan unless stated)
Par 72
66 Muhammad Shabbir.
67 Airil Rizman Zahari (Malaysia)
68 Vivek Bhandari (Ind), Uttam Singh Mundy (Ind), Barry Hume (Sco), Rahul Ganapathy (Ind), Richard Lee (NZ), Simon Hurd (Eng).
69 Aktar Ali, Amardip Malik (Ind), Stephen Scahill (NZ), Chris Rodgers (Eng), Rick Gibson (Can), Yeh Chang-ting (Tai), Lin Chien-bing (Tai), Jerome Delariarte (Phi), Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind).
70 Simon Dunn (Sco), Peter Erofejeff (Fin), Hur In-hoi (Kor), Imdad Hussain, Scott Hend (Aus), Muhammed Munir, Marcus Both (Aus), Craig Kamps (SAf), Park Jun-won (Kor), Mitchell Brown (Aus), Shane Baxter (Aus), Adam Le Vesconte (Aus), Tony Lascuna (Phi), Lin Wen-hong (Tai), Mark Mouland (Wal).

ALLENBY LEADS BOB HOPE
CHRYSLER CLASSIC


Australian Robert Allenby is the first-round leader in the five-round Bob Hope Chrysler Classic which began at Palm Desert, California yesterday. Allenby shot a nine-under-par 63 to lead by two shots fronm Mark Calcavecchia and Craig Kanada.
British scores:
67 Justin Rose.
68 Ian Poulter.
69 Brian Davis.
75 Greg Owen.

If you want to read all the scores and information about the day's play, it's all there on the US PGA Tour website:
http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/

SCOTS INVOLVED IN BPTT CHARITY WEEK OF GOLF

ANDREW MARSHALL LEADS TEAM
TO VICTORY IN TRINIDAD

Andrew Marshall (Houston Golf Range) led the successful Baroid 2 team to victory with a net score of 62 in the BP Trinidad & Tobago Week of Golf scramble competition at St Andrews Golf Club, Trinidad today.
American Damien Hale led the Tucker/Weatherford team into second place on 63, pipping the Carillion team led by John Greaves (Glasgow) on a card countback. They also scored 63.
Bruce Davidson (River Oaks, Texas), originally from Banchory, finished fourth on 64 with the Offshore Technologies Solutions Ltd team.
Stephen Gray (Deer Park) also returned a score of 64 with the Evolve Partners team but was placed fifth on a card countback.
Graham Fox (West Kilbride) and Paramont Transport gained sixth prize with a score of 65.

Orange Blossom Tour continues at Coral Ridge Country Club

SCOT IN QUARTER-FINALS OF
FLORIDA MATCH-PLAY

Stirling University student Claire-Marie Carlton (Fereneze) is through to the quarter-finals of the Jones-Doherty women’s amateur golf tournament at Coral Ridge Country Club, Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Claire-Marie, the 20th qualifier for the match-play stages, beat Maggie Weder from North Carolina, the 29th qualifier, by 4 and 3.
The Scot now plays the fifth seed, Lindy Duncan from Florida. Lindy won by 5 and 4 against Emma Tipping from Sandiway, Cheshire, the only other Stirling student to reach the last 16.
In the first-flight competition for those who lost their first-round ties, Stirling students Dawn Dewar (Monifieth) and Rachel Cassidy (Dublin) had contrasting fortunes. Dawn won by 5 and 4 against Gia Fanelli but Rachel went down by 5 and 4 to Susan Choi.
A fifth Stirling student, Catherine Baines, went down by 8 and 6 to Lisa Schlesinger in a second-flight tie. In the same competition, Sarah Carty (Dublin) lost by 3 and 2 to Angel Sze.
The tournament is the third on the Orange Blossom Tour.
Results:
CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT
Second Round
Players from US unless stated.
Taylor Collins bt Jordyn Hage 2 and 1.
Mary Jane Hiestand bt Stefanie Kenoyer 1 hole.
Claire-Marie Carlton (Sco) bt Maggie Weder 4 and 3.
Lindy Duncan bt Emma Tipping (Eng) 5 and 4.
Marika Lendl Rachel Carpenter 2 and 1.
Susan Nam bt Marilyn Hardy 2 and 1.
Isabelle Lendl bt Laura Carson 5 and 4.
Kristina Wong bt Kyle Roig at 19th.
FIRST FLIGHT
First round
Alexandra Fraseir walk-over.
Patsy Ehret bt Gina Johnston 5 and 4.
Susan Choi bt Rachel Cassidy (Ire) 5 and 4.
Dawn Dewar (Sco) bt Gia Fanelli 5 and 4.
Natalie McNicholas bt Taffy Brower 3 and 2.
Julie Carmichael bt Julie Garner 4 and 2.
Dana Cummings bt Madison Pressel 2 and 1.
Boo Grotvedt Benedikte bt Reggie Parker 2 holes.
SECOND FLIGHT
Quarter-finals
Lisa Schiesinger bt Catherine Baines (Eng) 8 and 6.
Judy Dotten bt Michelle Hartnell 6 and 4.
Claire Grysko bt Mayura Skowronski 2 and 1.
Angel Sze bt Sarah Carty (Ire) 3 and 2.

SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
Second round
Carol Semple Thompson bt Natalie Easterly 2 and 1.
Pedggy Woodard bt Linda Pearson 2 and 1.
Diana Schwab bt Barb Pagana 1 hole.
Connie Shorb bt Meredith Wolf 5 and 3.
Carolyn Creekmore bt Cynthia Curry 4 and 2.
Marleine Streit bt Angela Steward 1 hole.
Therese Quinn bt Debe Schwedler 4 and 2.
Cathy Richey bt Janice Wilson 2 holes.

WAY THEY WERE IN N-E ALLIANCE OF YESTERYEAR

A North-east Alliance championship (?) presentation from yesteryear with Chapper Thomson (Muriel's father), then the secretary, presenting the trophy to Harry Bannerman. Jock Lawson is to the immediate right of Harry. A young-looking Ronnie McDonald, now Kemnay club pro, is on the extreme right. You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

JOCK LAWSON: Murcar professional who
made Muriel Thomson a star

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Jock Lawson, who died a few weeks ago at Tain, was part-and-parcel of the North-east golf season for 13 years as professional at Murcar Golf Club so it is only right that Scottishgolfview.com traces his life story.
Muriel Thomson was a Murcar member and a successful amateur golfer before she became a successful tournament professional and then settled down as professional at Portlethen Golf Club.
Muriel says that Jock played a key role in her development as a golfer.
CHANGED HER GRIP
“I was at Jock’s funeral in Tain and was honoured to be asked by his family to speak at the service and pay tribute to him. I had always kept in touch with him and had visited him at Tain,” said Muriel.
“It was Jock who gave me my first golf lesson when I was a girl. I had joined Murcar as a cack-handed golfer. He was the one who changed my grip for me (round about the age of 15) and he was completely dedicated to seeing me improve.
“Jock Lawson was really the only golfing mentor I had. He taught me right through into my pro career when I visited him at Thorpeness. Yes, Jock played a very important part in my golfing career.
UNDER JOCK'S WING
“Who knows what path I might have gone down had Jock not been there at Murcar and taken me under his wing as a junior.”
Jock Lawson was born in Fife – either in 1920 or 1923, some doubt about which year – but brought up in Callander.
He got his toe on the ladder of PGA golf when he became an assistant at Windyhill Golf Club in 1938.
World War II came along in September 1939 and Jock served in the RAF.
On his demob, he picked up his golf career again as an assistant pro at Minchinhampton Golf Club, Gloucester in 1946. The following year he gained his first full club pro appointment at Barford Golf Club, near Oxford.
In 1953 he moved to Thornaby on Tees Golf Club, Yorkshire.
MOVE TO MURCAR IN 1959
In February 1959, he succeeded Bill McHardy as professional at Murcar Golf Club. The Press and Journal report of the time said that Jock was 36 at that time.
Jock soon built up a reputation as a golf teacher but he could also play the game and was a regular and sometimes successful competitor on the North-east Alliance circuit.
A contemporary of Alliance stalwarts such as Joe Little, Innes Wright, John Grant, Ian Phillips, Harry Bannerman, Graham Everett and Ian Smith, Jock was beaten four or five times in the final – with different partners – in the North-east Alliance pro-am foursomes.
He did win the NE Alliance mixed foursomes – whatever happened to that event? – for the George Duncan Trophy with Murcar’s Mrs Balfour at Banchory in April 1960. They headed a field of more than 50 couples with a gross 76, winning from Jimmy Nicol and Miss Margaret Brown (Peterhead) and Finlay Morrison and Mrs Kennaway (Deeside).
OFFER HE COULD NOT REFUSE
In early 1972, Jock Lawson received what he described as an offer he could not refuse from Tenby Golf Club, Pembrokeshire and he left to take up the South Wales post in 1972. His successor at Murcar was John Nicol.
“I had been very, very happy indeed at Murcar and they were very good to me but I just couldn’t turn down the offer from Tenby,” said Jock
After a few years at Tenby, Jock Lawson was tempted to move again and he did – to Shawhill Hotel golf courses at Chorley in Lancashire.
Later he moved to another hotel golf course set-up at Thorpeness in Surrey.
In the early 1980s, Jock returned to Scotland, as he had always wanted to, and spent a happy few years as Tain Golf Club professional. He retired in 1987 and was made an honorary member of the Professional Golfers Association.
He was in his 80s when he died in November 2006.
IF YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OF JOCK LAWSON, YOU CAN E-MAIL THEM TO colin@scottishgolfview.com

RYAN FITZPATRICK FINDS
PUTTING SECRET FOR
FIRST WIN AT PETERHEAD

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Inchmarlo Golf Centre assistant professional Ryan Fitzpatrick, now a fully qualified PGA pro, has been experimenting with cack-hunting putting lately. Anything to change his luck on the greens.
Well, his luck certainly changed at Peterhead today when he headed a field of 85 in bright but latterly very cold conditions with a three-under-par round of 67. It was 27-year-old Ryan’s first win of the 2006-2007 North-east Alliance season.
“The funny thing about my putting today,” said Ryan, “was that I missed quite a few birdie putts of about six to eight feet. On the other hand, I holed four putts from 20 to 40ft range.”
Fitzpatrick turned in level par 35 with birdies at the fourth and eighth being cancelled out by bogeys at the sixth and ninth. When a third bogey, at the 10th, put him one over par, it looked like being another disappointing day, which had started with his intended partners failing to turn up on the first tee.
Then Ryan’s putting suddenly clicked and he started slotting them home from all angles. He birdied the 11th, 13th 15th and 16th, to come home in three-under-par 32 for his 67.
LONG-TIME CLUBHOUSE LEADER
That pipped long-time clubhouse leader, Iain Buchan (Craibstone Centre) by one shot. Iain had made his score the other way round from Fitzpatrick, covering the first nine in three-under-par 32 with birdies at the second, third, fifth and eighth and one bogey at the fourth.
Coming home, Buchan had bogeys at the 13th and 14th and only one birdie, at the 15th in 36 home for a 68.
It turned out to be a professional 1-2-3 with Kemnay’s Ronnie McDonald shooting a 70 for third place despite running up a double bogey 6 at the fourth and dropping to three over par with a bogey at the seventh.
McDonald got his first birdie at the ninth to be out in two-over 37, which dipped to three-over with a 5 at the 12th. Then he covered the last five holes in two over par with birdie 3rs at the 14th, 15th and 17th for 33 home.
IAN BRATTON ON HOLIDAY
So what happened to Newburgh club pro Ian Bratton who had won five of the earlier meetings this season? Well, he did not play this week - for the simple reason he is on holiday.
That gave the rest of the guys a break!
The pace of play was quite good at Peterhead - a field of 85 all back in the clubhouse by the back of 4pm. Walking smartly between shots keeps you warm in cold temperatures. Keep up the good work at Buckpool next Wednesday!

LEADING SCRATCH SCORES

Par 70 (p denotes professional; ap, assistant professional; s, senior).

67 R Fitzpatrick (Inchmarlo) ap.
68 I Buchan (Craibstone) p.
70 R McDonald (Kemnay) p.
71 R Pirie (Caledonian), F Bisset (Banchory)..
72 C Nelson (MacKenzie Club) p, S Finnie (Caledonian), B Ritchie (Inverallochy).
73 A Campell (Deeside), E Kennedy (Stonehaven), S Davidson (Banchory) p, W S Urquhart (Murcar Links) s.
74 R Stewart (Cruden Bay) p, N Murray (Cruden Bay) p, T Mathieson (Murcar Links), R Hyland (Newmachar).
75 G Ingram (Inverurie), C Carnegie (Kemnay), J Morris (Craibstone), S Fraser (Northern), D Garrett (Huntly), S Scott (Auchmiill).
76 D McGlachan (Inverurie), S Troup (Kings Links) ap, K Smith (Aboyne), N Parker (Murcar Links).
77 C Cassie (Nigg Bay), B Harper (Newburgh), L Barbour (Cruden Bay), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) s, J M Hamilton (Murcar Links).
78 A Petrie (Oldmeldrum).
80 K Davidson (Turriff), F G Gray (Deeside) s, D Wilson (Duff House Royal), N Reid (Deeside) ap.
81 J Dalgarno (Hazlehead), R Penny (Portlethen), S Chalmers (Banchory) ap, A Swift (Auchmill), D Leighton (Murcar Links).
82 M Lawrie (Kemnay), D Corkey (East Aberdeenshire).
83 F Barclay (Kintore), P Farnan (Royal Aberdeen) s, G Homer (Lumphanan).


LEADING HANDICAP RETURNS

Class 1 – F Bisset (Banchory) (4) 67; R Pirie (Caledonian) (3) 68; D McGlachan (Newburgh) (7), C Cassie (Nigg Bay) (8), K Smith (Aboyne) (7) 69; J Morris (Craibstone) (5), B Ritchie (Inverallochy) (2), N Parker (Murcar Links) (6) 70; W S Urquhart (Murcar Links) s (2), G Ingram (Inverurie) (4), B Harper (Newburgh) (6), A Petrie (Oldmeldrum) (7) 71; S Finnie (Caledonian) (scr), R Scott (Auchmill) (3), R L Nicoll (Murcar Links) s (5); J M Hamilton (Murcar Links) (5), K Davidson (Turriff) (8) 72; A Campbell (Deeside) (scr), E Kennedy (Stonehaven) (scr), C Carnegie (Kemnay) (2), D Garrett (Huntly) (2) 73; S Fraser (Northern) (1) 74.


Class 2 – D Wood (Newburgh) (14) s 70; R Alison (Deeside) (13) s, G Homer (Lumphanan (12) 71; P Cornfield (Auchmill) (11); I Strachan (Royal Aberdeen) (11) 73; J Penny (Huntly) (12) 74; C Hood (Alford) (10), K Duncan (Cruden Bay) (12); J Jessiman (Oldmeldrum) (14) s, G Travis (Auchmill) (15), R Addison (Newburgh) (18) s 76; D Randall (Banchory) s (11), G Kennedy (Meldrum House) (13) 79; J Robb (Turriff) (11), D Lawrie (Inchmarlo) (12) 80; J Short (Murcar Links) (14) 81; J Jones (Craibstone) (10) s, I Grant (Huntly) (18) 85.

LEADING SCORECARDS

Peterheard par 70:

OUT: 4-3-4-4-4-3-4-5-4-35.
IN: 3-4-4-4-4-4-3-4-5-35

RYAN FITZPATRICK 67
OUT: 4-3-4-3-4-4-4-4-5-35
IN: 4—3-3-4-4-3-2-4-5-32

IAIN BUCHAN 68
OUT: 4-2—3-5-3-3-4-4-4-32
IN: 3-4-5-5-4-3-3-4-5-36

RONNIE McDONALD 70
OUT: 4-3-4-6-4-3-5-5-3-37
IN: 3-4-5-4-3-3-3-3-5-33

FERGUS BISSET 71
OUT: 4-3-4-4-4-4-5-6-4-38
IN: 2-3-5-4-4-4-4-3-4-33

ROY PIRIE 71
OUT: 6-3-4-4-5-3-4-4-4-37
IN: 2-4-4-3-4-5-3-4-5-34

LEADING ORDER OF MERIT (Scratch) PLACINGS
(At the end of 2006)
1 IAN BRATTON (Newburgh) 0.6
2 TERRY MATHIESON (Murcar Links) 0-7.
3 GARY ESSON (Portlethen) 1.3.
4 DEAN YATES (Newmachar) 1.4.
5 STEWART FINNIE (Caledonian) 1.8.
6 NEIL MURRAY (Cruden Bay 2.2.
6 COLIN NELSON (MacKenzie Club) 2.5.
8 IAIN BUCHAN (Craibstone) 2.3.
9 BILLY MAIN (Murcar Links) 2.4.
10 ANDREW CAMPBELL (Deeside) 2.6.
11 STEWART DAVIDSON (Banchory) 2.7.
12 CRAIG STEPHEN (Meldrum Hosue) 2.8.
13 DAVID CORKEY (East Aberdeenshire) 2.9.
14 PATRICK LOVIE (Inchmarlo) 3.2.
15 RONNIE McDONALD (Kemnay) 3.4.
16 RYAN FITZPATRICK (Inchmarlo) 3.6.
17 NICK REID (Deeside) 3.7.
18 BRIAN RITCHIE (Inverallochy) 3.9.
19 ROBBIE STEWART (Cruden Bay) 3.9.
20 EUAN KENNEDY (Stonehaven) 4.0.
21 RICHARD HYLAND (Newmachar) 4.2.


ANY COMMENTS? E-mail them to colin@scottishgolfview.com

SPRINGBOK SCOT
DOUG McGUIGAN
BOOKS PLACE
AT CARNOUSTIE
When Doug McGuigan, pictured right, wrapped his arms around the Claret Jug at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club today, nothing but the Open title itself would have left a wider smile.
He qualified at Atlantic Beach in 2005 and two years later he has done it again.The fact that he was sharing the spotlight with Brazilian Adilson Da Silva, did not bother McGuigan in the least, but he did admit that he would have preferred not to share the first place spoils.
"At least our flights are both covered," said a smiling McGuigan as he reluctantly let go of golf's most coveted piece of silverware, the Claret Jug, to join the press.
First in the clubhouse at 10-under-par 134 after the final round of International Final Qualifying (Africa) meant that the South African-born Scot was the first player from IFQ to book his berth in the 2007 Open Championship at Carnoustie in July.
COURSE RECORD 62 BY BOTES
McGuigan and Adilson Da Silva, fellow Sunshine Tour players, shot matching rounds of 66 and 68 to tie for the lead, while 14-time Sunshine Tour winner, Desvonde Botes, wrote a little history of his own at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington on his way to sharing the third spot
In 1991, Botes won the South African amateur championship at the East Course with 3 and 1 victory over Barry Sundelson, becoming the youngest winner of the match-play title at the age of 16.
Sixteen years later, breaking par for the first time on the West course, Botes tore up the course with 11 birdies against a lone bogey for a course record 62.His score, one better than another Springbok-Scot, Andrew McLardy's six-day record set during last weeks' Joburg Open, took his overall score to nine-under
Australian challenger Terry Pilkadaris, after having a glance at the leaderboard, birdied 14 and 15, then holed a crucial putt for eagle at the last for a final round 68 to tie Botes for the third spot on 135.
The feisty Aussie also claimed rookie honours as the only player in the leading quartet not to have teed it up in an Open before.
McGuigan said afterwards that some of his inspiration to qualify came from a letter in the post five weeks ago, when he received a signed photo of the legend 'Jack Nicklaus' at St Andrews after his final appearance at the Open.
"Just looking at that picture gave me the courage to fight for a spot," he said afterwards. "It doesn't matter how many times you go there, you are always in awe when you get there."
McGuigan played in the 2005 Open, where he missed the cut. A four time Dunhill Links competitor at Carnoustie, McGuigan hopes to keep his form alive until the Open there.
"I'm going over to Carnoustie a little wiser and a little older," he said.
"But in the greater scheme of things, to be standing on the driving range with guys like Tiger Woods, Chris Dimarco and Jim Furyk is an overwhelming experience.
"I hope my Dunhill Links experience will do me well, because it a difficult course that requires accuracy and the precision of a surgeon. The greens alone at Carnoustie produce more tears than a funeral."
The remaining four IFQ's will be played at:
The Lakes, Sydney (Australasia) on February 6.
Sentosa, Singapore (Asia) on March 27 & 28.
Oakland Hills, Michigan (America) on 2 July 2.
Sunningdale (Europe) on July 2.

Leading scores:

QUALIFIERS FOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP


134 Adilson Da Silva (Brazil) 66 68, Douglas McGuigan (Sco) 66 68.


135 Desvonde Botes (South Africa) 72 63, Terry Pilkadaris (Australia) 67 68.





Other scores (players from South Africa unless stated):


136 Trevor Moore 71 65.


136 Dion Fourie 68 68, Michael Lamb (Zimbabwe) 68 68, Vaughn Groenewald 68 68, Tyrone Van Aswegen 66 70.


137 Tongoona Charamba (Zimbabwe) 71 66.

STENSON WINS ABU DHABI
SHOOT-OUT WITH DRIVE
OF 710 YARDS AT AIRPORT

London Golf Show-sponsored Paul Slater lost out to Ryder Cup hero Henrik Stenson when the two went head-to-head in a long drive shoot-out in Abu Dhabi today.
Stenson set a new Asian long-drive record with a prodigious effort of 710 yards to beat world-record holder Slater when the two went up against each other, driving off the wing of an Etihad Airways 767 jet at Abu Dhabi International Airport, in an event to promote the Abu Dhabi golf championship.
They were joined by five amateurs who had won the right to compete in competitions in various golf magazines across the world.
Slater, from Warrington, could manage "only" 640 yards as the rain lashed down, making the wing very slippery underfoot.
Stenson’s new Asian best is still some way short of Slater’s world best of 884 yards, set last April at NMSI Wroughton, in Wiltshire.
Jay Tyson, the operations director for Slater’s sponsor, the London Golf Show, accompanied the world-record holder out to the Middle East.
He said: “Slates hit the ball well enough but everybody apart from Henrik seemed to go off to the left. Henrik’s ball went straight down the middle and stayed straight. I suppose it emphasises the subtle differences between the pros and the Tour pros.”
Slater returns to the UK later this week and will be demonstrating his long-driving skills – and offering some tips – at the London Golf Show at ExCeL from April 26-29.
+Just in case you are wondering how they are able to drive the ball so far ... the obvious explanation is that they are not driving on to grass but the tarmac runways down which a golf ball can bounce for miles, well, almost!

NORTH ALLIANCE SEASON
GETS BACK IN FULL SWING
AT TAIN ON SUNDAY

By ROBIN WILSON
Tain duo Mike Keay and Billy Ferries are the current top two golfers in the North Alliance, holding the best 72-hole aggregate scores before the fixtures resume after the holiday break at Tain this coming Sunday.
The two trophies they are in contention for when the season ends in March are the MacKintosh Salver for net returns and the Alliance Quaich for scratch rounds. Used to find the winners are the best two scores returned over Caithness venues added to their best two rounds at venues in Ross-shire and Sutherland.
Keay, the greenkeeper at Tarbat golf course and playing in his first Alliance season, currently leads the MacKintosh Salver handicap aggregates with 282: made up of a 71 at Tain, 69 at Invergordon, 70 at Wick and 72 at Reay.
Mike has has a net three-shot stroke advantage over Ferries who, at the same stage, holds the Alliance Quaich scratch lead on 293 from rounds of 72 at Tain, 76 at Invergordon, 70 at Reay and 75 at Thurso.
Ferries reduces his scratch total to 285 when his handicap of two is applied.
ANOTHER TAIN CHALLENGER
Tain has a third member in the hunt for one of the trophies. Steve Holmes is on a net total of 290 with his best handicap rounds of 71 at Tain and Invergordon, a 72 at Wick and a 76 at Durness (Durness although in Sutherland counts as a Caithness venue).
Munro Ferries, who has been runner to the scratch winner in the past two seasons, is six shots behind his brother, Billy, but has every opportunity to close the gap this weekend over his home course.
There are two Caithness club members who can leap into contention should they choose to play for a second “away” score this weekend. Defender of the scratch trophy, Ronnie Taylor (Wick), who last time scored 75 at Tain but missed the Invergordon fixture, is on a three-score total of 216 while Doug Thorburn (Thurso) is better placed on 213, but also requiring a second counting score outwith Caithness.
Doug also missed Invergordon but has counting scores at Thurso (69), Reay 71 and Tain 73 to work with.

LEHMAN AND WALDORF
COMING OVER FOR
ITALIAN OPEN IN MAY

Tom Lehman, the 2006 United States Ryder Cup team captain, and DuffyWaldorf, one of his backroom assistants at The K Club, will bring a Ryder Cup flavour to the Telecom Italia Open, which returns to Castellodi Tolcinasco G&CC, Milan, from May 3-6.
The American duo, two of the nicest personalities in world pro golf, have long been close friends, teaming up three times to win Hyundai Cup team matches. They will be competing in the Telecom Italian Open for the first time.
Lehman joined the game's elite with his Open championship victory at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1996, a year he topped the US PGA Tour money list and also forced his way to the top of the Official World GolfRanking to become world No. 1.
Waldorf, winner of four titles on the US PGA Tour, is one of the mosteasily recognisable players in world golf with his penchant for colourful shirts and caps. His golf balls are also adorned with messages and reminders from his wife and children. His best year was 1999 when he won twice. As a connoisseur of fine wines, Waldorf is sure to enjoy his visit to Italy.

GIVE US YOUR VIEW ON TODAY'S TALKING POINT

THE OPEN SHOULD BE

THE TOUGHEST TEST,

SO LET'S MAKE IT

OVER SIX ROUNDS!
This week sees the Bob Hope Classic in California, the only five-round or 90-hole event on any of the major golf tours of the world – if you discount the qualifying schools.
When, where and why did 72 holes become the norm for a professional golf tournament? Was it a bit like 18 holes becoming the standard length of a golf course, really by chance rather design?
Does anyone out there agree with me that the Open championship should be over at least six rounds?
Why? Because it should be THE major test of golf and two extra rounds would ensure that the best player in the field is the winner at the end of almost a week of solid play.
“Normal” cricket matches are over three days. But Test matches are over five (unless it’s England playing Australia, of course).
“Normal” boxing matches are over 10 rounds. But world championship matches are over 15 rounds.

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATION
And I am sure there are other examples.
Michael Bonallack (before he became a “Sir), pictured above, once told me – and a few hundred other golf writers at an Open Press conference – that the rough SHOULD be longer, the fairways SHOULD be narrower, the bunkers deeper, etc at an Open championship because it is a tournament to find out the best all-round player.
He compared it with education: A university entrance examination should be and is a lot harder to pass than say your normal term test at school. And so it should be with the Open championship compared with run-of-the-mill tournaments.

On a not so serious note. When you think of the money that the R&A makes from a four-day Open championship and spreads liberally around the world for the good of golf, just think how much more money would be generated by two extra days of tournament play.

COLIN FARQUHARSON

YOUR COMMENTS, PLEASE. Let me have your view on the subject by E-mailing me at colin@scottishgolfview.com

IT'S A SWISS!
ROMINGER
BROTHER & SISTER
WIN CHIVAS
SNOW TITLES
European Seniors Tour Order of Merit winner Sam Torrance and supermodel Jodie Kidd, pictured right, added the golf expertise and glamour to the Chivas Snow Golf Championship held in Engadin, St, Moritz.
A record 150 people from over 20 countries took part in the 28th playing of this remarkable event.
In the men’s professional category, Asia Tour rookie and local Swiss professional, Martin Rominger held off last year’s winner, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano from Spain to take the glory and win the Chivas Regal trophy.
Fernandez-Castano made a confident defence of his title with three pars in the opening holes. However, the local favourite came into form, scoring birdies at the fourth, seventh and eighth.
Rominger, 27 strokes for the nine-hole course, eventually beat the Spaniard by three shots.
Former European Tour pro and BBC commentator Paul Eales finished third with 35.
Martin Rominger commented after his victory, “This year was my first time playing the course as a professional but I have played snow golf here many times as an amateur. I got a little more lucky on these whites plus I have home turf advantage."
Sam Torrance, who had to withdraw from the competition on the day due to a hand injury, was an active spectator, cheering on all the participants.
Korean golfer, J M Lee, who shot 28 (gross score), won the men’s open amateur championship.
Keen golfer Jodie Kidd finished with a score of 45 to finish 10th in the women's open championship which was won by Switzerland’s leading amateur, Caroline Rominger, sister of Martin. She had a score of 40 to make it a Rominger family double.
Jodie Kidd said: “I had such a great time at last year’s Chivas Snow Golf, I jumped at the chance to come back again as soon as I got the invite. Snow golf is very different to 'real' golf. Most of the typical rules go out of the window but it’s lovely to do something so fun, unpredictable and different. That’s why I love it.”
Tournament co-ordinator, Claudio Chiogna was delighted with the event, saying, “The conditions have been difficult this year as it has been so warm which can cause problems in getting the course ready in time. However, despite the difficulties, this year we have had the most entries into the tournament that we’ve had in 28 years”.
The Championship was played on a nine-hole snow course, 1800 metres above sea level, at the foot of Piz Bernina mountain in Engadin, St Moritz .
Martin Riley, Marketing Director for Chivas Regal said, “No-one can deny this is golf’s coolest tournament - played in the Alpine snow by celebrities and professionals alike, with the added glitz and glamour of St. Moritz. Snow golf, part of the Chivas Life, is both inspiring and extraordinary and one of those things that everyone should try at least once in their life”.
Sam Torrance said of the event, “I think snow golf is fantastic - a great idea. I’ve played golf in the frost in Scotland but I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Everyone should have a go and try it."

STIRLING STUDENTS UPSET
SEEDINGS IN FLORIDA
BUT BEAT TEAM-MATES

Stirling students Claire-Marie Carlton (Fereneze) and Emma Tipping (Sandiway) progressed through to the last 16 at the expense of team-mates Rachel Cassidy from Dublin and Monifieth’s Dawn Dewar respectively in the opening match-play round of the Jones/Doherty tournament at Coral Ridge Country Club, Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
Claire-Marie, pictured right, the 20th seed, was a 4 and 3 win over Rachel, the 13th seed while Emma also upset the seedings. Seeded No 201, Emma beat the 12th seeded Dawn 5 and 4.
The No 1 seed, last year’s title-winner Alexandra Bodemann fell at the first hurdle, beaten by two holes by the 32nd qualifier, Jordyn Hage.
Ivan Lendl’s teenage daughters Marika and Isabelle, the Nos 2 and 3 seeds won through with varying degrees of ease. Marika was a 5 and 3 winner over Natalie McNicholas but Isabelle had to go to the last green before winning by one hole against Daria Cummings.
A fifth Stirling student, Catherine Baines from England, and independent Irish golfing tourist, Sarah Carty from Dublin had byes in the first round of the second flight of match-play.
The Jones/Doherty tournament is the third event on the annual Orange Blossom Tour for female amateurs in Florida.

HANDS UP THOSE WHO KNOW

FROM WHERE CARNOUSTIE

GOT ITS NAME

As you all know - or should know - the Open championship returns to Carnoustie from July 19 to 22 for the first time since Aberdonian Paul Lawrie won the Claret Jug in 1999 after that incredible play-off against the unforgettable Jean Van de Velde and ..... ?

Not many people remember the name of the third man in the play-off quite so easily , even though he had won the Open only two years earlier at Royal Troon.

Give up? It was American Justin Leonard.
To get to the point of this preamble about Carnoustie .... I was clicking through the quite informative Carnoustie Golf Links website looking for the precise dates of this year's Craw's Nest Tassie amateur tournament, when I came across the following interesting item about the place we Scots pronounce Car-NOUSTIE while Americans put the emphasis on the first syllable, i.e. CAR-noustie.

HOW CARNOUSTIE GOT ITS NAME

The name Carnoustie probably derives from two Scandinavian nouns, “car” meaning rock and “noust” meaning “bay”. However, there is more fanciful explanation that some local inhabitants prefer.
Those individuals will tell you that the town got its name from the Battle of Barry in 1010 in which the Scottish King, Malcolm II, repulsed a band of Danish invaders led by their general, Camus.
History suggests that the Battle of Barry was a bloody affair that raged for hours until Camus was put to the sword. To this day, a cross in the ground of the Panmure Estate marks the spot where he was buried.
Legend has it that the Norse Gods were so incensed by the loss of their favourite warrior that they put a curse on the neighbourhood, letting thousands of crows loose on Barry Sands.

Soon, the crows colonised the woodland on what is now Buddon Ness, their numbers growing to such an extent that the area became known as Craw’s Nestie, later corrupted to become Carnoustie.
The village was elevated to burgh status in 1899 and at that time local officials adopted a crest featuring three crows flying over a leafy tree.
Later, in 1927, an annual amateur tournament was launched. Originally, it was rather unimaginatively titled the Carnoustie Corporation Trophy but, after a while, that name was dropped in favour of the more colourful Craw’s Nest Tassie (a tassie is an old Scots word for a drinking cup).

SO NOW YOU KNOW - COURTESY OF THE CARNOUSTIE GOLF LINKS WEBSITE.

+The dates of this year's Craw's Nest Tassie tournament are September 2 t0 8. Don't delay if you want to get your entry in alongside the army of English club players, not to mention those from overseas, who support this week-long stroke-play then match-play event which was once one of the leading amateur tournaments on the Scottish golfing calendar.

+Perhaps worth drawing your attention to another competitive opportunity to play this year's Open championship venue - before they let the rough grow - and that's the Carnoustie Country Classic from May 14 to 17. Four Stableford points rounds over Montrose, Panmure, Monifieth and Carnoustie.

SCOT SCHOFIELD GETS JOB
OF ANALYSING ENGLAND'S
CRICKET SHAMBLES

David Harbord reports in today's edition of "The Guardian" that a Scot - no less a figure than former European Tour golf supremo, Ken Schofield, has been appointed to a panel with a remit of finding out what went wrong - from England's point of view - in the recent 5-o thrashing by England in the Ashes.
A former Auchterarder-born bank clerk with a love of keeping sporting statistics, Schofield said: "I've been appointed as an independent voice and I'll do the job without fear or favour. We have access to all areas and we know we have to think quickly on our feet."
Ken will be joined in his quest by the former England captains, Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and the former England pace bowler Angus Fraser, plus two others as yet unnamed.
"I liken England's current loss of the Ashes to what happened when the Americans won back the Ryder Cup in 1999," said Schofield, who was in charge of European Tour professional golf for 30 years. "They had lost the trophy two matches in a row and just had to win it back. I think we saw a similar thing during the Ashes, where the Australians regrouped impressively.

MEMBER OF SURREY C C C
The 60-year-old Schofield - whose late Lancastrian father was a cricketer - loves his cricket and has been a Surrey member for many years.
"My passion for cricket is almost as strong as it is for golf and I'm honoured to have been asked," he said. "Two of the proudest moments of my sporting life came at The Oval when I saw David Gower captain the side that won back the Ashes in 1985 and Michael Vaughan's triumph just 18 months ago."

JANUARY 26 DEADLINE TO

ENTER NICK FALDO

SERIES IN SCOTLAND

The search for the next generation of European Tour champions is underway as the Faldo Series opens its doors to young golfers throughout Europe, offering them a chance to participate in a tournament that has helped to shape the careers of the likes of Nick Dougherty, James Heath and Oliver Fisher.
By contacting the Faldo Series, youngsters could secure the opportunity to play a number of tournaments and draw inspiration from the six-time Major winner who will captain the next European Ryder Cup side in 2008.
If a youngster plays off a single-figure handicap, then don't delay - get his or her application in now as the deadline (January 26th, 2007) is fast approaching.
Supported by the European Tour, the Professional Golfers Association and the R&A, the Faldo Series enters its 11th season this year.
To celebrate, Nick Faldo has announced yet another impressive schedule, which will combine top-level competition at some of the world’s greatest championship venues with education on every facet of the sport.

NEW FEATURES
The 2007 Series will include a number of new features.
*An extra region has been added, bringing the total to eight nationwide, with two tournaments in each region.
*There will now be four 36 hole regional finals, from which two players per age group will qualify for the Faldo Series grand final.
*There are also a number of exciting new venues being added, including The Roxburghe.
Entrants must be born in 1986 or later and have a handicap according to their age group:
Mixed Under 21 years (handicap limit 4).
Boys U-18 years (handicap limit 5); Boys U-17 years (handicap limit 6); Boys U-16 years (handicap limit 7); Boys U-15 years (handicap limit 8); Girls U-18 years (handicap limit 9).
For those players who are either unsuccessful in the ballot or unable to enter, there is an opportunity to play in the free-to-enter Faldo Series qualifiers. Launched in 2005, this allows hundreds more players the opportunity to benefit from the Faldo Series experience and the chance to qualify for the Faldo Series main schedule…without paying a penny.
If you are interested and would like an application form, please contact:
The Faldo Series,3 Coda Centre,189 Munster Rd,London SW6 6AWTelephone: 020 7471 2500E: series@nickfaldo.comW: http://www.nickfaldo.com/

NICK FALDO SERIES: 2007 SCOTTISH QUALIFYING

DATES AND VENUES
Tuesday, April 17 – Blairgowrie.
Monday, May 28 – Carrick on Loch Lomond.
Thursday, August 23 – Scottish Regional Final (36 holes) at The Roxburghe.