The St Rule Trophy 2006 takes place this weekend, with one round over the New Course on Saturday and two on the Old Course on Sunday. 72 top women amateur players will complete 54 holes of strokeplay. The Everard Trophy will go to the best under 18 player and there is also a team prize. Previous winners of the St Rule Trophy include world number one, Annika Sorenstam.

Today marks the first day of trading for St Andrews Links Trust's new shop, The Old Course Shop, located at the side of the 18th fairway of the Old Course. The shop is carefully stocked and beautifully arranged with top quality products from brands such as Burberry, Dunhill, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss.

'This sets a new standard for us at St Andrews Links Trust,' said retail and licensing manager Danny Campbell. 'The Home of Golf offers residents and visitors alike one of the world's great sporting experiences and The Old Course Shop reflects our commitment to quality and excellence in all we do. I am particularly pleased at the close relationships we have established with our brand partners, all of whom are as excited as we are by this top class retail development.'

Paul Lawrie with junior golfers from St Andrews

More than 4000 entries have been received from all over the world for the competition to name the seventh course at the Home of Golf.

The competition run by St Andrews Links Trust, which manages and maintains the Old Course and the other five courses on the Links, closed at the end of last week. The massive field of entries, which came from as far away as Australia, Argentina, Thailand, Canada and Iceland, will now be carefully sifted to select a shortlist of possible names.

The Board of Trustees will have the final say in deciding the name of the new course. A decision will be made and announced in January.

Situated right beside the 18th green of the Old Course, The Old Course Shop has a superb selection of golfwear and golf gifts, all endorsed with the official Old Course or St Andrews Links logos. Collections include items by Hugo Boss, Dunhill, Polo Golf by Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Marbas, Peter Scott, Mulberry and Hawick Cashmere.

The Old Course Shop

The search for a name for the seventh course at St Andrews Links has attracted another surge of interest, with the number of entries racing to more than 3000.

The naming competition is being run by St Andrews Links Trust and gives people a unique opportunity to name its new seventh course which will become the youngest sister to the historic Old Course.

Entries have flowed in from all over the world for the competition which marks the first time in 600 years of history at the Home of Golf that the public has been invited to suggest a name for a course.

The sixth annual Father & Son Tournament will be held 14-19 April 2007. The event will be held on several top quality courses, including the Old Course.

New steel gleams in the winter sun at the site of the extension to the Golf Practice Centre.

Padraig Harrington today won the Dunhill by five shots, finishing the tournament on 16 under par. A birdie at the last was a fitting conclusion to a great week for the Ryder Cup man. 'There's no more special place in golf than St Andrews,' he said. Anthony Wall, Edward Loar and Bradley Dredge all finished on 11 under.

Gusty weather saw competitors struggle today. Joakim Bäckström scored a 67 on the Old Course, but only 29 of the 164 field broke par. Bradley Dredge still leads on 13 under. 2002 winner Padraig Harrington (12 under) will be his playing partner tomorrow. Edward Loar, ranked 193 on the European Tour, is on 9 under, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh are one further back.

Best round at St Andrews today was a 65 from England's Ian Poulter. Leader after two rounds is Bradley Dredge on 12 under, with Stefan Edfors and Charl Schwartzel two back. Vijay Singh is among a group on nine under, with Padraig Harrington and Simon Dyson. Actor Michael Douglas made his annual pilgrimage to the Home of Golf, playing in the company of Colin Montgomerie. Overnight leader Paul Casey came unstuck at 18, where he drove out of bounds right.

The Old Course has a new record score after Bradley Dredge went round in 64 shots today. He began at the 10th tee and hit five birdies in a row before adding a sixth at 16. A double bogey at 17 was the only blemish on a card that showed further birdies on18, 2, 5 and 9. Gary Evans had earlier equalled the 65 shot by both David Frost and Colin Montgomerie in 2005. Paul Casey leads the tournament after a 63 at Kingsbarns

Bradley Dredge after today's 64

Colin Montgomerie reflected happily today on last year's great victory at the Home of Golf, when he won the Dunhill by a shot. There is 'nothing better' than to win at St Andrews, he said.

Ewen Bowman, the golf sales manager at the Westin Turnberry Resort, has been appointed clubhouse operations manager at St Andrews Links.

He will take up the newly created post next Monday (Oct 9) and will have responsibility for running both the Links and Eden Clubhouses at the Home of Golf.

With more than 200,000 rounds a year played over the six St Andrews Links courses both clubhouses are extremely busy and offer a full range of services to both local and visiting golfers including restaurants and changing facilities.

A major new golf practice and teaching centre at the Home of Golf was officially opened today by Peter Dawson, chief executive of The R&A.

Mr Dawson unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion of the opening of St Andrews Links Golf Academy, which is housed within an extension to the existing Golf Practice Centre, and will combine cutting edge technology with world class coaching.

An audience of around 50 invited guests from the golf community throughout Scotland attended the official opening ceremony which featured demonstrations of some of the most modern and advanced equipment available in golf, including digital and video analysis, a doppler radar device originally developed to track missiles but now used to track the flight of golf balls and an ultrasound system used to scan the putting stroke.

August Tournaments produce fine champions

Oliver Farr of Ludlow GC took the Eden Trophy title this year after defeating Kidderminster’s Stephen Clarke 4 and 3 in the tournament’s matchplay final held over a blustery and fast running Eden Course in first class condition.

Farr, an 18-year-old South Shropshire lad playing at St Andrews for the first time, took the lead at the 4 th hole but Clarke rallied at the 7 th to bring the match back to all square.

The final was still tied at the turn but then Farr accelerated away with wins at 10, 11 and 12. He defended his lead over the next three holes before taking the title at the 15 th.

For 21-year-old Clarke, it was a second successive runner-up spot but despite the disappointment he promised to return next year and try again to go one better.

Farr qualified for the matchplay stages of the tournament in only 47th place on 156, after scoring 75 on the Eden Course and 81 on the New Course, nevertheless Oliver showed himself to be a formidable opponent in the knock-out stages with only one of his matches making it to the 17 th. He got to the final after wins against Andrew Lawrence (Baberton) 3 and 2; Paul Desport (Hawick) 6 and 5; Andrew Carmichael (Charthills) 3 and 2; Luke Searle ( Richmond) 2 and 1; and Neil Raymond (Corhampton) 3 and 2.

The best qualifier was Roberto Laino of Bedford & County who returned a 67 on the Eden and a 71 on the New for a great three under par total of 138.

A record total of 355 golfers sought to enter the Eden Tournament this year, with 240 being successful. Handicap entries were cut at 4.7.

Oliver Farr

Steven Clark

Michael Williams is the new St Andrews Boys' Open champion and proud holder of the Merchants' Cup. The 17-year-old from Craigielaw near Edinburgh defeated local lad Iain Finlay of St Andrews GC, who is also a member of St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association (SALJGA), at the first extra hole in their matchplay final on the Old Course.

Williams was two up after two holes and three up after seven but Finlay fought back to take four straight holes between the 11th and the 14th to go 1 up. Playing into the breeze on the way home, the boys halved the 15th before Williams drew level at 16. Williams won the Road Hole to stand 1 up on the final tee but Finlay forced a concession at the 18th to take the tie into extra holes before succumbing on the 19th green.

After qualifying with a 72 on the Eden Course Williams had a great run to the final, with convincing wins in each of his matches on the Old Course. In round one he beat Ross Goodbrand (Westhill) 6 and 4, and in each of the next three rounds he won by 3 and 2 against Ryan Tuppen (Roundhay), Jonathan Hewitt (Gerrards Cross) and Ben Harman (Letchworth). In his semi final, Finlay played the Old Course in par figures to knock out top seed Sean Stevens (Deeside) 3 and 2.

A total of 178 boys entered this year’s competition with the handicap ballot falling at 6.7.

The Junior Ladies' Open title has gone to the other side of the world with 15-year-old Whitney Hillier of Joondalup GC near Perth in Western Australia. Whitney beat Pamela Prestwell of Bothwell Castle, who is two years her senior, on the third extra hole to claim the Golf Monthly Salver. Ms Prestwell took a two-shot lead after wins at the 9th and 10th but Whitney rallied to take three in a row from the 14th. Pamela took the 17th to draw level again and the ladies tied 18 to take their match into extra time, when Whitney won the day after Pamela’s putt for a half lipped out. Both girls impressed onlookers with their high quality performances in the final.

Michael Williams

Whitney Hillier

The quarter finalists of the Junior Open championships emerged today on the Eden Course. Tomorrow, the championship will move to the Old Course. Seven of the top eight seeds have qualified for the Golf Monthly Salver. Top qualifier, Holly Aitchison, will play Gemma Easton (Bargoed) while her club-mate, the number two seed, Lucy Gould, will take on Jane Turner of Mortonhall. The other quarter finals will be between Faye Sanderson (Heworth), the semi finalist of 2003 and 2004, and Whitney Hillier (Joondalup) and Paula Prestwell (Bothwell Castle) and local girl Rachel Myles (St Regulus), who won the Open Quiach handicap competition in 2004.

Top qualifier for the Merchants' Cup, played off scratch, was Sean Stevens of Deeside who shot a fine 66 on the par 70 Eden Course. The best junior lady was Holly Aitchison of Bedfordshire GC who returned a 71 on the Strathtyrum Course.

St Andrews Links Golf Academy is the first facility in the UK to make the doppler radar Trackman facility available to the public as a coaching and club fitting tool. Trackman provides data feeds on shots as well as giving a visual representation of ball flight and launch angle. Both The R&A and the USGA have used Trackman to collect data from professional players but now everyone can benefit from this space age system at the Home of Golf.

A fun programme of events specially aimed at children will take place this summer at the academy under the guidance of top PGA instructors. Four Saturday sessions will cover the fundamentals of golf for only £30 per child, while summer schools will be held during the week.

'I have played the Old Course a few times as an amateur... I am excited that a Major championship will be played at such a historic course. In my mind, this is where golf began.'
Lady Golfer, August 2006

The biggest buzz was winning The Open in 1990 at St Andrews. I won two majors that year, but it was very special walking down the 18th at the Home of Golf with a five shot lead and saying to Fanny, my caddie: "We can enjoy this and have a good look around."

Charlie Sifford today received an honorary degree from the University of St Andrews.

Charlie Sifford and Alton Duhon today played on the Old Course. Accompanied by Mr Sifford's sons, Charles and Craig, the two great golfers played at St Andrews for the first time.

Local golfer Krystle Caithness yesterday won the St Rule Trophy with a superb score of 216, eleven under par. The 17-year-old, who is a member of the St Regulus club in St Andrews, held off the challenge of Germany's Katharina Schallenberg to win by one shot. Ireland claimed the team title.

Two of golf’s most prestigious amateur events will be taking place at St Andrews Links in the next few weeks.

The St Rule Trophy, won last year by Naomi Edwards from Ganton GC in Yorkshire and whose previous winners include the current world number one Annika Sorenstam, and the Links Trophy won last year by Lloyd Saltman, the leading amateur at last year’s Open Championship, will be held over the Old Course and the New Course.

The St Rule Trophy has attracted its strongest entry for many years, reflected in the number of countries represented and in the handicap cut-off at 2.7.

With over 100 players entered for 72 places in the 54-hole stroke play tournament over the Old Course and New Course, St Andrews on 3 and 4 June, its position as one of the top events in the British Isles has been underlined.

Mike Hay, the British national and Olympic curling coach, and Russell Keillor, the Scottish ladies' curling coach, called on Steve North to get a run through on the latest technology to be installed at the St Andrews Links Golf Academy.

PGA Golf Management add to instruction team at St Andrews Links Golf Academy

PGA Golf Management has appointed Garry Forrester as the third member of the PGA Golf Instruction team at St Andrews Links Golf Academy.

Garry, who hails from Dunfermline in Fife, graduated from the PGA in 1997 and has amassed a great deal of golf instruction experience around the world.

The new academy is expected to open next month and will combine the latest video analysis, ball-tracking and ultrasound scanning technology with world class instruction at the Home of Golf.

Garry becomes the latest member of the PGA Golf Management team of instructors at the academy led by director of instruction, Steve North.

Entries have now closed for the St Andrews Links Trophy 2006, which will be held over the New Course and the Old Course from 9-11 June.

The St Andrews Links Trophy is now generally accepted as the world’s strongest amateur stroke play competition and this year’s qualifying standard for the 144 strong field was a handicap of +1.7.

Last year’s champion, Lloyd Saltman of Craigielaw near Edinburgh, who also won the Silver Medal for best amateur at The Open, will start his defence of the title on the New Course at 08.50 in company with Wales’ Nigel Edwards and Australian Won Joon Lee.

Lee is the winner of both the New South Wales Medal and the NSW Amateur and Edwards recently won the South African Amateur Championship at De Zalze and Stellenbosch Golf Clubs, defeating Lee in the 36 hole final. Edwards also won the Sherry Trophy held at Sotogrande in Spain earlier this year.

Another outstanding three ball tees off at 13.00 when Jamie Moul, runner-up last year and winner of the Lytham Trophy 2006, will join Scottish Champion of Champions George Murray of Earlsferry, whom he beat in a play off at Lytham, and Walker Cup star Oliver Fisher.

Moul and Fisher teamed up to win the Spirit International in America last year.

The favourites for this year's Links Trophy are already showing great form in the run-up to the tournament which begins on 9 June. Jamie Moul from Stoke-by-Nayland in Essex, who was the runner-up in last year's St Andrews Links Trophy has just won the Lytham Trophy finishing ahead of Fife's George Murray in a play off. Lloyd Saltman, who won the 2005 Links Trophy in record style and went on to win the Silver Medal at The Open, finished joint third.

The Links Trophy will be held over the New Course and the Old Course, concluding on Sunday, 11 June.

A record 355 people entered this year's Eden Tournament which is to be held in August. The field has been limited to 240 with handicap entries cut at 4.7. Last year's champion, Craig Simmons of Patshull Park, will return to defend his title.

The annual Father and Son Tournament has been won by American pair Donn and David Loe.

The news that The Open Championship will make a return to the Old Course in four years’ time has been welcomed by St Andrews Links Trust.

The R&A made the announcement today (Thu) that The Open will be played on the most famous stage in golf from 15-18 July, 2010.

The world famous Old Course has enjoyed a busy start to the 2006 season with a range of events attracting golfers from all over the globe. The first week in April saw the traditional curtain raiser to the golfing season, the Old Course in Reverse weekend, and this year’s event was fully booked in advance.

Winner of the 2006 SLGA St Leonards Under-16 Girls' Open is Carly Booth (left, receiving her trophy) who overcame testing conditions at the Home of Golf to score 76-73 over a windy Strathtyrum Course. Miss Booth, who is from Comrie, won the competition by a stroke from first round leader Rachel Connor of Manchester. Scotland No1 retained the team title.

The SLGA St Leonards Under-16 Girls' Open got underway today on the Strathtyrum Course. 85 competitors will attempt to claim the title won by Krystle Caithness in 2004 and 2005. This mixture of individual and team stroke play will conclude tomorrow.

One of the top amateur strokeplay tournaments in Europe, the Links Trophy looks set to be a great success again this year. Last year's winner was Scotland's Lloyd Saltman, who went on to finish top amateur at The Open to win the Silver Medal.


Lloyd Saltman, winner 2005

Steve Jones is continuing a sucessful partnership with Eduardo Molinari, the current US amateur champion. Italy's Molinari is a regular at the Links Trophy and made the cut at last year's Open.

Jones and Molinari during The Open

The traditional curtain-raiser to the new golfing season, the Old Course in Reverse, gets under way tomorrow. The world's oldest golf course was once played in the opposite direction to today's anti-clockwise circuit and golfers from St Andrews and the rest of the world have the opportunity to play it the old way on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

A small freshwater wildlife pond and marshland area has just been built by the Strathtyrum greenkeeping team in an area beyond the 12th green, outside the boundary of the course. This will enrich the Links environment by creating an extra habitat area where a broad diversity of wildlife can flourish.

David McLay Kidd (left) and Paul Kimber, the design team behind St Andrews Links Trust's new Course No.7, today outlined their plans for the year ahead. Work has been continuing throughout the winter months and there will be a step-up in activity at the spectacular cliff-top site from the middle of April.

PGA Golf Management has appointed the former United Arab Emirates (UAE) national coach to become the latest member of the coaching team at St Andrews Links Golf Academy.

Simon Plumb has joined the academy from the Nad Al Sheba Golf Club in Dubai where he spent five years coaching, among others, the UAE’s U-18 National Team to their first international title at the 2005 Arab National Championships in Syria.

The Old Course at St Andrews will present golfers playing its medal format with a new challenge from early next month.

The ballot for local priority times on the Old Course on Saturday 1 April 2006, when the course is set up in reverse, is now open.

St Andrews Links Trust have announced that Jim White has been elected Chairman of the Links Management Committee (LMC) for a fifth year.

St Andrews Links Trust has welcomed Kevin Mullins on to its Links Management Committee (LMC), following his nomination by Fife Council.

Mr Mullins replaces Drew Renwick, who has retired after a four-year term. The LMC is one of two committees which oversee the work of the Links Trust, the charitable body that administers and maintains the world-famous courses at the Home of Golf.

Two new appointments have been made by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (R&A) to St Andrews Links Trust, one as a Trustee and one as a member of the Links Management Committee (LMC).

Neil Crichton (62) has been nominated as a Trustee from 1 January next year. He replaces Robin Waddell who has served three terms of three years as a Trustee.

Nominated to the LMC as a replacement for Dennis Matthews, who has come to the end of his four year term, is Dr John Mills (64) who has been an R&A member for 24 years.

 

John Mills