SPOTLIGHT ON A SPECIALIST GOLF ACADEMY BASED IN MALAGA

 Jess Wilcox in action at Royal Troon in last year's Helen Holm Scottish  stroke-play championship. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

 By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com
I like to think there's not much going on in golf that I don't know about - that's my business - but I have to admit that when I heard that English girl prospect Jess Wilcox, a member of Blankney GC, Lincolnshire, had been attending a sports academy in Spain - "TSA" - it was completely new to me.

So I asked Jess to tell me (and you) all about it.

The TSA Golf Academy, Malaga

By JESS WILCOX

Well, TSA stands for 'The Sports Academy.' It is a winter training programme establishment based in Malaga, southern Spain. Its website calls it the TSA Golf Academy.
At the academy there is a mixture of English, Scottish and a lot of Irish golfers. All play off 5 and below, +3 being the lowest handicap. It is also open to professional golfers.
The man who runs TSA Golf Academy is called Stuart Fomes. He comes from Essex.
The TSA Golf Academy set-up is good because, unlike going to a college in America, you can play fall time. However, everyone gets the chance to do a degree if over the age of 18 and everyone under the age of 16 has to do their GCSEs.
I do a modern language degree. And I'm in my second year, so I study English and Spanish.
You may have heard of Gabriella Cowley. She is a student at TSA and last summer won English girls' U15 championship. Gabriella started TSA in October 2010, and since then her handicap has come down from five to scratch.
Gabriella is over there at the moment and is playing with me at next month's Hacienda del Alamo women's/girls' Festival.
The academy only runs from October until March. However, you can come and go as you please. If you stay for a month, it costs you 1,500 Euros; two months cost 2,750 Euros and the six-month programme fee is 5,750 Euros.
 So I choose to go October until December.
A few pros only come for a week, then return to England for a while then come back. So TSA is for both amateurs and professionals.
We have top coaches come over from England, like Phil Kenyon for putting, Gary Pike and Stuart Morgan, who are swing coaches, also come.
The academy also works alongside Chris Sells, a golf statistical analyst, who runs strokeaverage.com. He works with big names like Lee Westwood.
Looking forward to the 2012 season and especially playing Carnoustie in the British women's open amateur championship towards the end of June.

JESS WILCOX

+TO READ MORE ABOUT TSA GOLF ACADEMY, SPAIN, YOU CAN ACCESS ITS WEBSITE 

CLICK HERE

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR FINAL Q SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

By BETHAN CUTLER

For the fourth successive year, professional golfers from around the world have gathered at La Manga Club in Murcia, Spain, for the Ladies European Tour’s Final Qualifying School, taking place over five rounds, from tomorrow, Sunday January 15 to Thursday, January 19.

The spectacular resort’s two world-class courses, the North and the South, will again host the 90-hole event, which will see the top 30 players earn their membership for The 2012 Ladies European Tour schedule in category 8a. 

The field will play both the North and South Courses for the first four rounds with a cut to the leading 50 players and ties after 72 holes. The final round, which will determine exemption categories for the 2012 season, will then be played on the South course. 

After the final round, players who made the cut but finished in position 31 or below will be ranked according to score and will be eligible for LET Membership in Category 9b. 

A field of 101 competitors containing 61 potential new members, including 14 amateurs, will contest the Final Qualifying School, considered by many to be one of the toughest tests in the career of a professional golfer. 

The players represent 27 different nationalities and the United States leads the way with 16 representatives. There are 11 entrants from each of England and Sweden, followed by eight from France and seven from Spain. South Africa has six players in the field of competitors, followed by five from Scotland (Lynn Kenny, Carly Booth, Clare Queen, Pamela Pretswell and Gemma Webster), four from Germany and three from China, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway. 

There are two players from Australia, Ireland, Switzerland and Wales. Meanwhile there is one player from each of Chile, Finland, Iceland, India, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Paraguay, Russia and Thailand. There are potentially two new countries that could become represented on the Ladies European Tour over the next week. 

Macarena Silva could become the first LET member from Chile while Xin Wang, Jia-Yun Li and Yu Yang Zhang all have the chance to become the LET’s first representatives from China. 

The Final Qualifying School at La Manga Club has produced three noteworthy winners since the inaugural event at the venue in 2009. Germany’s Caroline Masson took the honours that season, while Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist won the Final Stage in 2010, before capturing the McDonalds LPGA Championship and representing Europe in The Solheim Cup in Chicago in her rookie year. 

Last year, after winning the Final Stage for 2011, Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall captured four titles on the Ladies European Tour in Slovakia, Finland, Austria and India. 

She also gave a strong performance as a first-time member of the European Team at The Solheim Cup in Ireland and was named the LET’s Rolex Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. 

Interesting facts about the competitors: ·

Heather Bowie Young, 36, is a veteran of the U.S. LPGA Tour where she won the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic in 2005 and was a member of the 2003 United States Solheim Cup Team. She still holds a full card and should she be successful at La Manga Club, would split her schedule between the LPGA and LET in 2012. · 

Meaghan Francella, 29, won the Mastercard Classic on the US LPGA Tour in 2007 and the HSBC Brasil Cup in 2010, which was a non-official event. She also tied 5th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2007. · 

Lucy Williams, the 2011 English Amateur champion, who made her debut on the Ladies European Tour at the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters, is the daughter of David Williams, a member of the European tour for 17 years who is now a Tournament Director. Her grandfather Freddie Williams was a speedway rider, who was world champion on two occasions in 1950 and 1953, as well as being runner-up in 1952. · 

Kelly Tidy, the 19 year-old former British women's open amateur champion and twice British girls championship beaten finalist from Bolton, is in the field. Her idol is Karrie Webb and they wrote to each other since Tidy was six years old and they finally met in person at the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open, where Tidy was competing. Kelly has retained her amateur status and would be a near-certainty for selection to the GB and I team for the 2012 Curtis Cup match at Nairn, if she did not turn professional..

Rachel Connor, a 21 year-old daughter of a Scottish professional from Manchester in England, has the record low round of 61 on LPGA Futures Tour. · Carlota Ciganda, the Spanish national champion from 2000-2006, was the 2007 British Amateur Champion. In 2004 and 2008, was the European Individual champion. She turned pro on 25th May 2011. Her best finish from several appearances on the LET was second at the Tenerife Ladies Match Play, a non-official event. Her uncle, Jose Angel Ziganda, is a coach for Osasuna FC in La Liga (Spanish football first division). 
To view the tee times on the LET website
 

CLICK HERE

SUZANNE STRUDWICK HONOURED AS COACH BY US KIDS GOLF

FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE

ATLANTA – Cheshire-born Suzanne Strudwick, now a resident of Knoxville, Tennessee, is among the class of the Top 50 Kids Teachers for 2011, as announced by U.S. Kids Golf. 

After a 13-year LPGA Tour career, the 1993 LPGA Rookie of the Year began teaching full-time in 2005. She is currently the owner of Golf AcademyONE, which operates out of Fairways and Greens Golf Centre in Knoxville. 

Strudwick, who was named to the Honourable Mentioned list for the 2010 award, is being named a Top 50 Kids Teacher by U.S. Kids Golf for the first time. 

"Being recognised with so many wonderful industry-leading teachers is very humbling,” Strudwick said. “I can learn so much from the U.S. Kids Golf Top 50 Kids Teachers and will enjoy networking with them. This award is like icing on the cake because working with kids everyday is so much fun!" 

The award, in its eighth year, recognises golf professionals across North America who focus much of their time and energy on developing young golfers in their communities. The instructors are judged on several criteria, including percentage of time devoted to kids' programmes, creativity, communication and efforts to grow the game. 

This year’s class represents 25 states and Canada and includes golf teachers who work at public, private, resort and municipal courses. 

“The Top 50 Kids Teachers represent a group of professionals who are dedicated to helping kids develop their skills and their love of the game,” said Dan Van Horn, founder and president of U.S. Kids Golf. 

“We are pleased to recognise their talents and commitment.” 

The 2011 Top 50 Kids Teachers will be recognised Friday, January 27, at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

+Suzanne Strudwick, born in Cheshire on July 4, 1965, turned pro when she was 17 in 1983 and played for 10 years on the forerunner of the present Ladies European Tour. She won three times before qualifying to play on the LPGA Tour in 1993, the year she won its Rookie of the Year title. She played 13 years on the LPGA Tour before retiring to make a new career as a golf coach and teacher. She opened a golf academy in Knoxville. Her website is: www.suzannestrudwick.com

CHARLEY HULL TRAILS BANGKOK SISTERS IN THE SALLY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

Woburn wonder girl Charley Hull, the 15-year-old Curtis Cup team prospect from Kettering, trailed the teenage Jutanugarn sisters from Bangkok going into the fourth and final round of this weekend's Orange Blossom Tour event, the South Atlantic women's amateur championship at Oceanside Country Club, Ormond Beach in Forida.

Last weekend's victory in the Harder Hall Invitational elevated Charley from 10th to sixth in the Women's World Amateur Rankings and demoted the runner-up, 16-year-old Ariya Jutanugarn, from eighth to 10th.

But in this event it's the elder of the Thai sisters, 17-year-old Moriya who is the one Charley will have to catch on the final day, as she did Ariya at the Sebring event.

Moriya is on 10-under-par 206 after brilliant second and third rounds of 66 and 65, having started on a low note with a 75. Ariya is a shot behind on 207 with scores of 67, 71 and 69.

Hull is back on six-under 210, having shot 72, 68 and 70. Holly Clyburn from Woodhall Spa, Lincs, who played in the 2010 Curtis Cup match, had a disappointing third round of 77 to drop back to fifth place on 220.

Scottish girls champion Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm), one of six Stirling students in the field, is in joint seventh place on 222 after scores of 75, 75 and 72.

LEADING THIRD ROUND TOTALS

Par 216 (3x72)

206 Moriya Jutanugarn (Thai) 75 66 65.

207 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thai) 67 71 69.

210 Charley Hull (Eng) 72 68 70.

219 Alex Stewart (US) 74 68 77.

220 Holly Clyburn (Eng) 75 68 77.

221 Harin Lee (US) 75 74 72.

222 Eilidh Briggs (Sco) 75 75 72, Emily Collins (US) 79 72 71.

Selected scores:

233 Rachael Drummond (Eng) 83 75 75(T21).

235 Hally Leadbetter (Eng) 80 73 82 (24th).

238 Kelsey MacDonald (Sco) 82 75 81 (T35).

241 Rebecca Wilson (Sco) 79 84 78 (T37).

242 Harriet Beasley (Eng) 80 80 82 (T42).

252 Jordana Graham (Sco) 80 85 87 (T57).

270 Mhairi McKay (Sco) 90 91 89 (75th).

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES AND SCORECARDS

USGA probe possible sponsorship of Bangkok sisters

FROM THE GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By staff writer JULIE WILLIAMS

ORMOND BEACH, Florida – Where the letters “SCG” once appeared on sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn’s clothes and equipment, there now is a Thai flag. The juniors, who recently removed the SCG logo from their gear, have drawn the attention of U.S. Golf Association officials.

When Ariya, 16, and Moriya, 17, made the turn at the South Atlantic Amateur, their parents, father Somboon and mother Narumon, disappeared to the top floor of the clubhouse at Oceanside Country Club to meet with USGA representatives, including John Bodenhamer, senior managing director of rules, competitions and amateur status.

The Jutanugarns travel as a family and play an international schedule. Questions regarding sponsorship and the girls’ amateur status recently have been brought to the USGA’s attention, the family told Golfweek.

“Last summer, you see me wear the SCG, right?” Moriya said. “It’s a team, but many people thought they gave the money for us. I don’t want the problem anymore, so that’s why we just changed.”

Bodenhamer would not comment on the reason for the USGA’s visit. 

Ariya and Moriya – Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the Golfweek Junior Rankings and both among Golfweek’s top 10 female amateurs – did not meet with USGA officials, and a translator was obtained for the meeting with Somboon and Narumon, which Somboon had scheduled the previous week.

The girls were unaware of the meeting. Ariya shot 71 and leads after 36 holes at 138, and Moriya shot 66 and stands third at 141. (After three rouns, Moriya leads the field from Ariya).

Neither girl noticed her parents’ absence until post-round. Moriya, whose spoken English has vastly improved in the past three years, explained that SCG – which stands for Siam Cement Group, a publicly traded Bangkok construction conglomerate – helps a number of Thai athletes with psychology and fitness training.

Ariya and Moriya are the only golfers on the SCG team, which also includes soccer and badminton athletes. Through Moriya, Somboon explained that this was the reason USGA officials wanted to meet with the family. He said the USGA saw a photo published in Thailand and American media outlets (including YouTube) that showed the family returning to Thailand at the end of the summer, their arms full of trophies, groups of fans nearby and a large poster with congratulations.

He said it prompted more questions about possible financial sponsorship from SCG.

“I think it’s clear now,” Somboon said after the meeting. Moriya and Ariya explained that Somboon and Narumon pay for most of their travel expenses, and that they also receive help from older half-brother Sussmon Jutanukal, who works at an outsourcing call centre in Thailand and is one of Somboon’s four older children.

Sussmon and Moriya co-ordinate the family’s travel schedule, which included the Florida Orange Blossom Circuit for the first time this year after Sussmon found the list of tournaments online. 

Somboon and Narumon own a small pro shop at Rose Garden Golf Course near their home in Bangkok. It is the only shop they still manage of the four they once owned.

Last year, the family came to the U.S. for the Kraft Nabisco Championship in early April, when Ariya played on a sponsor exemption, and stayed through early August for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, where Moriya was runner-up. Both girls won a handful of U.S. tournaments, notably Ariya’s victory at U.S. Girls’ Junior, with an injured Moriya (wrist) on the bag.

The family came back in October and November to play in the AJGA’s fall invitationals, the Ping Invitational and the Polo Golf Junior Invitational. The Jutanugarns plan to return to Thailand with the hope of obtaining sponsor exemptions to the LPGA Honda Thailand in mid-February.

They also want to return to the U.S. in April to again play in the Kraft – both of them this time.

Bodenhamer would not discuss details of the meeting, other than to say it was informative.

“It was just trying to do what we do and just things that have been brought to our attention, not any one thing,” he said. “We’re just trying to get the lay of the land, gather information.”

Bodenhamer said the R and A also is aware of the USGA’s presence at Oceanside Country Club. No decision was reached at the conclusion of Thursday’s meeting, but Bodenhamer called it a “good session.”

“We’re just gathering information, everything that we can just to put a puzzle together,” Bodenhamer said. “That’s why we’re here today.”

The Jutanugarn sisters from Bangkok, 17-year-old Moriya (centre) and Ariya, 16, with their dad, as ever, in the background. Image from the GolfWeek website.