My Current Top 10 favourite courses

My current top 10 favourite courses top play include the following … I hope to change and update this as I damage more fine tracks around the country.

1) Mount Juliet, Kilkenny.
2) PGA National, Kildare.
3) Gleneagles, PGA Course, Scotland.
4) Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland.
5) Waterford Castle – my own course.
6) K Club – Smurfit course – though not in the rag order that it’s in now !
7) Fota Island, Cork.
St.Andrew’s, New Course, Scotland.
9) Gleneagles, Queen’s Course, Scotland.
10) European Club, Wicklow.

Golf Snippet of the Day #3

The most career earnings on the European Tour so far ?

Colin Montgomerie from Scotland with € 21,625,881. Nice work if you can get it !

Volvo China Open, Shanghai

Well done to Austria’s Markus Brier on winning the Volvo China Open in Shanghai this past weekend, in what was the first of two tournaments in the area in as many weeks.  Brier finished on -10, a full 5 shots clear of his nearest rivals on 5 under. The win saw Brier pick up a cheque for a nifty € 249,124 which just shows you the phemonenal amount of money on offer to these players. The win moves Brier up to 20th on the European Tour Order of Merit, with Ireland’s Padraig Harrington falling one place to 10th.

Best of the Irish was Graeme McDowell who finished tied 2nd on -5 (€ 111,464) , with Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy next best on +6, all in 39th spot, netting them a sum of € 9,417 each.

Irish on the European Order of Merit

As it currently stands, there are 8 Irish players, north and south, on the European Order of Merit.  There are currently 285 exempt players of some status or other competing which really brings into focus the scrap these players have to keep their tour cards and not have to visit Q school.  I often wonder why we don’t have many more players because a country like Sweden, who have 26 representatives, don’t have a lot of golf available to them because of their weather … a lot of them go to the US on scholarships.

Here is how our boys are doing, as of today :
(Position, name, events played, money earned)

1. Henrik Stenson – 7 – €1,615,383

9. Padraig Harrington – 5 – €476,909
73. Graeme McDowell – 5 – €96,403
82. Damien McGrane – 10 – €78,922
98. Peter Lawrie – 10 – €66,045
101. Darren Clarke – 6 – €64,092
111. Paul McGinley – 5 – €57,979
189. Gary Murphy – 8 – €18,845
247. David Higgins – 4 – €4,550

Golf Snippet of the Day #2

The winner of the most European Tour events ?

Seve Ballesteros with a massive 50.

Golf Snippet of the Day #1

The Green Jacket is awarded every year to the winner of The Masters, with Sam Snead the first to receive a Green Jacket following his 1949 victory. It was also the year that the tradition of the Green Jacket began.

Pablo Martin-Benavides makes history

Just wanted to give quick shout out to Pablo Martin-Benavides on becoming the first amateur golfer to win a professional event on the European Tour. Ever !

The list of great names who have gone before this guy on the European Tour and not won as an amateur reads like a who’s who of the all time top players from this side of the big water.

Ballesteros, Olazabal, Harrington, Langer, Els … none of them did what Pablo Martin-Benavides did in Portugal this April. Finishing on -7 to win the Portguese Open and having already made a cut on the PGA Tour proper, Martin-Benavides at only 20, is surely a name to keep an eye on.

All golfers, regardless of status aspire to have their name associated with a little bit of the great game’s history and not many of even the top players manage it. So well done Pablo – the hacker Gods are with you !

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