Well done Kirsty Brodie on being selected to the Ladies Squad for the second consecutive year and Megan Ashley who has been selected to attend the Scottish Development programme at Gleneagles.
3 apologies but it was great to see Tod, Luke and Nicholas were up for a game today. Brilliant blue sky's and no wind. No excuse for not being out there. Tod hit some amazing tee shots pin high on 7 being the highlight. Luke showed consistency in his game that wasn't there before and Nicholas was very impressive off the tee when he got it right and it's not far away.
Our Texas Scramble scoring was very consistent 1 bogey and 1 birdie out for 33 and 2 bogey's in for 33 gave us a 66. I have family commitments the next 2 weekend so it gives all of you a chance to get out there and practice before I invite you all to join in for the next game.
The 19-year-old is in her second year of study at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas - and her golf game is on the up.
Emily Aird
She was the youngest ladies club champion at Blairgowrie Golf Club at the age of 17.
And now Emily Aird is making her mark in the USA.
Now 19 and into the second year as an English major at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, the clubs have gone into cold storage during a five week break at home with parents Alison and Alasdair in Tummel Bridge.
The four-handicapper, who honed her game as a kid at Strathmore, admits it was a daunting prospect to embark on a four year degree course in America - but she is lapping it up.
“I am really enjoying life in the States and my golf is improving all the time,” she said.
Eight girls compete for five places on the golf team – and there is a real United Nations flavour to the squad.
“Competition is intense, especially this year.
“The other girls are from Belgium, Germany, two from England and South Africa. But everyone is really supportive.
“We played four conference tournaments and won three of them in the last semester.
“My golf has definitely improved and playing most of the year is a great help. It is a challenge balancing degree work with golf but it just means you have to be organised.
“We play our matches away from home, usually in Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
“So that means we have a lot of travelling to do, usually by road unless we are going to somewhere like California.
“We have a match coming up in San Antonio and that is at least a 12-hour trip. So it means getting the papers and laptop out on the journeys to golf venues.”
It makes the one hour trip from Tummel Bridge to Blairgowrie with dad Alasdair for a game look modest.
But the current break is for down time and a chance to hook-up with family and friends.
“I didn’t bring back my clubs because it is expensive – and the weather sucks! It’s a bit like Kansas actually.
“I have played some excellent courses. Probably my favourite so far is Foxtail at Sonoma near San Francisco. The weather there helped! It was tree lined and reminded me of courses back home.”
I know Christmas is not quite here yet but the days are now going to get longer and I'm already getting excited for next season. Dawn and I played 9 holes today and could not believe the condition of the course - especially the greens which were magnificent, the best I have played on at this time of year.
Yesterday Amy and Alex joined me for a Texas scramble and due to frost we had to play to the winter greens but still managed a respectable 4,3,3,2,4,3,4,4,3 = 30 out 4,3,3,3,3,3,3,4,4 = 30 in = 60. Run of 6 x 3,s was the highlight.
Next planned outing Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of January anyone looking to join in let me know, let's get 2015 off to a flyer.
Merry Xmas everyone and we are going to have a really happy New Year !!!
Strathmore Junior Section had been nominated in the 2014 Alyth and District Business Association's Group of the Year award and I have the pleasure to announce we have won.
It is an honour to be the recipients of this trophy as Alyth and District had a number of groups, organisations and clubs who were nominated, so to come out on top puts the icing on another fantastic year for Strathmore Juniors.
I am delighted that Megan Ashley has joined Strathmore again and that we will be her home club. Megan plays off a handicap of 15 so will be challenging for a place in both our Scratch and Bell Trophy teams and will be a welcome addition to our Saturday competitions. By reducing her handicap from 22 to 15 last year I look forward to seeing how much more progress she can make and another single figure junior girl is achievable before the season is out.
Welcome back and look forward to joining you on the course soon.
Bradley Neil today put his foot firmly on the first rung of success by making the cut as an amateur in the opening European PGA event of the 2015 season at Leopards Creek, South Africa. He shot a superb 2 under par round to make the cut and tees it up with Robert Rock tomorrow. Strathmore's best wishes go with him and it proves again anything is possible if you work hard.
