ONE ROUND TO GO IN CACTUS TOUR EVENT

GREAT DANE GOES FIVE SHOTS CLEAR

Denmark's Therese Koelback looks to have a lock on victory with one round to go in this week's Cactus Tour's 54-hole event at Sun City Country Club, Arizona.
Therese has gone five shots clear of the field with scores of 67 and 70 for seven-under-par 137.
Her nearest challenge is Casey Grice on 142 (71-71) with Kimberly Kim third on 143 (73-70).
Other leading scores:
144 Ashleigh Albrecht 72 72
145 Brittany Benvenuto 71 74.

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SUNCOAST LADY PRO TOUR IN FLORIDA

FENG NOW 4 SHOTS CLEAR AT LPGA

NATIONAL'S HILLS COURSE

Yueer Cindy Feng is heading for back-to-back wins on the SunCoast Lady Pro Tour in Florida. A winner of the first event in 2014, Feng has gone four shots clear with one round to play in the second, at LPGA National's Hills Course, Daytona Beach.
Feng is on five-under-par 139 after rounds of 69 and 70.
Ulrika Van-Nierkerk is still second but that one-shot first round gap has stretched to four shots after she had a second round 73 for 143.
Best rounds of the day came from Louise Friberg and Jennifer Brumbaugh. Friberg shot a 66 for 146 and sixth place while Brumbaugh had a 69 for 147 and joint seventh place.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
139 Yueer Cindy Feng 69 70
143 Ulrika Van-Niekerk 70 73
144 Jenny Suh 74 70, Kim Kaufman 71 73
145 Rachael Schmidt 72 73
146 Louise Friberg 78 66
147 Jennifer Brumbaugh 78 69, Amy Park 72 75.
Field of 36 players.

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TEAM-MATE TRIED IN VAIN TO TAKE CAR KEYS FROM HER

DANIELLE DOWNEY, KILLED IN CAR 

CRASH, HAD TOO MUCH TO DRINK

FROM GOLFWEEK WEBSITE
By BRENTLEY ROMINE
Alcohol is listed as a factor in the January 30 car crash that killed Danielle Downey, Auburn's director of golf operations, according to the report filed by the investigating trooper with the Alabama Department of Public Safety.

Toxicology results have not been completed.
According to the report, Downey, pictured, 33, had been drinking with some friends at Hamilton's, a restaurant in Auburn, Alabama. 
Diana Ramage, a golf team-mate of Downey's at Auburn, said in the report that Downey arrived at Hamilton's before her friends and "had a few beers prior to her (Ramage's) arrival." 
Downey then had "two to three more beers" and "appeared to have had too much to drink," Ramage said, according to the report.
Ramage was waiting for a ride from her sister and offered Downey a ride and tried to take Downey's keys from her. Downey said she was "fine and that she was tired of waiting on a ride," Ramage said in the report.
According to the investigation by Trooper Jacob G. Smith: Downey's 2011 Hyundai Sonata was travelling north on Lee Road 57 near Auburn at a high rate of speed when it left the road "for an unknown reason." 
The vehicle hit a small tree, slammed into a culvert and went airborne before overturning several times and ejecting Downey, who was not wearing a seatbelt.
A witness told the investigating trooper that Downey's vehicle passed her on the two-lane road at a high rate of speed and returned to the northbound lane before leaving the roadway.
Downey was pronounced dead in the emergency room of East Alabama Medical Center at 10:58 p.m., about an hour after the accident.
Downey, a three-time All-American at Auburn, was runner-up in the 2002 NCAA Championship before playing on the LPGA. She had stepped in during an emotionally difficult time for the women's program last season as head coach Kim Evans dealt with ovarian cancer. 
Under Downey, the 14th-seeded Tigers advanced out of the East Regional to the NCAAs. Auburn finished sixth at the NCAA Championship.
Downey is survived by her parents, Mike and Phyllis Downey, and sisters Erica Setzer, Melissa Sage and Shawna Tomasso.
Auburn announced that it will hold a memorial service at 3 pm on February 13 on the scholarship terrace of Auburn Arena. There will also be a visitation Wednesday and a funeral Thursday in Downey's hometown of Rochester, New York at times to be announced, according to the university.

FEATHER IN CAP OF NEW SCOTTISH PGA SECRETARY BRIAN MAIR

 Paul Lawrie, Nicola Melville (Director of Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Ladies Tartan Tour) and Brian Mair (PGA in Scotland secretary). Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency

PGA IN SCOTLAND TO RUN PAUL 

LAWRIE GOLF CENTRE LADIES' 

TARTAN TOUR IN 2014

The PGA in Scotland will be a trail-blazer in 2014 when it takes the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Ladies Tartan Tour under its umbrella.
It will be the first of the PGA's seven regions to run both men's and women's professional circuits from its headquarters at Gleneagles.
It is a feather in the cap of Brian Mair, appointed PGA in Scotland secretary last year, to lead the way forward. He said:
"The PGA in Scotland is committed to providing all our Members with professional, competitive playing opportunities throughout the country and we very much look forward to supporting Ladies golf during 2014 and beyond.
"This represents an important step in our quest to promote the game to all sectors of the community and to reach as wide an audience as possible".
The PLGC Ladies Tartan Tour Director is PGA teaching professional and qualified Rules Referee Nicola Melville. She cut her teeth on the inaugural Paul Lawrie domestic circuit last year when she also worked as a referee on the PGA EuroPro Tour.
Said Nicola:
"We are delighted to have the sponsorship from the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre again and look forward to working with the PGA in Scotland to support ladies golf in Scotland"
Said Paul Lawrie:
“We’re very happy to continue our support from 2013 of what was formerly the Scottish Ladies Open Tour.  The new schedule and improved structure will mean some strong venues and the chance for the ladies to play for very healthy prizefunds. 
"By supporting the Ladies Tartan Tour we are effectively mirroring the support we offer to their male counterparts.  Hopefully it can provide an effective training ground where the girls can get used to the rigour of competition and help prepare them for the next step.”
The tour is open to all female professionals and amateurs with single-figure handicaps. It is not restricted to Scottish-based players.
There will be five 36-hole stroke-play tournaments, each over two days, at high profile Scottish venues - Fairmont St Andrews, Murcar Links, Dundonald Links, Macdonald Cardrona and Marriott Dalmahoy.
Each will have a prizefund of £6,000.
The first event will be held at Fairmont St Andrews in April and the last - the Tour Championship - at Marriott Dalmahoy in September when Heather MacRae, a Gleneagles Hotel staff pro, will be defending the handsome trophy, donated by Aberdeen hotel owner Stewart Spence.
Paul Lawrie has been instrumental in the Ladies Tartan Tour switching its emphasis from one-round to 36-hole events.
"We want to provide a platform for the lady pros and amateurs to prepare for the day when they tackle the Q School and beyond by getting them used to playing two-round tournaments," said Paul.
"Nothing wrong with 18-hole events but a different mindset is required by a player for competitions over two rounds or more. That is one of the reasons why I started the Paul Lawrie Invitational at Deeside on the men's Tartan Tour which is dominated by one-day pro-ams."
A total of 82 competitors, including some from the Continent and England, played on the only Scotland-based lady pro and leading amateur circuit in its first season. The hope is that more lady pros and low-handicap amateurs, keen to gain experience of competing at this level, from outwith Scotland will be attracted North of the Border by the 2014 schedule.

FACTS AND FIGURES
TITLE: Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Ladies' Tartan Tour.
          In association with the PGA in Scotland

FORMAT: Five x 36-hole stroke-play tournaments, each over two days.
Open to all female professionals and amateurs with a single-figure handicaps

Tournament entry fee: £75 per event.

PGA members will be able to enter directly through the PGA in Scotland website but not until the procedure has been set up and is ready to function.
Other players will need to phone the PGA in Scotland office at Gleneagles on
01764 661840.

Membership of the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Ladies Tartan Tour
PGA Professionals: No fee
Non-PGA Professionals: £70
Amateurs: £40

Schedule (all 36-hole events)

Prizefunds: £6,000 per tournament

APRIL
14-15: Fairmont St Andrews
MAY
8-9: Murcar Links
JUNE
18-19: Dundonald Links
JULY
25-26: Macdonald Cardrona
SEPTEMBER
10-11: Marriot Dalmahoy (Tour Championship)