ANOTHER NEW HANDICAP

Congratulations to Harry Kemish who achieved his first WHS handicap of 50.4. Great to have another player ready to compete.

Dawn took out Noah Shepherd for 18 holes to assess his readiness to upgrade to the Rannaleroch Course and she was totally impressed. His ability and scoring was outstanding for a 10 year. We have recommended he upgrades immediately, huge potential. His attitude on the course was exemplary which is so important, Dawn said it was such a pleasure to accompany him round the course. He listened, learned took everything onboard and she believes he will take the step up in his stride. 

LEITFIE WINTER LEAGUE OFF TO FLIER

Forbes Cowan and Hunter McQueen both scored gross 45’s, very consistent scoring with nothing worse than a 6. Forbes net score was 23 and a 2 shot reduction to his fun handicap. Dawn was very impressed by his length off the tee for an 8 year old. 

TEAM DID THEMSELVES PROUD

5.30am start today. Conan led out the team and hit a great drive up straight up the first, finding the fairway. Angus and Stuart both knew where not to go but both went into the trees. Stuart played the better recovery and then hit his third shot to 2ft and holed out for a birdie. On the second hole he pulled it so far left he finished in the rough, over on the far side of the third fairway. He hit a great recovery shot onto the green then rolled in his second birdie putt. We caught up with him again on nine where his par 4 kept him at 2 under. We caught up with him later on 18 where he needed a par 5 for a level par 72. Unfortunately he hit a poor third shot, will blame excitement or nerves, but a six gave him the best gross score of the day by 3 shots. What a fantastic performance and score. Louis also made a fantastic contribution and was only 3 over par after nine. He finished with a net 70 which was 2 below his handicap. Archie was hitting it well but finding the greens difficult and felt his putting let him down. Conan and Angus both had a couple of bad holes which cost them shots and after a nervy start Keir settled down and played fairly steady but towards the end had a couple of bad holes as well. After a fantastic meal we awaited the final scores. Royal Burgess were 6th, Turnhouse 5th, Strathmore 4th, Airdrie 3rd, Drumpellier 2nd and congratulations to the winners Whitecraigs. We were only one shot behind 3rd and five shots behind 2nd place. We can claim to be the East Coast winners. Great experience for all the players and each player will take loads of positives from the whole event. Thanks to the parents and grandparent who made sure everyone arrived on time prepared and raring to go. 

PRACTICE DAY

Scottish National Final, Junior Team Golf Home Nations Inter-Club Championship. 5 of the team travelled down today and I’m sure Keir will update Conan on how to play the course. Stirling Golf Club is the venue and it offers a fair test. Fair bit of elevations so club selection will be very important. Angus and Stuart quickly realised the line on the first wasn’t over the trees but were quick to work out the lines after that. Dawn went round with Archie, Louis and Keir and was very impressed. Archie had a fantastic back 9, Louis had a fantastic round up to 15, when his late night yesterday caught up with him, so early night for him and he will be brilliant tomorrow. Keir will take a lot from today and knows what his improvement areas are. His bunker play was exceptional but he needs to concentrate on every up hill shot and take more club. Great time was had by all and the team are buzzing about tomorrow. 

LAST TROPHY PLAYED FOR TODAY

Ten pairs took part today and some fantastic scoring. Dawn was so impressed with Conan’s play, having not played along with him for sometime, his improvements are incredible. He drove the 2nd green, was level with the bunkers on 14, leaving Dawn a pitch to the green which he then holed. He only missed one putt under 8ft and has a such a great technique. They shot an incredible 74 gross. 

They were pipped for the trophy by a better inward half by Broden and Linda who shot a net 67. They gelled really well and it’s great to see new names on the trophy. 

So much fun was had today and I would like to thank the adult members who made up the teams. 

Sheena and Judy won nearest the pins on 17 and 4 with Keegan and Broden on 6 and 13 respectively. 

WHO SAID IT WAS THE END OF THE SEASON - THIRD NEW MEMBER IN A WEEK

Will McLaren becomes our third new member in a week for 2025. At this rate we will need a waiting list.

As the saying goes “success breeds success”, and if yesterdays results are anything to go by then next year is going to be amazing. And we’ve still got 3 months of 2024 to go. 

WHAT A SUNDAY FOR STRATHMORE

Where do I start ? Early morning trip to Mortonhall Golf Club for the Junior Team Golf, Home Nations Inter-Club Championship semi-final. Stuart Duncan, Archie Pattullo, Louis Purdie, Alasdair Brass, Keir Reid and Andrew Watt represented Strathmore again having won the quarter-final last week at Braehead. Turnhouse, Royal Burgess, Braehead and Crieff were the other clubs competing today and what a test for all the teams. Difficult course in beautiful condition, lots of undulations and hills. Well bunkered and the cold and windy conditions didn’t make it any easier. Our boys struggled at times on some of the holes but they all dug deep and kept going. We had no idea how the other teams were doing, and with one gross score and 4 nett scores counting no one knows until all the scores are in. We didn’t hold out much hope but to our surprise and delight we qualified !! 

The final takes place at Stirling on the weekend of 5th & 6th of October and for Strathmore Juniors it will be our first team national final. These players have made history. 

To top off an already special day we had seven Strathmore players representing their Schools in the Alfred Dunhill event at the Buddon Course, Carnoustie. Cameron Galloway won the boys handicap S4-S6 with a net 63 (-5), Jessica Sievwright won the girls handicap S1-S3 with a net 63 (-5) with Saoirse Sangerman 3rd with a net 67 (-1) 

Overall a highly successful day. As we’ve been on the go for over 12 hours, more photos and details will follow tomorrow.