The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Scotland

Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts

3/22/2015

Maybin and Phelan Battle Madeira

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The Madeira Islands Open -Portugal BPI was reduced to 36 holes for the second year in succession.

The tournament had been cut to three rounds after winds gusting up to 47mph meant no play was possible on Thursday, while further strong winds on Friday caused a delay of almost two hours before rain ended play early.

Half of the field had yet to complete their rounds when play was abandoned for the day at 6pm and more rain which flooded the course caused further disruption on Saturday.

With yet more bad weather forecast for Sunday the decision was taken to make it a 36-hole event, with the top 65 and ties due to play the final round in a shotgun start at 8am.

Denmark’s JB Hansen held the clubhouse lead on four under par, one shot ahead of a group of eight players including England’s Andrew Marshall and Scotland’s Peter Whiteford.

Kevin Phelan and Gareth Maybin are both two shots off the lead on two under, while Peter Lawrie is a shot further back.

Simon Thornton is one over.

Ruaidhri McGee missed the cut on three over.

9/21/2014

McGinley Still Deciding Pairings

Paul McGinley has admitted he is still deciding on his pairings for the opening foursomes and fourballs on Friday.

The Irishman has arrived at Gleneagles to plot the defence of the title Europe so memorably won at Medinah two years ago.

The 47-year-old has an idea of what pairings he wants to send out against the US but he wants to assess his players’ form this week before finalising his decision.

“I have a skeleton plan in place but I wouldn’t say it is firmed up,” he told Sky Sports News HQ. “I want to discuss things with the vice-captains but more than I want to see how the players are.

“It is a little bit like horses from Ireland travelling over to Cheltenham – you want to see how they get over the journey.

“You want to see how tired they are and assess them all. The next four or five days will give us an insight into that.

“We’ll assess that in the next few days and then firm up our ideas with regards to pairings.”

The US team, which will be captained by Tom Watson, are scheduled to arrive in Scotland on Monday while some of the European players are already at Gleneagles attempting to get to grips with the famous course.

After two years of build-up, McGinley admitted he is relieved the event is finally about to begin and said he cannot wait to get started.

“It is great to get the week started,” he said. “Players are starting to arrive and it is all starting to build up and get exciting.

“I go to meet Tom (Watson) and the team tomorrow morning at the airport. I feel it has started. Some of the players are arriving today.

“It is starting to get exciting. It is real, it is alive and it is about to start.”

8/28/2014

Smyth's Woburn Feeling

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Des Smyth is hoping to feed off the good vibes he has at Woburn Golf Club as he looks to kick-start his 2014 European Senior Tour season at the Travis Perkins Masters.

The Irishman, who will be one of Paul McGinley’s Vice-Captains at next month’s Ryder Cup, is a two-time winner of the tournament, and he will be aiming to continue his sequence of triumphing in Ryder Cup years, after claiming the title in 2010 and 2012.

It has been a slow start to the current campaign for Smyth, whose only top ten finish came a fortnight ago at the SSE Scottish Senior Open.

But he believes a return to the picturesque Duke’s Course at Woburn could be just the catalyst he needs to get his game back on track.

“I’ve had two wins here and it is a place I’ve always liked coming to,” said the 61 year old. “I played poorly last year, but my form had gone off by that stage. I’m searching for a bit of form again this year. I’ve had no performances worth talking about so far. I’ve had one top ten in Scotland when I had a chance to do better but messed up at the end, so I’m hoping I can get going this week and get some good vibes from this place.

“I’ve been working on a few things recently. I’m always experimenting when things aren’t working and I need tournaments to find my form. The back nine last week (at the English Senior Open) I was trying something which felt really good. Now, I’ve no idea if it is going to work this week, but I have a clear picture of what I’m going to try and hopefully this is a good week for me.

“Coming back to a course where you have done well before always helps. This is a good driver’s course too, and that is my strength. I’m a straight driver, but on some courses you don’t get the reward for it. On this course you do. If my driving holds up, which it normally does, and if I get something going with my irons, which I think I have, then it might be a good week.”

The Travis Perkins Masters always attracts one of the biggest crowds of the Senior Tour season, and Smyth hopes that can also help inspire him to a good performance this week as he tries to regain the title, after watching Colin Montgomerie succeed him as champion 12 months ago.

“This is our best tournament outside the Senior Open,” he said. “We get over 20,000 people here and you get all the best players. It’s great having Monty back defending his title and it is great to see Eduardo Romero playing here as well. There is a good atmosphere and it is a great tournament, so I hope it has the right effect on me.”

8/04/2014

Ireland Defend Home International Trophy

Ireland will seek to defend the Boys Home Internationals trophy in the face of stiff competition at Western Gailes this week.

The Irish won in dramatic fashion at Forest Pines last year as Scotland failed to beat England in their final match with the result coming down to the last few singles matches.

England will be looking to win their third title in four years at the Ayrshire links from Tuesday 5 to Thursday 7 August while Scotland will be looking for their first win since 2006 at Moray and Wales will be hoping to achieve their first victory in the round robin series of matches.

Captain Roy Archibald’s line-up will feature only two members of the victorious 2013 team in Lincolnshire: Rowan Lester, who represented Ireland in the European Boys Team Championship in Oslo last month, and James Sugrue, who won the Munster Youths Amateur Open Championship in April. Kevin Leblanc will be expected to play a key role for the Irish after winning The R&A’s Junior Open Championship at West Lancs last month.

The English team will be led by Ashton Turner, who will make his third consecutive appearance in the Boys Home Internationals, Bradley Moore, who won the Irish Boys Amateur Open Championship in June, and Marco Penge, who finished tied fourth with Matty Lamb in the recent McGregor Trophy.

The 2013 Boys Amateur Champion Ewen Ferguson, who recently added the Scottish Boys Open Stroke Play title to his Scottish Boys Match Play crown, will lead a strong Scottish team that also includes Scottish Boys Stroke Play runner-up Ben Kinsley and Robert MacIntyre, who last year became the first player to win the Scottish boys and youths stroke play titles in the same year.

Newly crowned Welsh Boys Match Play Champion Ben Chamberlain will be in confident mood for the matches as will his team mate Thomas Williams, who will be looking to build on the form which saw him reach the semi-finals at Wenvoe Castle.

Johnnie Cole-Hamilton, Executive Director – Championships at The R&A, said, “The Boys Home Internationals matches give the talented young players the opportunity to gain valuable experience of representing their countries and playing against their peers from the other Home Nations. We would encourage spectators to come along to support the event at Western Gailes this week where the matches should be as closely contested as ever.”

The teams are as follows:

Ireland: Cathal Butler (Kinsale), Owen Crooks (Bushfoot), Jamie Fletcher (Warrenpoint), Peter Kerr (Royal Portrush), Kevin Leblanc (The Island), Eoin Leonard (Wentworth), Rowan Lester (Hermitage), Thomas Mulligan (Laytown & Bettystown), Tommy O’Driscoll (Ring of Kerry), Conor Purcell (Portmarnock) and James Sugrue (Mallow).

England: Jamie Dick (Forest Hills), Harry Hall (West Cornwall), Matty Lamb (Hexham), Jamie Li (Bath), Haydn McCullen (Delamere Forest), Bradley Moore (Kedleston Park), Marco Penge (Golf at Goodwood), Jack Singh Brar (Remedy Oak), Jake Storey (Alnmouth), Jonathan Thomson (Lindrick) and Ashton Turner (Kenwick Park).

Scotland: Joseph Bryce (Bathgate), George Burns (Williamwood), Stuart Easton (Irvine), Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden), Adam Fisher (Newmachar), Calum Fyfe (Cawder), Ben Kinsley (St Andrews), Ryan Lumsden (Royal Wimbledon), Robert MacIntyre (Glencruitten), Niall McMullen (Lundin) and Murray Naysmith (Marriott Dalmahoy).

Wales: Jack Davidson (Llanwern), Joshua Davies (Celtic Manor), Tim Harry (Vale Resort), Kyle Harman (Radyr), David Ramsay (Mold), Thomas Williams (Wrexham), Ben Chamberlain (Padeswood & Buckley), Lewys Sanges (Celtic Manor), Gaelen Trew (Wentworth), Rhys Jones (Mountain Ash) and Thomas Froom (Nefyn).

The Boys Home Internationals has been a proving ground for dozens of Walker Cup players and future Major Championship winners including Open Champion Rory McIlroy, the 2013 US Open Champion Justin Rose, six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo, former Open and Masters Champion Sandy Lyle and former Open Champion Darren Clarke.

Spectators are admitted free of charge to the event, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, 5-7 August. The playing format is a full round robin series of matches comprising five morning foursomes and ten afternoon singles matches. The morning foursomes tee off from 8am and the afternoon singles matches from 12.30pm each day.

Match one on Tuesday 5 August will be Ireland versus Wales and match two will be England versus Scotland.

7/07/2014

McIlroy Joins Lefty Aberdeen Effect

Rory McIlroy believes Phil Mickelson’s back-to-back victories on links courses last July has encouraged many of the game’s leading players to enter this week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

Twelve months ago, Mickelson followed his win at Royal Aberdeen by claiming a three-shot triumph in The Open Championship at Muirfield.

This week’s field on Scotland’s north-east coast is possibly the strongest in tournament history which may be testimony to what Mickelson achieved in 2013.

McIlroy, the world No 8, agrees that his decision to play in Scotland this week is largely because of what the 44-year-old left-handed American pulled off last year.

He told Sky Sports News: “I think it has influenced a lot of people and it definitely influenced me.

“I played with Phil the first two rounds at Muirfield last year and you could see his links game was very sharp.

“And Phil’s double has put it into many guys heads to do the same and for the Scottish Open to go back to a proper links is probably why the strength of this week’s field is great.”

As for this week’s lucrative event, the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland added: “I haven’t played the Scottish Open for a few years.

“Have heard some great things about the golf course and it’s good that the Scottish Open has gone back to a true links course.

“Not just because it is good for The Open Championship the following week (at Royal Liverpool). I think the likes of the Irish Open and Scottish Open should be on links courses because that’s what this part of the world is known for.”

Regarding his own current form, McIlroy says his game is in a fairly decent state.

“Just limiting the mistakes would be good. The win at Wentworth was probably the only week for some time that I didn’t have a bad stretch of holes," he said.

“If I can keep the bad runs of holes off my card, that’s all I need to do because the good golf is there. I’m playing good quality stuff.”

7/02/2014

Sam Backs McGinley at Gleneagles

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Sam Torrance believes European captain Paul McGinley will leave “no stone unturned” as he bids to retain the Ryder Cup in September.

Torrance, who skippered Europe to a memorable victory at the Belfry in 2002, has been appointed as assistant captain for this year’s contest at Gleneagles.

The Irishman has been a regular visitor to the Perthshire venue to oversee the course set-up and ensure it favours his own team’s strengths.

"Having the Ryder Cup back in Scotland is fantastic for golf. This is the home of golf and it rightly should be here, and it’s a wonderful venue here at Gleneagles."

Sam Torrance

Torrance is at Gleneagles this week to assist with the preparations, and he is delighted that the Ryder Cup is returning to Scotland for the first time since Muirfield hosted the event in 1973.

“It’s just great to be here, and the course is looking fantastic,” Torrance told Sky Sports News. “The rough is not where it’s going to be in September but it’s well on its way.

“Paul has been up here numerous times making sure that it is set up to suit the Europeans, which is what home advantage is, so it’s all in hand and all working well.

“Having the Ryder Cup back in Scotland is fantastic for golf. This is the home of golf and it rightly should be here, and it’s a wonderful venue here at Gleneagles.

“It’s a spectacular golf course. It was designed by Jack Nicklaus, but we can make it suit us.

“Paul will be meticulous. He’s a great people person and the players respect him. He’s very knowledgeable and he will not leave a stone unturned.

“This will be his tournament and I think he will do a fantastic job. He was captain in the Seve Trophy a couple of times and did a great job. That job was leading in to being the Ryder Cup captain captain and he rightly got the job.”

Torrance also hopes to have Scottish representation on the team, and he backed Stephen Gallacher to qualify following his strong run of form this season.

“Stephen Gallacher is right on the brink at the moment and he’s playing well and in the top 50 in the world,” Torrance added. “He’s in all the top events, and he’s got a great chance of making it. Obviously we would love to have a Scotsman in the team.”

Torrance also played down suggestions that the American players do not have the same hunger and desire for the Ryder Cup as the Europeans.

He said: “Obviously we can win it again but so can the Americans. The one thing you must never do is under-estimate your opponents.

“There’s talk that the Americans don’t care much about the Ryder Cup, but trust me they do. They want to win it just as badly as us and they will be trying just as hard as us. We’ve got to keep that in mind and be wary of them.”

Meanwhile, three-time European captain Bernard Gallacher believes McGinley's prospective team is coming together nicely just three months ahead of the contest.

With Rory McIlroy winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Martin Kaymer's runaway victory in the US Open and Justin Rose ending his title drought last weekend, Gallacher is delighted to see Europe's biggest stars coming into form.

"I think it’s brilliant for Paul McGinley that he’s going in there with Martin Kaymer. He won the Players Championship and the US Open, and then Justin Rose won at Congressional last week," Gallacher said on Sky Sports News.

"It’s a terrific boost for Paul McGinley and I think his team is taking shape.

"I think Europe are only favourites because they are at home, but I think the contest itself is very even. Hopefully the home support will just push it our way."

6/26/2014

Eagle Grants Stephen Hydro Chance

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Stephen Grant eagled his eighth hole carding a three on the par seventeenth hole on the Challenge Tour to finish Thursday on 67 strokes at the Scottish Hydro Challege and two shots off the leaders at the MacDonald Spey Valley Club

With three birdies in all, it was just the one dropped shot on the par sixteenth for Grant.

Leader Mark Tullo soared into a share of the lead midway through the opening day, despite arriving at the ‘Home of Golf’ over 30 hours later than expected due to the airport strikes in France.

The Chilean carded a six under par opening round of 65 at the sun-kissed Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club to join Englishman Jason Barnes at the top of the leaderboard, with the afternoon groups yet to finish.

The 36 year old, who claimed a tied third place finish in his last event at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open, teed off at the 11th and carded successive birdies at the 12th and 13th holes before another at the ninth took him to the turn in three under.

Three more birdies on the way home took him one shot clear alongside Barnes, and Tullo was delighted with his round, especially given he almost missed the tournament due to his travel woes.

“It’s amazing here in this weather,” said the two-time Challenge Tour winner, whose second victory came in Egypt with a certain Rory McIlroy in the field as an invite. “I actually barely recognized the golf course without the wind.

“For me, Scotland with sunny weather is one of the best places in the world. Playing golf here with this weather is just priceless. It’s still fun with wind and rain but in this weather, this golf course is amazing.

“It took me over 30 hours to get here from Malaga. I got here at 10pm last night. I was supposed to be here on Tuesday at 2pm, so it was a nightmare getting here. Luckily I had played here a couple of times before butt my hurts and my back hurts from sitting around for so long.

“I even thought about grabbing a train from London because I was worried I might not make the tournament but luckily enough I got here in the end.

“I know this place very well but it helped having good weather and I'm really happy with the round.

“I made some good shots and made some good putts. I didn’t even have a chance of a bogey out there.It was very steady, I hit every green. It was an easy scoring day for me, no mistakes, and hit 17 greens and made good birdies.

“I've been playing good but my putting has been so so, but I've been working on it with my coach and it’s helped me to putt well. Hopefully the weather will help for the rest of the week. I'm feeling comfortable and calm.”

Barnes was also relishing the sunny weather in the holiday town of Aviemore and he was confident of keeping his good form going for the rest of the week.

“It’s a great place to be, beautiful. It’s much different to what I'm used to in London. I can’t hear anything, no traffic, no noise, it’s brilliant.

“I pulled out last year to get a week off because I wasn’t playing very well but I really regretted it. It’s a really nice place, it’s like a home from home.

“Everything is really coming together nicely for me. The confidence is starting to grow. There are a few holes out there that are tough driving holes and a few weeks ago I might have wimped out and hit less club just to hit the fairway but today it was just going for it with the driver.

“I'm confident, definitely. Bring on tomorrow, hopefully we can get more weather like this and we can see how low I go.”

4/17/2014

Four Named in GB&I Squad

Gavin Moynihan - Getty Images

A 21 player Great Britain and Ireland squad has been announced for the St Andrews Trophy match at Barsebäck Golf and Country Club in Sweden on 29 and 30 August, 2014.

The nine-man team that will face the Continent of Europe in the biennial match will be named in mid-August.

Four players will bring valuable Walker Cup experience to the squad including Matthew Fitzpatrick, who recently made his Masters Tournament debut, and Rhys Pugh who played on the GB&I side in both 2011 at Royal Aberdeen and in 2013 at the National Golf Links of America in Southampton, New York.

Greg Eason, who is currently ranked third in the WORLD AMATEUR GOLF RANKING™, and reigning European Amateur champion Ashley Chesters bring depth to the squad, along with talented young players Sam Horsfield and 2013 Scottish Boys champion Bradley Neil.

Nigel Edwards will captain the team for the third time as GB&I look to reclaim the trophy after the Continent of Europe’s narrow 12½ – 11½ victory at Portmarnock in 2012.

“We have announced a strong squad for this year’s match,” said Edwards, a playing member of the victorious St Andrews Trophy teams in 2002, 2004 and 2006. “The final selection of the team for the St Andrews Trophy match will be dependent on performances and, therefore, players who are not named in this squad have every chance of playing their way on to the team. I am confident that the team we select will mount a real challenge for the trophy in Sweden.”

The St Andrews Trophy is the biennial men’s match which will be played alongside the annual boys’ match, the Jacques Leglise Trophy, at Barsebäck on 29 and 30 August. The St Andrews Trophy has been played alternately on British/Irish and mainland European courses since 1956. Great Britain and Ireland have won on 24 occasions and the Continent of Europe has won five times, including the 2010 and 2012 matches.

The 2014 GB&I squad is:

Tomasz Anderson (Brocket Hall) – Welwyn Garden City, England

Ashley Chesters (Hawkstone Park) – Wem, England

Greg Eason (Kirby Muxloe) – Leicester, England

Ryan Evans (Wellingborough) – Wellingborough, England

Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire) – Sheffield, England

Grant Forrest (Craigielaw) – North Berwick, Scotland

Sam Horsfield (Davenport, USA) – Manchester, England

Paul Howard (Southport & Ainsdale) – Southport, England

Jack Hume (Naas) – Naas, Ireland

Gary Hurley (West Waterford) – Aglish, Ireland

Nick Marsh (Huddersfield) – Elland, England

Jimmy Mullen (Royal North Devon) – Devon, England

Gavin Moynihan (The Island) - Dublin, Ireland

Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) – Troon, Scotland

Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) – Ballymena, Northern Ireland

Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) – Perthshire, Scotland

Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd) – Pontypridd, Wales

James Ross (Royal Burgess) – Edinburgh, Scotland

Ewan Scott (St Andrews) – St Andrews, Scotland

Jordan Smith (Bowood) – Calne, England

Ben Taylor (Walton Heath) – Leatherhead, England

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