Celtic Manor Golf Breaks – The ISPS Handa Wales Open

To celebrate securing title sponsorship in 2012, the organisers of the ISPS Handa Wales Open is offering fantastic reductions on tournament admission for golfing fans who snap up their tickets early.

The European Tour event will take place over the world famous Twenty Ten Course at Celtic Manor which was one of the stars of the show at the 2010 Ryder Cup. Now open to the public, the course offers golfers of all abilities a superbly tricky and enjoyable test of golf and along with the two other championship golf courses and five star accommodation and facilities, completes the package at Celtic Manor. Read more

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championships

This week the European Tour heads to the Middle East and the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Fresh from a winter break, golf’s biggest stars are going to go toe to toe in the season opener. Luke Donald will be looking to carry on where he left off in 2011 and tighten his stranglehold on the world number one spot; Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood will be looking to knock Luke of his perch and a certain Tiger Woods will hope to prove to his many doubters that he is back in shape and on course to resume his assault on Jack Nicklaus’ Major Championship record at this year’s Masters. Read more

Your Golf Pro – Nick Bradley introduction

Hi everybody, I am delighted to be contributing for Your Golf Travel. My intention during the blogs and indeed the videos you will have access to is in answering some of the ‘travelling’ golf questions you may have, give you insights from the PGA Tour and be here to assist whenever you have a question; You can mail me anytime @ nrbradleygolf@gmail.com

This first blog deals with the mystery of why it can be difficult to take your current or standard golf game with you every time you board a plane or even tee it up in the next county. Read more

Quiros wins in Dubai as Donald tops Order of Merit

An eagle on the final hole handed Spaniard Alvaro Quiros the biggest payday of his career, as he completed a Dubai double at the Earth Course with a two-shot win in the Dubai World Championship.

The Spaniard saw off Scot Paul Lawrie, who had thrown down a determined challenge throughout the final round, but just couldn’t overhaul the big-hitting Spaniard at the business end.

Beginning the final day 2 shots in front, Quiros quickly extended his lead with a run of three opening birdies as he threatened to make short work of the final day and romp to victory. But after a bogey on the fourth hole, victory became less assured as he began to mix gains with drops and he reached the turn 2-under par for his round.

However, Scotsman Lawrie – winner of the 1999 Open Championship at Carnoustie, and a 2011 winner at the Andalucia Open was determined to throw down the gauntlet to Quiros and opened his own challenge with five birdies of his own in the opening nine holes to overhaul the Spaniard and lead by one heading into the homeward nine.

Quiros tied the lead when Lawrie made a hash of the 12^th hole, finding the bunker out of the rough and his recovery clipped the lip of the sand-trap and only just crawled onto the green. A missed putt later and Lawrie walked off with a bogey, before Quiros nosed in front with a birdie at the 14^th hole. The pair swapped pars until the last hole where Quiros holed a monster putt to seal the win; Lawrie making a birdie, but it was never going to be enough.

Quiros’ final round 67 gave him a 19-under par winning score, two ahead of Lawrie who also signed for a 67. Luke Donald came through for sole possession of third place after closing with three successive birdies to finish on 16-under par and secure the Race To Dubai. The world number one could only be overhauled by a Rory McIlroy win and himself to finish outside the top-9. Donald becomes the first player in history to top both the PGA Tour and European Tour Order of Merit in the same season.

Quiros had earlier won the Dubai Desert Classic title at the beginning of the season, and the big-hitting Spaniard – he’s the longest on the European Tour for driving distance – clearly has an affinity with the place.

His win lifted him back into the world’s top-50 players – a massive jump to 21^st, in fact – to secure a place at the US Masters. He collected €922,645 and also earned a share of the event’s bonus pool.

Lawrie meanwhile enjoyed his best season on the European Tour since 2002, almost halving his world ranking from 163^rd to 87^th following his second place finish.

Swede Peter Hanson missed a hatful of chances over the weekend to get involved in the finish, but took fourth place, two behind Donald while US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel finished fifth.

Rory McIlroy, who needed to win to have any chance of overhauling Luke Donald continued to battle the effects of suspected Dengue Fever but wasn’t able to produce his best over the weekend and carded three successive rounds of 71 to close in a tie for 11^th place.

Open Champion Darren Clarke propped up the leaderboard, closing with a 76 to finish 11-over for the tournament on 299.

Otto holds on to win South African Open

Despite a few nerves, South African Hennie Otto held on to win his national title at the South African Open Championship – only his second ever European Tour win.

Seemingly with the title at his mercy and holding a three-shot lead with just six holes left to play, Otto crumbled to rack up a trio of bogeys at the 13^th, 15^th and 16^th holes during the final round to drop back into a tie for the lead with Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.

But the South African rallied to make birdie on the 17^th after chipping to six-feet and holing out, before making a par on the last to sign for a closing 72 and a 14-under par total of 274.

“I worked out that if I shot four under par they would have to shoot seven under. It didn’t work out that way.” Otto said after sealing his win.  “There are some great names on the trophy and I said it would be great if I could add mine. Today’s the day.”

Weisberger closed with a 68 to record his second runners-up finish of the season – he was part of the 5-man playoff for the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, won by Thomas Bjorn – with South African duo Thomas Aiken, Ockie Strydom and England’s Richard Finch a further shot back in a share of third place.

Finch’s closing 68 saw him climb to 107^th in the Race to Dubai, guaranteeing his playing card for 2012, after he entered the tournament in 121^st place – three places outside the cut-off.

Two-time winner of the event, Retief Goosen was in a challenging position heading into the final round, but could only manage a 1-over par 73 to drop into a share of sixth with Magnus Carlsson of Sweden and South African Trevor Fisher Junior. Fellow veteran Ernie Els followed up his Saturday 76 which dropped him out of contention with a 79.

Garth Mulroy followed up his win the previous week with a top-10 finish; a final round 68 saw him share ninth with fellow countrymen Jaco Ahlers and Branden Grace, and Scot Lloyd Saltman who double-bogeyed the last hole to book a place at Qualifying School at PGA Catalunya Resort as opposed to the UBS Hong Kong Open. A par would have saw him share third place.

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