Anyone played in the Volvo Amateur tour?

[Largsgolf1974]

Morning folks, whilst i was staying in the st andrews fairmont hotel they had the finals of the Volvo Amateur tour. Seemingly its open for anyone to join and you have an order of merit at the end of the year and "majors" to play in.

Has anyone on here ever taken part in it, and if so would you recommend it? I am thinking about it but cant access the webpage from work (home laptop knackered).

The finals was a 4 day event over Kingsbarn, free accomodation for the players families in the Fairmont, and some fantastic prizes.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

 

[JezzE]

Largs,
Just to let you know I played in a Volvo Masters Amateur Tour event at The Berkshire a couple of months ago as a guest and thoroughly enjoyed the day.
I wrote an article in our December issue about my experiences, while my colleague, Fergus Bisset will be writing about that Kingsbarns final you refer to in our January issue.
They're very good days out, although you should be aware that because all the events are played at top-notch courses, they aren't inexpensive.

 

[WeekendGolfers]

I played a couple of years on the Volvo Amateur Tour. It used to be called the Fore Tour.

It's very well set up and is run by David Hughes of GMM ltd.
There are 20 or so events each season, with 4 of them being classed as majors. Win a major and qualify for the season finals.

Players win order of merit points throughout the season. Your best five combined scores count (this stops people just buying their way to the finals)

I was lucky enough to qualify for the finals in my first year and had a great time. The competitions are well contested and played in great spirit.

I played in around 20 events in the two and a half years I played and enjoyed every single one of them, whether I played well or not.

There are some great prizes on offer especially for event winners. although I never managed to win an individual event but came 2nd or 3rd on many occasions and still picked up some good stuff.

competitions cost around £100 - £160 depending on the course. The better value days are the ones where you get to play 36 holes in a day.

Highly recommended if your budget allows.
cheers
Steve

 

[HogansAlley]

I've played in a few. It's quite expensive but very well organised. As the previous post said, the organiser, David, is a top guy.

If I had more time and money, I'd play the tour every year.

 

[Largsgolf1974]

many thanks to all who posted info, and yes i thought the article in this months magazine was excellent.
Wouldnt it be nice to say money wouldnt be a problem (re the green fees) but i think it could be a stumbling block if the figures quoted are correct.

again thanks for all your advice

 

[Faldo_Fan]

It looks a fantastic experience, probably as close to pro golf as most of us will ever experience.

Mind you, no need to even think about winning the order of merit, the guy that won this year had maximum points!!!!! They take your best 5 finishes, with 100 points being awarded for victory and the guy got 500 points!!!!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Too rich for my blood. I'll stick to making a fool of myself on the Trilby tour.

 

[rickg]

They take your best 5 finishes, with 100 points being awarded for victory and the guy got 500 points!!!!!

What was his handicap?

 

[Imurg]

Obviously not his clubs!!

 

[Faldo_Fan]

They take your best 5 finishes, with 100 points being awarded for victory and the guy got 500 points!!!!!

What was his handicap?

I think he was 10 - 11 hcp.
He must have a few quid because he played about 25 tournaments including the St Andrews one which i think was £500 and he played the stadium course at Sawgrass which was about £1,100.00!!!!
If i'm remebering correctly he had 14 top 5 finishes out of 25 tournaments!!!!.....that's a tough opponent!!!!

 

[Faldo_Fan]

Too rich for my blood. I'll stick to making a fool of myself on the Trilby tour.

I thought the Trilby tour wasn't cheap???
Isn't it £250.00 and potentially you could be knocked out after one round???

 

[thecraw]

I used to play the Wilson Daily Telegraph Matchplay tournament run by GMM however it was soon very clear that it was being abused by bandits and liers when it came to handicaps.

We were playing against guys off 11 and 19 handicaps who were shooting 5 and 6 under par better ball and players who started the season off 11 and were suddenly up to 14 when it came to the grand final.

Wouldnt entertain GMM ever again.

 

[Faldo_Fan]

I used to play the Wilson Daily Telegraph Matchplay tournament run by GMM however it was soon very clear that it was being abused by bandits and liers when it came to handicaps.

We were playing against guys off 11 and 19 handicaps who were shooting 5 and 6 under par better ball and players who started the season off 11 and were suddenly up to 14 when it came to the grand final.

Wouldnt entertain GMM ever again.

Yeah i agree, wherever there's open competition you're always going to get somebody that thinks it's acceptable to try and deceive the officials.......sad really!!!!!

 

[WeekendGolfers]

Yeah i agree, wherever there's open competition you're always going to get somebody that thinks it's acceptable to try and deceive the officials.......sad really!!!!!

I think I know a couple of these guys...played against a 17 h/c and a 24 h/c and they were level and 1 over after 9-holes, needless to say we didn't win...

...I've always been a fan of ditching handicaps altogether, then the problem is removed instantly