GolfShot for Golf News

Every sporting enthusiast, be they professional or amateur, have an injury story they tell over and over again. The golfer Carl Mason, who has won a total of 25 tournaments, including the Order of Merit for the European Seniors Tour, is a previous sufferer of back pain, which caused him to withdraw from several events in the early part of the 2011 season and he thought for a time he would never win another title.

Mason, however, experienced a breakthrough after keeping an appointment with his orthopaedic specialist and now says he is rejuvenated. He puts this down to the Pure Collagen Capsules he has been taking religiously every day for over 3 months, and says the difference is remarkable and that he  now has regained his full mobility.

Collagen is the protein which supports our body and from the age of 25 it gradually starts to deplete. By taking hydrolysed collagen regularly, collagen levels in the body have been found to be restores and thus ligaments, bones and cartilage have been repaired, as well as joint pain greatly reduced.

Mason adds “For all of you club golfers and pros alike, who suffer little niggles or more serious discomfort during your game, I can thoroughly endorse B rejuvenated Pure Collagen Capsules as an adjunct to keeping supple and helping to repair your joints and muscle sprains you might get not just through playing as a result of war and tear over the years! Most importantly the collagen is pure and contains NO performance enhancing drugs that we might get tested for under tournament rules.”

Amateur golfers will have the opportunity to compete at one of Turkey’s most prestigious championship golf courses, with a new nationwide competition this summer.

The Shotsaver Drive to Turkey 2011 will see pairs across the country take each other on in a better ball Stableford competition, with the winners and runners-up of each round invited to a Grand Final in Turkey in November 2011.  The finalists will enjoy an all-inclusive, four-night stay at the five-star Sueno Hotels Golf Belek, with flights, transfers and three competitive rounds of golf on the magnificent Dunes and Pines courses.

The overall winners will receive £450 each in vouchers for the golf shop of their choice, with all those placed at regional level winning Shotsaver range finders worth up to £249.

Regional qualifiers will take place throughout May and June at the following venues:

De Vere Carden Park, Cheshire – 8th June 2011

De Vere Mottram Hall, Manchester – 14th June 2011

De Vere Oulton Hall, Leeds – 28th June 2011

De Vere Belton Woods, Grantham – 2nd June 2011

De Vere Staverton Park, Daventry – 24th May 2011

De Vere Wokefield Park, Reading – 24th May 2011

Bush Hill Park Golf Club, Winchmore Hill, London – 20th June 2011

The Felixstowe Ferry Golf Club, Felixstowe – 28th June 2011

Steven Ballard, managing director of Performance Products, said: “We’re giving some of the country’s top amateur golfers the opportunity to play one of Turkey’s most picturesque and challenging courses, with hundreds of pounds’ worth of prizes up for the taking.  We’re hugely excited about holding our first tournament and are looking forward to some great golf over the summer!”

To enter, call 01928 579 579 or visit www.snooper.eu to download an entry form.  All entrants must have a current club handicap (maximum 24), which must be presented on the day.  Entry fee is £50 per person.

The benefit to the Welsh economy from hosting the Ryder Cup is due to the knock on effect of golfing holidays and amounted to £42 million, according to numbers just published.

As the sum total rounds of golf being played around the UK lowered 5.3%, the Welsh increase of 21% followed.

Alun Ffred Jones, Heritage Minister, gave credit to the Ryder Cup hosting last year by Wales, pointing out that the Newport Celtic Manor event had been televised worldwide, giving the highest profile for promoting Wales to the world at large.

While visiting Langland Bay Golf Course in the Gower, and at the start of Tourism Week in Wales, Jones publicly announced that last year’s Visit Wales Golf Tourism Monitor discovered £41.9 million had been spent.

The stats had been collected and analysed by a third party and showed last year’s golf visitor numbers to Wales were more than 200,000. This was a 9% jump over those of the previous year. Overnight visitors went up 12% and £29 was what the average golf visitor spent.

Last year’s figure for revenue generated by international guests was 16% of the total, which compares well to the previous year’s 11% and significantly better to 2008′s 5%.

The Langland Bay Golf Course, where Jones publicly announced the cheery numbers for golf tourism yesterday, is now a member of the Golf on Gower cluster of golfing and itself has announced an increase on 30% in golfing packages being booked over the same time in 2009.

The 10 golf clusters in Wales are a result of cooperation between golf clubs and accommodation hosts, creating package deals for golfing holidays.

Wales’ biggest golf tour operator, The Wales Golf Holiday Company, which functions as a kind of funnel for the golf clusters, reported a big boom in business all across last year.

The WGC Cadillac Championship in Florida will be the focus of the world’s best golfers as well as all British hopes. The second WGC event of 2011 will be held at the Doral Spa and Golf Resort. Six out of ten of the top ranking places are held by Europeans. Aside from five Brits, Martin Kaymer of Germany ranks number 1 in the world and took the PGA Tour Championship of 2010.

In 2010 he won four titles, including the Race to Dubai. However, in February 2011 Luke Donald, from England, beat him in the final of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. Yet he retained his top spot since in Arizona he came in second.

After being dubbed Europe’s Golfer of the Month, Donald shifted to third, after Lee Westwood, another English golfer.

Donald boasted, “There are only two people in the entire world better than I am at golf, right now. That is freaking crazy.”

Westwood broke Tiger Woods’ shocking grip on the number one place and could have gained the spot once more at the Honda Classic in Florida. A top three could have toppled Kaymer’s week-long occupation, since he was gone. However, Westwood, from Nottingham, could only climb as high as 29th. He has high hopes that he will fair better in Augusta in April than merely a runner up.

Phil Mickelson is sixth, after Tiger Woods, though he is a four-time major champion. Woods has had no victories since he has come back.

In fourth place stands Graeme McDowell, of Northern Ireland, US Open champion. He is hoping also to find some major gains prior to the Masters. He has been matched up with Mickelson and Woods. “The next couple of days are going to be a smash,” McDowell lively chimed in. “It’s tough to keep up the enthusiasm from Sunday through Thursday, but playing with the likes of these giants is likely to compensate for that.”

Ross Fisher’s 4th European Tour win has put him in an automatic selection position for October’s Ryder Cup. But the English golfer just wants to be the best he can.

We’ve got a video in which Fisher talks about how it felt to edge out local hero Padraig Harrington in last week’s Irish Open and reveals some of his secrets to being a world class player. He also talks about giving back to the community through golf with his involvement in the Putts4Chairty initiative, which raises funds for good causes around the world.

Charlie Lidyard - 2009 Winner

The William Hunt Trilby Tour announces its Regional Championship Venues this week in its UK-wide search to find the next Amateur Golf Champion in a 12-part televised series on Sky Sports.

Created by Menswear Designer and golf aficionado William Hunt of Savile Row, the Trilby Tour aims to find the UK’s top amateur golfer and give him a taste of true Pro stardom with a chance to play head to head against the big boys.

Players from all walks of life will get the chance to feel like a golf tour pro for a day as 9 clubs from across England, Ireland and Scotland host the UK’s biggest Amateur televised golf tournament between May-August 2010.

Amateurs face a white-knuckle tournament in a thrilling one day 18-hole game in what is widely acclaimed to be golf’s answer to Twenty20 cricket.

Players must be over 18 to enter and will be kitted out with everything they need for their experience of pro stardom – each receiving a complete William Hunt outfit, a Callaway Bag and Caddy Suit as part of their £250 online entry to the 12-part televised series on Sky Sports.

Each Regional Champion and Eleven Runners-Up will go through to the Amateur Final held at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club on 11 August, culminating in an exciting 3 hole play-off and a unique Winner Takes All Finale. The top three finalists and regional champions will then be invited back on 12 August to play in the Sky Sports televised Professional Trilby Tour.

The Amateur Champion will the following receive as their prize:

Lessons with top coach David Leadbetter,
An exclusive set of personalized clubs by Roger Cleveland of Callaway
The chance to play head-to-head against the top European Tour pros.

Amateurs will play under the the Stapleford rules with a maximum handicap of 18 with a 3/4 (three-quarter) allowance.

Regional Championships will be taking place at:

8-June The London Golf Club
Kent & South East Championship

30 June – The Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire & West Midlands Championship

6 July – Marriott Sprowston Manor
East of England Championship

12 July – Bearwood Lakes
Berkshire & South Central Championship

22 July – The Park
Avon & South West Championship

28 July – Murrayshall
Scottish Championship

4 August – KP Club
Yorkshire & North East Championship

11 August – The Buckinghamshire
Amateur Final, National Championship

Last year’s Amateur Winner 19yr old Charlie Lidyard from Leatherhead, Surrey says ”The Trilby Tour is the only tournament that makes you actually feel like you’re a Pro Tour player. There are a few nerves when you see the cameras and the people watching. Some of the other guys didn’t like the cameras but it didn’t bother me, I actually loved it.” Lidyard’s triumph was further boosted by going on to achieve every amateur’s dream and turned pro the same day.”

Lidyard went on to play against top pros David Howell and Graeme Storm in the Pro Event: “It was a dream experience to play with the big boys.”

Entries are still pouring in and anyone who signs up now via the website www.williamhunttrilbytour.com will join a waiting list.

A five under par total finish at the LET 2009 Qualifying School at La Manga in December won Hannah Ralph from Sussex, 11th position, top English lady and a Ladies European Tour card for 2010.

Aged 21, Hannah is a niece of Glenn Ralph, the successful Teaching Pro and PGA Senior Tour player.

In a strong field of 118 professional re-qualifiers and amateurs Hannah played three pre-qualifying rounds on the South and North courses over December 15, 16 and 17 at the Spanish club where her +1 combined final score gave her 9th position, comfortably under the +11 cut.

A total of 84 players went on to play in Stage 2 on the South course. After another three rounds Hannah had carded 216, -3 on the scoreboard and 10th position overall. Again well within the cut which was set at +6.

In the final round on 21st December Hannah birdied the 18th to finish two under par 71 and 12th on the day. Scores over the last four rounds are combined to determine final positions and she shot 287 (70 75 71 71) to finish five under par and in 11th place.

A top 30 finish was required to win her a full Ladies European Tour card. Closest UK lady to Hannah was Kym Larratt of Leicestershire who was 25th.

This was Hannah’s second attempt at Q School. At La Manga in January 2009 she failed to qualify for Stage 2. “I learnt so much from the four rounds played and knew what I had to focus on and that with practice I could qualify at the next time of trying,” she said. Over the past year Hannah has worked very hard on her short game and mental approach with Coach Katie Dawkins, the teaching professional at Cowdray Park Golf Club. Hannah’s success this year is a testimony to her efforts. She has won three amateur events, was runner up in the 2009 English Open Mid Amateur and finished in the top five on six occasions.

Conditions at La Manga were interesting to say the least. Players wrestled with strong winds, heavy rain, freezing temperatures and even a sprinkling of snow, interspersed with warm sunshine, clouds and clear blue skies.

Hannah is now looking forward to next year on Tour. The first tournament is in February in New Zealand, closely followed by two events in Australia. Entry to these events largely depends on sponsorship which she is actively seeking at the moment.

Commenting on her momentous year Hannah said: “I have great support from my family, friends, members at Cowdray Park and Katie, without whom I couldn’t have done so well. I am also grateful to my uncle Glenn who taught me for a few years before going on the Seniors Tour. He has helped get me where I am today in my golfing life and is always there for support and advice.”

Just like her uncle, Hannah started playing at Cowdray Park Golf Club when she was eight years old and got her first Handicap in February 1998 aged 10. Her father Graham Ralph has been a member at Cowdray for 35 years.