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Sunday 29th February 2004

Website having a holiday.. it's not a real day after all!

Saturday 28th February 2004

Lesley Nicholson Fund Raising Day
Ex Scottish Internationalist Lesley Nicholson, pictured right, who turned Pro after the 2000 Curtis Cup match at Ganton, and now plays on the European Tour, is holding a Fundraising day at Haddington Golf Club on Saturday 10th April.
There are going to be prizes at every hole, including team prizes, longest drives and mystery Prizes! Sound good!
Entry is in teams of four players... £20pp for members, £30pp for non-members. Your entry includes Green Fees and Food. To get an entry form, or for more information, call Lesley on 07713 904478 or email her on lesleynic90@hotmail.com Tell her that you read about it here!
Lesley is off to South Africa on March 10 for three tournaments in the sunshine before her Haddington fund-raiser, so get those entries in quick!

Ireland Vets v Scotland Vets
The grand match for the Mary McKenna Trophy is going to be played at the Hermitage Golf Club, Dublin, on April 20-21. Mary says that she hopes that Ireland win the trophy back... I'm sure the Scots will have something to say about that!

Laura Wells in Las Vegas
Scottish Internationalist Laura Wells, has graduated from Iowa State University and is now an "Intern" at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She is working with their womens' golf team, doing general adminstrative work, and she hopes to get involved with coaching.
Laura was one of four Scots students who were jetted over from the US to play for Scotland in the Home Internationals last year at Cruden Bay.
Laura is making enquiries about bringing a UNLV women's team over in August to play some friendly matches. If you think that you could raise a team to play some young College players then get in touch with her.
She also says that if anyone who knows her is over in Las Vegas, please look her up. . Laura's email is l3482@iastate.edu (NB The first letter is a lowercase L, not the number 1)

Friday 27th February 2004

CARLY PIPPED FOR YOUNG SPORTS PERSON TITLE
Carly Booth, pictured left, has been pipped by 16-year-old athlete Eilidh Child for the Highland Spring young sports person of the year title, part of the annual Perth & Kinross Sports Council awards. Auchterarder Golf Club junior member
Carly, who will not have her 12th birthday until June, won three women's club championship titles in 2003 and brought her handicap down to five.
Glenn Campbell, pictured right, was named sports personality of the year after winning three major area golf titles and gaining his first Scotland cap in the home internationals last September. A plus-five handicap member at Blairgowrie Golf Club, Campbell is, on paper, the highest rated male amateur golfer in the United Kingdom. Glenn, who is a greenkeeper at Murrayshall, was made an honorary member by Blairgowrie GC last December, only the third in the golf club's history after Gary Player and Jessie Valentine.

US College Golf
ACE FOR DANIELLE
Danielle Roseberry, Sunderland-born golf scholarship student at New Mexico University, had a hole in one during the final round of the Arizona Wildcat Invitational women's college tournament at Arizona National Golf Club near Tucson. She achieved the ace at the par-3 fourth with a six iron on her way to her best score of the 54-hole tournament - a five-over-par 76 which saw her tie for 48th place on 236.

English Student Golf
Extreme weather conditions (blizzards and strong winds) did not dampen the spirits of 77 golfers from 20 different institutions, at Rudding Park Harrogate on Sunday 22 Feb.
Despite the gruelling conditions at the end of the 1st round the leader Sean Doherty (Leeds Met) with a score of 74, was closely followed by a group of 5 golfers all on 76. Fortunately almost all the golfers managed to complete their rounds this year. At the evening meal, presentations were made to Oliver Gunning (Loughborough) for the longest drive and David Walker (Leeds) for the nearest the pin.
The next day the golfers encountered some snow cover on the course, but for most the brilliant sunshine ensured a rapid thaw. These improved conditions ensured lower scores for most, with Richard Warren of Nottingham University acheiving a round of 70 and 3 players (including last years' golf scholar Jonathan Pearson) scoring 74. But consistency was the key for the overall winner as Julie Ross of Northumbria completed her round scoring a 75, unfortunately for Sean Doherty he was to be the runner up for the 2nd year, after a play off with Andrew Collet (Lincoln). But Andrew was to be awarded the Individual net prize, with Martin Jobling (Northumbria) 2nd and Tom Kaye (Nottingham) 3rd.
In the Team competition, despite some confusion at the presentation ceremony, this was won by Nottingham University (457) with Lincoln 2nd (460) and Northumbria & Leeds Met both on 462, although after countback 3rd place was awarded to Northumbria. Overall the Tournament went very well and the change of venue seemed to enjoyed by the 58 golfers that stayed overnight at the Rudding Park hotel and all the golfers did find the format of set tee times an improvement to last years' staggered start.
Carol E Cherry Sports Administrator,
Leeds Metropolitan University Students Union 0113 209 8441

Thursday 26th February 2004

Great Britain & Ireland Squad to visit Chicago
A party of 12 players will visit Chicago Golf Club in August this year as preparation for the Walker Cup match to be held there on 13th and 14th August 2005.
This is the first time such a reconnaissance trip has been undertaken and represents a logical development in the eyes of Walker Cup Captain Garth McGimpsey. "Having won the last three matches in a row we must guard against feeling we are doing all the right things in our advance preparation. We know that the U.S. will be hugely motivated to stop our winning run, particularly on home soil, and we must continue to prepare in an increasingly comprehensive manner."
A squad of 24 players has been chosen as the first stage of the process of selecting the St Andrews Trophy Team to play the Continent of Europe on 27th & 28th August 2004 at Nairn. This team of 9 players will be selected at the beginning of August.
Chairman of Selectors, Peter McEvoy, agreed with Garth McGimpsey, "We have to move forward and target victories in the St Andrews Trophy this year and the Walker Cup in 2005. All players have busy seasons but fortunately most are well acquainted with Nairn after the European Championships that were played there last year. Rather than take the squad to Nairn we feel the best use of the time available is to visit Chicago so that players can see the challenges of the course and experience the climate."
Squad members:Darren Crowe (Dunmurry)
Rhys Davies (Royal Porthcawl)
Nigel Edwards (Whitchurch)
Ross Fisher (Wentworth)
Noel Fox (Portmarnock)
James Heath (Coombe Wood)
David Inglis (Glencorse)
Gary Lockerbie (Penrith)
Gareth Maybin (Ballyclare)
Andrew McArthur (Windyhill)
Brian McElhinney (North West)
Jamie McLeary (Leven GS)
Jamie Moul (Stoke by Nayland)
Sam Osborne (Wentworth)
Mark O’Sullivan (Galway)
David Price (Vale of Glamorgan)
Matthew Richardson (Pinner Hill)
Michael Skelton (Middlesbrough)
Alex Smith (Pyle & Kenfig)
Craig Smith (St Mellons)
Richard Walker (Frodsham)
Stuart Wilson (Forfar)
Gary Wolstenholme (Kilworth Springs)
Gareth Wright (West Linton)

BRITISH TRIO OUT OF FINAL TOP 40 AT TUCSON, ARIZONA
Heather MacRae, pictured right, Jenna Wilson and Danielle Roseberry - the three British students competing in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational women's college golf tournament at Arizona National Club, Tucson - all finished out of the top 40.
LGU Elite Squad member Heather (San Diego State) from Dunblane had rounds of 75, 79 and 79 for 20-over-par 233 and a share of 42nd place.
San Diego State team-mate and compatriot Jenna Wilson, the Scottish Under-21 girls champion from Strathaven, score 80, 81 and 75 for 236, the same mark as Sunderland's Danielle Roseberry (New Mexico State) who had rounds of 77, 83 and 76. They tied for 48th place.
The tournament was won by May Wood (Vanderbilt) with 70, 70 and 69 for four-under-par 209 over the par-71 6,238yd course. She won by three strokes from Sophia Sheridan (California).
Erica Blasberg (Arizona) and Sara Huarte (California), members of the United States Curtis Cup team for Formby in June, finished joint fifth on 217 and joint eighth on 219 respectively.
Vanderbilt University (869) won the team event from Ohio State (873) with UCLA (874) third and California (884) fourth. New Mexico State (937) came 10th and San Diego State (945) 12th of the 14 competing colleges.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL FINAL TOTALS
209 May Wood (Vanderbilt) 70 70 69.
212 Sophia Sheridan (California) 69 71 72.
214 Allison Hanna (Ohio State) 68 72 74.
216 Courtney Wood (Vanderbilt) 70 71 75.
217 Erica Blasberg (Arizona) 75 73 69, Hanna Jun (UCLA) 71 70 76.
218 Kristen White (Ohio State) 72 74 72.
219 Charlotte Mayorkas (UCLA) 71 77 71, Krystal Shearer (UCLA) 73 74 72, Sarah Huarte (California) 68 78 73.
Other scores:
233 Heather MacRae (San Diego State) 75 79 79.
236 Jenna Wilson (San Diego State) 80 81 75, Danielle Roseberry (New Mexico State) 77 83 76.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
869 Vanderbilt.
873 Ohio State.
874 UCLA, California.
897 UNLV.
904 Stanford.
Other totals:
937 New Mexico State (10th).
945 San Diego State (12th).

Wednesday 25th February 2004

US College Golf
BRITS NOT IN CONTENTION IN ARIZONA
The three British players competing - Scots Heather MacRae and Jenna Wilson (both of San Diego State University) and Danielle Roseberry (New Mexico State) from Sunderland - were outwith the leading 30 going into the final round of the Arizona Wildcat Invitational women's college golf tournament at Arizona National Golf Club, Tucson on Tuesday.
Heather, from Dunblane and a member of the Ladies Golf Union Elite Squad, has had rounds of 75 and 79 for 12-over-par 154. She is tied for 31st place.
Danielle has scored 77 and 83 for a share of 53rd place on 160.
Scottish Under-21 champion Jenna Wilson from Strathaven has shot 80 and 81 for 161 and is back in a tie for 56th place.
At the top of the good-class field it is a triple tie on two-under 140 between May Wood (Vanderbilt), Allison Hanna (Ohio State) and Sophia Sheridan (California).
Two USA Curtis Cup team members, Sarah Huarte (California) and Erica Blasberg (Arizona), are in the top 12, Sarah on 146 after a slump from 68 to 78, and Erica on 148.
Vanderbilt (579) lead the team event from UCLA (582) with Ohio State (584) in third place.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL
140 May Wood (Vanderbilt) 70 70, Allison Hanna (Ohio State) 68 72, Sophia Sheridan (California) 69 71.
141 Courtney Wood (Vanderbilt) 70 71, Hannah Jun (UCLA) 71 70.
146 Kristen White (Ohio State) 72 74, Sarah Huarte (California) 68 78.
147 Susie Matthews (UCLA) 74 73, Krystal Shearer (UCLA) 73 74, Elena Kurokawa (UNLV) 75 72.
148 Erica Blasberg (Arizona) 75 73, Charlotte Mayorkas (UCLA) 71 77.
Other scores:
154 Heather MacRae (San Diego State) 75 79.
160 Danielle Roseberry (New Mexico State) 77 83.
161 Jenna Wilson (San Diego State) 80 81.
LEADING TEAMS
579 Vanderbilt.
582 UCLA.
584 Ohio State.
591 California.
601 UNLV.
608 Stanford.
Other scores:
629 New Mexico State (10th).
635 San Diego State (12th).

US College Golf
LOUISE KENNEY'S LATE SLUMP IN FLORIDA
Fifer Louise Kenney finished tied for 41st place after a late slump in her final round of the Central District Regional women's college golf tournament over the River Wilderness course at Parrish, Florida on Tuesday.
In warm but blustery conditions, the Iowa State University student and Scotland international from Pitreavie, Dunfermline dropped shots at the 13th and 16th and then double-bogeyed the short 17th for the second day in a row to finish with an 80 after rounds of 79 and 77 for a 54-hole total of 236.
Louise Fleming (Minnesota University) from the Borders had a tournament she will want to forget in a hurry. Rounds of 88, 84 and 89 - she had one triple bogey and five double bogeys in her final outing - for 261 put her in a tie for 64th place.
There was a triple tie for first place on four-over 220 between Malinda Johnson (Wisconsin), Christa Spedding (Texas A&M) and Brooke Tuli (Texas Christian).
Louisiana State (903) won the team event from Michigan State (906) and Kansas State (912).
Louise Kenney's team, Iowa State (943) finished a disappointing 11th equal.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
220 Malinda Johnson (Wisconsin) 69 75 76, Christa Spedding (Texas A&M) 76 72 72, Brooke Tuli (Texas Christian) 72 75 73.
222 Alice Kim (Northwestern) 72 75 75.
224 Alison Fouch (Michigan State) 74 76 74.
225 Melissa Eaton (Louisiana State) 75 75 75, Amanda McCurdy (Arkansas) 74 73 78, Camille Blackerby (Texas Christian) 72 73 80.
Other totals:
236 Louise Kenney (Iowa State) 79 77 80.
261 Louise Fleming (Minnesota) 88 84 89.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
903 Louisiana State.
906 Michigan State.
912 Kansas State.
915 Texas Christian.
921 Arkansas.
922 Northwestern.
Other total:
943 Iowa State (joint 11th).

US College Golf
MARTINA 19th AS US CURTIS CUP ACE IS PIPPED FOR VICTORY
LGU Elite Squad member and Ireland international player Martina Gillen from Beaverstown finished joint 19th in the Lady Puerto Classic at Dorado del Mar Country Club, San Juan (on Tuesday).
Kent State University student Martina had scores of 72, 76 and 75 for a seven-over-par total of 223 in the 54-hole event which was won by Veronica Felibert (Southern California), thanks to her final round of 69 which enabled her to total three-under-par 213 and pip overnight leader Liz Janangelo (Duke), the No 1 ranked American college female player and selected to play for the United States in the Curtis Cup match at Formby on June 12-13.
Another American Curtis Cup team member and Duke student, Brittany Lang, finished fifth on 217.
Former British girls' championship beaten finalist Rachel Bell (Southern California) from Ganton finished joint 31st with scores of 75, 76 and 76 for 227.
Irish youngster Karen Delaney (Carlow), a team-mate of Martina Gillen's at Kent State improved with every round with scores of 91, 88 and 84 for 263.
Duke University, the top-ranked American women's college team, scored their fifth win of the 2003-2004 season with a total of 862 - 23 shots ahead of runners-up Georgia with Oklahoma (88) third.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
213 Veronica Felibert (Southern California) 71 73 69.
215 Liz Janangelo (Duke) 72 70 73.
216 Virada Nirapathpongporn (Duke) 66 78 72, Whitney Wade (Georgia) 74 71 71.
217 Brittany Lang (Duke) 75 71 71, Ashley Hoagland (Wake Forest) 74 73 70.
Other totals:
223 Martina Gillen (Kent State) 72 76 75.
227 Rachel Bell (Southern California) 75 76 76.
263 Karen Delaney (Kent State) 91 88 84.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
862 Duke.
885 Georgia.
888 Oklahoma.
893 Southern California.
896 Tulsa.
900 Wake Forest.
Other total:
949 Kent State (13th).

Tuesday 24th February 2004

Scottish Universities Womens Golf
STIRLING 1-2-3 IN WOMEN'S UNIVERSITIES COMPETITION AT GULLANE
English-born Stirling University students Olivia Briggs, pictured right, and Alex Marshall headed the scratch returns in the Scottish Universities Women's League competition over the Gullane No 3 course.
A member at Delamere Forest Golf Club, Cheshire, Olivia headed the field with a score of 73, one ahead of Alex, from Toft Hotel Golf Club, Lincolnshire.
It was a Stirling 1-2-3 with Dawn Dewar from Monifieth, filling third place on 75.
The first three players are all R&A Bursars.
Theresa Caban (St Andrews), playing off 34, had the best net score of 63, six shots ahead of another St Andrews University player, Rachel Samren, playing off 27.
And it was a St Andrews 1-2-3 in this category with Katie Krilyszyn, coming third with a net 73 off 36.
The leading players in both the scratch and handicap sections score points for their universities. St Andrews and Stirling are locked together at the top of the table with 12pt apiece.
Edinburgh are a distant third with 3pt and then come Abertay and Heriot Watt sharing fourth place with 1.5pt each.
SCOREBOARD
SCOTTISH WOMEN'S UNIVERSITIES LEAGUE
Gullane No 3 course _
Leading scratch
73 Olivia Briggs (Stirling).
74 Alex Marshall (Stirling).
75 Dawn Dewar (Stirling).
81 Ann Ramsay (Heriot Watt), Kerri Harper (Abertay).
86 Fiona Williamson (Strathclyde), Catherine Patterson (St Andrews).
88 Lesley Williamson (Robert Gordon's).
89 Suzanne Graham (Edinburgh).
Leading handicap
63 Theresa Caban (St Andrews) (34).
69 Rachel Samren (St Andrews (27).
73 Katie Krilyszyn (St Andrews) (36).
75 Suzanne Graham (Edinburgh) (14), Lyndsey Johnston (Edinburgh).
Team placings
12pt St Andrews, Stirling.
3 Edinburgh.
1 1/2 Heriot Watt, Abertay.
0 Strathclyde, Robert Gordon's.
The next Medal is at Drumpellier on the 7th March. Further information from Ann Ramsay
Full results

US College Golf
SCOTS OUT OF FLORIDA PICTURE
Louise Kenney, pictured left, from Pitreavie, Dunfermline and Louise Fleming, pictured right, from the Borders were well down the field at the end of the first day of the 54-hole Central District Regional women's college golf tournament at Parrish, Florida on Monday.
Scotland international player Louise Kenney, a student at Iowa State University, had rounds of 79 and 77 over the 6,099yd River Wilderness course to be lying in joint 32nd place with a 12-over-par tally of 156. Miss Kenney did not have a birdie in her first round but still managed to improve by a couple of shots in the afternoon despite having a double bogeys at the second and 17th. She had an eagle 3 at the long 11th and birdies at the fourth and eighth.
Louise Fleming, a student at the University of Minnesota, had a nightmare day with scores of 88 and 84 for 172 to be tied for 64th place. Miss Fleming had one triple bogey and two double bogeys in the first round and two double bogeys in her second outing.
Malinda Johnson (Wisconsin) was the overnight leader by one shot with rounds of 69 and 75 for a level par total of 144 going into the final 18 holes.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 144 Malinda Johnson (Wisconsin) 69 75. 145 Camille Blackerby (Texas Christian) 72 73, Sarah Heffel (Kansas State) 73 72. 146 Sarah Martin (Michigan State) 73 73, Brooke Shelton (Louisiana State) 74 72.
Other scores: 156 Louise Kenney (Iowa State) 79 77. 172 Louise Fleming (Minnesota) 88 84.

US College Golf
HEATHER BATTLES THROUGH ARIZONA STORM
Scotland international team player Heather MacRae (San Diego State University) from Dunblane, pictured left, battled through rain, sleet and strong winds to be sharing 17th place at the end of the first round in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational women's college golf tournament at Arizona National Golf Club, Sabino Springs on Monday.
Heather returned a three-over-par 75 but compatriot and team-mate Jenna Wilson, pictured right, from Strathaven did not feel at home in the stormy conditions. She struggled to compile a score of 80.
United States Curtis Cup team selection Sarah Huarte (California) and Allison Hanna (Ohio State) led overnight on three-over-par 68 with two rounds to play.
Ohio State (285) were the team leaders from UCLA (288) and California (289). San Diego State (315) were back in 10th place.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 68 Sarah Huarte (California), Allison Hannah (Ohio State). 69 Sophia Sheridan (California).
Other scores: 75 Heather MacRae (San Diego State). 80 Jenna Wilson (San Diego State).
TEAM LEADERS 285 Ohio State. 288 UCLA. 289 California. 290 Vanderbilt. 306 UNLV.
Also: 315 San Diego State.

Monday 23rd February 2004

LUCKY THIRTEEN
Thirteen Young Golfers Join Faldo in the US
23rd February 2004: Thirteen of the most promising young golfers from throughout Europe have just returned from two weeks of intensive training at the Faldo Golf Institute by Marriott in California.
The group, made up of players from last year's Faldo Series, attended coaching sessions and had access to a group of experts on every aspect of the game. They were also joined by Europe's most successful golfer - six-time major winner Nick Faldo.
The thirteen players were chosen by Nick himself, along with the Faldo Series dedicated panel of experts. Accompanied by head coach Jeremy Bennett they flew out to Palm Desert in California, USA earlier this month to stay at the Marriott Shadow Ridge resort.
With access to the first-class Faldo Golf Institute by Marriott, they had the opportunity to perfect their game on the highly acclaimed Faldo Championship course, designed by Nick.
"The trip was an opportunity for them to live and breathe golf in ideal conditions," said Nick on his return from the US. "My time with the players was spent on the course, on the practice ground, in the classroom and even over breakfast, lunch and dinner, in an attempt to pass on as much help, advice, inspiration and experience as I possibly can."
The lucky thirteen players were: Matthew Baldwin (Hesketh, England), Henrietta Brockway (Yeovil, England),  Luke Collins (Mendip Spring, England),  Tara Delaney (Carlow, Ireland),  Wouter De Vries (Holland), Paul Doherty (Vale of Glamorgan, Scotland), Oliver Fisher (West Essex, England),  Nicky Grant (Clandeboye, Ireland),  Kiran Matharu (Sandmoor, England),  Rory McIlroy (Holywood, Ireland),  Sam Osborne (Wentworth, England),  Mark Pilling (Astbury, England),  Jordan Smith (Woodcote Park, England)

Saturday 21st February 2004

US College Golf
LAIRD'S LATE RUSH INTO TOP 20 ON HAWAII
Scotttish youths champion Martin Laird, a golf scholarship student at Colorado State, came with a late rush to grab a top-20 finish in the John Burns Intercollegiate 54-hole tournament over the Leilehua course, at Wahiawa, Hawaii (on Friday).
Hilton Park Golf Club member Laird, after scores of 70 and 74 over the 6,917yd par-72 lay-out, came storming up the field with a closing effort of five-under-par 67 for a final total of five-under 211 and a share of 16th place.
Colorado State team-mate and fellow Scot Kevin McAlpine from Alyth had three rounds of 71 for a three-under-par total of 213 but so high was the general standard of play that the son of the former Dundee United goalkeeper finished only in a tie for 33rd place.
Spencer Levin (New Mexico) won the individual honours with scores of 67, 65 and 69 for 15-under 201, one shot ahead of Laird and McAlpine's team-mate, Nolan Martin who scored 67, 71 and 674 for 202.
Arizona won the team title with 31-under-par 833 ahead of Nevada Las Vegas (837) and New Mexico (840). Colorado State (849) tied for sixth place.
Former Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Mark Lamb from Haddington, a freshman at Arizona University, was disqualified in the second round after a 72 on the first day.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL
201 Spencer Levin (New Mexico) 67 65 69.
202 Nolan Martin (Colorado State) 67 71 64.
203 Peter Tomasulo (California) 67 69 67, Henry Liaw (Arizona) 69 64 70.
206 Ryan Moore (UNLV) 70 65 71, Jimmy Cunningham (Denver) 68 70 68.
207 Travis Whisman (UNLV) 69 70 68, David Tasker (Texas A&M) 70 67 70.
208 Nathan Lashley (Arizona) 70 71 67.
Other scores:
211 Martin Laird (Colorado State) 70 74 67.
213 Kevin McAlpine (Colorado State) 71 71 71.
Disqualified: Mark Lamb (Arizona) 72 disq.

Friday 20th February 2004

Spanish senior women's international amateur championship
RAIN IN SPAIN WASHES OUT FINAL ROUND
The rain in Spain fell so heavily for several hours that the second and final round of the Spanish senior women's international amateur championship at Mediterraneo Golf Club, Castellon was cancelled on Friday.
The final placings were decided on the first-round scores which meant that overnight leader Laurance Marie Neuhaus from France was declared the winner of the title by two shots with her Thursday round of 76.
England's Vivien Saunders, winner of the Women's British Open in 1977 and reinstated as an amateur from the professional ranks last autumn, tied for fourth place with a 79.
Another English competitor, Sue Westall, was placed joint 13th place with an 82 while Rhona Fanagan, Mary McKenna and Valerie Hasset, all from Ireland, were on the 84 mark.
Scot Pamela Williamson (Baberton), the current Irish senior open women's champion, got no chance to recover from her disappointing opening round of 85.

US College Golf
SCOT LAMB DISQUALIFIED IN HAWAII COLLEGE EVENT
Mark Lamb, pictured right, from Haddington, now a freshman student at Arizona University, suffered the body blow of being disqualified during the second round of the 54-hole John Burns Intercollegiate tournament over the Leilehua course, Wahiawa on Hawaii (on Thursday).
Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion in 2002, Lamb, highly enough regarded by his college to be sent to the tournament to compete as an individual rather than as a member of the five-man team, had matched the par of 72 for the 6,917yd course in the first round.
The Arizona University sports website said only that Lamb had been "disqualified during the second-round play." No further details were available. Fellow Scots Kevin McAlpine from Alyth and Martin Laird, a member of Hilton Park Golf Club, both students at Colorado State University, played steadily but were unable to make a big impression due to the exceptionally high standard of play generally. McAlpine had two rounds of 71 for one-under-par 142 while Laird, the Scottish youths champion, scored 70 and 74 for level par 144. Kevin was tied for 29th place and Martin joint 51st going into the final round.
Spencer Levin (New Mexico) led at 12-under-par 132 after scores of 67 and 65. He had a one-shot advantage over Henry Liaw (Arizona), 69 and 64.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL 132 Spencer Levin (New Mexico) 67 65. 133 Henry Liaw (Arizona) 69 64. 135 Ryan Moore (UNLV) 70 65. 136 Peter Tomasula (California) 67 69. 137 David Tasker (Texas A&M) 70 67. Other scores: 142 Kevin McAlpine (Colorado State) 71 71. 144 Martin Laird (Colorado State) 70 74. Disqualified: Mark Lamb (Arizona) 72 disq.
LEADING TEAMS 555 New Mexico. 556 Nevada Las Vegas. 557 Arizona. 562 California. 563 Texas A&M 566 Colorado. Other total: 572 Colorado State.

US College Golf
SCOTS IN ORLANDO FIELD
SCOTS Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey), Russell Knox (Inverness) and Jamie Kennedy (Edinburgh) all played for the Jacksonville University team who finished 18th in the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate tournament at Rio Pinar Country Club in Orlando. Gareth Maybin from Northern Ireland won the individual event with eight-under-par 208 (70-68-70). Freshman Duncan Stewart, a Scotland boy international, had rounds of 79, 76 and 71 for 10-over 226 to tie for 30th place. Russell Knox, also a freshman, scored 76, 76 and 75 for 227 and was joint 34th. Jamie Kennedy had rounds of 79, 82 and 78 for 253 and joint 75th place. Jacksonville's team total was 937 compared with winners South Alabama's 863. South Alabama beat Central Florida at the first hole of a play-off.

Thursday 19th February 2004

Spanish Senior Womens International Championship
VIVIEN LYING FOURTH IN SPANISH SENIORS' EVENT
Reinstated amateur Vivien Saunders, pictured right, was lying in joint fourth place at the end of the first round of the Spanish senior women's international championship at Mediterraneo Golf Club, Castellon on Thursday.
Vivien, a former winner of the Women's British Open in her long career as a professional, recovered from 6s at the third and fourth holes, to return a 79 - three shots behind leader Laurance Marie Neuhaus from France.
Another England competitor, Sue Westall, was back in joint 13th place after an 82 while Rhona Fanagan, Mary McKenna and Valerie Hasset, all from Ireland, were on the 84 mark.
Scot Pamela Williamson (Baberton), the current Irish senior open women's champion, struggled to the turn in 46, with a 7 at the third and 6s at the first, fourth and ninth, but she settled on to come home in 39 for an opening 85.
Jennifer Mack (Haggs Castle), had 7s at the fourth, 13th and 17th, in compiling an 89, two better than Elspeth Hanlon (Gourock).
Collated scoreboard
SPANISH SENIOR WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP _ Mediterraneo GC, Castellon
First round leaders
76 L M Neuhaus (Fra).
78 B Ramirez de Haro (Spa), M-B Heden (Swe).
79 C Maestre (Spa), V Saunders (Eng), V Pertierra (Spa).
81 C Birke (Swe), E Villacieros de GARCIA-OGARA, C Pequignot (Spa), G Nordgren (Swe), F Colmant (Ita), A K Hermansson (Swe).
Other scores:
82 S Westall (Eng).
83 D Williams (Can).
84 R Fanagan (Ire), M McKenna (Ire), V Hasset (Ire).
85 P Williamson (Sco).
89 J Mack (Sco).
91 E Hanlon (Sco), J Sales (Eng).
92 S Timberlake (Eng).
95 D Hume (Ire).
96 P Moscati (Sco).
101 M C Orr (Sco)

BOYS TAKE HONOURS AGAINST CURTIS CUP SQUAD
[NB this press release is written from the boys point of view! - GGK]
The Scottish Boys Elite squad ran out winners against the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup squad in a practice match, at the Quinta da Cima Golf Resort in Portugal. The game provided the boys with vital competitive preparation ahead of next month's Boys Quadrangular in France.
Facing top players including Scots Lynn Kenny (University of Stirling), Anne Laing (Vale of Leven) and Claire Queen (Drumpellier), the group of five boys performed well to secure a 5 - 2 victory.
Scottish Men's Internationalist Neil MacRae (Cawder) and Boys Team Captain Wilson Bryson, joined the boys in the team to face the ladies' squad, who were continuing their own preparation for the Curtis Cup match against USA on 12 - 13 June at Formby Golf Club.
Bryson lost the 'boys' first point against Anna Highgate of Cottrell Park, succumbing to a 1-hole deficit. Scott Borrowman (Dollar) lost his match by the same margin. With one boy playing singles against a foursomes ladies' pairing, 17-year-old Garry Wood of Crow Wood comprehensively defeated Claire Queen and Danielle Masters (Rochester & Cobham) 7 and 6. Further wins by David Addison (Kilmarnock Barassie), Euan Polson (Brora), Scott Henry (Cardross) and senior member Neil MacRae, completed the boys 5 - 2 win.
Scottish National Coach Ian Rae accompanied the group on the Player Development Camp. Reflecting on their performance, he said: "The squad worked very hard on their game, and I think that paid off in the match. They improved throughout the week in Portugal, and really got to grips with the conditions and the difficult course.
"Their form is very encouraging ahead of the Boys Quadrangular match in a couple of weeks time. Traditionally, we haven't performed well in that, but I am optimistic that we will do better this year.
"It is the first time the SGU have brought the boys squad away, and I think they have responded very well. I'm sure the intensive coaching they have had this week will pay off this season."

IRISH PAIR FINISH THIRD IN SPANISH EVENT
Ireland's Mary McKenna, pictured left, and Valerie Hasset, pictured right, finished third in the Spanish senior women's international amateur foursomes championship at Mediterraneo Golf Club, Castellon in Spain (on Wednesday). They had rounds of 75 and 77 for an aggregate of 152 - two shots behind two Spanish pairings who played off for the title. Vicky Pertierra and Reggie Rodriguez beat compatriots Carmen Maestre and Ines Garcia-Minaur after they had tied on 150. Vicky and Reggie had rounds of 73 and 77; Carmen and Innes 72 and 78.
Elspeth Hanlon from Gourock was the leading Scot in the tournament. She partnered Sonja Gottschalch (Denmark) to ninth place on the 160 mark (79-81). Ireland's Dorothy Hume and Rhona Fanagan tied for 15th place with scores of 77 and 87 for 154. England's Sue Timberlake and Sue Westall shared 18th place after rounds of 77 and 88 for 165.
The Scotland-Canada combination of Jennifer Mack (Haggs Castle) and Diane Williams were joint 35th on 177 (86-91). Jennifer deputised for compatriot Pamela Williamson (Baberton), the Irish senior women's open champion, who was due to partner Diane.
Scots Pamela Moscati and Mhairi Christina Orr occupied 47th place with rounds of 92 and 101 for 193.
England's Julie Sales and reinstated amateur Vivien Saunders, who plays off plus two, retired in the second round. They had a 78 in the first round.
COLLATED SCOREBOARD SPANISH SENIOR WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL FOURSOMES _
Mediterraneo Golf Club, Castellon - Leading totals _ 150 V Pertierra & R Rodriguez (Spa) 73 77, C Maestre & Ines Garcia-Minaur (Spa) 72 78 (Pertierra & Rodriguez won play-off). 152 M McKenna & V Hasset (Ire) 75 77. 153 V Hoff & A K Hermansson (Swe) 75 78. 155 B Ramirez de Haro & I Lorenzana (Spa) 76 78, M-B Heden (Swe) & N Valdes (Spa) 74 81; C Marsans & E Villacieros de Garcia-Ogara (Spa) 73 82. 157 C Birke & B Rehnquist (Swe) 74 83. 160 S Gottschalch (Den) & E Hanlon (Sco) 79 81.
Other totals: 164 D Hume & R Fanagan (Ire) 77 87. 165 S Timberlake & S Westall (Eng) 77 88. 177 D Williams (Can) & J Mack (Sco) 86 91. 193 P Moscati & C M Orr (Sco) 92 101. Retired J Sales & V Saunders (Eng) 78 --.

Gillian and Wendy will go round the world in 364 days
[This story will appear in the March edition of Golfview]
SCOTTISH Ladies Golfing Association tournament secretary Gillian Roy from Monifieth and Wendy Miller, a past captain of Arbroath Artisans Ladies Golf Club do not expect to play a single round of golf between April 20 this year and April 19, 2005. That's because they are setting off on a trip that will take them round the world in easy stages - and there will be no room for golf clubs in the pair of rucksacks they will live out of for the 364 days it will take them to circumnavigate the globe. Full story

TOP SPANISH GIRL PROSPECT BOUND FOR VIKKI LAING'S OLD US COLLEGE
Elisa Serramia, Spanish winner of the British women's open amateur championship at Lindrick last June, has signed a letter of intent to join the University of California-Berkeley in September.
Elisa from Barcelona will take a sports study degree course but it will be her possible impact on the college women's golf team - which has been missing Curtis Cup player Vikki Laing since she completed her four-year golf scholarship last summer. Another Scot, Anne Walker, stayed on after her spell at the University of California to join the back-up staff with the women's team.
Elisa has already added to her list of titles this year. She won the Puntuable Nacional junior girls' championship at Nuevo Portil, Huelva in the south of Spain a week or two ago. Among her beaten rivals was another Spanish "wonder girl," Azahara Munoz, who won the Spanish women's championship two years ago and is the European Under-16 girls title-holder.
Email from UCB assistant coach Anne Walker (which doesn't mention Elisa's imminent arrival but it's interesting anyway). Go Bears!

A FIRST IN WORLD SPORT FOR THE R&A
One of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by The R&A got underway yesterday with the launch of the website www.bestcourseforgolf.org, the benefits of which will be felt throughout the world of golf.
Now, for the first time, while clubs can access free information, the worldwide development of golf at club level can be monitored by The R&A from its headquarters in St Andrews. This has resulted from the introduction of www.bestcourseforgolf.org, a website that gives all clubs in the 127 affiliated Federations and Unions, the opportunity of drawing on the resources of the Golf Course Committee and its database of expert advice. Press release

US College Golf
COLLETTE AND SARA HELP JACKSONVILLE STATE TO CHALK UP THIRD TEAM TITLE
Collette Murray, pictured right, from Dumfries and Sara Gallagher of Belfast helped Jacksonville State University women's golf team to win the Henry Griffiths-Birmingham Southern Shoot-out intercollegiate tournament at Greystone Golf Club, Birmingham in Alabama. It was the third win of the 2003-2004 season for the Jacksonville State women's team. Collette Murray had scores of 82 and 76 for 158 which put her in third place behind individual winner Caitlen Ogren (Birmingham Southern) who shot 75 and 77 for 152. Sara Gallagher had a pair of 82s for joint 16th place on 164.
Past Scottish girls international player Kate O'Sullivan, pictured left, from Paisley - now a member of the High Point University, North Carolina women's golf team, alongwith Jenna Kinnear from Belfast - finished ninth with rounds of 84 and 77 for 161. Jenna Kinnear scored 87 and 82 for 30th place on 169.
Jacksonville State (633) won the team title from Birmingham Southern (642) with Mercer (646) third. Kate O'Sullivan's good effort pushed High Point (672) up into seventh place, which is the highest finish the team has achieved since the relatively new women's golf programme was introduced within the past year at the college.

US College Golf
EMILY OGILVY 21st AT ROCKPORT, TEXAS
Emily Ogilvy from Dunning, now a student at Sam Houston State University, Texas finished 21st in the TAMUCC Islander Spring Classic at Rockport Country Club, Rockport in Texas. Emily had scores of 86, 88 and 82 for a three-round total of 256 over the 6,023yd par-72 course.
Kim Welch (Washington State) won the individual title with rounds of 70, 76 and 71 for 217.
Sam Houston State (1014) finished sixth behind team winners Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (958).

Blanchard to lead US team
Cora Jane Blanchard will serve as the captain of the USA team at the Women's World Amateur Team Championship in Puerto Rico this coming October.

Wednesday 18th February 2004

Spanish Senior Womens' Foursomes
ELSPETH HANLON LEADING SCOT IN SPAIN
Ireland's Mary McKenna and Valerie Hasset were the leading pair from Great Britain & Ireland at the end of the first round of the Spanish senior women's international foursomes at Mediterraneo Country Club on Tuesday.
They returned a score of 75 - three off the pace set by the Spanish partnership of Carmen Maestre Osorio and Ines Garcia-Minaur Rotaeche.
Leading Scot was Elspeth Hanlon from Gourock. Partnering Sonja Gottshalch from Denmark, Elspeth returned a 79.
Jennifer Mack (Haggs Castle), captain of the Scotland team at last year's inaugural senior women's home internationals, teamed up with Diane Williams (Canada) to score an 86.
Pamela Williamson (Baberton) was in the draw to partner Diane Williams while Jennifer was due to be the partner of Fiona Roger (Ranfurly Castle).
The all-Scottish pairing of Pamela Moscati and Christina Orr had a 92. Results

US College News
Danielle Roseberry from Sunderland, a golf scholarship student at New Mexico State University finished ninth in the Bay Area Classic women's college tournament at Boulder Ridge Golf Club in San Jose, California on Tuesday.
In a storm-hit tournament, very wet and very windy conditions pushed the general standard of scoring well over par and Danielle had rounds of 79 and 81 for a 16-over-par tally of 160. She finished eight shots behind the winner, Ashley Gomes (San Jose State) who had rounds of 80 and 72 for a two-stroke win from Amber Prange (Washington). Gomes was the only player to have a par round during the 36-hole event.
Miss Roseberry's gritty effort in the testing conditions enabled Mexico State to finish second in the team event with a tally of 644. Washington won with 629 and San Francisco were third with 650.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS 152 Ashley Gomes (San Jose State) 80 72. 154 Amber Prange (Washington) 75 79. 155 Angela Won (UC Irvine) 77 78, Joan Shimozaki (San Francisco) 75 80, Minnie Choi (UC Irvine) 75 80. 157 Sung Ea Lee (Washington) 78 79, Lindsay Morgan (Washington) 80 77. 159 Alex Lee (New Mexico State) 78 81. 160 Danielle Roseberry (New Mexico State)79 81.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS 629 Washington. 644 New Mexico State. 650 San Francisco. 654 Hawaii. 655 San Jose State 663 Portland State. 672 UC Irvine. 674 Colorado State.

How do we find out results?
Trying to trace the results of our students in the States can be very frustrating. Tournaments involving NCAA Division I Colleges are well reported in collegesports.com or Golfweek but news about the other Divisions and Junior Colleges often do not appear.
If you are following one person in particular, find out about their schedule through their college website by typing the Uni name into Google. Follow links to "Athletics" and you will generally get to the Golf Team webpages. There might be news of the current tournament there. e.g. Type "New Mexico State University" into Google and you get http://www.nmsu.edu Click on link "Athletics", go down "AGGIE sports" and you get Womens Golf and the news story is there.
If the site has no news then click the link to "schedule" to find out where the team are playing.
Once you know where they are playing, then you follow the same route to the host Uni through Google and hopefully they might have information on their Golf tournament. If that doesn't work... then find out the names of some of the other golf teams who also play in their Conference and search their sites for news of the tournament.
After the tournament, results can be found at Golfstat. Sometimes Golfstat do live scoring of some of the major tournaments, and provide excellent coverage of the NCAA Regionals and Finals.
If you can't be bothered doing all this then do not despair - Kirkwoodgolf will bring it to you! If Colin or I miss anything, please let us know. There are lots of Student Golfers out there and although we try hard, we can't keep track of everyone.

Scottish Womens University Golf
Scottish Women University Golfers have two medals lined up soon. They are playing on Gullane No3 on Sunday, 22nd February at 11.30am and Drumpellier on the 7th March at 11am. Please get in touch with Ann Ramsay for more details.

US College Golf
GARETH MAYBIN WINS SEVENTH US COLLEGE EVENT
Gareth Maybin won his third event of the 2003-2004 American college golf season and fellow Ulsterman Colm Montgomery and Colin Speirs from Perth shared in the South Alabama team triumph at the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate tournament in Florida on Tuesday.
Maybin from Ballyclare, Antrim won the individual title with an eight-under-par total of 208 (70-68-70) by three strokes from Landon Allen (Texas-Arlington) and Barry Roof (Central Florida). The leading team honours was decided in a play-off after South Alabama and Central Florida tied on 863. Maybin, who has won seven times in all in United States college golf, sank a 6ft par putt on the 18th hole to take South Alabama into a play-off after Central Florida had posted their final total. Then Maybin and team-mates Josh Lampley and Ben Briscoe from Wales all birdied the first hole in the play-off which South Alabama won with a team total of three-under-par to Central Florida's par score. Speirs finished 17th in the individual standings on 221 with scores of 72, 76 and 73. Colm Montgomery from Malone, Northern Ireland, another member of the cosmopolitan South Alabama team came 19th with 222 (75-73-74).
LEADING INDIVIDUAL 208 Gareth Maybin (South Alabama) 70 68 70. 211 Landon Allen (Texas-Arlington) 74 71 66, Barry Roof (Central Florida) 68 74 69. 213 Chris Stroud (Lamar) 71 72 70, Sonny Nimkhum (Central Florida) 71 70 72. Other totals: 221 Colin Speirs (South Alabama 72 76 73. 222 Colm Montgomery (South Alabama) 75 73 74.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS 863 South Alabama, Central Florida (South Alabama won play-off at first extra hole). 881 Coastal Carolina. 884 Lamar. 886 Texas-Arlignton. 888 Mercer, Kansas. 897 South Florida. 903 Richmond. 904 Indiana.

Tuesday 17th February 2004

Curtis Cup
The Curtis Cup is a huge event for the LGU. Read this article, shortly to be published in the March edition of Golfview, about the planning and preparations for the match.
NB. Golfview is the best golf magazine in NE Scotland. If you want a copy posted to you monthly (every month except January), please send a cheque for £15, made payable to Golfview Ltd., to cover postage and package and administration costs, along with your name and address to: Golfview Ltd, Post service, Printagraph Ltd, Berryden Business Centre, 12 Berryden Road, Aberdeen AB25 3SA.

US College Golf
DAVID INGLIS WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GOLFER OF WEEK
Walker Cup player David Inglis from Roslin, Midlothian has been named Western Athletic Conference men's golfer of the week for the ninth time during his stay at the University of Tulsa.
Inglis earned the honour with a one-under-par 54-hole total of 215 in the Waikoloa Intercollegiate tournament on Hawaii last week. So high was the standard of play in an event which was contested by many of the American college circuit's top players that David finished no higher than 29th.
A two-time choice for the All-American second team, Inglis has chalked up 32 top-20 finishes in his 45 tournaments as a University of Tulsa player.

GREENS, BUNKERS AND WATER HAZARDS MOVE INDOORS AT ST ANDREWS FOR R&A's INTERNATIONAL REFEREES SCHOOL
R&A SETS 1000TH REFEREES EXAM IN ST ANDREWS
St Andrews, Scotland 15th-18th February 2004 -
The R&A, golf's world governance and development body and organiser of The Open Championship, will put rules officials from thirty countries to the test this week on golf course features purpose built for the occasion in a hotel ballroom.
Greenkeepers from the St Andrews Bay Golf Resort & Spa have brought a green, a bunker and a water hazard indoors so international referees school delegates can be coached in comfort by The R&A's rules experts.
Over eighty men and women, nominated from the 127 golf playing nations affiliated to The R&A, are attending this year's residential school in St Andrews, travelling from countries as far flung as Pakistan and Puerto Rico, China and Canada.
The R&A sets an examination for referees during the course and this, the fourteenth referees school, will see the 1000th candidate sit the test in St Andrews.
Since 1990 over 5000 referees have attended R&A run schools on the rules of golf around the world. Commenting on the school's move indoors R&A Director of Rules and Equipment Standards David Rickman said: "This is the best time to hold this international school and we can't let the weather disrupt our programme. Typically delegates have travelled thousands of miles to come to St Andrews and we want to make full use of our three days together. We are delighted that so many people have come so far for the school and this must be good news for the game, which needs refereeing to be consistent and of a high standard throughout the world."
The programme for the school involves lectures, group discussions on televised rules incidents; practical demonstrations and individual performance appraisal on role-play rulings. Greenkeepers took a week to create an indoor simulation of various golf course features in the ballroom of the St Andrews Bay Hotel, which now contains a bunker, a putting green, a water hazard, ground under repair and areas of casual water.
Next month The R&A will conduct similar training events on the rules for referees in Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador.
In October (2003) The R&A started the worldwide distribution of four million copies of the most revised edition of the Rules of Golf for twenty years. Sponsored by Rolex, the 2004 Rules of Golf is available free of charge from golf clubs or from The R&A by visiting www.randa.org.

Monday 16th February 2004

ROYAL BIRKDALE TO HOST 2008 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Royal Birkdale has been named by The R&A as the venue for the 2008 Open Championship which will be played from 17 to 20 July.
The Open has been to Birkdale on eight previous occasions and it was in 1954, the first, that Peter Thomson won the first of his five Open Championship titles. Eleven years later, in 1965 at Birkdale, he rounded off his collection of Open wins with a further triumph that he described as "my greatest win". Then, Thomson finally broke the final round log-jam of 13 players, all of whom had a chance to win, with his second shot to the 510-yard 17th which hit the flag when he was just one shot clear of the field.
Birkdale was a great favourite of Thomson's and he lovingly described it as "man-sized but not a monster".
"Royal Birkdale has endeared itself to all of the world's top golfers," said Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A. "And we must remember that with his win there in 1961, Arnold Palmer is rightly credited with starting the renaissance of The Open. We are delighted to be returning in 2008."
In giving details of the 2008 Open, David Hill, Director of Championships of The R&A said: "Royal Birkdale is a venue which in addition to setting a rigorous examination of the abilities of all golfers, also has a first-class infrastructure which is capable of coping with large numbers of spectators."
"Almost 200,000 people watched Mark O'Meara winning in 1998 and we are delighted that the golfing public in Lancashire and the surrounding areas will again be given the opportunity of viewing 156 of the world's leading players in 2008."
Graham Haywood, Chief Executive of Sefton Council said: "I am delighted that The Open Championship will be returning to Royal Birkdale, Southport in 2008. The event is very special and of enormous benefit to the area, particularly our marketing of the area as England's Golf Coast. It was a tremendous success in 1998 when it was last at Royal Birkdale and I am sure 2008 will be even better".
Other players to have won at Birkdale are Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch and most recently, in 1998, Mark O'Meara who defeated Brian Watts of the United States in a four-hole play-off.
Royal Birkdale was founded in 1889 and eight years later, in 1897 moved to its present home at "Birkdale Hills". Much of the present layout was modelled on a design by Hawtree & J H Taylor Ltd in the 1920s and to complement the course which threads its way through mighty sand dunes, the present-day clubhouse was constructed in 1935 on elevated ground behind the 18th green.

Practice made perfect at Tain!
Budding young golfers in the Highlands are set to benefit from a £6,000 project to improve junior practice and playing facilities at Tain Golf Club.
The work, which has been funded by clubgolf as a pilot project, is part of a nationwide drive to encourage more children to take up the game by increasing access and widening opportunities in all parts of the country.
The redevelopment work at Tain has been going on for two months and is due to be completed in Mid-March. Once finished, the club will boast two new par three holes on its practice ground specifically for juniors as well as new greenside and fairway bunkers. The existing practice area has been extended by 30 metres and new mats added. Plans are also afoot to create new junior tees on the golf course itself.
The new practice facilities have been designed to help increase the club's junior membership but will also be used by local school children taking part in the new clubgolf programmes. Martin Bowie, clubgolf's Facilities Manager, said: "This is exactly the type of project clubgolf wants to promote. Tain is one of a growing number of clubs looking to offer more for its younger members and we were delighted to be able to help out. Juniors are after all the future of the game and it is vital we provide better facilities for them to learn and progress."
It is a view that is shared by the club's Captain Trish Shearer. "Our practice area really wasn't suitable for juniors before as it was too small for them to be able to play safely," she explained. "Now with the help of clubgolf, we have been able to transform an area of rough ground at the back of the existing practice area into something we hope our juniors and local children will use and gain great benefit from."
Clubgolf is Scotland's first national golf programme for children and is backed by the Scottish Executive and the country's main golfing bodies. It aims to increase the number of boys and girls playing the game by adopting a totally new approach to coaching. The programme will work in conjunction with schools, volunteer coaches, golf clubs and golf professionals. It consists of five levels - Level One being the entry level which focuses on attracting youngsters into the game and Level Five, the national high performance programme designed for Scotland's elite players and national teams.
Local schools in the Tain area will soon be delivering the new clubgolf introductory game - a modified game for schools which is due to be rolled out nationally. Willie MacKay, clubgolf's Highland Regional Manager added: "Following on from these introductory game sessions, youngsters will then have the opportunity to make the jump from primary school to golf club and the new facilities at Tain will play a key role in that."

Sunday 15th February 2004

FRASERBURGH OFFICIALS RESIGN AFTER EXTENSION WORK HALTED
Fraserburgh Golf Club's captain and vice-captain have resigned after the construction of an extension to the clubhouse was halted due to lack of payments to the builders.
The golf club owes W&J Bruce Ltd in excess of £150,000 for work already completed on the extension. It has been revealed that Fraserburgh Golf Club has less than £9,000 in the bank.
Work on the extension - total cost £350,000 - began last September.
A spokesman for W&H Bruce Ltd said:
"Due to the non-payment of monies due on our current main contract - and with little or no prospect of payment in the foreseeable future - it is with regret that we have had to terminate the employment of the majority of our staff."
Around 25 building workers have been paid off.
It is understood that the agreement was that the golf club would make monthly payments to the builders. None has been made since October.
Club captain John McPherson and vice-captain Charlie MacLean have resigned from their posts.
Fraserburgh Golf Club is one of the oldest golf clubs in the North-east of Scotland. It was founded in 1881.
It has an 18-hole links course, originally designed by James Braid, and a nine-hole circuit.
Fraserburgh's main open tournament of the year is the 36-hole Buchan Firkin, open to professionals and amateurs, and first played in 1947.
The club's overall membership is between 600 and 650.

GLENISLA GOLF CLUB UNAFFECTED BY SKI COMPANY'S PROBLEMS
GLENISLA Golf Club will be unaffected by the news that Scotland's best known ski centres at Glenshee and Glencoe are up for sale.
The Glenshee Chairlift Company built the Glenisla course at Alyth, near Blairgowrie in 1998 as part of a diversification plan to generate extra income from year-round operations unaffected by the lack of snow.
Earlier this month, the company submitted a planning application to add a nine-hole course to the existing 18-hole lay-out at Glenisla.
Mild winters and poor snow cover have been responsible for the Glenshee Chairlift Company losing £1million over the past two years.

Saturday 14th February 2004

US College News
INGLIS TIES FOR 29TH ON HAWAII
David Inglis closed with a one-under-par round of 71 but was disappointed to finish only tied for 29th place in the Waikoloa Intercollegiate tournament on Hawaii.
The Walker Cup Scot had two earlier rounds of 72 and posted a creditable one-under-par total of 215 over the 7,074yd Waikoloa King's Course. But the general standard of play was so high that David never looked like gaining what would have been his 53rd top-20 place on the American college circuit.
Anthony Kim (Oklahoma shot five birdies in a final round 67 for a total of 11-under-par 205 and a two-stroke victory from Chez Reavie (Arizona State) and Nick Mason (Hawaii).
Georgia Tech (841) won the team event from UCLA (844) with Arkansas (845) third. David Inglis's University of Tulsa team came 17th with 876.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
205 Anthony Kim (Oklaohoma) 71 67 67.
207 Chez Reavie (Arizona State) 71 67 69, Nick Mason (Hawaii) 70 68 69.
208 Scott Gordon (UC Davis) 70 66 72.
209 Michael Putnam (Pepperdine) 72 68 69, Chan Wonglukiet (Georgia Tech) 69 71 69, Matt Bortis (Arkansas) 72 68 69.
Other total:
215 David Inglis (Tulsa) 72 72 71.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
841 Georgia Tech.
844 UCLA.
845 Arkansas.
850 Arizona State.
852 Oklahoma.
853 Washington.
857 UC Davis, Southern California.
860 Texas Christian.
862 Pepperdine.
Other total:
876 Tulsa.

Friday 13th February 2004

US College Golf
INGLIS PAR GOLF PUTS HIM BACK IN 20TH IN HAWAII
Walker Cup player David Inglis has played par golf through the first 36 holes of the Waikoloa Intercollegiate tournament in Hawaii but that has been good enough only to put him in a tie for 20th place with one round to go.
Inglis, a student at the University of Tulsa, has matched the par of 72 for the 7,074yd Waikoloa King's Course in both the first and second rounds. His aggregate of 144 is eight shots behind leader Scott Gordon (UC Davis) who is eight under par after rounds of 70 and 66.
Gordon, from California, leads by two shots from Nick Mason (Hawaii), Anthony Kim )Oklahoma) and Chez Reavie (Arizona State).
Georgia Tech (563) lead the team standings by two shots from UCLA and UC Davis with Washington (566) in fourth place. Tulsa (589) is back in 18th spot.
LEADING INDIVIDUALS 136 Scott Gordon (UC Davis) 70 66. 138 Nick Mason (Hawaii) 70 68, Anthony Kim (Oklahoma) 71 67, Chez Reavie (Arizona State) 71 67. 139 Dan Potter (Washington) 72 67, Travis Johnson (UCLA) 70 69, J J Killeen (Texas Christian) 69 70. 140 Michael Putnam (Pepperdine) 72 68, Andrew Dresser (Texas Tech) 70 70, Brock Mackenzie (Washington) 68 72, Chan Wongluekiet (Georgia Tech) 69 71, Matt Bortis (Arkansas) 72 68.
Other score: 144 David Inglis (Tulsa) 72 72.
LEADING TEAMS 563 Georgia Tech. 565 UCLA, UC Davis. 566 Washington. 571 Arkansas, Arizona State. 574 Southern California. 578 Stanford. 579 Pepperdine, Texas Christian, Nagoya.
Other total: 589 Tulsa.

Thursday 12th February 2004

US College Golf - [No Scots, but we thought you might be interested! G]
AMERICAN CURTIS CUP PLAYERS FAIL TO SHINE IN CALIFORNIA
Annie Thurman (Oklahoma State), Erica Blasberg (Arizona) and Sarah Huarte (California), three members of the United States Curtis Cup team for Formby in June, failed to make a big impact on the outcome of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, which teed off the second half of the American women's college golf season in the west of the country.
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) dominated the event with Charlotte Mayorkas winning the individual honours by 10 shots from Bruins' team-mate Susie Matthews, an Australian from Adelaide, and Julie Tvede (Tulsa), from Denmark).
Mayorkas's performance was nothing short of brilliant. She made all the running with scores of 66, 69 and 72 over the 5,912yd, Par 72 Palos Verdes Golf Club course in California for a six-under-par 54-hole total of 207. Charlotte was the only player in the quality field to finish under par.
Susie Matthews scored 73, 71 and 73 to share second place on four-over 217 with Julie Tvede whose rounds were 71, 71 and 75.
Curtis Cup choice Annie Thurman (Oklahoma State) tied for fourth place on eight-over-par 221 with rounds of 74, 72 and 75, not a bad effort by any means but still 14 shots behind the winner.
Curtis Cup team-mate Eric Blasberg (Arizona) tied for 11th place on 11-over 224 after scores of 73, 73 and 78. And the third USGA choice for Formby in June,
Sarah Huarte (California) was well down the field in 43rd place with a total of 22-over-par 235. Her scores were 81, 77 and 77, highlighting the unexpectedly poor overall performance by players of the California team.
England's Rachel Bell, a student at Southern California, did not cover herself in glory either. Rachel scored 83, 78 and 78 for 27-over-par 240 and joint 51st place.
UCLA (876) won the team event by the runaway margin 32 shots from New Mexico (908) with Ohio State (914) third.
LEADING INDIVIDUALS 207 Charlotte Mayorkas (UCLA) 66 69 72. 217 Susie Matthews (UCLA) 73 71 73; Julie Tvede (Tulsa) 71 71 75. 221 Kailin Downs (New Mexico) 70 78 73; Annie Thurman (Oklahoma State) 74 72 75; Kristen White (Ohio State) 71 73 77.
Other scores: 224 Erica Blasberg (Arizona) 73 73 78. 235 Sarah Huarte (California) 81 77 77. 240 Rachel Bell (Southern California) 83 78 79.
LEADING TEAMS 876 UCLA. 908 New Mexico. 914 Ohio State. 917 Arizona. 921 Southern California. 922 Oklahoma State.

ELGA Press release
After discussions with John King about the restructuring of Elite coaching the English Ladies' Golf Association has agreed to release John from his contract as National Coach. The development of the plans for Elite coaching will not necessitate the appointment of a National Coach in the foreseeable future.
John will continue to coach the ELGA Bursary squad of seven potential England players.

US College Golf
Walker Cup Scot David Inglis (Tulsa University) was in joint 32nd place after an opening round of par 72 in the Big Island Collegiate Classic over the 7,074yd Waikola King's Course on Hawaii.
Nicholas Thompson (Georgia Tech) opened up a three-shot lead with an eight-under-par 64.
Georgia Tech, with three players in the top 10, lead the team event with 272, 10 ahead of UCLA.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL 64 Nicholas Thompson (Georgia Tech). 68 Brock Mackenzie (Washington), John Poucher (UCLA). 69 Zack Miller (Stanford), Kevin Blue (Stanford), Chan Wongluekiet (Georgia Tech), Michael Barbosa (Georgia Tech), Mitch Cohlmia (Tulsa), J J Killeen (TCU).
Other score: 72 David Inglis (Tulsa).
LEADING TEAMS 272 Georgia Tech. 282 UCLA. 283 Washington, Arizona State. 284 UC Davis, Stanford.
Other score: 293 Tulsa.

Wednesday 11th February 2004

English Ladies' Golf Association Press release
Seven of the top English players are to take part in the Sherry Cup European Nations Championship, 24 - 27 March 2004 to be held at Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. The Spanish are expecting a strong field, with the ballot set at 1.9.
Kerry Smith (Waterlooville), Sara Garbutt (Ganton) and Naomi Edwards (Ganton) have been selected by ELGA to represent England in the Sherry Cup Team competition.

US College Golf
PAMELA FEGGANS SCORES BIGGEST WIN
Pamela Feggans, a 21-year-old Scotland international team player from Ayrshire, scored her biggest win on the American women's college golf circuit in the University of Central Florida Invitational golf tournament at Stoneybrook Country Club, Orlando on Tuesday.
Pamela, starting the second day in third place, two shots off the lead, followed up her opening round of par 72 with a 71 for an aggregate of one-under 143 over the 5,891yd course to win the individual title by a single stroke.
The Scot is only the second player in the history of the tournament to finish under par and equalled the record low winning total.
Pamela's college, Florida Southern, finished third with a total of 619 - 12 shots behind winners Georgia State.
"I've won a few tournaments since I came to Florida Southern in the fall of 2002 but this is my biggest win so far," said an excited Pamela who is a member at Doon Valley Golf Club, near Ayr. "I had a few faults in my swing going into the tournament but when the action started, I just trusted my swing on each shot and focused on the target. I had four birdies and three bogeys in my final 71. I birdied the fifth, eighth, 12th and 15th and dropped shots at the second, ninth and the 15th.
"It was a course where placement off the tee was vital. It was so tight with plenty of water. The driver stayed in my bag for most of the two days! I think the strongest part of my game was my putting. I holed a lot of good putts and my putting was really consistent throughout the tournament."
Miss Feggans' one-under-par total was only one stroke off the Florida Southern team record for a 36-hole tournament, set by Shanna Nagy at the Snowbird Intercollegiate in March, 1997.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL FINAL TOTALS 143 Pamela Feggans (Florida Southern) 72 71. 144 Lauren Smith (Augusta State) 71 73. 147 Natalia Navarro (Florida Atlantic) 77 70. 148 Ashley Grier (Jacksonville) 75 73. 149 Lisbeth Meincke (Georgia State) 75 74, Erica Wein (Georgia State) 76 73.
LEADING TEAM FINAL TOTALS 637 Georgia State. 610 Jacksonville. 619 Florida Southern. 621 Augusta State. 624 Rollins. 629 Florida Atlantic. 637 Florida Gulf Coast. 638 Daytona Beach.

US College Golf
SCOTT SLUMPS AGAIN IN FLORIDA
Scott Jamieson slumped to a closing round of nine-over-par 81 - a repeat of his dismal first-day performance - to finish in a tied for 67th place in the North Florida Collegiate championship at Sawgrass Country Club, Ponte Vedra Beach.
The former Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion from Cathkin Braes, a student at Augusta State University, had climbed the individual standings with a second-round 73 but he fell away again badly for a final total of 19-over-par 235 for the 54-hole tournament.
David Skinns from Lincoln closed with a disappointing 76 for a total of two-over 218 and a share of ninth place behind tournament winner Jason Hartwick (Texas) who shot a final-round 67 for 211 and a three-shot victory from Eirik Johansen (South Carolina) from Stavanger, Norway.
Skinns' University of Tennessee team-mate, Ross McGowan from Cheam, Surrey, had his best round of the week - a three-under-par 69 - for a 15th place tie on five-over 221.
South Carolina (861) won the team event by the runaway margin of 27 shots from Oklahoma State and Florida.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS 211 Jason Hartwick (Texas) 71 73 67. 214 Eirik Johansen (South Carolina) 71 76 67. 215 Gregg Jones (Clemson) 77 66 72, Jake Thompson (South Carolina) 71 71 73. 216 Dustin Bray (North Carolina) 73 72 71, Tom Johnson (Northwestern) 74 73 69, Martin Rominger (South Carolina) 73 73 70, Camilo Villegas (Florida) 72 74 70.
Other scores: 218 David Skinns (Tennessee) 73 69 76. 221 Ross McGowan (Tennessee) 73 79 69. 235 Scott Jamieson (Augusta State) 81 73 81.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS 861 South Carolina. 888 Oklahoma State, Florida. 889 Clemson, Texas. 891 Tennessee. 895 Louisiana State. 898 North Florida, Kentucky. 900 Georgia.

Tuesday 10th February 2004

US College Golf
PAMELA (72) LYING THIRD IN FLORIDA
SCOTLAND international team member Pamela Feggans opened the second half of the United States women's college golf circuit with a par round of 72 to be lying third at the halfway stage of the University of Central Florida Invitational at Stoneybrook Country Club, Orlando.
Miss Feggans, from Ayrshire and now a student at Florida Southern University, had halves of 37 and 35 over the 5,891yd course to be two strokes behind pacemaker Jenae Riehlman (Georgia State) and one behind second-placed Lauren Smith (Augusta State).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 70 Jenae Riehlman (Georgia State). 71 Lauren Smith (Augusta State). 72 Pamela Feggans (Florida Southern). 73 Patti Hogeboom (Augusta State). 74 Winnie Dorminey (Jacksonville). 75 Lisbeth Meincke (Georgia State), Ashley Grier (Jacksonville), Heather Mize (Florida Golf Coast),
TEAM LEADERS 299 Georgia State. 303 Jacksonville. 307 Augusta State, Florida Southern. 320 Florida Atlantic. 321 Rollins. 325 Daytona Beach. 328 Florida Gulf Coast.

US College Golf
JAMIESON JUMPS UP 10 PLACES IN FLORIDA
Scott Jamieson jumped up 10 places on the scoreboard with a second-round 73 in the North Florida Intercollegiate 54-hole tournament at Sawgrass Country Club, Ponte Vedra Beach.
The former Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion from Cathkin Braes, now a student at Augusta State University, improved by eight strokes on his disappointing first-day score to be tied for 44th place on the 154 mark with one round to go.
David Skinns (Tennessee), from Lincoln, moved into a triple tie for the lead on two-under-par 142 after returning a three-under-par 69 over the 6,955yd course. Skinns shaved four shots off his first-day effort by birdieing the second, seventh, eighth, 11th and 13th with bogeys only at the first and 17th.
Tennessee team-mate Ross McGowan from Surrey slumped from a fifth place tie overnight to joint 31st spot after a 79 for 152. McGowan had only one birdie - at the fifth - and ruined his card with a double-bogey at the 16th and other shots shed at the third, fourth, sixth, 11th, 13th and 18th. He required 41 shots for the inward half.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL 142 David Skinns (Tennessee) 73 69, Mark Blakefield (Kentucky) 75 67, Jake Thompson (South Carolina) 71 71. 143 Gregg Jones (Clemson) 77 66. 144 Jason Hartwick (Texas) 71 73. 145 Dustin Bray (North CArolina) 73 72, Alex Hamilton (South Carolina) 73 72, Jessie Mudd (Florida) 73 72, Casey Wittenberg (Oklahoma State) 75 70.
Other scores: 152 Ross McGowan (Tennessee) 73 79. 154 Scott Jamieson (Augusta State) 81 73.
LEADING TEAMS 577 South Carolina. 590 Clemson. 597 Oklahoma State. 599 Florida. 602 Tennessee. 604 Georgia. 605 Kentucky, Louisiana State. 608 Texas. 610 North Carolina State, North Florida.
Other score: 614 Augusta State.

Monday 9th February 2004

US College Golf
SCOTT STRUGGLES IN FLORIDA COLLEGE GOLF
Former Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Scott Jamieson from Cathkin Braes struggled to a score of nine-over-par 81 in the first round of the 54-hole North Florida Collegiate championship at Sawgrass Country Club, Ponte Vedra Beach (on Sunday).
Jamieson should have felt at home in low 50s temperatures and a constant 20mph wind but he finished up the disappointing day in a tie for 54th place. Jamieson is a golf scholarship student at Augusta State University.
Wallace Booth from Crieff is also at this college but he was not in the team for this tournament.
University of Tennessee team-mates Ross McGowan from Cheam, Surrey and David Skinns from Lincoln are sharing fifth place on 73, two shots behind joint leaders Jason Hartwick (Texas), Erik Johansen (South Carolina) and Jake Thompson(South Carolina).
LEADING INDIVIDUALS 71 Jason Hartwick (Texas), Erik Johansen (South Carolina), Jake Thompson (South Carolina). 72 Camilo Villegas (Florida). 73 Dustin Bray (North Carolina), Alex Hamilton (South Carolina), Ross McGowan (Tennessee), Jessie Mudd (Florida), Jeff Reimann (Louisiana State), Martin Rominger (South Carolina), David Skinns (Tennessee).
Other score: 81 Scott Jamieson (Augusta State).
LEADING TEAMS 288 South Carolina. 299 Florida. 303 Tennessee. 305 Louisiana State. 306 Clemson. 308 Oklahoma State. Other score: 317 Augusta State.

Sunday 8th February 2004

US Students News
Heather MacRae, left, and Jenna Wilson, right, could be key players for San Diego State University when the second half of the American women’s college golf season starts this month.
That’s the opinion of the team’s head coach Felicia Brown who feels her squad has the potential to reach the NCAA championship finals for the first time. Read on from the American college golf news service:

Starlet Booth is already taking world by storm
Read this article by Elspeth Burnside in the Edinburgh Evening News.

Saturday 7th February 2004

USGA announce US Curtis Cup team
Michelle Wie of Honolulu, Hawaii, who at age 13 became the youngest winner of an “adult” USGA championship when she captured the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, and two Duke University standouts headline the eight-woman amateur golf team selected to represent the United States of America at the 2004 Curtis Cup Match in England.
The team is Erica Blasberg, 19, of Corona, Calif.; Paula Creamer, 17, of Pleasanton, Calif.; Sarah Huarte, 21, of Shingle Springs, Calif.; Jane Park, 17, of Beaumont, Calif.; Annie Thurman, 21, of Highland, Utah, Elizabeth Janangelo, 20, of West Hartford, Conn., Brittany Lang, 18, of McKinney, Texas.and Michelle Wie, 14, of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Press release Photos Courtesy and copyright © USGA

Friday 6th February 2004

KIM ANDREW APPOINTED CAPTAIN OF TEAM FOR ESPIRITO SANTO TROPHY
The Ladies Golf Union has appointed Kim Andrew captain of the Great Britain & Ireland team to play in the Espirito Santo Trophy at the Westin Rio Beach Resort and Golf Club, Puerto Rico, from 20th to 23rd October 2004.
Mrs Andrew never played in the Women's World Championship, but nevertheless had a highly successful career as an amateur and represented GB&I in the Curtis Cup both in 1998 and 2000. And the omission of the Espirito Santo Trophy might not have existed had the politics of Chile in 1998 not prevented the ladies' team, for which she had been selected, travelling to South America.
The highlights of her career came in the two year spell starting in 1997 when she won the English Ladies' Match Play title and both the Helen Holm and St Rule Trophies. Twelve months later she added to that by winning the Ladies' British Amateur Championship at Little Aston and was awarded the title Daily Telegraph Womens Golfer of the Year™.
Mrs Andrew was delighted when offered the captaincy and said: "It is a great honour to be appointed captain of the Espirito Santo Team and having worked with several captains over the years, I realise what will be expected of me."
"Players nowadays are much more professional in attitude and training than might have been the case ten years ago and I expect my role to be one of augmenting and implementing, rather than establishing, systems that are already in place."

Thursday 5th February 2004

ELGA PRESS RELEASE
Shelley McKevitt nominated for the Nancy Lopez Award.
Shelley McKevitt (Reading, Berkshire) the 24 year-old 2003 British Strokeplay and New Zealand Amateur Champion has been nominated for The Nancy Lopez Award.
The award is presented annually to the world's best female amateur golfer, the winner will be announced on the 28th April and invited to play in the LPGA Chick-fil-A Charity Championship, hosted by Nancy Lopez.
The award is in recognition of the world's most outstanding female amateur golfer for the year and the purpose is to increasing awareness of the accomplishments of women amateur golfers. The winner will be selected by a committee of which Nancy Lopez and Betsy Rawls are members.
Nancy Lopez of the LPGA Hall of Fame has been selected to represent US once again in 2004, as the Solheim Cup Team Captain.
McKevitt said "When I received the letter from Nancy Lopez I was absolutely shocked, I am delighted with the nomination. The chance to play in a LPGA championship is fantastic, imagine winning the award and actually playing against Annika! However, my sights are set closer to home and I hope this nomination will increase my selection chances for the Curtis Cup team".

Wednesday 4th February 2004

SCOTS ENTER SPANISH SENIOR LADIES CHAMPIONSHIPS LATER THIS MONTH
Pam Williamson (Baberton), Elspeth Hanlon (Gourock), Jennifer Mack (Haggs Castle) and Fiona Roger (Ranfurly Castle) have had their entries accepted for the Spanish senior women's double amateur championship, to be played at Mediterraneo Golf Club, which is about halfway between Barcelona and Alicante on the east coast of Spain.
Pam Williamson is playing with the experienced Canadian player, Diane Williams.
Elspeth Hanlon has come in as a substitute for an injured player to partner Sonja Gottschalch (Denmark).
Jennifer Mack is partnering Fiona Roger.
So popular is the event this year with senior ladies from all over Europe that the Spanish Federation had to establish a waiting list when they reached the capacity field of 50 pairings.
Top of the reserve list are Scots Pamela Moscati and Mairi Christina Orr.
It is a quality field with partnerships of the calibre of Ireland's Mary McKenna and Valerie Hassett, England's Julie Sales and Vivien Saunders who is the backmarker in the field with plus 2 of a handicap.
The Swedes will also be out in force with last year's British seniors' open champion, Christina Birke (handicap 1.6) partnering compatriot Barbro Rehnquist, heading their strong challenge.
List of entrants

Student News
SCOTTISH LAMB MAKES HIS MARK IN ARIZONA
Mark Lamb from Haddington covered his last 21 holes of the tournament in five under par to finish a creditable joint 16th in the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate tournament at Tucson.
Lamb, now a student at the University of Arizona, birdied two of the last three holes he had to play in the early morning to salvage a one-over-par 72 from his darkness-halted second round. Then the 2002 Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion went out again and shot a three-under-par 68 for a final tally of two-under-par 211 in the 54-hole tournament which teed off the second half of the American college golf season.
Lamb, who had a couple of double bogeys before play was suspended in the second round, birdied the fifth, eighth, 15th, 17th and 18th with bogeys at the sixth and 11th in his 68.
US Walker Cup player Chris Nallen, also a University of Arizona student, won the tournament with a record low total of 18-under-par 195 with scores of 63, 64, 68 over Arizona National Country Club's 6,793yd par-71 course at Sabino Springs
Arizona won the team title with a score of 28-under 824. New Mexico (834) were runners-up with Arizona State (843) third.
Lamb was competing for the University of Arizona junior team which finished 15th.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL 195 Chris Nallen (Arizona) 63 64 68. 200 Michael Putnam (Pepperdine) 68 65 67. 202 Bill Haas (Wake Forest) 68 64 70, Spencer Levin (New Mexico) 70 63 69, Peter Tomasulo (California) 65 68 69. 204 Kyle Reifers (Wake Forest) 70 65 69. 206 Chris Baryla (Texas El Paso) 69 68 69, Alejandro Canizares (Arizona State) 70 65 71. 208 Vinnie Poncino (UC-Irvine) 65 71 72, Jay Reynolds (New Mexico) 69 68 71.
Other score: 211 Mark Lamb (Arizona) 71 72 68.
LEADING TEAMS 824 Arizona. 834 New Mexico. 843 Arizona State. 848 Southern California. 852 Wake Forest.

Tuesday 3rd February 2004

JANE CONNACHAN WORRIES ABOUT FUTURE FOR MICHELLE AND CARLY
Jane Connachan - a child prodigy herself in the 1970s - is worried that very talented golfing girls such as 14-year-old Michelle Wei in Hawaii and 11-year-old Carly Booth in Perthshire run the risk of suffering the same "burn-out" that made her quit professional tournament golf when she was only 27.
Speaking to Jock MacVicar in today's "Scottish Daily Express," Miss Connachan says:
"At that age you've got to have other interests. I didn't . I played my first major competition when I was 10. I never had fun golf. I had to play well and to play well you had to practise. It was my own fault. My dad tried to encourage me to have interests but I didn't listen.
"By the time I was 20, I was scunnered with the game.
"You worry about girls like Michelle Wie and Carly Booth setting out so young. I know. I've been through it. But I do believe there is a difference from my time.
"A lot of the girls now are going to college in the States and seeing life outside golf, which is so important."
Jane Connachan first played in the British girls' championship at the age of 10. She was 12 when she made her debut for the Scotland girls' team and by the team she was 18 she was a Curtis Cup player, Scottish women's champion and British women's open amateur stroke-play title-holder.
Now Jane is about to open a new golf shop in Musselburgh. She will concentrate on coaching females but not to the exclusion of any male who ants to improve his game.
"I love what I do now," she told Jock MacVicar. "I love to teach. I get such a kick out of seeing someone who came to me having success. "Vicki Laing came when she was 11 and went on to win the Scottish girls' title four years in a row. Their success is my success."

Student News
LAMB RUNS INTO TROUBLE AFTER GOOD START IN ARIZONA
FORMER Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion Mark Lamb from Haddington, now a student at the University of Arizona, ran into double-bogey trouble later in the day after matching the par of 71 in the opening round of the 54-hole Ping-Arizona Intercollegiate golf tournament at Arizona National Country Club, Sabino Springs.
Freshman Lamb, playing for the University of Arizona junior team, birdied the seventh, 14th and 16th to cancel out bogeys at the second, sixth and 10th in his first round which was delayed 90min because of overnight frost. When second-round play was suspended because of darkness, Lamb had slumped to five over par with three holes to play. He had double-bogeyed the ninth (his starting hole) and the fifth (the last hole he played before the suspension) and also shed shots at the 10th, 17th and fourth. Mark birdied the 13th and 18th.
Lamb won the Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship at Peterhead in 2002.
US Walker Cup player Chris Nallen, also a University of Arizona student, set a cracking pace with an eight-under-par 63 and he had improved his overall standing to 13 under the card with four holes in his second round still to play at the time of suspension.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCORES 63 Chris Nallen (Arizona). 65 Peter Tomasulo (California), Vinnie Poncino (UC-Irvine) 66 J R Ruda (California), Jay Choi (New Mexico), Henry Liaw (Arizona). 67 Mike Derminio (Arizona State). 68 Bill Haas (Wake Forest), Michael Putnam (Pepperdine), Ben Hayes (Southern California), Josh Esler (Arizona), Will Park (UC-Irvine).
Other score: 71 Mark Lamb (Arizona).
LEADING TEAM SCORES 267 Arizona. 275 New Mexico. 276 California. 278 Arizona State. 280 Southern California.

Monday 2nd February 2004

Congu Unified Handicapping System.
Well, the big switch over happened yesterday.....
After 110 years of LGU control, female handicaps are now administered by our National organisations using the Congu Unified Handicap System. [You might want to read this article I wrote for "Through the Green" - the magazine of the British Golf Collectors Society - on how handicaps started]
Handicap secretaries throughout the land will have done their yearly revision and switched to the new system. I hope there were no major glitches. Congu don't appear to have a website (please correct me if I am wrong). If you are looking for a FAQ list, the best information I can find on the web is at www.handicapmaster.org which is written from a slightly male point of view.
You'll have noticed that my Essential links section (on the right of this page) has a link to Club2000's HowdidIdo site. If your club uses Club2000 with an internet link, and publishes results to the Club2000 server at the end of a competition, then you can look up your handicap here. This Club2000 service has the added bonus of returning away scores to other clubs who use the same system.

MIKAELA JUST FAILS IN BID FOR FIRST ROOKIE PRO VICTORY
Sweden's Mikaela Parmlid from Gothenburg, campaigning as a rookie professional after a successful four years on the American college circuit, finished runner-up to another ex-college player and rookie pro, Mussani Salimah from Burlington, Ontario in the 54-hole Vistal Golf Classic at Vistal Golf Club (formerly Thunderbirds GC), Phoenix in Arizona.
Mussani had a four-stroke lead over Parmlid with four holes to play in the final round but finished up winning the $6,000 first prize, a crystal trophy and one year's playing privileges at the club by a single shot. The Canadian, a graduate of Tiger Woods' alma mater, Stanford University, bogeyed the 15th, 16th and 17th while Parmlid went par-birdie-par over the same stretch. Mussani regained her composure to par the last hole, as did her Swedish rival.
The Canadian had rounds of 70, 68 and 74 for a one-under-par final total of 212. Parmlid scored 70, 71 and 72 for level par 213 to take the $3,000 runner-up reward. Julie Hennessy from Lewiston, Minnesota, the first-round leader with a four-under-par 67, added rounds of 73 and 74 for 214 to gain the $2,800 third cash prize.
England's Lisa Meredith-Seary earned $460 for 30th place with scores of 76, 76 and 78 for 230.
The Vistal Golf Classic was one of the early events on the West Coast Ladies Golf Tour.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS 212 Salimah Mussani (Canada) 70 68 74 ($6,000). 213 Mikaela Parmlid (Sweden) 70 71 72 ($3,000). 214 Julie Hennessy (Minnesota) 67 73 74 ($2,800). 216 Becky Lucidi (California) 698 74 73, Angie Rizzo (Arizona) 73 69 74, Nicole Dalkas (California) 73 74 69 ($2,333 each). 217 Dodie Mazzuca (Nevada) 71 74 73, Alena Sharp (Canada) 72 71 74 ($1,800 each). 218 Lisa Chang (California) 75 73 70 ($1,400).
Other totals: 221 Louise Friberg (Sweden) 73 79 69 ($730). 224 Shane Wild (Zimbabwe) 75 74 75 ($630). 230 Lisa Meredith-Seary (England) 76 76 78 ($460). 232 Kristina Engstrom (Sweden) 80 76 76 ($140).

Student News
BRITS 1-2 IN FLORIDA COLLEGE GOLF
BRITISH players Chris Cousins from Aberdare and David Skinns from Lincoln finished first and second in the Sun Trust Gator Invitational tournament at Gainesville, Florida on Sunday when the second half of the American college golf season got under way.
University of Alabama-Birmingham junior Cousins, 20, extended a one-shot overnight lead after 36 holes to win by three strokes from Skinns with a three-under-par total of 207 over the course of University of Florida (the "Gators").
It was a second win of the college season for Chris who won the Mason-Rudolph inter-collegiate tournament last autumn. The 20-year-old Welshman was the only player to finish under par at Gainesville, returning a final round of
one-under-par 70 on a day of wind and rain. Cousins' scores were 67, 70 and 70.
"It feels great and I was really pleased with how consistent I managed to play in this tournament. I wasn't bothered by the weather because I usually play pretty well in these conditions back home," said Cousins.
Skinns, a golf scholarship student at the University of Tennessee, scored 72, 68 and 70 to move up from joint fourth place overnight to finish runner-up on level par 210.
There were three British players in the top 20 with Skinns' Tennessee team-mate, Ross McGowan from Cheam, Surrey, tieing for 15th place with scores of 72, 71 and 74 for 217.
Ryan Thomas, also from Aberdare and a team-mate of Cousins at Alabama-Georgia, finish joint 27th on 219 (72,72, 75).
Top-ranked Florida - the host university - won the team event by 11 strokes with a total of 848. It was their fourth win in six tournaments this season.
Cousins' effort enabled Alabama-Birmingham (859) to finish second with Kentucky (866) third. Tennessee (873) came sixth.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS
207 Chris Cousins (Alabama-Birmingham) 67 70 70.
210 David Skinns (Tennessee) 72 68 70.
211 Kasper Jorgensen (Georgia State) 72 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Florida) 70 69 72.
212 John Holmes (Kentucky) 68 72 72, Tigh Van Leeuwen (Alabama-Georgia) 74 67 72.
213 Lars Brovold (Alabama) 74 67 72, Matt Every (Florida) 70 74 69, Brett Stegmaier (Florida) 70 70 73.
Other totals:
217 Ross McGowan (Tennessee) 72 71 74.
219 Ryan Thomas (Alabama-Birmingham) 72 72 75.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
848 Florida.]
859 Alabama-Birmingham.
866 Kentucky.
867 North Florida.
872 Alabama.
873 Tennessee.
875 Georgia State, Florida State.
880 Louisiana State.
887 Baylor.

Michelle Wie and Amateurism in Golf
Read Frank Hannigan's article in www.golfobserver.com

Sunday 1st February 2004

Student News
WELSHMAN CHRIS LEADS FLORIDA COLLEGE EVENT
Chris Cousins from Aberdare, a 20-year-old golf scholarship student at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, leads the field by one shot after 36 holes of the Suntrust Gator Invitational men's college tournament at Gainesville, Florida.
Cousins shot rounds of 67 and 70 for a three-under-par tally of 137. He leads by one stroke going into the final round of the first event of the second half of the American college season.
David Skinns from Lincoln and the University of Tennessee, is lying joint fourth on 140 after scores of 72 and 68.
Skinns' Tennessee team-mate, Ross McGowan from Cheam, Surrey, is sharing 16th place on 143 (72, 71).
Tournament hosts Florida University - the Gators - lead the team event with 561, eight shots clear of the Alabama-Birmingham with Kentucky (572) third.
LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCORES
137 Chris Cousins (Alabama-Birmingham) 67 70.
138 Garrett Prather (Louisiana State) 68 70.
139 Camilo Villegas (Florida) 70 69.
140 John Holmes (Kentucky) 68 72, David Skinns (Tennessee) 72 68, Brett Stegmaier (Florida) 70 70.
Other score:
143 Ross McGowan (Tennessee) 72 71.
LEADING TEAM SCORES
561 Florida.
569 Alabama-Birmingham.
572 Kentucky.
576 North Florida.
575 Louisiana State.
576 Tennessee.
577 Florida State.
578 Alabama.
580 Purdue.
582 Georgia State.

GOLDEN OLDIES CAROL AND MARLENE WIN INTERNATIONAL BETTER-BALL TOURNAMENT
Carol Semple Thompson, pictured right, expected to be named this week for her 13th appearance in the United States Curtis Cup team at the age of 55, and Marlene Streit, another "golden oldie" from the world of women's amateur golf, teamed up to win the 58th women's international better-ball tournament at Orangebrook Country Club, Hollywood in Florida.
Carol, winner of seven USGA titles in her long and successful career, and Canadian Marlene, the reigning US senior women's open amateur champion, beat Marianne Springer and Mary Hanyak by 4 and 3 in the final.
Semple Thompson and Streit, who had headed the qualifiers for the match-play stages with a combined round of 68 - one ahead of Springer and Hanyak, never looked back after winning the first hole with a Marlene birdie and the second with a Carol birdie. They repeated the feat at the 12th and 13th holes to take a stranglehold on the title.
Defending champions Nancy Murphy and Kirsten Davis had to withdraw from the match-play stages due to family illness.
QUALIFYING ROUND
68 Carole Semple Thompson & Marlene Streit.
69 Marianne Springer & Mary Hanyak.
70 Perry Swenson & Carolyn Creekmore, Lesley Howes & Diane Lang, Megan Jolly & Anne Fraser.
72 Paula Peason-Tucker & Pam Crikeler.
75 Chantel Entwistle & Andrea Hussey.
MATCH-PLAY
QUARTER-FINALS
Entwistle & Hussey w.o. N Murphy & K Davis scr
Springer & Hanyak beat Swenson & Creekmore 1 hole.
Howes & Lang beat Tudcker & Crikeler 2 holes.
Semple Thompson & Streit beat Jolly & Fraser 1 hole.
SEMI-FINALS
Springer & Hanyak beat Hussey & Entwistle at 20th.
Semple Thompson & Streit beat Lang & Howes 2 and 1.
FINAL
Semple Thompson & Streit beat Springer & Hanyak 4 and 3.