FANTASTIC FINALS DAY

First of all congratulations to Junior Handicap Secretary Dawn who won her 9th Ladies Club Championship Final today. Both Junior finals were hotly contested with the Scratch final going to the 18th  where defending champion Stuart closed it out 2 up. Conan had been up twice in the match and should be very proud of himself. The Handicap final was won by Louis 2&1 with Cameron 1 up at the turn so again a very close match but difficult for Cameron who was giving 14 shots. So proud of these 4 young men who played golf in the proper spirit of the game. 

Gareth took the 2nd Girls Hub today and delighted to welcome Floss and Hannah as our 15th and 16th new members for 2023. 

GIRLS HUB SUCCESS AS 2 NEW MEMBERS SIGN UP BEFORE THE 2nd SESSION TAKES PLACE

Sisters Phoebe and Lucy are our 13th and 14th new members for the season having signed up after attending the first Girls Hub. Both girls are excited to be part of our Junior Section and will be attending the Hub again tomorrow. 

Cameron plays Louis in the Junior Club Championship Handicap final at 12.15pm and will be giving him 14 shots. 

Stuart plays Conan in the Scratch Final at 12.30pm 

I am caddying for Junior Handicap Secretary Dawn who is contesting the Ladies Final for the 21st time. 

Good luck to everyone and play your best. In matchplay anything can happen, so expect it to, and never give up. Looking forward to seeing who prevails and some exciting play. 

STRATHMORE JUNIORS ON TOUR

Today saw Strathmore Juniors play their first GolfNines, the progression from GolfSixes. We travelled down to Cambuslang to play Kirkhill Golf Course and Andrew, Keegan, Keir and Louis played really well. The course was a great test and I believe giving our younger players an opportunity will stand them in good stead for the challenges ahead. We finished 6th but that did not reflect our play. It’s a huge learning curve and one which will benefit them all, I am so proud of these four and all our other juniors and see a bright future ahead.  

HANDICAP CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL RESULT

Both semi-finals were played tonight in great spirit and sporting fashions with all 4 players complimenting  each other on good shots etc. It was great that Stuart offered to referee one match and I took the other. Some great shots were played by all the players, Cameron won his match against Keir 7&6 but Keir I’m sure will have learned a lot and the experience of playing match play will make him a better player. Louis played very well and Keegan’s putting let him down early on and he was 6 down at the turn but halved 10 and 11 before winning 12 and 13 and putting a bit of pressure back on Louis before Louis had a great 5 net 4 on the14th to win the match 5&4. Great learning curve for all involved and a great final in store. 

YESTERDAYS RESULT

GOLFSIXES TEAM AT BALLUMBIE TODAY

Great to see our young team out having fun again on the GolfSixes Tour. Jessica and Joe, Andrew and James and Keir and Ellie-Marie were the pairings and all 6 played their parts. We won’t get results until tomorrow as Andy who does so much for Ballumbie and Angus County had been bought a ticket by his wife to attend a concert tonight and had to leave early. This format gives the youngsters their first taste of team competitive golf and it’s the start of their golfing journey.  Downfield host next before we hold the final event. 

ARCHIES BACK

So pleased for Archie, after 5 months of health issues, he’s back doing what he loves most, playing golf again. And boy what a score today, 83 his personal best and only his 3rd round back. He has definitely been missed and it’s so good to have him back. Not fully recovered yet but seems to be making progress and that makes his score today so special. Louis also had a decent score today and it’s great to see his game improve as well. Seamus was out for his second handicap card and struggled a bit with the rough and found a couple of improvement areas he will need to work on. Jessica nearly had her 1st hole in one on the 2nd hole of Leitfie, picture below. 

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER MEMBER

Dawn and I went down to fit Jakob with his first hire set. He hasn’t played before and we were both impressed by his swing, very natural and very strong, and we think he has great potential. Just got home and received a message saying Jamie had also joined today bringing our new members for 2023 up to 12. Think I may have met Jamie and his dad on the course already so look forward to seeing his progress as well. Cameron who joined as a Full junior yesterday and already has a handicap will hopefully start to come out on a Saturday and play in our Rannaleroch competitions. Tomorrow we have Summer League then Sunday it’s GolfSixes at Ballumbie. 

WHAT A DAY

First of all a huge thank you to past Gents Captain and Club President Eric Gray, who again for the umpteenth year running, came along to help Dawn and I run the Junior Open. Without his assistance it would be impossible to run. He not only acts as starter and announces everyone onto the tee but he puts out all the nearest the pins and longest drive markers and collects them in. He also then rangers and makes sure the pace of play is adhered to. Thanks also go to the Centre who sponsor the event and provide the prizes and the organisation behind the scenes. The condition of the course is superb and Scott and his team must be congratulated on giving the players one of the best courses in Scotland to play on. We had 34 players competing in the Junior Open from 17 different clubs with Carrbridge being the furthest away. Cole and Nina won the Scratch with James and Elle the handicap. 

The Scottish Golf Flag qualifier followed and we fielded 2 teams. I believe in giving youngsters a chance and we fielded two very young teams and they did us proud. Team 1 finished 2nd very close to Crieff which won on the day. Everyone playing had a fun time and will learn so much from taking part. 

We also gained a new member when Cameron signed up after his round today. 

DOUBLE FIGURES FOR NEW MEMBERS 2023

Jakob becomes new member number 10 and will be fitted for hire clubs on Friday and look forward to meeting him then. 

For the past 14 years we have been encouraging youngsters at Strathmore and it’s great to now include our grandchildren. We have had our grandsons Kieran and Leighton staying since Sunday night and they have played two Flag Competitions qualifiers and also took part in the Skills Challenge and am proud that both have done really well. Leighton, our youngest, is currently top of the 6 and under section and his improvement is amazing. Today for a change, I took them to the North Inch first to play Foot Golf, brilliant fun and a great way to combine two sports they love. After lunch we went out on the 9 hole Leitfie Course to try for their fun handicaps and 2nd Certificates and I am delighted to say Leighton achieved both. He shot 53 including a lost ball. His tee shot on the 9th was just short of the green and his chip found the top level of the green 5ft short of the pin. He just missed the par but a 4 was good enough. Kieran unfortunately didn’t have his best round but after Leighton insisted we went to the chipping area I feel he will soon be catching up if he continues to practice. Leighton then insisted we went to the putting green and eventually had to be dragged off. At tea time tonight Leighton was still practicing his putting by hitting his Scampi across his plate ! I gave him a pickled onion which seemed to help !! I believe we may have discovered another talented youngster who could be anything, and as his grandad could not be prouder. 

PROVISIONAL DRAW FOR JUNIOR OPEN

 

FUTURE IS BRIGHT

First up was the Girls Hub. Gareth welcomed Floss, Hannah, Lucy and Phoebe and all 4 loved it. He started off by fitting them with sets of clubs and the basics of grips and stance. All of them improved greatly and with the rain going off, we took them down to the putting green and again they did a few drills and improved with the practice. We then played a game of “Donkey” which again was a lot of fun. After snacks it was time to go to the chipping area where the girls were taught how to chip and pitch and run. The Girls took their sets home so they can come back and practice before their next session.

Next up was the latest Junior Championship qualifier and I played along with Louis and Keegan and was very impressed by their consistency off the tee. Both boys scores did not reflect their play but Louis still topped the leaderboard in todays event. 

We now have our finalists and semi finalists. Stuart will play Conan in the Scratch Final and number 1 qualifier Keir will play 4th qualifier Cameron with 2nd qualifier Keegan playing 3rd qualifier Louis and I expect some great matches. Good luck to everyone.

JULY MEDAL

Olly wins July medal

NEW MEMBER NUMBER 9 AND GIRLS HUB FILLING UP FAST

Callum becomes our latest new member after going to the driving range at Middlebank for lessons with Gareth. Look forward to meeting him soon. Another 2 have signed up for the Girls Hubs and we only have  2 spaces left.

LEITFIE SUMMER LEAGUE

Andrew has just got his first fun handicap and is keen to get going, his card included a birdie 2 on the 9th and he looks very pleased with the feat. Seamus and Archie both submitted cards and have had handicap cuts. The Girls Hubs went live on Friday and already we have our first two signed up. 

PRESIDENTS CUP

Fantastic turnout with 10 juniors joining the adults out on the course today. Huge thank you to President Sally Fenner and both the ladies and gents sections for making the youngsters so welcome and also to the 8 members who took them round. The youngsters all really enjoyed themselves today and some tremendous scoring. Olly just pipped Archie on a better back nine. Archie didn’t let that bother him and went out for another 18 holes on Leitfie and scored really well. We have had an enquiry for membership and our first enquiry for the Girls Hub we are holding. Think the school holidays are going to be busy.