SAM TORRANCE LIFE TIME AWARD

Dawn who is the Development Director for SLGA was very lucky to attend the Scottish Golf Awards and Dinner last week in Glasgow. Sam Torrance received a lifetime achievement award and took time to have his photo taken with our handicap secretary Dawn.

We thought you would like to see it !

ALEX SIMPSON WINS BY 4 SHOTS

Sunday 25th March saw the latest Scottish Junior Golf Tour event take place over the Ashludie Course at Monifieth. Alex Simpson with a 79 won the under 12 section by 4 shots - impressive stuff. I have watched the improvement Alex has made over the winter and this will only be the start of many successes for Alex during 2012. Brilliant start.

BIG THANK YOU TO KIRSTY BRODIE

When Kirsty won the Highland Springs Junior Masters last year part of her prize was a 4 ball at Gleneagles. Unfortunately her Grandad is still recovering from an operation and I was honoured to be asked to take his place. Kirsty and I were drawn together against her dad Ron and brother Michael and after taking advantage of the fantastic practice facilities we made our way to the 1st tee on the Kings Course. We won the 1st hole with a par but were back to all square after 6 when Ron took advantage of his shot. A par 3 on the 8th gave us back the lead and at the short par 4 14th both Kirsty and Ron halved in sandy birdies ! Winning the 15th gave us a 2 hole lead but Michael pulled it back to 1 with a par on 17 to take the match to the 18th where we closed the match out with a birdie. What a brilliant day , thank you again Kirsty, Ron and Michael.               

RECORD BREAKER MEGAN THOM

With her first 3 cards,11 year old Megan has achieved Certificates Level 1, Level 2 and a Club Handicap of 38. What a fantastic start to her first season at Strathmore. Before her third round Megan had a practice by hitting some shots in the net whilst I set up a practice putting routine. After 5 minutes on the putting green she was ready to go. Megan hit driver on the 1st and just ran off the back, was on the 2nd and 3rd in 2, just short of the 4th in 3, just off the back on the 5th, just short of the 6th in 4 and just short of the 9th with her drive. With only 17 putts over 9 holes including 3 singles the practice on the putting certainly paid off.

I am very impressed by Megans golf swing and her ball stricking and after todays round I asked if she would like to play the 10th on the Rannaleroch which of course she said yes. After another good tee shot and just missing the green with her 3rd, Megan pitched onto the green and had an excellent 2 putt for a 6. I don't think it will be too long until we see Megan achieving her full congu handicap !

Congratulation and well done.                         

CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SEASON TO START

On Saturday we had a boys v girls Texas Scramble on Leitfie with Josh Eddington and Cormac Sharpe  taking the honours with a 31 winning by 2 shots from Louise Bloor, Amy Mitchell and Megan Thom. These 5 are so enthusiastic and could be part of our Scratch League team in 4 or 5 years time. Louise and Megan also achieved their level 1 certificates at their 1st attempts this week.

Today Dawn and I joined Allan Easton for nine holes. It was due to Allan that I got myself involved in Junior golf and seeing how last years P&K Junior Strokeplay Champion has progressed I feel proud to have been able to help him achieve that goal "the best male Junior in P&K"

Well done to Cormac Sharpe who has won the Winter League.

With the new season approaching soon I can't wait to see how all our Juniors perform and with so much talent I am looking forward to another successful year.

Michael Brodie has been drawn against Ray Gordon (Alford) and tees off in game 61 at 15.01 at Murcar in the Scottish Boys on Monday 9th April and Ross Dallas has been drawn against Scott Simpson (Murrayfield) and tees off in game 106 at 11.01 on Tuesday

Kirsty Brodie tees off at Strathmore in the Scottish under 16 Championship on Thursday 12th April at 12.50pm and at 09.05am on Friday 13th

Format change to Highland Spring Junior Masters

05/03/12

The Scottish Golf Union has announced a new format for this year’s Highland Spring Junior Masters, the biggest grassroots golf event in Scotland.

The Junior Masters, sponsored by iconic Perthshire water brand Highland Spring for the first time in 2011, is now an ‘open’ event for all junior club members in Scotland.

In previous years, clubs selected junior members to play in the event but parents can now enter their children, provided they are golf club members, through the new open format.

The tournament, run in conjunction with ClubGolf, Scotland’s national junior golf development programme and assisted by the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, is open to boys and girls aged under 16 on 1 January 2012, who are a member of an SGU or SLGA affiliated golf club.

The handicap limit is 28 for boys and 36 for girls and the field will be decided on a reverse handicap ballot.

The leading players from four regional qualifiers, played over the school holidays in July and August, will win a place in the grand final and battle it out to be national champion over the world-famous Queen's Course, Gleneagles - home of the 2014 Ryder Cup – on Sunday 7 October.

Last year’s girls’ event was won by Kirsty Brodie (Strathmore) after a three-point success over Jemma Brown (St Regulus) in the stableford format. Michael, brother of Kirsty, looked set to achieve a remarkable family double in the boys’ event, only to be denied by Liam McDowell (Wigtownshire County) in the very last boys’ group of the day.

Entry forms for the 2012 Highland Spring Junior Masters will be available at the end of March from the Scottish Golf Union website www.scottishgolf.org with a closing date in late May.

Please complete and return entry forms as soon as possible once they become available.

The Highland Spring Junior Masters is Scotland's largest and most exciting free-to-enter golf event for young golfers - an opportunity not to be missed!

L'ESCARGOT AND THE FROG CHORUS

What an amazing sight at the 11th pond , hundreds of singing Frog's ! Spring is in the air and it was brilliant to see and hear them perform.

SCRATCH LEAGUE AND JUNIOR BELL TROPHY DRAW

SCRATCH LEAGUE

Blue Group  Alyth, Auchterarder, Blairgowrie (A), Craigie Hill and Pitlochry

Red Group   Blairgowrie (B), Crieff, Kinross, Muckhart and STRATHMORE

Sunday June 10th     FREE WEEK
Sunday July 1st        Kinross v STRATHMORE
Sunday July 15th      STRATHMORE v Muckhart
Sunday August 5th   Crieff v STRATHMORE
Sunday August 19th STRATHMORE v Blairgowrie (B)

Our first match is away at Kinross who we beat 4v1 in last years semi final at Auchterarder. Two weeks later we seek revenge against Muckhart for a 2v3 away defeat in 2009. Our third match is away to another of last years defeated semi finalist Crieff and our final match is at home against Blairgowrie (B).

With the squad of players we have available I am confident we can again progress to the knock-out stages of the competition and I'm sure the team would love to return to Gleneagles for the final on the 23rd of September.

JUNIOR BELL TROPHY

STRATHMORE v Kinross

1st leg to be played 20th May
2nd leg to be played 3rd June      

Junior Bell Rules - 2012

1...A team shall consist of FIVE PLAYING MEMBERS from the club, (not necessarily the player’s home club); there are no limits to the size of pools. Clubs may enter more than one team. Players are not permitted to play for both Club teams.
2...A player may only play for ONE CLUB in any one season.
3...The players must be played in strict handicap order (exact handicaps will apply, not playing handicaps). In the event of any team being a player short they will forfeit that game.
4…The matches will consist of five games played over 18 holes of match play. In the event of a drawn match, the game or games finishing all square should play "Sudden Death" taking their allocated strokes at the appropriate holes until a result is obtained.
5…The Club drawn at HOME must give the opposition THREE dates one of which must be on a different week from the other two. (A week runs from Monday until Sunday). The two teams must exchange order of team selection showing the current handicap prior to play commencing. Any default in the order will result in the loss of the game or games in which the default occurs.
6…For the first round ONLY, teams will play on a home and away basis with the result being decided on aggregate scores, thereafter (second round onwards) it will be straight knockout. If the aggregate scores are tied (first round only) “Sudden Death” will take place between the two No. 1 players. The Final will be played at Gleneagles.
7…All County competitions will be run under the rules of the Royal & Ancient Golf club of St Andrews and any local rule pertaining to the day. In the event of any dispute the decision of the area executive will be final.
8…Category A players are not permitted, players with handicaps between 6 and 28 (boys), 6 and 36 (girls) are only eligible.
9…Boys play from the white tees, girls from the red tees, full handicap allowance, if a match occurs between a boy and a girl the handicaps MUST be adjusted if the CSS for gents and ladies differ (i.e. Craigie Hill gents CSS 67, Craigie Hill Ladies 69), therefore the girl would get and extra 2 strokes), strokes should then be taken as per the stroke index on the scorecard/s. If in any doubt please contact Andy McDonald prior to the match/game taking place.

BIG THANKS TO ALL JUNIORS

Today saw the Leitfie Links Championship take place and I would like to thank all the Juniors for keeping me practising and playing over the "wee course" as it certainly paid off. I scored 62 (32 out 30 back) to win by 4 shots. My magic moment was when after hitting my tee shot on 8 over the hedge and having to play a provisional ball, I found the 1st ball and wedged it to 10ft and holed the putt for a par (great escape) Playing on Leitfie develops your short game and as I have told all the Juniors who have come through our coaching system that's where you make your score. Dawn also won the Ladies Scratch so that again proves my point and makes for a great junior/family double.       

JUNIOR SEASON TEES OFF WITH A TEXAS SCRAMBLE

Great to see so many taking part today and with only 4 shots separating the field a very close and fun filled game took place over Leitfie. A special mention to our new participants Luke, Louise and Megan.

For full results see below

Winning team of Cormack, Brad and Luke

  

  

Luke Archibald, Brad Bannerman, Cormac Sharpe, Gordon Walker 31,

Louise Bloor, Amy Mitchell, Iain Butchart 32,

Peter Mattner, Cory Millar, Megan Thom, Jackie Moran 33 bih,

Josh Eddington, Callum Ewan, Alex Simpson 33.

Jude Archibald, Callum Sharpe, Louis Walker 35

Slide show of the day below:

JUNIORS WELCOME ANOTHER NEW MEMBER

Louise Bloor became our latest new member today and is looking forward to taking part in next weeks opening Fun Texas Scramble which takes place on Saturday 10th March. Please arrive at 11.30am to register.

As Junior Captain Michael Brodie is away on a School skiing trip on the 17th March, the Captains Drive-in will be re-arranged for a later date but we will still hold a fun event at 12 noon - registration at 11.30am.
        

Texas Scramble 7 under par through 15

Had another good day with Alex, Brad & Michael. Birdies at 2,3(Michael drove the green)6,7,11,12 and 15 - rain stopped play! Very impressed again, practice paying off.