REDUCED ENTRY FEE TO PLAY IN NICK FALDO QUALIFIERS IN 2013

NEWS RELEASE 

 
The Faldo Series has announced its UK schedule for 2013 with a reduced entry fee for the second successive year that the six-time Major winner hopes will further increase the accessibility of its tournaments to young golfers of all backgrounds.

“Thanks to continued support from our partners, including The R and A, the European Tour and ISPS we are able to reduce the UK entry fee for a second successive year and make the Faldo Series even more accessible,” said Sir Nick Faldo, pictured above. 

“As a registered charity, the Series aims to bring opportunity to talented young golfers, regardless of background, so I hope that by further reducing the financial burden on competitors and their parents, even more youngsters can benefit.”

“We have been pleased to support Sir Nick, a three-time Open Champion, since he launched the Faldo Series in 1996,” commented Alison White, pictured right, Assistant Director of Golf Development at The R and A.  

“Nick’s efforts match The R&A’s commitment to golf development, not only in the UK but also across Europe, Asia and South America where the Faldo Series is active.  We applaud his efforts over the past two years to make the Series even more accessible to young golfers in the UK.”

After a successful 2012, the UK schedule for 2013 features the same eight championship courses across England, Scotland and Wales.  

For an entry fee of £45, boys and girls aged 12 to 21 will play one practice round and two tournament rounds at their chosen venue.  

The five age-group winners at each tournament – three boys and two girls – will join the former world number one at the 17^th Faldo Series Europe Grand Final.

A new entry format is also in place to allow players more time to enter those tournaments later in the season.  

The first four events on the schedule – Moortown (April 3-4), West Lancs (April 10-11), Royal Ashdown Forest (April 23-24) and Trentham (May 28-29), all in England and all Open Championship qualifying venues – are open for entry until February 22.  

The second four events – Panmure (June 26-27) in Scotland, Old Fold Manor (July 1-2) near London, Pyle and Kenfig (July 9-10) in Wales and Hollinwell in Nottinghamshire (August 20-21) – are open for entry until May 24.

The 2012 Faldo Series Europe schedule featured a record 20 tournaments in 14 countries including six in England plus others in Bahrain, Ireland, Chile, the Czech Republic, Greece, Wales, Austria, Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, Scotland, Slovakia and Russia.  

Golfers born in 1992 or later wishing to enter a 2013 Faldo Series UK Championship should visit www.nickfaldo.com or email series@nickfaldo.com.  You can also follow the Faldo Series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/faldoseries and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/faldoseries

CONSISTENT ORRIN TOPS ENGLAND BOYS' ORDER OF MERIT

Although the ‘major’ home titles eluded him, Max Orrin (North Foreland, Kent) has won the Titleist/FootJoy England Golf Boys’ order of merit for 2012.
The 18 year old from Birchington in Kent totalled 595.65, just under 50 more than England under 18 champion Patrick Kelly (Boston West, Lincolnshire), and more than 100 ahead of third placed British Boys champion Matthew Fitzpatrick (Hallamshire, Yorkshire).
Although Orrin (Image © Tom Ward) won the Thunderbird International Junior Tournament in America and the Kent Championship, most of his points were gathered from runners-up spots in the McEvoy Trophy, the South East Boys Qualifying and the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters, while he also reached the last 16 of the British Boys, underlining his consistency.
“It is a massive honour to win the Boys order of merit and I thank Titleist and FootJoy for their support,” he said. “This is a gauge to where you are against the other players because there are so many good players around.
“I’ve had a good season and really enjoyed it. I’m a lot more of a solid player than in previous years, I’ve worked hard on my game, got rid of a few weaknesses and it’s paid off.
“I’ll do a lot more work over the winter and I’m looking forward to next season with confidence.”
Russell Lawes, European Marketing Manager of FootJoy commented: "We're thrilled to have been able to support the order of merit again this year, and warmly congratulate Max on his terrific performance this year. To win an order of merit takes a sustained period of quality performances, and will always identify the best players during a season."

Kelly’s victory in the Carris Trophy, an event also supported by Titleist, brought him the bulk of his points while he also won the Fairhaven Trophy and was seventh in the McEvoy.
Fitzpatrick’s victory in the British Boys at Hollinwell hauled him up the order, while he was also runner-up in the Berkshire Trophy and equal third in the Carris Trophy. 
For the complete Titleist/FootJoy order of merit go to www.englandgolf.org

Lynne Fraser
ENGLAND GOLF
Marketing and PR Manager
Email: pr@englandgolf.org

PAMELA PRETSWELL SAYS SHE WILL BENEFIT FROM PRO GROUNDING ON LETAS TOUR

NEWS RELEASE FROM LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager

The 2012 LETAS season has come to a close after the final tournament, Banesto Tour Valencia, capped off an exciting year on the LET feeder tour.

Top amateurs and budding professionals competed in 13 tournaments in France, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Ukraine, Denmark, Greece and Portugal over 9 months. 

Membership of LETAS has grown from 23 players in 2010 to 67 in 2012, represented by players from twenty different countries. 

Sixteen amateurs became members of LETAS this year including the Order of Merit winner Pamela Pretswell, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, who turned professional after the Curtis Cup in June. 

Over 300 different players have taken part in the 13 LETAS events, 153 of whom were elite amateurs.

For the first time, three full LET cards have been awarded to the top 3 LETAS Order of Merit players. Pamela Pretswell of Scotland, France’s Marion Ricordeau and Norwegian Cecilie Lundgreen have all earned well-deserved playing rights on the Ladies European Tour for 2013. 

All three know how to win - Pretswell claimed the Ljungybed Park PGA Ladies Open in May, while Ricordeau won the season’s opener Terre Blanche Ladies Open in France. 

Cecilie Lundgreen, this year’s only double-winner, claimed the Kristianstad Ahus Ladies Open and Women’s Bank Open titles. 

Their first eligible event on the Ladies European Tour will be the Volvik RACV Ladies Masters in Australia in February, which Pamela relishes:

“I am so excited to be playing on the LET next season and I cannot wait to get started. It has been my dream since I started playing golf and I am so grateful to all the people who have supported me and helped me reach this stage in my career”.

Hamilton-based Pretswell won the LETAS Order of Merit with a tight victory over Ricordeau. Pamela played in 12 of the 13 events this year, and her consistency was key – 5 top ten finishes plus victory in Sweden, missing only the final event of the season due to minor illness.

 “It has not quite sunk in yet! My goal at the start of the year was to finish in the top 3 to gain my card and then after I won in Sweden, I set myself the target of winning the order of merit so I am very happy to have achieved both goals. It has made my first season as a professional very memorable and special” said the Scot.
Life on tour can be daunting for new professionals, and the LET Access Series provides the starting steps for many players who then progress onto the main tour. 

LET professionals Carly Booth and Henni Zuel have both attributed their success on tour to their on the LET Access Series experience, and Pamela agrees:

“I loved every minute of playing on the LETAS this year. Starting the year on the tour as an amateur was great - all the girls really welcomed me and looked after me and I have really learned a lot from them this year," said Pretswell.

"Making my pro debut on the tour was very special and I have thoroughly enjoyed tour life on the LETAS this year. 

"Playing half the season as an amateur definitely made me more prepared for turning professional and I am so glad that I did it this way. 

"I was so disappointed when I did not get my LET card at Q school in January, but I am now glad I did not get it as this has been a great year, I have learned so much on the LETAS and I now feel more prepared for my rookie season on the LET”

As all players who have been through the challenging Tour School know, making it through to the Final qualifying stage is highly competitive – with over 200 players striving to make it from Pre-qualifying to Final Qualifying. 

The top 12 LETAS Order of Merit players from position 4^th onwards (who are not already exempt) have automatically advanced to final stage of Tour school, which takes place at Amelkis Golf Club and Al Maaden Golf Resorts at Marrakesh, Morocco from the 13 - 17 December. 

They are: Katy McNicoll, Julie Tvede, Antonella Cvitan, Anastasia Kostina, Tamara Johns, Pamela Feggans, Sofia Harkonen, Galina Rotmistrova, Ana Larraneta, Danielle McVeigh, Melanie Maetzler and Anna Rossi.

Bethan Cutler

Media Manager

Ladies European Tour

Mobile: +44 (0)7980056045

E: bcutler@ladieseuropeantour.com

EDITOR: It would be possible to stage a LETAS event at a Scottish venue (or English venue for that matter) next year on a multi-sponsored basis. The required budget would be 55,000 Euros but the promoters/sponsors retain all the players' entry fees, including from a curtain-raising pro-am, which could amount to an income in the region of 50,000 Euros. 
That leaves a shortfall of around 5,000 Euros for potential sponsors to come up with. That could be raised by 5 x 1000 or even 10 x 500 -  not a lot in this day and age to provide a stepping stone for lady pro golfers or low-handicap amateurs testing the water to see if they are good enough to turn pro.
If you are interested or know somebody who might be interested, E-mail Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

LUCKY DAY BEATS STACY IN PLAY-OFF AT THREE-TOUR CHALLENGE

FROM THE ESPN.COM WEBSITE
HENDERSON, Nevada -- Jason Day beat Stacy Lewis with birdie on the second hole of a play-off to lift the US PGA Tour past the LPGA Tour on Tuesday in the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge.
Day's drive stopped on a cart path, and the Australian hit a 95-yard approach to 5 feet to set up the winning birdie.
"Actually, I had no idea where it finished," Day said. "And I was very fortunate to finish on the cart path."
Lewis missed an 8-foot birdie putt.
"I thought it was pretty straight," said Lewis, the LPGA Tour player of the year and a four-time winner this season, "but it kind of moved a little left on me."
After the teams finished at 19 under in regulation at Rio Secco Golf Club, Nick Watney and Cristie Kerr -- coming off a victory Sunday in Mexico in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational -- parred the par-4 18th hole to force a second extra hole.
Watney holed a 45-foot birdie putt on the final hole in regulation to force the playoff.
Davis Love III also played for the PGA Tour, and Natalie Gulbis completed the LPGA Tour lineup.
The Champions Tour trio of Bernhard Langer, Fred Funk and Tom Lehman finished six strokes back.
Only the two best scores on a hole from the three-player teams counted in the total.
Kerr helped the LPGA rally, birdieing Nos. 14-17.
"The women went 14 under on the back nine, but Nick holed a great, great putt to tie it," Day said. "Nick and I birdied the 18th and Davis birdied the 17th. Everybody won this as a team."
Day led all players with nine birdies, while Watney and Lewis each made eight, and Kerr had seven. 
Lewis and Kerr each had five of their birdies on the back nine holes for the LPGA team, which trailed the US PGA Tour team by five shots after nine holes. Gulbis had the lone eagle, holing a 30-yard chip on the par-5 15th.
"Stacy started making a lot of birdies and Natalie had that chip-in on the 15th, and that got them going," Love said. "They got hot on the back nine."
The US PGA Tour team earned $500,000, the LPGA Tour got $270,000, and Champions Tour $230,000.
The US PGA Tour won for the ninth time in the 21-year event. The Champions Tour has seven titles and the LPGA five. The event raised $3,442,300 for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.