STEWART SPENCE CHIPS IN TO

HELP LADIES-ONLY GOLF FESTIVAL
IN SPAIN NEXT MONTH

Aberdeen hotel owner Stewart Spence, pictured right, is chipping in 2,000 Euros to the prize fund for a Spanish golf festival for women professionals and amateurs next month.
It's the Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Golf Festival from February 10 to 23 at the five-star golf resort in Murcia, south-east Spain where the mid-February temperatures are reputed to be the warmest in Spain.
There will be six competitions, two of them 36-holers, over the two weeks. Competitors can go for one week or two.
Former Open champion and past Ryder Cup player Paul Lawrie, his coach Neil Marr and Scotland youth cap Philip McLean (Peterhead) recently spent a week at Hacienda del Alamo and came home raving about the Dave Thomas-designed course and the excellent practice facilities.
North-east man Billy Sim is the director of golf at the five-star resort.
"I am always delighted to help out a new golfing venture and this sounds a great idea for the lady professionals and amateurs to get in some serious practice for the new season with the bonus of some low-key competition to help sharpen them up," said Stewart Spence, a former Royal Aberdeen Golf Club champion and owner of The Marcliffe at Pitfodels Hotel & Spa in Aberdeen's leafy, western suburbs.
The deadline for entries is January 15 and should be E-mail to the Tournament Controller, Colin Farquharson, at colin@scottishgolfview.com

"Stewart Spence has been helping people in golf for as long as I can remember. Muriel Thomson and Paul Lawrie are just two who were given a leg-up by him in their early careers," said Colin.

"What his donation of 2,000 Euros will enable us to do for the Hacienda del Alamo Festival is to guarantee a minimum first prize of 500 Euros for the professionals in each of the four individual events.

"Billy Sim and I devised this warm-weather, mid-winter Festival to give both lady professionals and amateurs alike the chance to really get down to serious golf practice at the best facilities in Spain at a time of year when it will probably be too cold to get out and about if they stay at home in Britain & Ireland or anywhere in northern Europe for that matter.

"The amateurs have responded well but I have to admit I am disappointed by the professionals' limited response. Stewart Spence's gesture may boost the numbers before the entry deadline next Tuesday."

Billy Sim is convinced that the Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Festival will become a permanent and very popular fixture on the golf calendar and that it might not be so easy to get into the field in years to come.

"Those who support the inaugural event will certainly get preferential treatment when it comes to putting a ceiling on how many competitors we can accommodate in 2009 and beyond," said Billy.