Hello from sunny Florida!

And before you say anything I am working. 

 

This week is my annual pilgrimage to see my mentor Dr Jim Suttie at Twineagles Golf Club in Naples. It just so happens he coaches in a warm sunny place at this time of the year. Jim in my opinion is the best out there, and it is always an education to be around him and as always my knowledge is greater after these trips.

I have also recently been on a Golf Monthly photo shoot, which means get ready to see my face in this magazine in the coming months. I have written for golf magazines for over 20 years, this shoot was very comprehensive and I can't wait to see the results in print. There was a point where the photographer told us to drop everything as he saw a really arty shot, which he has very kindly allowed me to reprint here. There is nothing photoshopped about this picture. Apart from the ball going in the hole, to be honest it just missed on the left.

   

While I was away, John has ably stepped into my shoes in recent Captain/Pro matches with Kevin, and on Sunday he had a hole in one on the third West. He's a generous lad, so I'm sure he is still buying drinks if you catch up with him soon. Only joking, well done John!


 

Mark Peache produced a fine round to win the Stableford last week with a fine 38 pts to leave clear water between him and his fellow competitors. The runner up was Shaun Ryan with 33pts on countback from Bernie Rowland who shot the same score. Malcolm Stonehill was fourth with 32pts.

Stuart Quinlan was the winner in the Gold division of the medal over the weekend. Played over the East course he shot a fine 70, with Mark Clark pipping Steve Instrell to the runners up spot, both having shot nett 71's. Colin Taylor was fourth with a nett 72.

Nevill Diffey won the Silver division with a nett 74, with Duncan McWilliam taking the runner up spot with a nett 75. Martin Turner took third spot on countback from Chris Gaites both having shot nett 76's.


 

The Indian Open has been a fixture on the Asian Tour since 1970 and, in fact, this will be the 52nd running of the contest. The inaugural tournament was hosted at Delhi Golf Club back in 1964 and was won by five-time Open champion Peter Thomson.

The event has seen some interesting winners over the years - Graham Marsh of Australia was twice a winner in the early 1970s. Gaylord Burrows of the USA was the champion in 1979 and the late Payne Stewart took the title in 1981 - his first professional win.

This is just the second year the tournament has featured on the European Tour circuit. In 2015 it was home favourite Anirban Lahiri who came out on top after a playoff against his countryman SSP Chawrasia.

Lahiri defends the Hero Indian Open title but he'll face strong competition from a field that features many of the European and Asian Tour's best players. Padraig Harrington tees it up this week, so too do Tommy Fleetwood, Joost Luiten, George Coetzee and last week's winner Scott Hend.

The home nation will be well represented with Lahiri, Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, SSP Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Rai and Chiragh Kumar amongst others on the start sheet.

The course at Delhi Golf Club was opened for play in 1951. It was originally designed by General J.H Wilkinson but was re-designed by Peter Thomson in the 1970s. It's a flat layout with extremely narrow fairways lined by trees and bushes - accuracy will be of paramount importance this week.


Player watch: 

Marcus Fraser - The Australian was a winner in Malaysia just three weeks ago and he was joint third in this event last year. His game is suited to this narrow and tricky course. 

Prayad Marksaeng - The veteran from Thailand turned 50 earlier this year but top 15 finishes in both Malaysia and Thailand last week prove that he can still mix it at the top of the board. He was also tied for third in this event last year. 

Richard McEvoy - He was tied seventh in this event last year but finished just two shots back. He's one of the straightest hitters on the European Tour and is currently ranked third in driving accuracy. That is key around this track.

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