Many people thought that this might be a comeback for the once undefeatable player but there are currently three British players who will now be competing for the throne that was once entirely his. Rory McIlroy is one of the greatest players currently in the golf scene and he achieved a record under par score at the US open last year. Woods was said to congratulate him on it but he is now going to be facing him this year.

Another great player currently on the circuit is Luke Donald who has a consistency that is almost merciless and he is the first man in history to hold both orders of merit in Europe and in America. He is currently the world’s number one player by quite some way.

Tiger Woods generally plays a limited schedule and he prefers to appear at the major tournaments. He is hoping to match Jack Nicklaus by winning 18 times. It is expected though that Mr Donald is going to stand in his way as he is a serious adversary in his move forward. Despite being the world number one he has never won a major title and it is expected that over the next year he is going to be incredibly driven to do this.

Lee Westwood is another British player who is currently performing very well but unfortunately, because of the presence of Donald and McIlroy on the circuit, his brilliance has been somewhat overlooked.

In the US open last year Mr McIlroy demonstrated that he had the explosiveness of Tiger Woods and he rarely plays defensively. Many people expect he was playing so aggressively because he was disappointed after throwing away a significant lead that he had in a Masters tournament earlier in the year. His performances last year mean he has been put in the same bracket as Donald for the next major tournament.

Graeme McDowell has recently said, “Rory is certainly the greatest player I have ever watched and it is unfortunate that he did not have a chance to play against Tiger Woods when Woods was at his best. He is a fantastic golf player and I really think that he has the ability to cement himself as the next superstar after Tiger Woods.”

Donald recently made some rather controversial comments at the world championships by saying that McIlroy had a greater natural ability at golf than Tiger Woods. It seems that there is an immense change taking place in golf and that McIlroy and especially Donald belong at the forefront of this change.

However, because of the players lack of winning a major tournament so far many people are hesitant to say that Donald is the greatest player in the world despite him holding the number one spot and having other significant records to his name. McIlroy has also been described by Ernie Els as the one player on the circuit right now who has the ability to change history and become the worlds greatest golfer.

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The University in St Andrews has applied to construct a windfarm made up of six turbines between Dunino and Boarhills in the area of Kenly. The wind turbines are going to be built just a few miles from the historic centre of the town.

Many people are formally objecting to plans by the University stating that they are going to be bad for local business. The independent consulting firm, Colliers International have written a letter to the council stating, “These 100 metre tall turbines are going to have a severe economic impact on the area and are going to be detrimental to the physical beauty of this place.” The University claims that the turbines are going to have no effect on tourism in the area.

“Given the seamless hospitality experience on offer to worldwide visitors and local residents to the St Andrews Old Course Hotel and Resort, it is considered the proposals will have a detrimental visual impact upon visitors to the Duke’s golf club, upon residents of the Hamilton Grand]… and upon the wider visual experience of visitors to St Andrews.”

Since 2004, when the private US company Kohler Co. acquired the Old Course Hotel, it has poured millions into upgrading and extending the facilities into a comprehensive golf resort. It is currently transforming the world-renowned Hamilton Hall overlooking the Old Course into the Hamilton Grand, a resort development of 26 luxury private residences. If the university wind farm goes ahead, Hamilton Hall residents will enjoy a clear view of the turbines from the upper floors and communal rooftop terrace.

Colliers notes that this will undermine amenity for all the building’s future occupants. The wind farm is incompatible “with the Scottish Government and Fife Council’s objectives for continued successful growth of the tourism economy in St Andrews and Fife”. Colliers says that a skyline brimming with turbines will put off tourists. Would-be visitors from across the world may go elsewhere when they see the turbines in the panorama shots that often feature in TV broadcasts of golfing tournaments.

Other golf courses and hotels in and around St Andrews will also suffer. Fairmont St Andrews is barely a mile from the proposed windfarm, and famous links courses east of St Andrews such as Kingsbarns will also be overshadowed by the turbines. Meanwhile, American tycoon Donald Trump is fighting proposals for an off-shore wind farm by his £750 million luxury golf course at Menie in Aberdeenshire.

Colliers fears the University windfarm will hit local jobs. It argues that wind farms’ much-hyped job creation is negligible when set against the potential harm to jobs in the local tourist and leisure economy. “The Old Course Hotel and resort should also not be underestimated in terms of its significance as a major resource to the Fife and Scottish economy. It is one of St Andrews’ highest employers (circa 300 jobs) and its relevance to the continued growth of the Fife economy is a key material consideration”.

The Old Course objection, which was formally lodged with Fife Council’s Planning Department last week, details how the University windfarm application contravenes no fewer than six different development plan policies – on wind turbines, green belts, built environment, skyline, listed buildings and tourism.

Colliers highlight Scottish Natural Heritage’s worries that even at a distance of 10 km the blade movement remains clearly visible and prominent. Fife Planners have also criticised the excessive height of the proposed turbines as unacceptable. The University has yet to make a formal response.

From industrial-scale wind farms to back-garden turbines, Fife is facing a torrent of applications. Fife
Council’s Planning Department is currently looking at hundreds of proposals. Wales-based developers West Coast Energy have just lodged an application for five 100-metre turbines on high ground at Lingo, 3 miles south of St Andrews. These will be even more visible from the surrounding countryside than the university ones because they are on higher ground.

Local campaigners against turbines welcomed the Old Course objection. Graham Lang of the East Fife Turbine Awareness Group (EFTAG) said:  “The Old Course Hotel shares our concern about cumulative impacts of turbines in East Fife. There are numerous other turbine proposals which will affect the wider setting of St Andrews which need to be assessed in relation to the University wind farm and provided as additional information to Fife Council”.

A spokesman for Kenly Landscape Protection Group (KLPG), set up by the communities at and adjacent to Kenly said: “Many individuals and businesses have been cautious about speaking out. The University of St Andrews is an important employer and source of business in the area. In the luxury golf resort business confidence is key, and major stakeholders have understandably shied away from drawing attention to the turbine danger here as the mere proposal for a wind farm next to St Andrews is on the table can hurt confidence. But like Donald Trump, the owners of the Old Course know that the reality of a wind farm on the door step of the home of golf spells disaster if you are vying to be the world’s top golfing destination.”

Tom Burns of the STOP THE UNIVERSITY WINDFARM Facebook group said: “The industrial scale of the University wind farm will permanently damage the landscape and unique setting of St Andrews for everyone, resident and visitor alike. The windfarm will undoubtedly make the University money as long as the subsidies continue but many other people will lose out.”

“The University’s interests have to be balanced against those of local businesses, visitors and residents. From the start local residents have been overwhelmingly against the proposal. Now people at the sharp end of Fife’s tourism sector are joining them”.

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The two Irishmen were initially put together at the Mallorca Open, after the initial person Mulrooney was supposed to be caddying for withdrew. Clarke won at the event for the first time and because of this he decided to make Mulrooney his caddie on a full-time basis.

Just before the British Open when Clarke was victorious they almost came close to parting ways after a serious argument about the Scottish open. This is not the first time that the two Irishmen have fought but until now they have managed to stay together.

In Abu Dhabi, Graeme McDowell entertained spectators when he had one of the most unbelievable birdies in the history of the tour. He managed to get a hole-in-one on the 12th hole with over 179 yards. There was another point when his ball was over 80 yards away and was in the sand, he managed to chip it out of the sand when it hit the grandstand and ended up rolling back towards the green ending up just six feet away from the cup.

For his results in the competition McDowell took away three nights stay in Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace Hotel, which is seven stars. He cannot just enjoy this three night stay once, but every year for the rest of his life. Over his career he has managed to get three holes in one as a professional and nine if you include the times before he turned pro. He also has achieved three albatrosses.

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Some would say that Lexi Thomson has an even more impressive record as she managed to win and LPGA event when she was just 16 years old. She later became the youngest winner of the Ladies European Tour. It is possible that she will soon meet Lydia as there is a competition being played by both players next week.

On the men’s tour there was also exciting news as Robert Rock was able to win at the Abu Dhabi event despite being a huge amount of competition from other players. He managed to survive excellent playing by Tiger Woods in the final holes and was able to win the tournament against the odds.

Another young player, Kyle Stanley, took the lead at Torrey Pines. During the event he was at the last hole when he had to make an important decision. He had to decide whether he wanted to take the last hole and three shots or try an attempt two. Unfortunately, he made the wrong decision and he was beaten in the play-off by Brandt Snedeker.

After the game Stanley was interviewed by David Feherty he commented, “I am at a complete loss to describe how I feel but this does not mean that I won’t have great success in the future.” He may well be right as Robert Garrigus once lost a significant gain but came back just a couple of months later to win the Disney Classic.

David Feherty said, “Commentating at the Masters is an important privilege and I have to remember that they don’t enjoy humour in the commentary. This is a problem for me as it is a natural part of how I would speak and I have to be very careful about what I say or I will get banned.”

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There was a time that Els and Goosen were two of the biggest players in golf but in recent years they have shifted away from the centre stage as their game has become less competitive. Many people are feeling that Tiger Woods is making a comeback to the game of golf and after winning a title at the end of 2011 many golfers fear his return.

Despite his record of great performances he is now having to compete with a new generation of golfers such as Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy. Many people are eagerly anticipating the golf tournament taking place in Abu Dhabi as part of the European tour. This is a competition that Tiger Woods is playing in and he is going to be competing against four of the best players currently in the game.

Many people in the UK are going to be particularly interested by this match as three of the top four players are from the UK, namely Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood. The defending champion is Martin Kaymer who has previously won the tournament three times. This suggests, along with the rest of the line-up, that it is going to be a very competitive game of golf.

Many people are looking forward to seeing the return of Tiger Woods and how he’s going to fare against the new players to enter the golf scene since his departure from the game a few years ago. Another player who spectators are going to be looking out for is Sergio Garcia who has had a very impressive career but has still to fulfil many of his career goals. He has recently made a comeback after many people feared that his golf had entered a downward spiral.

Mr Garcia is currently ranked 17th in the world which is significantly higher than Tiger Woods. Of the last four tournaments he has played he won half of them and last year he finished a game 27 under par. Both wins last year showed that he had brought significant improvement to his game, particularly in regard to his putting. Many people are seeing this as the year that he is going to break through and become a champion player.

Mr Garcia is known to suffer from a short temper but in recent games he has been seen to bring this under control and this has helped improve his game. A notable incident occurred in Thailand last year while he was playing a game and he was frustrated and ended up throwing a golf club into the water.

Mr Garcia is hoping to start his 2012 season in excellent form and gain the many world ranking points that are associated with this first tournament. It is going to be very interesting for the spectators to see how he performs against both Tiger Woods as well as the other four leading golfers.

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They will then switch over on the Tuesday, after which those with the lowest 64 scores, including those tied for 64^th, will play in the next round, which is the match play knockout, Silloth will host all of the knockout matches, every match consisting of a round of 18 holes, culminating in the 36 hole final, played on the Saturday, the 4^th August.

Established in 1892 Silloth-on-Solway was originally laid out by Davy Grant, with able assistance from prominent Scottish professionals Willie Fernie and Willie Park, who helped to help establish the reputation of the course. The course is ranked as Cumbria’s premier course, ranked 21^st  in England and 54^th in theUK.

Silloth-on-Solway golf course is a Championship links of over 6,641 yards, which has been laid out over the sand-hills, touched by some of the great classical golf architects, but mostly moulded by nature herself. Hazards consist of heather and bent; whin and broom; heroic bunkers and sandy wastes. Fairways are always wider than they seem from the tee, and having been laid with springy Cumberland turf, invite courageous fairway woods and crisp iron shots. Greens are subtle, firm, fast, and deadly true.

Founded in 1893, Seascale golf links was designed by Willie Campbell and George Lowe. The course is a traditional links which is maintained to the highest standards offering golfers of all levels of ability an ideal place to test out their skills. Seascale is ranked as Cumbria’s second best course and 80^th in England, also featuring in The Rolex World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses publication.

Seascale golf course is described as a splendid natural links course, laid out over 6,495 yards, with undulating greens that are excellent all year round. You will need both length and control here to score well. Superb views of the Lakeland fells and out across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man make this a real hidden gem of a course.

Katie Read West Cumbria Tourism Manager said: ‘’The Western Lake District has so much to offer and we boast a fine selection of golf courses, the best known are Silloth-on-Solway and Seascale. They both have a long and enviable reputation and this is reaffirmed, as they prepare to host The English Amateur Championship 2012, during which both courses will be showcasing what the Western Lake District has to offer, offset by the dramatic Lakeland Fells and Irish Sea Coast.’’

To find out more about the Western Lake District, its food, activities and accommodation visit www.western-lakedistrict.co.uk

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SportsDirect.com offers help to Avoid Common Golf Injuries with Skins

Many view golf as less of a sport and more of a relaxation that carries little chance of injury, the fact is however that by overpracticing, having an incorrect grip or using poor swing technique you put yourself at risk from various golfing injuries that could take you off the fairway and into the doctors surgery.

Leading UK sporting retailers SportsDirect.com offer a fantastic range of quality products and have added some great   golf shoes to their brilliant new Skins range which can help you to train correctly and avoid any future injuries. Layering up while out on the course not only helps to regulate body temperature and this new range of base layer products is manufactured to include a gradient compression system.

This ensures that whatever position you are in while taking your swing, pressure is in the right areas. The Meryl and Lyca microfibre construction has been designed to reduce the build up of lactic acid, thus increasing oxygenation and improving your circulation, all while you are exercising.

Applying pressure in the correct areas could help prevent back and knee pain after training. some golfers experience knee pain after applying too much pressure before swinging, staying in a slightly bent over position for hours on end can also lead to minor back strains. Wearing Skins base layer can help ease the pressure on the spine and knee areas which could help prevent further injury through training and competing.

The Skins range is available from SportsDirect.com in both adult (small to extra large) and junior (nine to thirteen years) sizes, across a variety of styles including long sleeved tops, short sleeved tops, tights and shorts.
So enjoy the golf course without injury risk, you can order online right now at www.sportsdirect.com and keep up to date with the latest golf news and product offers on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

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Direct Golf UK, founded and wholly owned by British PGA professional golfer John Andrew in 1991, has purchased the Scottish Golf Centre, and stores in Edinburgh and Dundee will be open this month, though the Grand Opening will take place in March.  Andrew plans to double the size of his Direct Golf chain in the next couple of years, from 20 to 40 stores across the UK.

The stores in Edinburgh and Dundee are impressive, with indoor putting greens, comprehensive demo facilities and PGA Professional staff amongst other amenities.  Golfers can not only get the best prices on equipment and accessories but also custom fitting and advice from experts as they try out the latest in everything golf.

Direct Golf had a record year in 2011 with five new stores opening, an upgrade of its already excellent website and the creation of Direct Golf TV.  Mr. Andrew said he has been anticipating an expansion in Scotland for years, and his company has a strong customer base in the country that he expects will expand dramatically with the introduction of more outlets in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

The current move will gain impetus from the Ryder Cup in 2014 as the company broadens its base in Scotland.  Andrew is also an advocate of grassroots golfing and backing young golfers who are the tournament champions of the future.

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The Trump organisation released a statement which read, “If the Scottish government are serious about developing tourism in the north-east of the country then they cannot expect companies to develop tourist attractions with an industrial park nearby.”

The planning application for the wind turbines is by a company called Vattenfall and is asking for permission to build 11 wind turbines. The project has a total value of £150 million. Mr Trump has previously stated his dislike for the construction of wind farms in Scotland stating that, “These wind turbines are environmentally disastrous and would be an ugly mark on the Scottish coastline.”

The development in Aberdeenshire by Mr Trump is valued at £750 million and has already nearly reached completion. A local resident, David Milne has been critical of the golf course and has asked the government to go ahead with the construction of the wind farm. He stated, “This is a bluff by the Trump organisation and they are adopting a lose lose argument.

This battle is between the entire energy industry and one golf project which is already financially failing. The Scottish government must allow the development of the wind energy project and not stop it simply because of a golf course. We’re talking about a decision that is going to affect the future of this part of the country and it is clear which side the government need to come down on.”

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Many players have publicly stated that they already looking forward to the event. Sam Torrance has stated that he is very much looking forward to playing in a major tournament again in his native area of Ayrshire.

He commented, “I was at Turnberry a few weeks ago and the course looks really wonderful. It is definitely one of the most beautiful courses anywhere and is certainly located in one of the most stunning parts of the world. There is no question it is a great golf course and I’m very much looking forward to playing there.”

The 1996 open champion is Tom Lehman and he is commented, “Turnberry would be a great place to win the senior open and doing so is definitely on my wish list. The golf course there is tremendous and it is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland.

The past two Scottish Senior Opens have been won by Barry Lane and he was also the runner-up in the order of merit for seniors in Europe. He commented about the course, “Turnberry is a fantastic course for the seniors and the fact that it has been chosen to appear on the open rota is a real delight and I’m already looking forward to playing golf there once again.” The event last visited Turnberry in 2006 where it was won by the American Loren Roberts.

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