Lawrie banned for doing what most of us do every year!

[StuartD]

HNj is right, there is a bit more to it.


He used to represent Meldrum House on the European Tour but got a shed load of money from the Carrick at Loch Lomand to represent them. Meldrum house were not happy when he changed. Looking to bin him me thinks. How many other members have they thrown out for complaining about the greens.

As for Lawrie being handed the open. He was handed a spot in a PLAY OFF, as was Justin Leonard. He went out and won the open by getting a birdies on 17 and 18 and finishing -1 after they all bogeyed 15. Anyone who shoots -1 for the last 4 at Carnoustie in a play off under that pressure deserves to win the open.

 

[Doh]

He had his chance and he took it,end of

 

[mikeyh]

he seems to be doin ok today!

 

[freddielong]

And, whilst I'm on the subject....he didnt exactly "win" The Open did he? He had it handed to him because Van de Velde made a pigs ear of his 72nd hole.

Lawrie was never in the lead or tied for the lead for 71 of the 72 holes....a fluky win if ever there was one!

Utter Tosh!

I was there the day Lawrie won his Open and to say his win was "Fluky" is utter codswallop!
He came from 10 shots back on the final day.(something Tiger's yet to do BTW)
Anyone who hits a 67 at Carnoustie in those conditions deserves everything that's coming to him.
It's not his fault that some French guy lost his head.

Incedently, his 4 iron to the last on the play off is still one of the greatest shots I've seen under pressure and very much overlooked in the melee that followed Van de veldes collapse.

I agree Lawrie's last round was fantastic and then there was the shots he hit in the play off - You can only post your score he can not be blamed for what Van de Velde did but Lawrie won his open and deserves more credit

As for the thread sounds like a joke gone wrong big time and if the club think they are big enough to eject an open champion good luck to them, I reakon they will kiss and make up shortly.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

I agree Lawrie's last round was fantastic and then there was the shots he hit in the play off - You can only post your score he can not be blamed for what Van de Velde did but Lawrie won his open and deserves more credit

I agree, in fact it wasn't only Van de Velde he beat was it?
Paul Lawrie, Open champion, beat all of the worlds best players to win. As such he deserves huge amounts of credit.

 

[Molly]

I'm a bit surprised by the Lawrie-bashing. The man has his name forever engraved on the Claret Jug...can't be half bad can he? He did it via a playoff in some very difficult conditions which others did not cope so well with or lost their heads. Does not take the shine off the win for me as it's all about being top of the pile come the last putt of the 72nd (or 76th!) hole. Top man in my opinion.

He seems to be coping quite well today, despite this nonsense => http://scores.europeantour.com/default.s...6&infosid=2

Love to see the next text he sends to that greenkeeper

 

[Herbie]

HNj is right, there is a bit more to it.


He used to represent Meldrum House on the European Tour but got a shed load of money from the Carrick at Loch Lomand to represent them. Meldrum house were not happy when he changed. Looking to bin him me thinks. How many other members have they thrown out for complaining about the greens.

As for Lawrie being handed the open. He was handed a spot in a PLAY OFF, as was Justin Leonard. He went out and won the open by getting a birdies on 17 and 18 and finishing -1 after they all bogeyed 15. Anyone who shoots -1 for the last 4 at Carnoustie in a play off under that pressure deserves to win the open.

Brilliant Stuart, I was trying to find out a bit more about this elsewhere, thankyou for the insight.

 

[DCB]

Paul Lawrie took his chance when he saw it. He went through final qualifyinjg on the Monday, played 3 rather unspectacular rounds and then in some horendous conditions on the final day,he carded the lowest score. If you look at the players who didn't make the cut that year, it reads like a who's who of 1990s world golf.

He played in a playoff and beat a former Open winner in that play off. Everyone remembers the French Farce on 18, but Lawrie deserves the recognition for what he did on that day.

No one can rub out his name from the Claret Jug. It is there to stay !

 

[EchtLoon]

he was at a coaching day with clubgolfer that i was at and is an arrogant prat! so thats why i have my opinion...

I've met Lawrie, and arrogant is about the last thing you could accuse him of. Shy and quiet maybe, but arrogant? Do one.

 

[EchtLoon]

Lawrie gives his side of the story
http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/1214857?UserKey=

Lawrie fears for Meldrum House
Paul ‘won’t be back’

By Ross McTavish

Published: 14/05/2009

DISPUTE: Paul Lawrie has been banned from Meldrum House.
More Pictures

FORMER Open champion Paul Lawrie today claimed he fears for the future of Meldrum House.

Lawrie was banned from the Aberdeenshire golf course following comments he made about the state of its greens.

The 40-year-old insisted he was well within his rights to call their condition into question.

He said: “I don’t think anyone should have to put up with this behaviour.

“If a member cannot question the greenkeeper about the condition of the greens, then I fear for the future of courses.”

Meldrum House officials said they will review the situation if Lawrie apologises for his comments.

But the Aberdeen golfer is adamant that will not happen.

He said: “No apology will be made and as long as I have breath in my body I will not set foot on Meldrum House soil again.”

The spat ends a nine-year relationship between the 1999 Open winner and the £1,500-per-year club.

He became Meldrum House’s touring professional after his Open triumph at Carnoustie.

Lawrie voiced his opinion about the state of the greens following a round with his sons at the exclusive course last month.

He said: “I felt the greens were very poor, so I spoke to the starter and asked what was happening with them.

“It was not a complaint, merely an observation.

“I then spoke to Richard (Mullen), the head greenkeeper and told him the ball was bobbling about all over the place, to which he asked me if I was winding him up.

“He was very upset and I tried to calm him down by saying it was just my opinion.”

Two days later Lawrie played the course at Deeside.

He then contacted Meldrum House’s course manager Kenny Hendry comparing the greens at the two venues.

Lawrie said: “I decided to send a text to (course manager) Kenny Harper, who I have known for years, saying Deeside greens were great, Meldrum House’s were poor.

“He texted me back to say Tiger Woods was really good, unlike . . .

“It was banter as far as I was concerned and I thought nothing more about it, but apparently Kenny went straight to the directors to complain.

“Richard then confirmed I had also raised the issue with him.”

Lawrie admitted he is shocked at the treatment he has received from Meldrum House.

He said: “I feel it’s incredible to treat any member, let alone an honorary one, in this manner.

“No one called me, and how a matter which started as 10 seconds of banter between two men has escalated to this I will never know.

“I contacted chairman Bob Edwards to ask why no one called me.

“It’s awful, but it is their club and it is up to them.”

Harper today said he had “nothing to add” when contacted by the Evening Express.

Lawrie’s coach, Neil Marr, is based at Meldrum House.

But Lawrie insisted his ban from the club will not affect his partnership with Marr.

He said: “Neil will continue to coach me, I’ll just be seeing him at other places.

“I can hit balls anywhere. It’s just a sad situation.”

Lawrie claimed his phone has been ‘red hot’ with messages of support.

He said: “I would like to thank everyone for their messages of support which have come from all over Scotland, from Edinburgh right up to Dornoch.”

 

[RGDave]

Poor Paul.

I like him and most of the things said about him are not fair. He's a fine player and a good chap.....he got lucky (in a way) but that doesn't stop him being a great player.

I hope there's no knock on.

He can always play in my garden and I can analyse his swing.

 

[Yerman]

If every club banned a member everytime one of them critiscised the greens there would be a lot of empty clubhouses up and down the nation. I think its clearly a bit of banter that has got out of hand and the pink gin brigade have got involved and made a bit of publicity for the course and themselves.

Personally I think it would surely have been better for their image to keep this in house and to at least get the reflected glory of having a European Tour player attached to the club.

Very poor show all round (including Lawrie)

Got to agree Homer, though I suspect the whole story isn't public. It is a sad reflection on all concerned, in a sport where respect and fairplay are still valued.

 

[Dave3498]

Lawrie is a great golfer. Any one of you critics would give your right arm to be able to play like him.

 

[RGDave]

How many other members have they thrown out for complaining about the greens.

Yes....and everyone moans about the state of their greens when they are bad.

I'd like to know (please feel free) how many of us actually "blame" the greenkeepers. I don't......I'll say "they're terrible", but that isn't a pop at the ground staff....I know they do their utmost 24/7.......

 

[IM01]

He took his opportunity in the play-off after a great final round on a course set up to destroy the pros,no mare than day1 leader Rod Pampling who went on to miss the cut.

He's entitled to his opinion just like the rest of the membership.

 

[EchtLoon]

He took his opportunity in the play-off after a great final round on a course set up to destroy the pros,no mare than day1 leader Rod Pampling who went on to miss the cut.

He's entitled to his opinion just like the rest of the membership.

I wonder if that's the problem though? He's an honorary, and has been since just after they opened, and just after he won the Open.

For Aberdeenshire it is helluva snobby, and helluva elitist, and now that he has helped put them on the map, he is just an ongoing expense that is no longer needed/outworn his welcome.

Could be they also feel the club ambassador - who doesn't even pay - should be promoting the club not running it down. Of course as all this was a private conversation, it's only the Meldrum House toffs that have made this a public issue in the first place. Plonkers.

 

[Cernunnos]

Quite frankly, if Paul Lawrie felt he had to make a comment about the state of the greens he probably had his reasons & was probably correct.And if he'd contacted the greenkeeper directly & privatly via text then, it bad form on the greenkeeper to spit his dummy out & share with the rest of the world something that surely should have been kept between the pair of them.

My impression is that sometimes to buck someones ideas up it can often pay dividends to deliberatly try & hit a nerve, to get that person to perform as we know they are capable of doing far better than they may currently be.

My only concern is sometimes a text message is not always the best way to get the personality of a message across.

And quite frankly, if they have taken umbridge & banned him, then in reality its their loss, not his.

I would be interested to know what the members Meldrum House think of their greens currently compared to how they may have experienced in the past.

Okay Paul Lawrie has had very changable form, but so for that matter, have many more leading lights in the sport of late.

Why bash Paul Lawrie for trying to get the green staff get on their A-Game