Imaginative ‘Old and New’ golf event hailed as success by participants

David Anderson (Kingarrock) and Peter McEvoy OBE (PowerPlay Golf) at the inaugural PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup golf event

Ian Gaunt, Assistant Director of Sport at St Andrews University, staged a superb finish to win the first hickory-only PowerPlay Golf event held at Kingarrock Golf Club on 4th June.

Gaunt, who played professional football for Walsall FC, scored an amazing 22 Stableford points over the last 4 holes to total 29 points in winning the 9-hole ‘PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup’ tournament. His spectacular finish, which included three successful PowerPlays, edged Neil Paton, Head Pro at St Andrews Old Course Hotel, and 13 year-old Douglas McEvoy, son of PowerPlay Golf founder Peter McEvoy, into joint second place on 25 points apiece.

All entry fees for the event were divided between two Scottish charities: Erskine House, and The Bill McLaren Foundation.

Heralded as a meeting of the old and the new, 40 golfers played golf’s new global ‘two flag’, risk-and-reward format using hickory-shafted clubs around the beautiful Kingarrock course at Cupar, near St Andrews.

Kingarrock only allows hickories to be played and provides golfers with an experience of how golf was played in the past – and the juxtaposition of golf’s newest global format with equipment from eighty years ago certainly impressed winner Gaunt.

“I loved the experience”, said Gaunt. “It took me a few holes to get the hang of it but once I got into my stride I used my PowerPlays well and had a very exciting finish.  It was a great concept to combine the two ideas”.

Neil Paton agreed “As a teaching pro I think that players will learn a lot by playing hickories: it’s great fun, the smaller sweet spot requires a more accurate strike, and you need a more disciplined golf swing. By adding PowerPlay Golf’s extra demands on course management and decision-making, Kingarrock created a fascinating test of golf”.

Kingarrock Hickory Golf owner David Anderson said: “When I ran the idea to stage a PowerPlay Golf event at Kingarrock past Peter, he immediately saw its potential, and the reactions we received from those who played vindicated our decision to combine these two elements at different ends of golf’s historical time line. We certainly hope to stage more PowerPlay Golf events here in the future”.

Ian Gaunt receives his Kingarrock Hickory Cup trophy from PowerPlay Golf co-founder Peter McEvoy OBE, flanked by runners-up Douglas McEvoy (L) and Neil Paton (R)

PowerPlay Golf co-founder and ex Walker Cup Captain Peter McEvoy OBE said: “Just like on the golf course, where you need to combine imagination with playing skill, those of us involved in running the game must also think creatively – if we are to ensure that the game continues to grow and adapt to the demands of modern life.

“Our two-flag format is now in 29 countries, and has gained countless devotees at almost 400 Official venues – but Kingarrock is unique in the world of golf, and I am delighted that our inaugural PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup was such a success”.

Forest Pines plays host to the first SFG / PowerPlay Golf event on Thursday 19th August.

The 2010 Single Figure Golfer Challenge Tour is now in full swing, were golfers around the country seek to secure their place at Q-School before the grand final at Cornwall’s Trevose Golf Resort on the 18th – 20th October.

At Q Hotels’ Forest Pines Hotel & Golf Resort, participants will discover a 27-hole golf course meandering through majestic pines and into open heathland. Three challenging and beautiful loops of nine holes await those that play on Thursday 19th August – yet arguably the most exciting aspect of this SFG Order of Merit ‘silver’ event qualifier is the tournament format.

Players will initially compete in a medal event over 18 holes on the Pines and Beeches loops.

The top 20 players making the cut to play an additional 9-hole medal on the Forest loop.

Players not making the cut will take part in an exciting 9-hole PowerPlay Golf event on Beeches – a unique and enthralling format where players elect to play to one of two flags on every green. Extra stableford points are on offer at the holes where a ‘PowerPlay’ is nominated, although players attacking the Black Flag will find pin positions that are either hard to reach or in areas of the green with severe breaks to read.

Cost £35 – Click here for entry form

SFG Challenge Tour Order of Merit points will be awarded to all registered participants – the medal event prizes being decided on the basis of a 27-hole cumulative score, whilst the PowerPlay Golf event will be settled according to the PowerPlay Golf score ONLY.

By Peter Dixon

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/golf/article7131983.ece

The Spike Bar: how golf can learn from cricket

Could professional golf have something to learn from Twenty20 cricket? Almost certainly, if England’s dramatic victory over Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup last Sunday is anything to go by.

The grand old game is giving itself a pat on the back at the moment, delighted that it has come up with a mega-short version of the game that has caught the imagination of the players, spectators and, most importantly, television.

With built-in excitement from start to finish, as a package Twenty20 works perfectly. It is not designed to replace the traditional game – heaven forbid that it should ever supplant Test match cricket as the pre-eminent version of the sport – but to enhance it. An hors d’oeuvres, if you will, for the main course.

So what about men’s golf? Its version of the Test matches are the major championships – steeped in history, wonderful to watch and invariably, though not always, gripping. After the majors, there are the first-tier events made up of the world championship events, the BMW PGA Championship in the UK and the Players Championship in the United States. And then there is the Ryder Cup – the most eagerly anticipated of all golfing events. Put simply, everybody wants a slice of that particular action.

But what about the rest: the endless diet of four-day, 72-hole strokeplay events that struggle to create an interest and, in the case of the European Tour, draw embarrassingly few spectators? There is something to be said in keeping the likes of the Spanish, Italian, French and Irish Opens as they are – these can be marketed well and should still attract sponsors – but something needs to be done to spice up the game. Here are a few suggestions:

- Reduce the number of 72-hole tournaments. How about 54-hole events with a cut at the end of the second day?

- Mix-and-match limited-field events involving a combination of strokeplay and matchplay.

- PowerPlay golf: stableford golf with points awarded for birdies and eagles and with two pin positions on each hole, one tough, one easy. Players nominate a fixed number of PowerPlay holes during a round, for which they will get double the points.

- Stadium holes: nominate one par-three hole per course, pack it with spectators and encourage them to make as much noise as they like. The 16th hole at Phoenix and the 17th at Sawgrass spring to mind as great spectator holes full of drama.

- Open the gates for free, lay on entertainment and big screens and get the kids involved. This worked brilliantly at the European Open at the London Club two years ago and should provide a good model for other tournaments. Better to have thousands paying nothing but spending when they are there, than charging at the gate and attracting a few hundred. It looks better on television, too.

- Speed up the pace of play. Make players clock on as they leave a tee and clock off when they leave the green. Set a time limit for, say, every three holes, and stick rigidly to it. Each group will be able to get a read-out after each hole and will know if it has to make up for lost time.

- Give more information. With few walking scoreboards at the ‘minor’ events, spectators have no idea how the players they are watching are performing. This has to be unique to this particular sport and is plain daft. It does not happen in the US.

- Find room for an autumn matchplay tournament, the like of which has disappeared from the calendar. It made for good television in the UK and brought the crowds through the gates.

Most importantly, professional golf has to come to terms with the fact that it is part of the entertainment business. The game is struggling to hold on to its sponsors at present and needs to do more to keep them and to interest the young, the lifeblood of the game. In some areas, but by no means all, the game needs a bit of a makeover. It must keep its integrity, but must not be afraid of change.

PowerPlay Golf Announces Hickory Cup at Kingarrock

PowerPlay Golf, the dynamic new two-flag version of the Royal and Ancient game, has announced plans to team up with Kingarrock, Scotland’s spiritual home of hickory golf, to create a fascinating event which blends the old and the new.

The PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup will be staged at the beautiful “hickory only” nine-hole Kingarrock golf course – which is just 15 minutes from St Andrews in Cupar, Fife – on 4th June 2010.

It will be the first time in golf’s history that the ancient game has been played with traditional hickory equipment and golf balls, to the rules of its newest global format.

“Whilst we have built a course which honours hickory golf, and although we insist that only hickory equipment and the Kingarrock ball are used, we believe we are also forward- looking in that we aim to give modern golfers a new experience,” said Kingarrock Hickory Golf owner, David Anderson.

“PowerPlay Golf is equally visionary, and we loved the concept of teaming up as soon as the idea was mooted“.

“Both Kingarrock Hickory Golf and PowerPlay Golf are 9-hole golfing experiences, so on that simple level we are a great match,” said PowerPlay Golf co-founder and ex Walker Cup Captain Peter McEvoy OBE.

“But more importantly, both we and Kingarrock believe that golf can learn from other sports in providing a variety of formats and time frames in which to play.  The blend of the very old and the brand new at The PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup will be fascinating to watch – and of course to play in – and we are delighted to join David Anderson and his team at Kingarrock in leading this change”.

The PowerPlay Golf Kingarrock Hickory Cup is open to anyone with a handicap. Half of everyone’s entrance fee of £20 will be donated to the Erskine charity, which cares for ex-Service men and women. Prizes will include original hickory golf clubs for the top three returns.  Competitors should call Kingarrock Hickory Golf on +44 (0)1334 653421 or email michelle@kingarrock.com to register and reserve their time for the 1st tee. Entries close on 21st May 2010 and are accepted on a ‘first come – first serve’ basis.

For the latest information visit either www.powerplay-golf.com or www.kingarrock.com.

The Mallorca Marriott Son Antem Golf Resort & Spa, one of the finest courses in the Balearics, has joined the PowerPlay Golf family.

The 36-hole golf resort, which is located close to Palma and its stunning beaches, offers 5-star service and a luxurious Spa, and has become one of the world’s first 400 Official Venues for the revolutionary new ‘two flag’ golfing format.

The fast-expanding nine-hole game also recently held its first tournament in the Canary Islands, when Heineken sponsored a PowerPlay Golf event at the superb new Anfi Tauro Golf resort.

The event, which was won by John Thomas Hetherstow with a score of 24 points, exemplifies the growth and worldwide spread of PowerPlay Golf, which is now in play in 28 countries worldwide.

Tournament organiser Gary Stevens of Golfcanarias.org was fulsome in his praise of the new format. “We plan to have regular PowerPlay Golf events now in the Canaries, and we have ambitious plans for international themed tournaments for golf tourists starting this year.

“Golfers love the fast, exciting challenge of PowerPlay Golf – it matches the holiday mood amongst our customers beautifully.”

PowerPlay Golf is developing quickly throughout the world with recent events held as far afield as New Zealand, India and even Tibet.

“An example of how PowerPlay Golf is catching on is evidenced by the fact that over 65% of golf clubs in India are now signed up, licensed and playing the game. It is very exciting” claimed PowerPlay Golf Director or Golf, Peter McEvoy, one of the game’s founders.”