Montgomerie fails to qualify for British Open

Montgomerie fails to qualify for British Open










July 2, 2013 6:19 PM

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Colin Montgomerie of Scotland tees off on the 12th hole during the first round of the Barclays Singapore …



(Reuters) - Former world number two Colin Montgomerieblew his chance of taking part in this month's British Open after a second-round 76 left him three over par in qualifying on Tuesday.

The 2010 European Ryder Cup captain was one shot off the lead after an opening-round 69 during Local Final Qualifying at Gullane in Scotland before a round of 76, featuring four bogeys and a double bogey, saw him miss out by four strokes.

"I got to five under and threw it away - never mind," the 50-year-old Scot said in a news release. "It's not my schedule. I just played badly this afternoon. I didn't get going at all."

Montgomerie, who won a record eight order of merit titles on the European Tour between 1993 and 2005, has never won a major despite several close calls with five runner-up spots among a total of 10 top-10 finishes.

There were three qualifying spots up for grabs at Gullane with amateurs Ben Stow and Matthew Fitzpatrick joining Sweden's Oscar Floren in securing their places at the July 18-21 major at Muirfield.

At the qualifying event at The Musselburgh, Steven Tileydominated the field to win by three shots to book his berth along with Scot Lloyd Saltman and Tyrrell Hatton.

At Dunbar, amateur Grant Forrest shot 67 and 65 for an eight-under-par aggregate and was joined in The Open field by Indian Shiv Kapur and Australian John Wade, who finished a stroke behind.

In the event at North Berwick, amateur Jimmy Mullen,Gareth Wright and George Murray took the coveted qualifying places.

(Reporting by Sonia Oxley; editing by Ken Ferris; Editing by)

Return to the Greenbrier a Great Move

Return to the Greenbrier a Great Move
West Virginia Resort is a Hidden Jewel of American Golf










Mark McLaughlin July 2, 2013 7:37 PM




COMMENTARY | One of my best childhood memories was attending the 1979 Ryder Cup at the Greenbrier Resortin White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. I think my brother still has the Maxfli golf ball Lee Trevino chipped to him from the practice green.



The Greenbrier, site of this week's Greenbrier Classic, also means a lot to the golf patrons of West Virginia and Virginia who were without a PGA Tour stop after the Michelob Championship ended its run at Kingsmill in Williamsburg in 2002.

The PGA Tour's decision to return to the Greenbrier in 2010 was a brilliant one and shined a spotlight back on one of the hidden treasures of American golf. The Greenbrier Classic is contested over the Old White Course, originally designed in 1913 by Charles Blair Macdonald, the first American-born architect of note. The resort's Greenbrier Course hosted that 1979 Ryder Cup, the first to include golfers from continental Europe.

The grand old club nestled in the Allegheny range of the Appalachian Mountains has a rich golf history, mostly synonymous with the greatest player the region ever produced: Sam Snead. Snead became the Greenbrier Resort's golf pro in 1936. When not winning a record 82 PGA tournaments, the Slammer would split his time between the Greenbrier and the Homestead, a similarly historic resort on the Virginia side of the Alleghenies.

Over the years, Jack Nicklaus, who redesigned the Greenbrier Course for the Ryder Cup, Arnold Palmer, who cashed his first professional paycheck there in 1955, and Tom Watson, the club's golf pro emeritus, have been closely associated with the resort.


But the individual most responsible for the PGA Tour's return is West Virginia native Jim Justice. With the proceeds from the sale of his family agriculture and coal business, Justice bought the Greenbrier Resort in 2009 from corporate owner CSX and convinced PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem to bring a tournament to his backyard in 2010.

In just its second year, the Greenbrier Classic won a "Best in Class" award for running one of the best tournaments on the tour schedule. Last year, the Greenbrier signed an extension to host the tournament through 2021.

"Jim Justice has shown genuine passion and commitment to not only host a PGA Tour event, but to build one into a premier stop on the PGA Tour," Finchem said at the time. "Jim has turned The Greenbrier Classic into a true celebratory event during Fourth of July week.''

This year, the event has attracted major winners Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson and Louis Oosthuizen as well as Bill Haas, winner of last week's AT&T National and a Greenbrier Classic playoff loser in 2011. Mickelson and Watson will join defending champion Ted Potter Jr. for the first two rounds in a rare threesome of southpaws.

The field also includes Champions Tour regulars Tom Watson and Kenny Perry, coming off his victory at the Senior Players Championship, as well as recent PGA Tour winners Boo Weekley and Billy Horschel.






Stuart Appleby closed with a 59 to win the inaugural Greenbrier Classic and the last two editions have been won in playoffs. So expect more fireworks this weekend in West Virginia.

Southampton Now Rivals Monterey Peninsula

If you're vacationing in the Hamptons this summer and have some A-list connections, then bring your golf clubs.

The hosting of the U.S. Women's Open this past week at Sebonack Golf Club gives the Shinnecock area of Southampton near the eastern tip of Long Island a concentration of world class golf courses to rival the Monterey Peninsula.

Sebonack, which opened in 2006 and is already ranked No. 39 in the U.S. by Golf Digest, sits astride theNational Golf Links of America, rated No. 11 and set to be on display during September's Walker Cup matches. Just south of National Golf Links sits Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, ranked No. 4 in the country. Shinnecock, the site of four U.S. Opens, will host again in 2018.

Mark McLaughlin has reported on the PGA Tour for the New York Post, FoxSports.com, Greensboro News & Record, and Burlington (N.C.) Times-News. He is a past member of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association. Follow him on Twitter @markmacduke.

Course Source: Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek), North Plains, Ore

Course Source: Pumpkin Ridge (Ghost Creek), North Plains, Ore









Derek Harper, The Sports Xchange July 2, 2013 8:00 PMThe SportsXchange


COURSE SOURCE



THE LAYOUT: Pumpkin Ridge opened in 1992 to great acclaim, with Ghost Creek named the top new public course in the nation by Golf Digest, and Witch Hollow the No. 2 new private course.



Designed by Bob Cupp, the goal was to give Pumpkin Ridge the feel of playing golf in England and Scotland. While there isn't a slew of hazard trouble, the rough is dense, fescue lurks not far from many fairways, most holes have subtle elevation or directional changes and the sloping greens are fast and challenging.



What makes Ghost Creek arguably the best public experience in the greater Portland area is Cupp's design. He did an excellent job of creating a unique experience on nearly every hole, with Ghost Creek featuring a fun mix of long holes with narrow fairways, shorter holes with well-placed bunkers, weaving creeks into the layout, carving par-5s around tree-lined fairways and leaving enough getable holes to card a few birdies.



Bottom line, Pumpkin Ridge is a must-play when in the Portland area. Cupp's design is unique, challenging without being brutal and you'll rarely run into other groups while weaving your way through the property. It's still rated the No. 63 public course in the nation in 2013 by Golf Digest, which said playing host to a major PGA tournament is within the course's grasp.




LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: If you can keep the ball in the fairway, you can post a solid score at Ghost Creek. The fairways are kept in pristine condition and the greens roll extremely true - albeit with a good amount of tilt to many, rewarding those who can leave uphill putts.



The flavor of Cupp's design really begins to show itself on the short 158-yard par-3 third hole. It plays short to a large green - which has a massive tier that can easily turn a birdie opportunity into a potential bogey with a poor club selection.



Another distinctive hole on the front nine is the short 366-yard par-4 sixth. A straight drive is rewarded with a short iron to the green, but anything left is likely jailed in the trees and a creek runs down the right. It's not a bad idea to hit a hybrid off the tee, take a lot of the trouble out of play and take your chances with a little longer approach.



The back nine kicks off with one of the true risk/reward holes on the course. At 474 from the blues and 453 from the whites, it's a very reachable par-5. But beware of rolling mounds to the right and fescue to the left off the tee. Find those, and you must navigate a creek that crosses the fairway about 150 yards in front of the green and then turns up the left-hand side, making layups out of poor lies dicey.



Another one of our favorites was the closing 428-yard par-4 18th. There is ample area to land your drive, but hugging the left side provides far more room to work with on the approach. Anything to the right side requires a full carry over water to a green that is narrowest when approaching from that angle. However, aim left off the tee and there is a large tree that must be avoided - we found it twice in a 36-hole day. Eighteen is the second-longest par-4 on the course and the No. 4 handicap for a reason - it takes two well-struck and well-placed shots in order to head to the 19th hole with a very satisfying par.



The Great Blue Course at Heron Lakes north of the city features greens fees more common of a nice muni while boasting a challenging layout that many golfers in the Northwest believe is a must-play when in the area.