Asian Golf Monthly Managing Editor Joins R&A's Open Championship 'Team'


Turnberry (July 12): To enhance coverage of the 138th Open Championship at Turnberry, The R&A has invited several of the world’s leading golf correspondents to contribute editorial to www.opengolf.com Starting last Friday (July 11) and running throughout the duration of the championship, Asian Golf Monthly's Spencer Robinson along with Art Spander, Lewine Mair, Bernie Maguire and Andy Farrell will together provide 10 feature pieces for the website, one of which will be uploaded daily. Robinson, who will also be filing daily reports from Turnberry at www.asiangolfmonthly.com and www.asiangofdaily.com, has spent the past 25 years travelling around Asia, charting the progress and development of Asian sport in general, and golf in particular. Previously Deputy Sports Editor and golf correspondent at Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, Robinson is now the managing editor at Asian Golf Monthly, the only regional golfing title. This year marks the 17th Open Championship that he has covered.

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Irish PGA Triumph A Positive Omen For Harrington


Dublin (July 11): A smile has returned to the face of Padraig Harrington. Down in the dumps for much of this year, the Irishman has given himself a timely morale-booster ahead of the defence of his Open Championship title next week. Making a welcome return to form, Harrington walked off with the Irish PGA Championship title for the third year in succession. On the previous occasions in 2007 and 2008, Harrington went on to win the following week's Open Championship. He will hope that remarkable sequence carries on at Turnberry.

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ASIAN GOLF MONTHLY AWARDS 2009: Time To Vote In Region's Golfing 'Oscars'


Singapore (June 5): Flick through the literature spewed out by creative public relations companies and internal PR departments at golf clubs in Asia and you’ll be astounded at the wild claims of ‘world-class facilities’ and ‘true championship golf courses’ by many establishments that have not even staged a significant tournament. Well, you may be able to fool some of the people, some of the time. But, as the saying goes, you can’t fool all of the people, all of the time. So, here’s the rub. We want to know how good Asia’s golfing amenities really are. How do the courses in this vast continent stack up against genuine world-class clubs? Now we’re about to find out as voting gets under way in the 10th edition of the expanded Asian Golf Monthly Awards - the Oscars of the region's golfing industry!

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Striding Man Reaches End Of Johnnie Walker Classic Road


Singapore (July 10): The Johnnie Walker Classic, the tournament that introduced world-class professional golf to the region on an annual basis, is to disappear from the calendar in 2010. Boasting Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and Ernie Els among its elite champions, the event that was inaugurated in 1990 will leave a huge hole in the schedules of the Asian Tour, the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia. During the course of its history, the Classic billed itself as the Asia Pacific’s premier luxury golf event - living up to that claim with world-class fields and world-class hospitality and entertainment.

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US Women's Open: Korean Park Prepared For Title Defence


Pennsylvania (July 8): Away from the debates about the future of LPGA Tour commissioner Carolyn Bivens, the 64th US Women's Open this week boasts an impressive compilation of the world's best professional and amateur golfers, who will converge on Saucon Valley Country Club. Inbee Park will be among those players as she defends her title - a four-stroke 2008 victory over LPGA and Ladies European Tour veteran Helen Alfredsson. A collage of youth and top veteran players are going head-to-head this week. All three active members from the LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame are in the field (and all are past US Women's Open champions): Juli Inkster (1999, 2002); Pak Se-ri (1998) and Karrie Webb (2000, 2001). But, as 2008 proved, the youth are not to be dismissed as a threat.

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Senior LPGA Tour Players Call For Bivens To Resign


Orlando (July 7): Key LPGA players have spoken: It’s time for commissioner Carolyn Bivens to go. As many as 15 top players met with player directors last week during the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic to discuss the state of the Tour and its leadership. A letter then was sent to the LPGA Board of Directors calling for Bivens’ resignation and an establishment of new leadership, a player who received a copy of the letter told Golfweek on Monday. Players stated in the letter that all of the Tour’s problems can’t be blamed on a poor economy and expressed a desire to rebuild relationships with long-time sponsors. Those players in favour of Bivens’ resignation attached their names to the note. It was uncertain late Monday how many players support the resignation.

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