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Glasgow City Council has given the R&A the green light to proceed with its planned community golf centre at Lethamhill, in the north-east of Glasgow. The council has transferred ownership of the site to the R&A, which plans a new facility with a nine-hole course, putting greens, short-game area, adventure golf and a floodlit driving range among other proposals to promote the game in the area. The venue is set to open in 2023.
“This is a vital step towards realising our ambition of creating a new golf facility, which presents the sport in a fun, affordable and accessible way for the enjoyment of families, young people and community groups living locally,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said.“We are hugely excited about the potential of this project and will be making a significant investment in transforming the existing course at Lethamhill into a first-class venue where everyone feels welcome, no matter their age or ability, in which they can have fun exploring golf’s many different formats, and connect with nature, outdoors in the fresh air.“We believe that golf can be and should be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds, and so this is a real opportunity for us to break down some of the unhelpful perceptions and barriers that exist, and revitalise the way in which the sport is offered so that everyone feels they have the freedom to play and enjoy its many health and social benefits.”
Councillor David McDonald, deputy leader of Glasgow City Council and chair of Glasgow Life, said: “Having worked closely with the R&A over the last year to understand and help develop their plans for the new facility at Lethamhill Golf Course, we are thrilled that construction is now set to get underway.“The new offering will ensure the space at Lethamhill is used to its full capacity, offering activities for everyone from the individual golfer, through to families with young children.”
Justin Rose has been named as the 2021 recipient of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award, which will be presented before the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.
The award is presented annually to the professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship.
“I am truly humbled and honoured to be associated with the enduring legacy of Payne Stewart through this award,” said the former US Open champion and 2016 Olympic gold medallist.
“The Payne Stewart Award has become an annual celebration of Payne’s impact on the PGA Tour and its players. I am forever grateful to be connected to a man who was the consummate professional on and off the golf course and will cherish being a Payne Stewart Award recipient well after my playing days are over.”
Henrik Stenson and Annika Sörenstam led the tributes following the death of Swedish golf journalist Göran Zachrisson, who passed away on 11 August aged 83.
Zachrisson was a much-loved figure within the game, a highly respected man who had chronicled Swedish golf for nearly 60 years through his writing and his broadcasting career. Stenson, the 2016 Open champion, wrote on Twitter: “A dear friend has left us. Mr Golf in Sweden, Göran Zachrisson, has moved on to the fairways above. We will miss you dearly!”
Ten-time major champion and recent US Senior Women’s Open winner Sörenstam added: “Sad to hear that one of Sweden’s most decorated sport journalists has passed. Göran Zachrisson was a trailblazer in golf commentary. His passion & knowledge brought many to the game. Thanks for all the years of entertainment! #RIP”
Other prominent figures in European golf also paid tribute to Zachrisson, who was a member of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club and a past president of the Association of Golf Writers. Current AGW chairman Martin Dempster spoke for the association when he said: “Göran, who was our first non-British AGW president, was one of the game’s great characters, sharing many of the same qualities as his close friend, Henrik Stenson.
“He was great company and many of our members, including another of his dearest friends and the man he succeeded as president, Renton Laidlaw, will be raising a glass in his memory.”
The United States Golf Association has made an increased commitment to holding its championships at Oakmont and Merion. The governing body has committed to staging five US Opens and four US Women’s Opens at the two Pennsylvania courses, which have hosted 17 and 18 USGA championships, respectively.
Oakmont, site of last week’s US Amateur, had already been announced as the 2025 US Open venue. It now also will stage the 2028 and 2038 US Women’s Opens, the 2034, 2042 and 2049 US Opens, the 2033 Walker Cup Match and the 2046 US Women’s Amateur.
Merion, which was scheduled previously to stage the 2022 Curtis Cup Match and the 2026 US Amateur, will host four additional Opens – the 2030 and 2050 US Opens and the 2034 and 2046 US Women’s Opens, with additional championships to be named in the future.
“Oakmont and Merion are iconic in every sense of the word – they’re in rare company in golf and continue to test the best in the game,” said John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior managing director for championships. “We’re making history and kicking off a new era for our national championships in Pennsylvania, and we couldn’t be more excited for what lies ahead.”
Jensen Castle was one of the standout movers on last week’s World Amateur Golf Ranking following her US Women’s Amateur victory. Castle defeated Chinese Taipei’s Yu-Chiang Hou, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole final at Westchester Country Club in New York, after surviving an opening 79 in her first qualifying round and emerging from a 12-for-2 play-off to make the match-play rounds.
Aside from receiving an automatic place in the US Curtis Cup team, plus spots in this week’s AIG Women’s Open and next year’s US Women’s Open, Castle reached a career high of 151st on the WAGR table, a 97-place ranking rise. Hou moved into the top 20 for the first time with a jump of four spots to 17th.
Hana Ryškova of the Czech Republic also reached a personal best with an improvement of 28 rankings to 162nd following her Czech International Amateur Championship victory. She became the Czech Republic’s fifth highest-ranked player.
Canada’s Max Sekulic stood out on the men’s ranking. He also achieved a personal best with a jump of 175 spots to 489th after winning the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship.
The governing body of the Official World Golf Ranking system has announced it has made a number of adjustments to its system.
The updated system now will incorporate modern statistical techniques, which will allow all eligible players and events to be more accurately evaluated relative to each other.
A press release, published last week, stated that: “Over the last three years, OWGR has coordinated an independent analysis of the ranking and its system to ensure it is meeting its key objective of publishing a transparent, credible and accurate ranking based on the relative performances of participating players.
“The results of this analysis have led to changes, including distribution of ranking points to all players making the cut to provide greater differentiation of performances; and use of a field rating calculation based on a statistical evaluation of every player in the field, rather than just those in the field among the current top 200 of the ranking.“Major championships will continue to award 100 first place points, while the Players Championship will award 80. All other tournaments will award ranking points according to the strength and depth of their fields, with a maximum of 80 first place points.”
OWGR chairman Peter Dawson said: “The Official World Golf Ranking owes a massive debt of gratitude to founders Mark H McCormack and Tony Greer, whose vision has done so much to shape the competitive landscape of men’s professional golf over the past 35 years.
“Since 1986, the tours eligible for inclusion have grown in number from six to 23, and the rankings have been continuously modified to accommodate this expansion and to improve accuracy. We are confident the further enhancements announced today will best position OWGR for the years ahead.”
GB&I selectors have named the team that will face the USA in next week’s Curtis Cup match at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
It features four English women (Annabel Fuller, Charlotte Heath, Caley McGinty and Emily Toy), two Scots (Hannah Darling and Louise Duncan) and two Irish players (Lauren Walsh and Annabel Wilson). The travelling reserves are Scotland’s Hazel MacGarvie and Julie McCarthy.
“I’m delighted with the eight and the two travelling reserves that we have selected,” confirmed GB&I captain Elaine Ratcliffe. “Obviously, it’s been a trying year or so with the postponement (in 2020 due to COVID-19) but it has allowed for some players to come through who have been playing really well.
“I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of winners on the team and we’re hoping we can continue that momentum at Conwy.”
The US team defending the trophy also has been finalised with new national women’s champion Jensen Castle joined by Gina Kim, Rachel Kuehn, Brooke Matthews and Emilia Migliaccio, in addition to automatic picks Rose Zhang, Rachel Heck and Allisen Corpuz. The travelling reserves are Megan Schofill and Megha Ganne.
“I couldn’t be more excited to finally have the team in place,” said US captain Sarah Ingram. “Over the last two years, I’ve gotten to know many of these young ladies and have a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for them as golfers and people. We are going to work hard over the next week with the goal of bringing the trophy back to the United States.”
The US won the last match, in 2018, defeating GB&I by a record 17-3 scoreline at Quaker Ridge Golf Club in New York. GB&I have won the past two Curtis Cups staged on home soil, at Nairn in 2012 and Dun Laoghaire four years later.
Colin Callander and Alistair Tait