Golf enthusiast’s letter under fire   more

Andrew Jarret, The Courier, 10 October 2008

Tayside residents have sprung to the defence of the military after a golf fan at the Dunhill Cup event at Carnoustie claimed that he and his fellow spectators’ enjoyment was marred by the sound of gunfire from the nearby Barry Buddon ranges.

US plan for luxury apartments at the home of golf is bunkered   more

Jeremy Watson, Scotland on Sunday, 5 October 2008

It was meant to be a palatial viewing point over the most famous golf course in the world.

Tarby to blame for fairway horror show   more

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph, 4 October 2008

I blame Jimmy Tarbuck. Golf never recovered from him and ‘Brucie’ donning pink Pringle sweaters and tight slacks to give us that macabre spectacle known as pro-celebrity golf. It tarred the fine sport of golf as a naff game for naffer people.

Why can't the Scots play golf?   more

Extract, John Hopkins, The Spike Bar, The Times, 2 October 2008

Why do golf and money feature so prominently in conversation in Scotland? Golf I can understand because the country is said to be where the game began and as you travel from place to place within it you are never far from a golf course. But money?

Lighting up the Dunhill   more

Extract, The Herald, 2 October 2008

Douglas Lowe takes a look at who is on form and who isn't as golf prepares for the start of the Alfred Dunhill Championship at
St Andrews.

Building Tension   more

A stalled real-estate project has locals in St. Andrews concerned about an Old Course landmark

Mike Cullity ,Golfworld, October 2008

For more than a century, Hamilton Hall has stood guard over the 18th green of the Old Course at St. Andrews. One of the game's most photographed landmarks, the imposing structure next to the R&A clubhouse has provided backdrop for 19 British Open finishes, not to mention the Academy Award-winning film "Chariots of Fire."

Dunhill auction struggles   more

The Courier, 18 September 2008

With less than two days to go of an online auction giving golfers from around the world the opportunity to join the star-studded field for the 2008 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns next month, there has been a very disappointing response to date.

Dougherty claims second win to join the elite   more

Extract, Lawrence Donegan, The Guardian, 8 October 2007

If six-hour rounds and amateur hacking have often made the Dunhill Links Championship the golfing equivalent of water torture then the 2007 edition of the European Tour's lucrative pro-am proved an unalloyed delight yesterday on an afternoon at St Andrews that brought victory for Nick Dougherty and confirmation that Rory McIlroy, the 18-year-old Irishman, is as brilliant as has been advertised.

Dougherty finds a new way at the Old Course   more

Brian Creighton , The Observer, 7 October 2007

Nick Dougherty admitted this week he has been chasing victories too hard this year, without reward, and so he intended to change tack and just have fun. He had enough fun at St Andrews to record a superb 66 and open a three-stroke lead in the Dunhill Links leaderboard with one round left.

The missing links   more

Jonathan Trew, The Scotsman, 6 October 2007

Possible things to do this weekend split pretty clearly between the energetic and the less so. In one corner are those who prefer a more sedentary life enlivened by the occasional quirk. In the other are the nutters who think the best way to cover a distance of several miles is not to get in the car but to run, walk or knock a small, white ball between where you are now and where you want to end up.

Lawrie charms and adds magic to his putting   more

Lawrence Donegan, The Guardian, 5 October 2007

At a tournament where celebrity trumps ability and the efforts of pros grinding it out to make the cut are often drowned out by the antics of Hollywood stars trying to make tomorrow's papers, Paul Lawrie struck a blow for quiet modesty yesterday when he shot a 66 on the Old Course to leave himself in contention for the Dunhill Links Championship.

Els supports anti-doping policy   more

Independant Online, South Africa, 5 October 2007

Ernie Els says he fully agrees with the policy of drug testing in golf, which is set to begin on both the PGA Tour and European Tour in 2008.

Golf axe for shamed Kidd   more

Lori Campbell, Sunday Mirror, 30 September 2007

Model Jodie Kidd has been dropped from a top golf event over claims she dealt in cocaine.

Snail-pace victory has Harrington racing up the table   more

Dubliner vows to fight all the way to be European No1 after 5½-hour round proves worth the wait

John Huggan, The Guardian, 9 October 2006

Ten members of the victorious European Ryder Cup team pitched up in Fife for the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, no doubt tempted by a prize fund that is the fourth biggest on the European Tour outside the majors and the World Golf Championships. And, just to underline the inherent unpredictability of the game Scotland gave to the world, the man who made off with the £427,441 winner's cheque was the only one of the 10 who could not muster as much as a point on behalf of the home team at the K Club.

Not much reason to follow the elite   more

Dredge maintains his lead in event that is still hard to love

Alasdair Reid, The Sunday Herald, 8 October 2006

In his recently published golf memoir Preferred Lies, the Scottish novelist Andrew Greig recalls a teenage friend who could not decide whether his future lay in professional golf or revolutionary Marxism. “Only in Scotland,” Greig writes, “could such a career choice present itself.”

Poor Colin - noboby told him he'd have to share the limelight   more

Ecosse, The Sunday Times, 8 October 2006

If you want to play golf with Colin Montgomerie, you'd better take the game seriously. The Ryder Cup winner had a hissy fit when he failed to prevent celebrity golfers - poxy amateurs that they are - from taking part in the final day of the pro-celebrity part of the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

Dredge effect produces clearer vision in the links   more

John Huggan, The Guardian, 7 October 2006

Very quietly, as has been his way since turning professional a decade ago, Bradley Dredge has compiled a European Tour season of some distinction. A runaway winner at the European Masters in Switzerland last month - and the owner of seven other top-20 finishes - the unassuming Welshman is the halfway leader of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The links effect - Lawrie's on course to savour the sweet scent of success   more

David Mccarthy, The Daily Record, 7 October 2006

Paul Lawrie was so fed up with golf three weeks ago that he walked out of the Madrid Open after six holes.

Joker Murray is a serious talent   more

Martin Greig, The Herald, 7 October 2006

It takes a brave man to fuse comedy and golf. Bill Murray laid down his marker with the 1980 film Caddyshack. Yesterday, at St Andrews, he sank the putt. If pricking the pomposity of the sport was made into a national pastime, then the Lost in Translation and Ghostbusters star would have to seriously consider leaving the movie business to go full-time on the Pro-Celebrity circuit.

Casey gets down to business with 63 at Kingsbarns   more

Steve Scott, golf correspondent, The Courier, 6 October 2006

He claims not to be thinking about it, but Paul Casey’s actions confirmed that he wants this European Tour Order of Merit business out of the way by Sunday as he took an immediate advantage on the opening day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Marriage of inconvenience for hackers and hacks   more

Andrew Baker, The Telegraph, 6 October 2006

I'm going to do my best to make this an absolute cracker of an article, but there is a slight restriction on my style which I'd like to mention first. One of the rules at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, in which amateur golfers are paired with professionals throughout the four rounds of competition, is that professional writers should at all times be accompanied by amateur scribes.

'Grand' plans are well on the way   more

Rosemary Dewar, The Citizen, 6 October 2006

Reports that the American multi-million pound redevelopment of a famous golfing landmark, overlooking the Old Course in St Andrews, had gone belly up have been strenuously denied.

Evans refuses to budge in Monty row   more

John Huggan, The Guardian, 6 October 2006

Gary Evans had just shot a seven-under-par 65 over the Old Course yesterday in what is the penultimate tournament of his 15-year professional career, but afterwards he was keener to focus on one of his rivals in this Alfred Dunhill Links Championship - Colin Montgomerie.

This unhappy marriage between golf and celebrities deserves a divorce   more

Adoring fans of film stars and the like love the concept, but to golf purists it is an exercise in silliness

Gavin Newsham , The Guardian, 5 October 2006

Today marks the first round of the most ridiculous tournament in professional golf: the Dunhill Links Championship. Played over three courses (Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course, St Andrews), it stands alone on the European Tour schedule not merely for the size of its purse - $5m (£2.65m) this year - but for the fact that the promoters make the players really work for it. How? By pairing them with "celebrities".

Vandals strike at Kingsbarns   more

The Citizen, 29 September 2006

A fire, thought to have been started deliberately, has wrecked a mobile toilet block erected for next week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship near Kingsbarns beach.

Costner exposed as star accused of indecent sex act   more

Matthew Beard, The Independent, 26 April 2006

For two years the identity of a Hollywood actor alleged to have deliberately exposed himself while receiving a massage during a golf tournament has remained to mystery to newspaper readers in the UK.

No smoke without fire for Dunhill sponsors   more

Lawrence Donegan, The Guardian, 5 October 2005

A month has passed since tobacco sponsorship of all sporting events was outlawed across the European Union, in which case any television viewers able to divert their attention from the sight of Colin Montgomerie as he won the Dunhill Links Championship might have been fooled into thinking they were witnessing the committing of a bare-faced crime. They would have been mistaken.

Confident Monty finds star quality   more

Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 1 October 2005

Colin Montgomerie was in a class of his own at St Andrews in the second round of the Dunhill Links Championship. While his fellow professionals were at war with the buffeting winds, the Scot unfurled one easy swing after another on his way to a record-equalling 65.

Dredge is smoking in Dunhill   more

Welshman rules supreme with a 68 at Kingsbarns

South Wales Echo, 30 September 2005

Cardiff's Bradley Dredge stayed well on course to bolster his £562,000 season on the European Tour with a sparkling opening round to his Dunhill Links Championship bid.

Vaughan takes the rough with the smooth   more

Robert Philip, The Telegraph, 30 September 2005

Show me a man who plays a good game of golf and I'll show you a man who is neglecting something - John F Kennedy.

Whirr of celebrity detracts from professional business   more

James Corrigan, The Independent, 29 September 2005

If last week's Seve Trophy was the dress rehearsal for next year's Ryder Cup then this Dunhill Links Championship is one of its biggest auditions. How apt, then, that it will be conducted in an atmosphere more befitting an opening night in Leicester Square than a professional tournament on three of the game's most hallowed courses.

Dunhill big on celebrity, short on passion   more

Lawrence Donegan, The Guardian, 29 September 2005

With the likes of Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit and Michael Douglas due to step on to the 1st tee today, there is no doubt the organisers of the Dunhill Links Championship could put together a decent "Masters" football side, as well as a Hollywood film. But the question is whether they can stage a tournament worth watching.

Gawping at sport's greying greats   more

Andrew Baker, The Telegraph, 29 September 2005

The people of St Andrews are pretty blase about celebrities. For generations, they have had the world's greatest golfers regularly in their midst and, more recently, they had Prince William wandering their streets on a daily basis as he moved from lecture to lecture at the town's university.

Scottish golf public shun congested showbiz fairways   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 11 October 2004

It would be a rum business anywhere in the world for a golfing audience to largely stay away from a tournament when there is no charge for admission, and then turn up - in semi-respectable numbers anyway - when asked to pay £15 to get in on the final day. But in Scotland? It's as savage a blow to the national stereotype as Italy suddenly being described as a nation of careful road users, or finding an American who can tell you where Wales is.

Gale force is with Luke   more

John Huggan, Scotland on Sunday, 10 October 2004

The almighty guddles that are the first three rounds of the Dunhill Links Championship finally began to untangle themselves last night. Now that all of the competitors - professional and amateur, great and good, bad and bloody awful - have oh-so slowly completed 18 holes over St Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, it is at last possible to make some sort of sense out of this tiresome event.

Donald fires on all cylinders   more

Neil White, The Sunday Times, 10 October 2004

Carding a four-under-par 68 has pushed the Ryder Cup player two strokes clear of his teammates at the Dunhill Links championship.

Not enough evidence for prosecution of dunhill   more

Buisiness Day, South Africa, 20 February 2004

The organisers of the annual dunhill golf tournament [SA] will not be prosecuted under tobaccocontrol legislation, police say.

Proposal to pay all Dunhill pros   more

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 30 September 2003

Professionals could be paid to turn up at a full field event for the first time next season if a proposal to reward all those who enter the 2004 Dunhill Links championship finds favour with European Tour officials.

Hopes go belly up in the fish pond   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 29 September 2003

It was Bobby Jones, in 1958, who said: "I could take out of my life everything except my experiences at St Andrews and still have had a rich and full life." The voice was full of emotion, as indeed was that of Kenneth Ferrie, who on Saturday afternoon expressed an opinion of the Old Course that was ever so slightly at variance with the great American amateur. "This place," said our Ken, "is a complete s***hole."

Dunhill tournament fails to capture the public’s imagination......   more

Extract, Alasdair Reid, The Times, 28 September 2003

........ The appearance of so many stellar names at the top of the leaderboard must have come as a blessed relief to the organisers of a tournament that has achieved only the most perverse forms of distinction in its short and ill-starred life. You don’t want to rubbish the thing completely, but at an event that has the wrong field, the wrong format, the wrong venue and the wrong place in the calendar, it is difficult to think where the scope lies to shower the thing with praise.

Its Westwood ho! as albatross flies in   more

Extract, Bill Elliot, The Observer, 28 September 2003

....Significantly, all but the last-named Frenchman moved into serious contention after playing Kingsbarns yesterday. This five-year-old course is probably the last great links to be allowed to be built in Britain, and despite its youth it is a worthy addition to the great links that embroider these islands. Designed by American architect Kyle Phillips, Kingsbarns faithfully follows the antediluvian contours of this coast which is framed by the Tay Estuary.

Star quality leaves purists unimpressed   more

Julian Muscat, The Times, 27 September 2003

Mention St Andrews and people drool over the home of golf. Hear them rave about Els, Singh, Harrington and Clarke. Throw in Jodie Kidd, Hugh Grant, Samuel L. Jackson and Sir Steve Redgrave if you really want to titillate. Bring them all together, give the public free access, and what do you get? A Good Walk Spoiled.

Angling with legends   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 27 September 2003

Unless you happen to a Frenchman trying to win the Open Championship, there can be few more satisfying sounds at Carnoustie than the plop of your golf ball landing in the Barry Burn. Apologies, of course, to the marshal whose jacket bore the brunt of the splash, but he'd also have been aware of the special sense of history, and the knowledge that you had gone where the likes of Harry Vardon and J H Taylor had gone before. Besides which, as my caddie was quick to point out: "At least you went in for two. Jean Van de Velde took four to put it in there."

Clarke endures long day at the office   more

Andy Farrell, The Independent, 27 September 2003

The quickest Darren Clarke moved all day was from the recorder's hut to the driving range, from the driving range to the media interview room, and from there to the gym. Having been required to spend six hours on the course during the second round of the Dunhill Links Championship, the Irishman was rushing to fit in everything else he needed to do with his day.

Struggling to cut the mustard in hot dog group   more

Martin Johnson , The Telegraph, 26 September 2003

Just up the coast road from St Andrews, but with about 600 years less history than the Old Course, Kingsbarns is already one of Scotland's gems, ranked in the world's top 50 golf courses. And if you've got to spend the thick end of six hours playing golf, then it might as well be here as anywhere.

Harrington hones method of finding trouble-free swing   more

Andy Farrell, The Independent, 25 September 2003

Things are a little different at the Dunhill Links Championship, a pro-am event played over three courses, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course. While spectators will be admitted free for the first three days, one punter has paid more than £8,500 to be allowed to play alongside the professionals inside the ropes.

Lawrie entitled to catch himself performing a rain dance   more

Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 25 September 2003

Driving rain, a howling wind and a sky that promises there is worse to come. For Paul Lawrie, this is the ideal scenario and one he would be happy to face when he tees up at 10.06 this morning at Carnoustie, the course where he won the 1999 Open.

Players in awe of star turns   more

The golfers are doing the gazing at today's Dunhill pro-am

David Davies , The Guardian, 25 September 2003

It was one of those "Good heavens, isn't that...? No, it can't be...yes it is" moments. Padraig Harrington, getting into his hotel lift saw, to his astonishment, that Hugh Grant was already in there.

Bitter wind fails to cool Harrington's amateur enthusiasm   more

John Hopkins, Golf Correspondent, The Times, 25 September 2003

A few people got more than they had bargained for at St Andrews yesterday. Those spectators and competitors who had arrived in town for the festivities that surround the dunhill links championship, which pairs professionals with an amateur playing partner, probably expected the grey old town to be bathed in a warm glow. So much of the rest of the country was, why not this part of Fife? They found, instead, that a southwesterly wind was roaring over the Old Course and gusting at up to 30mph, much stronger than it had been last Thursday when the Duke of York drove himself in as the Captain of the Royal & Ancient golf club.

Quality of field tells how good dunhill links championship is   more

Steve Scott, The Courier, 25 September 2003

If you think that the free admission on offer for the dunhill links championship starting today is a final admission that the protracted pro-am format is a failure, think again.

Dunhill gets the glamour to a tee   more

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 25 September 2003

Those purists who don’t care much for the presence of celebrities or the added ingredient of a team competition within the £3.5million individual event, are missing the point about the Dunhill, according to the defending champion, Padraig Harrington. Although a big star in the golfing firmament - he’s ranked ninth in the world - the Irishman enjoys feeling star-struck himself whenever he takes part in this unique tournament.

Unloved Dunhill event hides star quality   more

Scotland’s golfing public have shunned the Dunhill Links Championship even though a host of big names will be teeing up this week.

Alasdair Reid, The Times, 21 September 2003

It is over almost before it has begun, so perhaps we should learn to cherish it. On the European Tour schedule, golf’s silly season lasts four days, all the time it takes for a field of professionals and their amateur partners to amble around the East Neuk of Fife, make a brief foray over the Tay bridge, then head back to St Andrews for the finish. Nothing controversial in that.

Time runs out for Swiss watchmakers   more

Marcia Klein, South African Sunday Times, 8 June 2003

You know the world's biggest economies are in trouble when 5% of Swiss watchmakers are about to lose their jobs.

Harrington earns big payday to cap week of glory   more

Extract, John Hopkins , The Times, 7 October 2002

If the Dunhill Links Championship cannot bed itself down and become a regular and welcome change of pace amid the endless succession of 72-hole strokeplay events on the professional tour after a day such as yesterday, then one wonders whether it will ever be able to do so. The day was blessedly golden, a gentle on-shore wind blowing the sounds of the North Sea over the Old Course, and the golf was golden, too.

Harrington happy to pay price of his fame   more

Heroes of the Ryder Cup are left in the shadows as the Dunhill Links Championship celebrates another festival of celebrity schmooze

Alasdair Reid , The Sunday Times, 6 October 2002

From the sublime to - well, just what exactly? A celebration of links golf, according to the promoters of the Dunhill Links Championship, but a decidedly subdued one as far as most observers have been concerned. If there is anything to be said in favour of this atmosphere-free amble across the linkslands of Angus and Fife, it is only that it is not quite so excruciatingly awful as last year.

Europe heroes find spot to unwind   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 4 October 2002

As an exercise in keeping the players' feet on the ground, the Dunhill Links is the perfect antidote to the Ryder Cup - from raging fever to a runny nose in less than a week. Last Sunday we had Paul McGinley lining up a 10-foot putt for the honour of an entire continent, and this Sunday we could well be watching Jimmy Tarbuck fretting over a tricky left-to-righter for a canteen of cutlery.

Par for the course   more

Advertisement, House of Bruar, The Scotsman, 13 September 2002

So much for present success - what for the future?

Society defends walkers' rights   more

Michael Alexander, The Courier, 27 May 2002

A national organisation which represents the legal interests of the public during rights of way disputes has defended people’s right to access a section of the Fife coastal path.

Public access to property questioned by landowner   more

The Courier, 25 May 2002

A Fife landowner who has questioned the local authority’s claim that part of the Fife Coastal Path near Kingsbarns is a right of way yesterday raised doubts over the whole question of public access to private property.

Path not right of way - landowner   more

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 23 May 2002

A Fife landowner has taken issue with a statement from Fife Council that the well-used Fife Coastal Path in the Kingsbarns area is a public right of way.

Path closure attempt stopped in its tracks   more

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 22 May 2002

The organisers of this year’s Dunhill Links Championship have failed in their bid to enforce closure of a section of the Fife coastal path when the competition is held in October.

Golf links path closure row   more

Michael Alexander, The Courier, 21 May 2002

A Fife golf course which has been showered with praise since it opened during the Millennium Open at St Andrews has been bunkered by a planning dispute over access to an ancient coastal path.

Links event is back on course   more

Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 3 December 2001

The Dunhill Links championship, which went missing from the 2002 schedule amid sponsors' fury of the critical press coverage of their event six weeks ago, has been reinstated and will be held in the week following the Sept 27-29 Ryder Cup.

Dunhill tip return   more

Extract, Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 29 November 2001

The first news to come out of the Nedbank Golf Challenge, alias the $2 million tournament, is that the Dunhill Links Championship, which was wiped from the European Tour’s schedule after press criticism of this year’s introduction of a new pro-celebrity format, could be reinstated next year.

Doubts over Dunhill Links future   more

BBC News, 26 October 2001

The future of the Dunhill Links Championship is in doubt after the sponsors admitted they were reconsidering whether to continue their involvement with the event.

Omitting any reference to how it all began   more

Letter to Editor, The Courier, 22 October 2001

Sir, I refer to the article ‘Residents fear Dunhill will bring few benefits’ (11 October), in which brief mention was made of Dunhill branded products.

Big names are forced to read from bad script   more

Mel Webb, The Times, 22 October 2001

They mounted a charm offensive at St Andrews yesterday that was not charming but was certainly offensive. A succession of high-profile golfers and celebrities were wheeled in by the sponsor to tell everybody how terrific the Dunhill Links Championship was, how much they were all enjoying it and how amazed they were that the event had been so roundly criticised. Yet again, the attempt failed pitifully.

Time and right venue are key to troubled pro-am   more

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 22 October 2001

Given the huge amount of prize money on offer as well as the enormous effort put into making the championship work by a large number of dedicated people, it can give no one with the slightest interest in golf any satisfaction to conclude that the £3.6 million Alfred Dunhill Links is the wrong tournament at the wrong time of year.

Weakest Links   more

Appalling weather has turned the Dunhill Links championship into a farce, but few people are laughing

Alasdair Reid, The Sunday Times, 21 October 2001

They say history repeats itself as farce, so at least we can credit the organisers of the inaugural Dunhill Links championship with one perverse distinction. So completely have they fouled up the running of this ill-conceived event, so thorough has been their creation of a full-blown dog's breakfast of a tournament, that it has been their singular, momentous achievement to have come up with something quite stupendously farcical at the first time of asking.

Dunhill's dreams get lost in the fog   more

Andy Farrell discovers that the replacement to the Dunhill Cup is well below par

The Independent on Sunday, 21 October 2001

Saturday afternoons at the Dunhill Cup always were for the aficionados of the event. If you were not careful, you could end up in a situation whereby, if Scotland didn't beat Ireland, and Spain beat Japan 3-0, then New Zealand, being the last team you had thought of, went through. Nevertheless, international team golf proved a popular attraction and was a welcome week on the calendar, albeit as an unofficial event. Oh, happy days.

Scots cool towards big names in damp squib   more

Martin Johnson, The Sunday Telegraph, 21 October 2001

There is a strong possibility, maybe tomorrow, but hopefully within the next few weeks, that the Dunhill Links golf tournament will finally squelch to a conclusion, with one of the sponsors announcing that it has been a famous success despite some minor inconvenience with the weather. At this point, two men in white coats will arrive with a waterproof straitjacket, confiscate his belt and braces, and whisk him off for a weekend break - courtesy of the Scottish Tourist Board - at a secure establishment advertising "all meals served with plastic cutlery".

Playing to an empty gallery   more

Mark Reason, The Sunday Telegraph, 21 October 2001

The crowds have turned up in numbers for the inaugural Dunhill Links Championship, but unfortunately those numbers have been on the tiny side of small. When the halfway leader, Paul McGinley, holed his second shot for an eagle on the fourth hole of St Andrews, the applause suggested polite sympathy for a below average warm-up act.

Dunhill set for Monday finish   more

BBC News, 20 October 2001

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is likely to end on Monday after fog and rain interrupted Saturday's third round.

McGinley outshines stars with few fans   more

Andy Farrell, The Independent, 20 October 2001

The haar rolled in and rolled out. And in again. It was mostly in yesterday, as it tends to be at this time of year on the Fife coast. The £3.5m Dunhill Links Championship was shrouded in mist causing a logistical nightmare for the richest event ever held in Britain. Who was doing what at which course in what round paled into insignificance beside news of where the latest suspension in play had occurred.

Curtain of mist falls on film star golfers   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 20 October 2001

When the klaxon sounded to suspend play at Kingsbarns yesterday, Michael Douglas took the opportunity to discuss his winter vacation plans with Ernie Els. Malibu got a mention, but - having spent most of this tournament being rained on, windblown, and, on this occasion, enveloped in a pea soup sea fog at the furthest extremity of the course - it was no great surprise when an East Fife timeshare cottage, or a weekend break at Mrs Auchterlonie's B & B, curiously failed to feature on his list of possibilities.

McGinley masters balancing act   more

Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 20 October 2001

Paul McGinley, who would seem to have struck precisely the right note in terms of looking after his amateur partner and himself at the same time, put the finishing touches to a first-round 67 at Kingsbarns before handing in a 64 at St Andrews in the Dunhill Links Championship yesterday.

Sex appeal no protection from robber barons   more

Mel Webb, The Times, 20 October 2001

The modus operandi for the amateurs playing in the Dunhill Links Trophy this week is clear - if you are playing well, keep quiet about it or you might find your handicap being slashed. It has now happened to 39 of them and, while it seems that the inquisition might have ended, they will still have to tread carefully - careless talk costs strokes in the kingdom of Fife.

Els is shining light amid all this fog   more

Handicap hassles spoil celebrity event

David Davies, The Guardian, 20 October 2001

Paul McGinley, statistically, leads after two rounds of the Dunhill Links Championship, with a 13-under-par total of 131. He is two ahead of Brian Davis and Tony Johnstone, three in front of Jamie Donaldson and Padraig Harrington and that, normally, would be quite straightforward.

Gone with the wind - a movie star's hopes of golfing glory   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 19 October 2001

Boris Becker at St Andrews, Gary Lineker at Carnoustie, Hugh Grant at Kingsbarns . . . celebrity spotters were spoiled for choice, or at least they would have been had the rich and famous not been virtually unspottable, shivering beneath the kind of gear you'd normally expect to see on the deck on a North Sea trawler.

Fog delays Dunhill Links tee-off   more

The Telegraph, 19 October 2001

The new Dunhill Links championship - at £3.5million the richest golf event ever staged in Britain - got off to an inauspicious start today when fog held up the first round on all three courses and then wind and rain played havoc.

Star-spotting is added attraction   more

Mel Webb, The Times, 18 October 2001

The test for everybody in the environs of St Andrews in the next four days will not be so much simply who is doing well in the Dunhill Links Championship, more who is doing what with whom and where they are doing it. If that sounds like heaven-sent material for writers of smutty limericks, so be it. Suffice to say that the whole, complex situation is pregnant with possibilities.

Celebrities line-up to play the field   more

Extract, Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 18 October 2001

Those spectators who came to size up the field for this week's Dunhill Links Championship were looking more than a little quizzically at some of the woolly-hatted contestants. Were they golfers? Were they celebrities? Or were they merely rich amateurs who had coughed up the £5,500 it cost for a place in this star-studded field.

Hollywood big shots share top billing in Scotland with golf's elite   more

Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 18 October 2001

The European Tour would probably grind to a halt were it not for the permanent presence of a mobile physiotherapy unit, although a dodgy back is not necessarily the inevitable by-product of swinging a golf club. In fact, it is a constant source of amazement, given the weight of their wallets, that the top professionals are not permanently walking around with the gait of a Notre Dame bell-ringer.

Celebrity amateurs take their turn alongside the elite   more

Andy Farrell, The Independent, 18 October 2001

No longer will Scotland be humbled by Paraguay, nor Tiger Woods by Santiago Luña. The Dunhill Cup, as a nations event, is no more. It may have had its little idiosyncrasies but the tournament was a welcome diversion from the weekly grind of 72-hole strokeplay.

Jet set lights up the auld grey toon   more

David Davies rubs shoulders with a galaxy of stars in Scotland

The Guardian, 18 October 2001

It is really a rather tired cliche to call an event star-studded, except of course when it actually is. And few events in the world of sport have been more studded with stars than the Dunhill Links Championship that starts today at St Andrews, Carnoustie and the brand new course of Kingsbarns, just outside St Andrews.

Dunhill splash out to keep up with Jones's   more

Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 17 October 2001

As a rule, the professionals play a pro-am on the Wednesday before retiring gratefully to play on their own over the four days of a tournament. At this week's Dunhill Links Championship, however, they are following the pattern of America's AT&T tournament in sticking with their amateur partners for all four days as they play over Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews.

Goosen closes in on crown   more

BBC News, 17 October 2001

Retief Goosen can clinch the European Order of Merit title at the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews.

New circus at the Old Course   more

The pro-am concept adopts new meaning at St Andrews

BBC News, 16 October 2001

The Dunhill Links Championship breaks new ground with amateurs teeing up alongside pros in a competitive environment. Is it a good thing, asks BBC Sport Online's Kitrina Douglas?

Although I'm not one to condemn an event before it's started, this week's $5m event, the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, has left me a bit bewildered.

The Dunhill name   more

Alfred Dunhill Ltd, Letter to Editor, The Courier, 15 October 2001

Sir, - We refer to the article headed ‘Residents fear Dunhill will bring few benefits’ which appeared in the October 11 issue of your newspaper.

Links made lighter by Dunhill’s crowd-pulling glittering blockbuster   more

Paul Forsyth, Scotland on Sunday, 14 October 2001

High on the list of Hollywood celebrities who will figure in next week’s Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns is Samuel L Jackson. His scheduled appearance offers mixed omens. Like Pulp Fiction, the film in which he shot to prominence, the inaugural pro-celebrity event has the potential to be an imaginative, colourful addition to the weekly circuit. Like Die Hard, another of his big-screen vehicles, the concept is vulgar, the cost extortionate and the product a blockbuster that succeeds only in appealing to the public’s base instincts.

Residents fear Dunhill will bring few benefits   more

The Courier, 11 October 2001

It has been billed as a celebration of links golf played over three of the most spectacular courses in the world - a 72-hole stroke-play tournament which will play an important part in promoting Scotland and the beauty of the east coast.

Public snub Dunhill golf tournament

The Courier, 6 October 2001   more

The inaugural £3.5 million Dunhill Links Championship - now less than two weeks away - may have attracted some of golf’s leading stars, in addition to a host of celebrities, but the public would appear to be less than enthusiastic about the event.

Dunhill boost for Scottish golf   more

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 21 September 2001

Scotland's beleaguered golf industry, which has lost millions in cancelled bookings since the terrorist attacks on the US last week, was handed a much-needed financial boost last night when the organisers of the Dunhill Links Championship agreed to stage the event as planned on 18-21 October at Kingsbarns, St Andrews and Carnoustie with record prize money.

Executive boost for Ryder bid   more

Extract, Steve Bargeton, Political Editor, The Courier, 8 February 2001

....The Scottish Tourist Board has confirmed an investment in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship to be played at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns in October.

Tiger keeps wolf from the door   more

Extract, Martin Johnson, The Telegraph, 11 November 2000

....The obscene amounts of cash sloshing around in US golf - where run-of-the-mill tournaments sponsored by the likes of Buick and Pontiac start at a minimum £2.1 million prize money - means that the leading Americans have no great incentive to come to Valderrama, or anywhere else, whether they dress it up as a world championship or not.

Competition to become the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship   more

The Citizen, 20 October 2000

The sun finally set on the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews on Sunday with last year’s winners, Spain, managing to hold on to the trophy in a dramatic end to a sometimes lacklustre tournament. With many of golf’s ‘big names’ absent, the main crowd-puller, aside from the final on Sunday, proved to be Wednesday’s Pro-Am, featuring celebrities from the big screen, TV and the wider world of sport.

Who made decision for Carnoustie venue?   more

D W Bond, Letter to Editor, The Courier, 19 October 2000

Sir, With the announcement of the re vamped Dunhill Tournament being played over three golf courses, The Old Course, Kingsbarns and Camoustie, it again raises the question - who is running Carnoustie Golf Links?

Spain's stylish end as Dunhill opts for glamour    more

Extract from article by Andy Farrell, The Independent, 17 October 2000

.....Next year the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship will be played on October 18 to 21. The event will be similar to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am on the Monterey Peninsula. Each professional plays with an amateur with a team event as well as the individual. Over the first three days, they will play one round at each of the Old Course, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, a new layout just outside the town.

£3.2m prize fund and points at stake in Dunhill Cup shake-up   more

Steve Scott, The Courier, 16 October 2000

After 16 years of sweat, tears, not a little bit of humiliation and finally indifference, the Alfred Dunhill Cup will be discontinued and transformed into the most lucrative golf tournament in Europe.

Martin the toast   more

Extract from article by Brian Meek, The Herald, 16 October 2000

.....So it's farewell to the Dunhill Cup and hello to the Dunhill Links Championship, which will be played next year over the Old Course, where the final round will take place, the new Kingsbarns Links just outside St Andrews and the Americans' all-time favourite, Carnoustie.

Dunhill Cup: Martin seals dramatic finale   more

Extract from article by Lewine Mair, Daily Telegraph, 16 October 2000

.....From next year, the tournament will become the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, which will be played on Oct 18-21 over Kingsbarns, Carnoustie and St Andrews. The format will take in three pro-am rounds with the professionals going it alone on the final day.

Martin retains reign of Spain   more

Extract from article by Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 16 October 2000

....Spain, of course, won't be back to defend their title since the nations cup format is no longer part of this event in 2001. However, official confirmation that the Alfred Dunhill Links championship will carry a staggering £3.4million in prize money was a huge boost for Scotland's Ryder Cup bid. The Dunhill, in fact, will be the richest event in Europe next season.

Sponsor stubs out team tournament   more

The Alfred Dunhill Cup will get a new format next time round after suffering years of decline

Extract from article by Alasdair Reid, Sunday Times, 15 October 2000

Stubbed out at last. After years of apparently inexorable decline, the Alfred Dunhill Cup will die a quiet death this afternoon when its last round is played on the Old Course at St Andrews. The sponsors, having watched their once-prestigious tournament play host to increasingly lacklustre fields, largely through the apathy of top American players, finally pulled the plug yesterday afternoon by announcing that its days as an international team event are now over.

Welsh oust favourites   more

Extract from article by David Davies, The Observer, October 15, 2000

.....Earlier in the week Woosnam had indicated that if the rumours of the Dunhill Cup morphing into a pro-celebrity pro-am tournament were true, he might find himself unavoidably detained elsewhere. Yesterday the rumours were confirmed. This will be the last Dunhill Cup and next year there will be an event called the Dunhill Links Championship, from 18 to 21 October, a 72-hole strokeplay tournament, in its place.

Scots make a hurried exit from last cup   more

Extract from article by Paul Forsyth, Scotland on Sunday, 15 October 2000

The rather bizarre prospect of Jimmy Tarbuck, Bruce Forsyth and Ronnie Corbett attempting to do what Colin Montgomerie, Andrew Coltart and Gary Orr couldn’t presented itself at St Andrews yesterday when Scotland’s exit from the last Alfred Dunhill Cup coincided with the announcement of a pro-celebrity event to replace it.

Wales seize last chance to make up for lost time   more

Extract from article by Andy Farrell, Independent on Sunday, 15 October 2000

......The tournament's demise is a damning indictment of modern professional sportsmen who cannot find space in their schedules to represent their countries. Over 50 Americans turned down an invitation before Larry Mize filed out a US side whose only victory of the week came over Japan yesterday. Sergio Garcia, captain of the winning Spanish team a year ago, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Jean van de Velde and Stuart Appleby were also missing for various reasons.

New Dunhill format unveiled as Scots slump again   more

Extract from article by Alan Campbell, Sunday Herald, 15 October 2000

.....It was confirmed yesterday that a new pro-am tournament, still under Dunhill's patronage, will replace the Cup next October. The Alfred Dunhill Links Champion-ship will have a massive prize fund of $5m and will have team (one professional, one amateur) and pro individual competitions running concurrently.

Wales secure maximum return   more

Extract from article by Derek Lawrenson, Sunday Telegraph, 15 October 2000

......As for next year's event, Dunhill spokesman Johann Rupert confirmed last week's Sunday Telegraph disclosure that it would become a pro-am played over the Old Course, Kingsbarns, and Carnoustie, along the lines of the AT&T tournament in America. Prize money will be $5 million (£3 million), making it the richest event in Europe.

Foreign fields for Dunhill as pro-am is on the cards   more

Mike Aitken, The Scotsman, 14 October 2000

The international team element which has been part and parcel of the Alfred Dunhill Cup format in StAndrews since 1985 will continue next season at a foreign location, if Mark McCormack’s International Management Group finds a new sponsor for the tournament.

Dunhill Cup: Sweet victory for the Scots   more

Extract from article by Lewine Mair, The Telegraph, 14 October 2000

.....Such was the excitement on the ancient links yesterday that it seemed an absolute travesty that the sponsors are thinking of changing the format to something along the lines of America's AT & T celebrity pro-am, an event in which there are three pro-am rounds before the professionals go solo on the last day.

Mike Aitken on golf   more

The Scotsman, 10 October 2000

A possible change is in the air for future stagings of the Alfred Dunhill Cup. Currently a medal match-play event for three-man international teams played over the Old Course in St Andrews, the sponsors are thought to be keen on a new format which would make more of the Hollywood celebrities who play each year in the pro-am.

Dunhill switch to pro-am format   more

Derek Lawrenson,The Sunday Telegraph, 8 October 2000

The Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews this week could be the last under the Nations Cup format. At a press conference at the Old Course on Wednesday, the sponsors are expected to announce that their flagship tournament will become a pro-am, played over three courses, along the lines of the AT & T pro-am that is so popular with television audiences on the US Tour.

Dunhill Drivers   more

Letter to the editor, The Citizen, 20 October 2000

In the knowledge that during the Dunhill Cup, the tournament organisers take over the town’s golf courses, I never imagined that they also took over the local road network.

Spain rise up from Valley of Sin   more

Extract from article by David Davies, The Guardian, 16 October 2000

....And so the Dunhill Cup passes, largely unmourned, leaving not so much memories as a welter of statistics. Since it started in 1985 the lowest score has been Curtis Strange's 62 in 1987 and the highest by a Mexican, Carlos Espinosa, with an 87.

16th Dunhill Cup officially launched   more

The Courier, 13 October 2000

The 16th annual Alfred Dunhill Cup was officially launched yesterday in St Andrews with a colourful parade and march-in involving the teams of competing nations.

Undignified demise looms for Dunhill Cup   more

Andy Farrell, The Independent, 12 October 2000

What may prove to be the last Alfred Dunhill Cup in its present format begins here today. Although an announcement about the future of the event will not be made until the weekend, the suggestion is that instead of the Nations Cup of golf, it will transmute into a celebrity pro-am tournament using the Old Course, Carnoustie and the new Kingsbarns links just outside St Andrews.

Dunhill army toils to clear links flood   more

The Courier, 11 October 2000

An army of green-keepers was out early yesterday over the Old Course in St Andrews to tackle flood water following almost 24 hours of torrential rain.

Coltard fears over Scotland chance   more

Steve Scott, The Courier, 11 October 2000

Patriotic Andrew Coltart doesn’t want any tinkering with the Alfred Dunhill Cup - because he fears he’ll miss the chance of playing for Scotland on a regular basis.

A round too far for Douglas   more

The Sunday Telegraph, 7 October 2000

The Hollywood actor Michael Douglas yesterday blamed too much time spent at the 19th hole for a "hopeless" round of golf in a charity tournament.

Dunhill Cup: Americans snub cup   more

Derek Lawrenson, The Sunday Telegraph, 1 October 2000

Normally in St Andrews you cannot move for Americans but try getting one to turn up in the third week in October for the Alfred Dunhill Cup. The promoters IMG have tried; boy, have they tried. Indeed the fact they have turned in desperation to ol' lame duck himself, John Daly, says everything.