The Irish Golf Club Gazette

3/12/2013

GMAC Goes Nona Blue

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Lake Nona’s newest restaurant, Nona Blue is launching its modern tavern concept March 15, 2013 with local resident Graeme McDowell one of the principal owners.

McDowell gave the concept its name after a victory at the 2012 Tavistock Cup at Lake Nona and dressed in Team Nona blue, McDowell shouted, “Nona Blue!” to supporters and a new eatery’s name was born.

The restaurant’s decor has a updated clubby vibe with exposed brick and dark mahogany and has a 40-seat bar, two captain’s tables, wrap-around booth seating throughout and a seating area with drawn curtains for private dining. An outdoor patio features additional seating, a fireplace and bar.

Menu items include deviled eggs with apple wood smoked bacon, lightly fried oysters, blue cheese kettle chips, a BLT grilled cheese, steaks, fresh fish and a cider-brined pork rib chop. The bar boasts seasonal cocktails and more than 50 different wines and 16 craft beers.

Bill Bona and Joe Davi are principal owners with McDowell.

GMAC has partnered with Bistro Concepts, LLC, and the group has signed a lease for a 5,618 square-foot restaurant at its retail shopping center Lake Nona Village, located on Narcoossee Road between the entrances to the renowned Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and NorthLake Park.

Hoey Defends Trophee Hassan II

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Michael Hoey is excited about the prospect of defending his title in the Trophée Hassan II later this month and hopes the memories of his victory 12 months ago can kick-start his season.

The 34 year old put on a weekend masterclass at Golf du Palais Royal in Morocco in 2012, carding two majestic rounds of 65 for a three shot victory over Ireland’s Damien McGrane.

It was Hoey’s fourth European Tour triumph, adding to wins in the Open de Portugal in 2009 and the Madeira Islands Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in 2011, and he is hoping to make it five when the tournament returns to Agadir from March 28-31.

“The Sunday was a little surreal at the time,” said Hoey. “I’d been trying to stay in the present all during the round, just take it one shot at a time and not think about the leaderboard. I saw Damian McGrane had dropped a shot on the par five 17th and I managed to make birdie there, so I was playing the last with a three shot lead.

“It was especially satisfying given the way I started the tournament, with a two over par 74. I was in danger of missing the cut but the heart to heart with my coach on Thursday night helped and I shot a 67 on Friday.

“That gave me a lot of confidence. I knew I was swinging the club really well and my putting improved a lot too. To shoot two 65s at the weekend was something pretty special.”

The magnificent Golf du Palais Royal lies in the grounds of the Royal Palace of Agadir and is reserved for the sole use of the Moroccan Royal Family, who have long been generous supporters of golf. As a result it is in immaculate condition when The European Tour arrives for the €1.5million tournament.

“Golf du Palais Royal is a pretty exclusive venue and unlike any other course we play on The European Tour,” Hoey added. “It’s always immaculate and kept in pristine condition for the King. Any tournament played inside palace walls is something special.

“It’s great to have the chance to play a course like this, and I know all the players are very grateful to the Moroccan Royal Family for the opportunity.

“Morocco is a place I enjoy visiting because the people are hospitable, the weather’s usually very good and I enjoy the food and culture. I've also played fairly well there over the years and it’s always nice to return to somewhere you enjoy playing.

“I’ve made a decent start to the year and I’ll be looking to build on that in the next few events before heading to Morocco to defend the title.

“Hopefully I can put in another great performance and become the first player to successfully defend the trophy since the tournament became part of The European Tour schedule in 2010.”

3/11/2013

McIlroy Sticks to Master Plan

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Rory McIlroy will resist the urge to add events to his schedule ahead of the Masters Tournament after getting back to his best on the final day of the WGC - Cadillac Championship.

The two time Major Champion headed to Trump Doral with the eyes of the golfing world upon him following his decision to walk off midway through the second round in last week's Honda Classic.

But focus has returned to his golf, which got better as the week wore on in Miami - culminating in an outstanding 65 on the Blue Monster course today.

He said: "I guess that was what I needed to do this week, because I made plenty of birdies and a couple of eagles and stuff. It was the bogeys and the others that were killing me.

"So to play a round out there today with the conditions the way they are, you know, was very pleasing.

"I think most of you guys know, I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a bit with my golf. If I have a bad round, it's sort of like the end of the world, but if I play a good one, I'm happy again.

"You know, that's just the way it goes. I was pretty down about my game coming into this week, but a few days like I've played, you know, it does my confidence a world of good."

McIlroy's next event - and only one between now and the Masters - will be the Houston Open that gets under way on March 28.

Speaking about his calendar building up the the year's first Major Championship, which begins on April 11 at Augusta National, McIlroy added: "I'm going to keep it the way it is.

"I'm looking forward to putting some hard work in over the next few weeks and I'm going to Houston and get ready for Augusta."

Irish Trio Head for India

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Michael Hoey, Peter Lawrie and Gareth Maybin are the Irish players entered for the Avantha Masters this week in India, where they will be part of a host of European Tour champions, led by the man who has been Number One an historic eight times, Colin Montgomerie.

Of the 156-man field assembling in ‘Incredible India’, 50 have put their names on European Tour titles.

That kind of pedigree will be required for a European Tour Member to lift the beautiful Avantha Masters trophy on Sunday evening as they go head-to-head with the best players from the Asian Tour and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).

No fewer than 38 Asian Tour winners, including four Order of Merit champions, are poised to make the Avantha Masters an intriguing contest between the two continents.

Montgomerie, the most prolific British winner in European Tour history, will make his first appearance in the event at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, and he will be joined in Noida, near New Delhi, by his fellow former European Ryder Cup stars Niclas Fasth of Sweden, Ignacio Garrido of Spain, England’s David Howell, Italy’s Edoardo Molinari, Frenchman Thomas Levet and Welshman Philip Price.

Spearheading the Asian Challenge will be Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, the Indian duo of Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh and China’s Liang Wen-chong, who are all Asian Tour Order of Merit champions.

Jaidee, who won his fifth European Tour title in last year’s ISPS Handa Wales Open, has enjoyed a strong start to new season, finishing third in the Volvo Golf Champions and tied ninth in both the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

Singh, who held off Molinari’s younger brother Francesco to win the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open last July, will lead the Indian challenge as he attempts to win a fifth European Tour title.

Asia’s Number One in 2006 and 2008 is joined in the field by compatriot Shiv Kapur, who is going for a double on home soil after winning the Gujarat Kensville Challenge on the European Challenge Tour last month.

Kapur is looking to become only the seventh different player to win on The European and Challenge Tours in the same season.

Both Kapur and Singh will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of countryman S.S.P Chowrasia, who claimed the 2011 Avantha Masters title after overhauling overnight leader Robert Coles with a round of 67 on the final day to prevail by a single stroke.

Prior to that, Chowrasia became the first Indian to win a European Tour event on home soil – and only the third, after Arjuna Atwal and Jeev Milkha Singh, to win one anywhere – when he captured the EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters title in 2008.

Chowrasia was succeeded as Avantha Masters champion last year by South African Jbe Kruger, who won his maiden European Tour title 12 months ago, finishing two shots clear of Germany’s Marcel Siem and Spaniard Jorge Campillo.

Coincidentally, both Kruger and Chowrasia stand at five feet five inches and are the smallest two players on The European Tour, but both produced big performances to win at the tournament’s previous host venue, DLF Golf and Country Club.

This year’s event, which again carries a prize-fund of €1.8 million, is the European Tour’s first visit to the Greg Norman-designed course at Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort, which at 7,347 yards is India’s longest golf course.

Rory Rebounds with 65

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Rory McIlroy signed for a 7-under par 65 at TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where he ended the week at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in eighth place.

"I was pretty down about my game coming into this week,," McIlroy said. "A day like today felt like a long way away if I'm honest."

Only a week ago, McIlroy had walked off the golf course in the middle of his second round at The Honda Classic, and left many open questions over his golf swing.

This week McIlroy answered the questions then let his clubs do the rest.

After breaking par for the first time this year earlier in the week, McIlroy opened on Sunday with an eagle on the par-5 first before adding five more birdies the rest of the day.

"A few days like I've played, it does my confidence a world of good," McIlroy said. "I probably wear my heart on my sleeve a bit with my golf. If I have a bad round, it's sort of like the end of the world, but if I play a good one, I'm happy again."

With the Masters five weeks away, McIlroy has reason to smile again.

Rory plays the Ernie Els' benefit event on Monday for the Els for Autism Foundation before spending next weekend with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki in Miami. Next it is the Shell Houston Open before heading to Augusta the week before the tournament.

"I always think when I'm playing bad that it's further away than it is," McIlroy said of his play. "That's just where I have to stay patient and let whatever happens, happen, and know that if I put in the hard work, that the results will bear fruit; whether that's sooner or later, it doesn't really matter."