The 40-year-old only lives five minutes drive away from the Finca Cortesin, which was used for two rounds after plans for a 72-hole tournament had to be abandoned because of waterlogging at the La Reserva and San Roque Old courses nearby.

Canizares, whose winning total was seven-under par (137) finished three shots ahead of England’s Sam Little in second place and worked out quickly what he would do with his 10,000 euro prize.

“It means a lot to me,” he said.  “Because I can now travel to the Asian Tour’s qualifying School without having to talk to my bank manager first.

“Winning this event was awesome because I live so close by.  And I just played better and better and my score could have been lower.  The greens were slightly bumpy on the second day and I didn’t hole as many putts as I would have liked.”

The Pro-Am was won by Professional Diego Suazo and his amateur partner Tim May.  Scored on a betterball stableford basis they amassed 96 points collecting 48 in each of their two rounds.

Canizares and his playing partner Stephen Matts took second place and the Englishman said, “You have to congratulate the winners, they must have played absolutely superbly.  The only pity was the event was reduced to two rounds instead of four.”

The Invitational was held as a Confederation of Professional Golf Sanctioned Event and tournament director Robert Moss said: “It was a very difficult week weather wise but luckily it improved at lunchtime on Saturday and for the second round the course was in very good condition and there was some very good scoring.”

Warren Pike from the tournament committee added: “It was desperately disappointing to lose two days to the weather but I think the event was a tremendous success.

“Both the amateurs and the professionals enjoyed themselves, especially playing in the two-man team format as opposed to the usual four-man teams, and we look forward to staging the event again next year.”

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#TheInvitationalProAm‘, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Ciaran Boggan a 23-year-old from County Meath shot a five-under par 67 at the Finca Cortesin Club to earn one a shot lead over Spaniard Gabriel Canizares.

And that constituted the halfway lead in the chase for the 10,000 Euro first prize in the new tournament which had been reduced to a 36-hole event after the opening two rounds were washed out by heavy rain at the nearby San Roque and La Reserva courses.

Boggan, a member of the County Meath Club, only turned professional six weeks ago have spent two years travelling in Australia.

And he played down the extra stress of playing the Finca Cortesin layout, twice used to host the World Matchplay Championship, in sodden conditions after two early morning thunderstorms.

“The course was playing long, but I have good length off the tee,” he said.  ”So I chose to keep the driver in the bag and used my three wood or two iron for accuracy.

“Avoiding the trouble I was then able to attack the greens and that paid off.  It’s exciting to find myself at the top of the leaderboard in my first pro event.”

By way of contrast Canizares, the 40-year-old elder brother of European Tour Professional, Alejandro Canizares, knew exactly what he was letting himself in for when he entered The Invitational, which is being staged by the Confederation of Professional Golf.

“I only live five minutes drive from the course,” he said. “And I have played here often.  But never under such wet conditions as we had today.”

Robert Moss, the Confederation of Professional Golf Tournament Director, added, “Things did not look too good with the early morning thunderstorms, but once the rain stopped the course drained fantastically.

“Preferred lies were in operation but the course just went from strength to strength as the day went on.”

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#TheInvitationalProAm‘, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

 Of the 52 two-man pro am teams assembled on the Mediterranian coast at Sotogrande only two groups were able to play nine holes before they were recalled to the clubhouse.

 And while the sun appeared briefly as the players were taking lunch the forecast of more thunder and lightning in the afternoon meant it could dangerous for them to return to the course.

Because no team had completed 18 holes the scores for the morning’s play were not officially recorded.

 As a result the original 72-hole tournament was cut to 54-holes with another first round scheduled for Friday morning at the San Roque old course.

 The decision to abandon play was taken by the PGA of Europe’s tournament director Robert Moss who said:”After play had been suspended for more than two hours it got to the stage where we had reached a point of no return.

 “We knew daylight would end before the round could be completed and moving on to a second course for the second round there would not have been the opportunity to complete the round in the morning.

 “When we suspended play the greens here at La Reserva were still putting well – they were awesome given the weather – but the fairways were unplayable. There was no relief available from casual water.  It would have been unfair to ask the players to continue in those conditions.”

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 For more information about the Confederation of Professional Golf, visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/1rF6u54), follow @PGAsofEurope (http://bit.ly/Pojrwy) and search #TheInvitationalProAm (http://eur.pe/1ljutW8) on Twitter, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

The EGCOA’s highest annual accolade was presented to the Association at the 9th European Golf Business Conference hosted by the EGCOA in Barcelona where over 500 golf courses were represented with delegates hailing from 27 countries.

The EGCOA and Confederation of Professional Golf have worked closely for a number of years across a variety of European-focused projects specifically on developing the game and enabling the owners and Professionals to have a greater understanding of each other’s needs.

“Receiving the EGCOA Award is a great honour and a pleasure for me to be able to collect on behalf of the Association and our 36 Member Country PGAs,” explained Confederation of Professional Golf Chief Executive, Ian Randell, upon receiving the award. “The EGCOA and Confederation of Professional Golf share a common desire for advancement of the game and we are very pleased that the EGCOA have recognised the role the PGA Professional has to play in attracting and retaining golfers, and the ultimate advancement of the game.

“I also want to take the opportunity to congratulate the EGCOA on the development of their Vision 20/20 project, which highlights some of the key opportunities for the future of golf. We are very proud to receive the award and will continue our work together for the benefit of the game.”

The Confederation of Professional Golf and EGCOA have collaborated on projects for over six years, including the hugely successful Golf Stand Project, allowing both organisations to learn more about each other’s roles and activities:

“The EGCOA was very impressed by the excellent work that the Confederation of Professional Golf developed for the occupational standards for golf in the Golf Stand project,” said EGCOA President, Alexander Baron von Spoercken. “They have time and time again shown their dedication to investing in the advancement of the golf industry and the Profession…and, along the work the Confederation of Professional Golf have done on collective projects like the Grow the Game website and the Economic Impact on golf in Europe, have shown them to be a truly loyal and hardworking partner organisation.”

For more information on the EGCOA and the Vision 20/20 project visit www.EGCOA.eu.

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For more information about the Confederation of Professional Golf, visit cpg.golf, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

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In our early digital issues of this e-newsletter we were delighted with the interest being shown in our concept by both fashion brands and fashion retailers alike – the concept being the creation of a one-stop shop for golf industry fashion, apparel and lifestyle news and, crucially, information; everything from expert advice to catching up with the coolest new looks worn by the coolest players.

Cutting Edge Golf is creating a platform for all golf retailers in paper form and online, purely on the subject of golf apparel, shoes and accessories, with a generous splash of lifestyle thrown in.

This is more about what’s on the player’s back, not really what is in the bag. Ideas come from everywhere and we are excited about sharing our ideas with readers, and learning from you in return.

Early feedback concerning the launch of this magazine has been highly positive. It seems that people working in our sector of the golf industry recognise the need for a specialist magazine on golf fashion. This is such a key part of the golf market but which has been, until now, under-represented in the media.

Ultimately, we see this magazine as a great opportunity for some of the intelligent thinkers and star performers of the golf fashion sector to share best practice, share great ideas and common concerns and together help each other to exploit more and better business opportunities.

So join in today, say hello to Cutting Edge and certainly, if we didn’t reach you with Issue 1 of our paper magazine, let us know (info@cuttingedgegolf.com or bevans@cuttingedgegolf.com) and we’ll send you a copy.

Cutting Edge Golf, GolfBusinessNews.com, Pro Shop Europe, SGB Golf and SPORTS MARKETING SURVEYS INC. (SMS INC.) are the first to be signed up to the new programme, which sees the new Media Partners and the Confederation of Professional Golf work together in a more reciprocal fashion than ever before.

The Media Partnership Programme is designed to formalise new and existing relationships with media bodies and organisations by establishing clear opportunities for working together, as well as ensuring Media Partners are aware of what potential opportunities lie in their cooperation.

The Programme will see Media Partner publications, websites and organisations, and a variety of content they produce, promoted to one of golf’s most discerning audiences – PGAs and their member PGA Professionals – through a variety of media, including the PGA-focused magazine, International Golf Pro News (IGPN). The Programme will also assist partners with the creation and curation of content from the Confederation of Professional Golf and its member PGAs that will be useful and relevant to their own readerships and customers.

“In the past two years we have put a great deal of resource into optimising our communications and as part of that a strong element is the content we are producing online and in our digital magazine, IGPN,” said Confederation of Professional Golf Chief Executive, Ian Randell.

“The programme is designed to enhance our existing, and develop new, relationships with media outlets, publications and all manner of content creators, with a view to assisting the continued advancement of the quality and quantity of the content produced for both parties in a way that is beneficial for all concerned.

“The initial Media Partners that have joined the programme are each well established organisations who bring their own types and styles of content to the table, and will be the first in a number of content creators and aggregators that will assist in providing useful, relevant and interesting content to PGAs and the Member Professionals.”

The Programme will see further Media Partners added over time as the strength and breadth of the content featured on CPG.com and in IGPN continues to grow and the platforms further cement themselves as vital resources for Member Country PGAs and their members.

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For more information about the Confederation of Professional Golf, visit cpg.golf, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

Date: 26th November 2014

Time: 3.30 -4.30pm (UK Time)

Venue: Online – Available to you at home, at work, and on the go.

The PGA is pleased to announce that the next webinar in the ‘PGA Learn from the Best’ webinar series will be delivered in conjunction with JJ Keegan, of Golf Convergence. This webinar is open to any PGA Professional, Club Manager/ Secretary, Greenkeeper or Golf Club Owner.

Click Here To Register
This webinar has a capacity for 100 delegates.
These places will be reserved on a first come, first serve basis only.

Read on to discover what JJ will discuss during the course of this webinar.

The headwinds are strong in the industry. Oversupply, variable weather, inconsistent adoption of technology, parse benchmarks, a time crunched culture and accelerating expenses for labor, benefits, water, fertilizer, etc. make managing a golf course today a tremendous challenge? What is a golf course management team to do?

Gain fabulous new insights and perspectives about to how create value for golfers on a foundation that ensures the financial potential of your golf course is optimized. Insights and perspectives from some of the most successful U.S. golf courses that can be applied in Europe will be presented by Golf Convergence.

This presentation is based on a doctoral dissertation by the Director of the PGA Professional Golf Management Program at Clemson University that evaluated whether a simple-to- implement 7-step process accompanied by 21 heuristic tools developed by Golf Convergence can successful create value for golfers on a foundation that optimizes the financial potential of a golf course. This new golf management system was implemented during the past year by 16 leading golf course operators who manage 60 golf courses including Pelican Hills, Golf Club at La Quinta, Edinburgh – USA, Brackenridge Park and Crystal Mountain.

The findings were just published in the “The Business of Golf – Why? How? What?” to which you will be offered a 50% discount for the book upon attending the Webinar.

You will learn that:

Lesson #1 – You are working too hard on the wrong things that make little difference.
Lesson #2 – There are six key measurements that accurately forecast the potential of your facility. If you do not know those numbers, any success you have is purely luck.
Lesson #3 – You can measure whether you are over- or under-performing the weather. You can also obtain weather forecasts 11 months in advance that are 83% accurate with respect to precipitation and 89% accurate with respect to weather. Do you know where you can secure this valuable information for as little as 200 Euro?
Lesson #4 – The template-based websites you have created and your current use of technology have little value in producing incremental revenue. You will learn why.
Lesson #5 – Do you know the financial results of your competitors? The value of obtaining competitive benchmarks will be shown.
Lesson #6 – The vast majority of golf courses can only cover operational expenses. Few generate the cash flow required to fund capital expenditures without debt or capital assessments. You will learn how to avoid those pitfalls that place you in the “death spiral.”
Lesson #7 – Typical golf course operators manage with “illusory superiority” thinking that their customers are loyal when they are not. The session will explain why secret shopping and precisely measuring the value you create in the golf experience offered is essential.
Lesson #8 – Stealing customers from your competitors and from third party tee time providers is easy. There is a simple trick that you can implement tomorrow – if you attend this PGA ‘Learn from the Best’ webinar hosted in conjunction with Golf Convergence.

The Golfbreaks.com 2015 Pro-Am at Pinehurst is a four-day event taking place on the 25th – 28th February, 2015, and will include a round on the famed No.2 course, which will this year host two major championships – the men’s and women’s US Open.

The Pro-Am is another sign of the strength of relationship between the Association and Golfbreaks.com, coming within the same 12 months that Golfbreaks.com renewed their Corporate Partnership for a second three-year term and also title-sponsored the 2014 Confederation of Professional Golf Fourball Championship in February.

The event is open to four-person teams from across the world, with each team comprising one PGA Professional and three amateurs, and will offer an Individual Professional prize fundof £10,000/€12,000/$16,000.

“The opportunity to sanction a Pro-Am event taking place in North America and at such a well-known and prestigious venue is excellent,” said Confederation of Professional Golf Chief Executive, Ian Randell. “What makes it even better is that it is with one of our long-standing and fantastic corporate partners, Golfbreaks.com, so we are sure it will be a huge success and something different for our member countries’ PGA members.”

Golfbreaks.com USA CEO, Daniel Grave commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Confederation of Professional Golf once again for this prestigious tournament at one of the world’s most iconic golf destinations, and look forward to welcoming both professionals and amateurs to North Carolina for what should be a fantastic week.”

Jim Long, Golfbreaks.com’s Director of Golf Pro Relations, said: “Building on the success of our Spanish Pro-Ams that take in Valderrama and La Reserva it’s very exciting to be adding a new event in the USA. Many competitors at our European Pro-Ams have asked about playing in the States, so we are delighted to be able to offer them a tournament to remember at the magnificent Pinehurst resort.”

Entry to the Pinehurst Pro-Am costs £1180/€1415/US$1885, with the Pro going absolutely free, and includes:

• 3 tournament rounds & 1 practice round (includes tournament rounds on No.2, No.4 and No.8)
• 3 nights at The Holly Inn with full American breakfast
• Welcome dinner with wine and beer
• Prize giving lunch with wine and beer
• Golfbreaks.com welcome bag
• Unlimited range balls
• Golf carts for each round plus a caddy on No.2 Course
• Confederation of Professional Golf Official Tournament Staff

For full details visit www.golfbreaks.com/pga-pro/Pro-Ams/golfbreaks-pro-am-at-pinehurst, the Confederation of Professional Golf Tournament Hub Page here, or contact Golfbreaks.com’s Golf Pro Relations Account Manager, Murray Dalgliesh on +44(0)1753 754 355.

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#GolfbreaksPinehurstProAm’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

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The 2014 Championship saw 68 pairs compete for a prize fund of €38,000 across Lumine’s Lakes and Hills Courses, and as the Championship sees the club and the Costa Daurada region host for the third year, Golfbreaks.com return for their second year of support for the event.

“We are already looking forward to welcoming the Professionals back to Lumine in the New Year,” said Calle Carlsson, General Manager, Lumine Golf & Beach Club. “It is always a pleasure to have them competing across our courses and experiencing what the Costa Daurada region can offer, and I am sure the 2015 tournament will continue to build on its fantastic growth in the past few years.”

Steve Hemsworth, Managing Director of Golfbreaks.com, added, “We are delighted to sponsor this very special tournament which attracts Golf Professionals from all over Europe. Our long-term relationship with The Confederation of Professional Golf and its members is very important to Golfbreaks.com as we continue to grow the ‘Pro’ side of our business, and we look forward to once again supporting this superb event at what is a wonderful venue.”

Up to 120 pairs of Professionals will look to emulate the success of last year’s Champions, Paul Broadhurst and Robert Coles, after their systematic and consistent play helped them take home the winners’ cheque earlier this year.

“Lumine continue to be fantastic partners of the Confederation of Professional Golf,” explained the Association’s Chief Executive, Ian Randell [pictured centre].

“We are very grateful to Calle Carlsson [pictured right] and his excellent team there for their continued support, and, along with the help of Golfbreaks.com, Octavi Bono i Gispert’s [pictured left] team at the Tarragona Province Tourist Board and their regional tourism offices, we are sure it 2015 will make for the best edition of the Championship yet.”

To find out more information about the 2015 Golfbreaks.com Fourball Championship and to enter visit

http://eur.pe/2015Fourball

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For more information on the Confederation of Professional Golf Golfbreaks.com Fourball Championship visit the Tournament Hub Page, follow @PGAsofEurope on Twitter search the Hashtag ‘#FourballChamps’, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.

For more information on Golfbreaks.com visit www.Golfbreaks.com/pga-pro, and for more information on LUMINE Mediterránea Beach & Golf Club visit www.lumine.com.