Ernie Els
opens a new Gallery in the British Golf Museum aimed
at junior golfers and at the same time endorses a program
set up by St. Andrews Links Trust to bring children
into golf.
In preparation for the 2005 Open
Championship the Old Course is discussing lengthening
the course to bring more bunkers into play. The last
changes made before the 2000 Open Championship lengthened
the course from 6,933 yards to 7,115 yards and this
proposed change is expected to again gain 150-200
yards in total with new tees. Some of these tees may
involve changes on the neighboring courses so final
plans have not yet been approved and released. Said
Peter Dawson, secretary of the R & A, “
...we are looking at some new tees on five or six
holes. A couple of them are slightly controversial
in that they involve encroaching onto adjacent courses,
so I don’t want to name them all. But at holes
like the 14th, the 12th, the ninth and the seventh,
there are places we can move (the tees) back and bring
the driver back into play and the bunkers back into
relevance.” For those visitors who think they
will tee it up where Tiger does, visitors will continue
the practice of playing from the regular tees.
Congratulations to Colin Montgomerie
for setting a new course record of 63 for the Old
Course at St. Andrews in the final round of the Dunhill
Links Championship
The R & A increases the number
of Elite Bursaries, or scholarships, from 10 to 14
to reflect an increasing number of golfers who study
in the British Isles while playing amateur golf.
Secret to their success? Sam Torrance,
2002 European Ryder Cup Captain, gave each of his
players a sterling silver Qlink pendant, which helps
players reduce stress and improve focus.
Unselfish gesture. A true teammate,
Paul McGinley, is having the the ball he used to sink
the winning Ryder Cup putt made into a trophy &
given to Captain Sam Torrance. A Dublin jeweler will
mount the priceless ball and have the team members
names engraved on a silver base. Said McGinley, “I
would love to keep the ball myself, but I think he
is deserving of it.” Well done Paul!
Even with the Europeans dramatic
win, the selection process of their team is again
up for review, The current plan being proposed would
not increase the number of Captain’s picks,
but rather change the 10 automatic qualifiers to the
top five off the European Order of Merit and the top
five off the World Ranking. The proposal comes before
the membership in December. The change will probably
make the European Team even stronger and despite always
being the underdog on paper they lead the Matches
5-3-1 since 1985.
Set your VCR. TNT has finalized
a seven-year, $30 million deal with the R & A
to broadcast, beginning in 2003, 28 hours of coverage
from the Open Championship, including two hours each
during the third and final rounds. TNT also gained
the rights to the Senior and Woman’s British
Open events.
Before TV, the only record of past
Open Championship victories was in the local newspaper.
The R & A has recently reviewed newspaper accounts
to update their records on past Open Championships.
They found that in 1869 Young Tom Morris’ margin
of victory was actually 11 stokes over Bob Kirk versus
the 3-shot margin over his father that had been in
the record books.
In an a effort to win back the
Walker Cup, the US has put together a 23 man squad
to occasionally practice together, like the GB &
I Team have been doing for some time. The elite squad
will spend Thanksgiving playing together at Berkeley
Hall Plantation in Hilton Head, SC. The 2003 Matches
will be held September 6 & 7 at England’s
Ganton GC.
The Ladies Golf Union has also
put together a 19-strong Elite Squad for their 2002-2003
training programme including Curtis Cup players Sarah
Jones, Heather Stirling and Kerry Smith.
It’s official, golf is good
for your health and increasing activity.The British
government has asked doctors to prescribe golf lessons
to patients that need to become more active. Now when
you go out to play you can cite- Doctor’s orders!
Congratulations to Graeme McDowell
from Northern Ireland, winning both the Haskins Award
for the top American Collegiate player and his first
European PGA TOUR win- the prestigious VOLVO Scandinavian
Masters in the same summer!
Golf and racing fans will be interested
to know that Nigel Mansell, the former Formula One
auto racing champion, will host a European Seniors
Tour event at his course the Woodbury Park Hotel &
CC, near Exeter, England August 22-24, 2003. Nigel
has been pursuing his golf game since retiring from
racing and plans to play in the event as an amateur.
The decision to include golf at
the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing has been postponed
until the July meetings. Think China is an unlikely
spot to introduce golf as an Olympic sport? China
has over 200 courses and an enthusiastic golfing population.
In addition PerryGolf Founding Director, Gordon Dalgleish,
is a former China Amateur Open Champion.
Turnberry played an impressive
host venue to the 2002 Women’s British Open,
won in fine style by Karrie Webb. With a new improved
transportation plan to handle the increase in traffic
around The Open Championship look for Turnberry’s
Ailsa Course to return to the Open Rota in the near
future.
Turnberry’s Kintyre Course
is the only new venue in the four Local Final Qualifying
courses that will be used for the 2004 Open Championship
to be played at Royal Troon.
Scotland, “The Home of Golf,”
has secured the finals of the International Pairs
Tournament for the next three years. Now entering
its fifth year, the International Pairs, for amateur
club golfers, is the largest golf tournament of its
kind in the world, attracting around 60,000 entrants,
3000 of whom make it to the semi- finals. For 2003,
the semi-finals will take place in Fife, Perthshire
and Angus & Dundee, with the Sky TV televised
Grand Final taking place at St. Andrews Bay Golf Resort
& Spa.
