Asian Tour School

Orsett member Bradley Bawden made it to the final stages of The Asian Tour School last week. Brad lead for three days, with scores of 66, 67, 70 completing the qualifying with a 72 and a comfortable 7th place. As you read he is competing at final qualifying in Thailand. He can be followed on Asian Tour.com.

Meanwhile another Orsett jet setter, Zach Chegwidden is honing his game in South Africa. He has been down in SA for a few weeks now under the guidance of Erik Van Rooyen`s coach at his academy. He has competed in some top class events with 3 top tens and a third place finish so far. Keep up the good work both of you.

Premier League Of Golf

There has been so much talk of change in the golf world recently it`s been hard to keep up. What with the consideration by the game's rulers altering ways to slow the ball down and control distance, to news on the World handicapping scheme and then late last week the possibility-of a Premier Golf League for the World’s top 40 players. Change and progress is generally applauded especially getting handicaps to be fairer when playing away from our home club.

Surely most of us spend our time wanting to hit the ball further, not shorter? Would issues arise if they are then became more than one set of rules to play golf by as in sports such as baseball (which has different materials available just for the bats used)And is it me or have sports with "Premier League" lost their sparkle somewhat due to overexposure on TV? Golf is on TV so much as it is, that a breakaway League watching the same players perform and compete weekly with no hint of a fresh face or two in the mix, would it make us want to turn off rather than turn on?

If you could change three things for the better about golf in general what would they be? Best answers broadcast next week on that one...

Click here to give me your thoughts

PGA Tour Round Up

Aussie Adam Scott, he of the film star looks and perfect golf swing gave an Oscar winning performance to take the Genesis Open in Los Angeles last week. Scott, still one of the best ball strikers around managed to grind out a winning final round of 70 to add to his win column. Always a little flaky with the putter (who can forget his demise at Royal Lytham in the Open a few years ago) The Queenslander has continued to benefit from the long putter and ”flag in" rule change allowing him to have a better focal point. With the strongest field yet this season no body on Sunday looked like they wanted to win. Even Mr Consistent, Rory McIlroy made some errors he would not normally make. An awful triple bogey taking 5 from 10 yards off the green! It happens to even the best sometimes.

The Tour head off to Mexico this week for the first WGC event which is played at altitude. Expect even longer tee shots than normal. Dustin Johnson defends this week. He showed a little form in LA, so could be revved up to retain. Rory plays, so plenty from him as always. For an outsider, how about Matt Fitzpatrick (I`ve probably jinxed him now) he is due for something bigger and this suits his game. Distance isn`t the main factor, patience and putting most definitely will be.