FINALS DAY

First up Cameron Galloway and Jack Stevenson in the handicap final, with Cameron winning the first 4 holes. Jack won 5 and 6 to get it back to 2 down. Cameron won 8 but lost 9 to go into the back nine 2up. He then won 10 & 11 and halved 12 before Jack won on the 13th.  Going down 14 Jack was up against it and found the green with his 2nd shot but lost to a 5 nett 4 to go dormie 4 down. Jack won 15 but it was all over on 16 when they halved. Cameron became the 2024 Handicap Champion. 

The Scratch final saw a Captain v Vice Captain match up between 2 times and current Champion Stuart Duncan and Conan Reid. Conan lipped out on the first, which they halved. He then birdied 2, won 3 with a par and birdied 4 to go 3 up. Stuart won 5 and birdied 6 to get it back to 1 down. Bar Conan winning 10 and losing 11 the next 9 holes were halved. Standing on the 18th tee 1 up,  and Stuart hitting a drive straight up the middle. Conan stuck with his strategy of hitting an iron off the tee. He found himself slightly blocked by a tree but managed to progress the ball up the side of the fairway, and managed to find the back of the green with his 3rd shot from 210yds uphill. Stuart had hit a good second up the left but found a lush lie in the second cut. He hit what looked like a good third shot but unfortunately it didn’t make the green and rolled back into the front bunker. He produced a great bunker shot and Conan kept his cool to run his putt down the green and left himself a nice straight uphill putt from within 2ft. Stuart unfortunately missed his putt leaving Conan with 2 shots to win but holed it to win the 2024 Junior Club Championship. 

Both games were played in great spirits and with the assistance of their caddies who helped them all the way round it was a fantastic day. Keir Reid, Louis Purdie, Archie Pattullo and Tom Stevenson all deserve a round of applause.

Before the presentation Scott Abraham, who had been in a party from Clober Golf Club, playing in front of us, approached me, they had seen our sign about donating to the Juniors for landing in the greenside bunker on the 12th. Although none of them had, they had a whip round and gave me £62.20 for the junior section. What a fantastic gesture and a huge thank you from Strathmore Junior Section. 

THE DREAM BEGINS

We WON the qualifier today !!!

At Strathmore we believe if your good enough you’re old enough and today three 8 and one 11 year old proved us right. We fielded a very talented young team and they all played their part in qualifying at Forfar for the National Flag   Championship to be held at Gleneagles on Sunday the 1st of September. We got off to a great start with both Andrew Brass and James Thom parring the first hole. 

Andrew then proceeded to drive the green on the second. James missed the green on 4th hole but his wedge onto a raised green was superb. Seamus Sangerman had finished just short but played a great chip which nearly went in. Leighton Thomas’s driving was very consistent as was his putting. 

All four played their part. Leighton and Seamus both made the seventh green with their 36 shots. Andrew had a putt on the eighth green from 4ft for his 36th shot, and I told him it was his last shot, and he duly holed out (no pressure). James still had a shot left so teed off on the 9th and hit a cracker. 

I am so proud of all these boys who played their part in this great achievement. Roll on the final. 

We also have another Strathmore Flag team competing at North Inch on Saturday the 3rd of August. Could we have 2 teams in the final ?   One can only dream.

SAFEGOLF ACCREDITATION COMPLETED AND RENEWED

 

WHAT A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE FOR STRATHMORE’S THREE MUSKETEERS

Final day of the Stephen Gallacher Foundation, under 12 and under 10, 36 hole Championship at Gogarburn. Our 3 boys were all well placed and going into the final round with chances. Keir teed of first and after a par on the first unfortunately found the out of bounds twice on the 2nd hole. Having played his Junior Club Championship handicap semi final last night over 18 holes off the white tees and 12 holes before that at Gogarburn I suspect he was maybe a bit tired today. But he kept going and still finished with a smile on his face. Archie was next out and Dawn and I were watching the live scores for updates. He improved his score again today shooting 56 with 4 pars and a birdie included. He finished 4th in the under 10’s only 1 shot back from finishing tied 2nd. He picked up a voucher for his round today and his confidence is sky high. Keegan started his round with his 2nd eagle in two rounds and with his best round of the week a 54 moved him up to 4th in the under 12 Championship and he also received a voucher. 

I am so proud of the 3 of them and how they have performed. This was a chance to test their games and progress and they all passed with flying colours. It’s GolfNines next for these boys and I see a bright future ahead for them all. I think Archie’s handicap will definitely be on the way down very soon. 

SEMI FINALS NIGHT

Apart from being held up by a Fourball from the 4th tee onwards with sometimes having 3 matches on one tee tonight, the junior semi finals were played with perfect etiquette. 

Louis was up against Stuart and both played some fantastic golf. The match went to and fro and Louis fought back from 2 down to go up the last all square. Louis hit his third shot through the back and left himself with a very difficult fourth shot which ran past some 10ft and unfortunately left his putt short and Stuart rolled in his birdie putt to secure his place in the final. Louis should feel so proud of his performance and taking Stuart to the 18th. 

Archie and Conan also had a close match which also went to the 18th. Conan was one up and Archie unfortunately missed his putt to take his match into extra holes. Both boys were level par on the back nine up to the 17th tee. Some great shots from tee to green and the game was decided on the putts. 

Jack and Keir’s match was also a close affair with them halving 7 holes in a row. It came up the last all square with Jack winning with a great par. Tom and Keegan played their parts as caddies and all 4 had great fun going round. 

Cammy and Cammy had another close match and their game did go up the 19th. Both hit decent tee shots but Cameron Galloway didn’t hit his best 2nd and the advantage swung. When Cameron Redden hit his 3rd shot to 3ft everyone thought it was game over until CG played his 4th shot from 100+yds out which hit the pin and nearly dropped in. This gave him a 5 net 4 and CR unfortunately missed his putt. 

The finals on Saturday will be between 

Scratch -  Stuart Duncan and Conan Reid

Handicap - Cameron Galloway and Jack Stevenson

If the semi finals are anything to go by the finals are going to be exciting 

MOVING DAY AT GOGARBURN

All 3 Strathmore boys improved their scores on day 2. Keir shot the 4th best score of the day 55, an improvement of 11 shots, and moved up to tied 15th. Archie, who is playing in the under 10 section improved his first round score by 3 with an impressive 58 including 4 pars. Remembering his WHS handicap is 37.2 this has been 2 fantastic steady rounds of golf. He currently sits tied 11th in the under 12’s and 4th in the under 10’s only 1 shot behind tied 2nd and only 6 shots off the lead. Keegan also improved his score by 1 shot, helped by an eagle on the 11th hole. He currently sits 7th. 

I am so pleased for all 3 boys. When I saw this event was on I thought it would be a good experience for them all. They certainly have learned a lot from this and with the final round tomorrow I can’t wait to see how they get on. 

On day one Keir unfortunately got stuck in 2 bunkers and lost 7 shots and tried to play over trees instead of playing safe. He said he was going to make wiser and safer choices today and his score certainly reflects this. It’s a huge learning curve for these young boys but they will learn from their mistakes and become better players. 

The starter today was current Scottish Amateur Champion Cameron Adam and he is pictured with the boys below. 

STEPHEN GALLACHER FOUNDATION UNDER 12 and UNDER 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS

What a fantastic start for Archie Loudon in the under 10’s. He is tied 4th, only 4 shots behind the leader after day 1. His score of 61 included 6 pars. His preparation has certainly paid dividends. Keegan Fergusson shot 59 and sits 7th in the under 12’s and only 2 shots back from 3rd place. Keir Reid shot 66 and sits tied 17th so it’s all to play for over the next 2 days. Borrowed some photos from the SGF website but it only shows Archie and Keegan.

WHAT A MONDAY

Just had confirmation that Strathmore 2 have made the semi-finals of the Bell Salver. 

We now have 2 teams playing in the Flag Qualifiers at Forfar on Friday 26th August and North Inch on Saturday 3rd August. Andrew Brass, James Thom, Leighton Thomas and Seamus Sangerman are up first with Forbes Cowan, Hunter McQueen, Callum Nelson and Joel Tosh up next. 

Our match play leagues are going strong with 3 matches played today. Jessica Sievwright halved with Joe Frullani, Ally Brass won 3&1 v Saoirse Sangerman and Archie Puttullo won 2 up v Broden Sidley. All close matches and it’s great to see the spirit these matches are being played in and great team spirit being built within the section.

Louis was out playing against his dad, Andrew was out having a practice round and the 3 Stevenson boys and Ellie-Marie were having group and individual lessons with Kathryn Imrie. 

Keegan, Keir and Archie are playing at Gogarburn over the next 3 days in the Stephen Gallacher Foundation u12 and u10 Championships. Archie traveled down today to walk the course and make his own plan of the course. This is so professional and shows how serious he is taking this. 

I am so impressed by all of these youngsters commitments and it won’t be long before we see Strathmore Golf Club Junior Section members again make an impact at County and National level. 

We have also confirmed a reciprocal match with Ladybank which confirms how much we are respected within Scottish Golf clubs. 

UNFORTUNATELY WE MIGHT JUST MISS OUT

Both our Bell Salver teams played today knowing wins could see them progress. Strathmore 1 were out first with Ally leading from the front and winning comfortably 4&3. Joe continued his great run of form and secured his win 3&2. Jessica lost on the last 2 down and Ellie-Marie making her debut lost 3&2. A draw was a fair result and hopefully the youngsters experience of playing match play will help them progress. With 2 draws and a narrow defeat we won’t progress but maybe next year. Strathmore 2 played a strong Muckhart team and Archie did well only to lose 4&3 to a player who was level par through 15. Jack won 2&1 and Andrew making his debut lost 4&2. All hopes were now on Louis who fought back to square his match on 17 but unfortunately a lost ball meant he lost out. With 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss we will have to wait until all the results are in to see if we make the semi finals or not. 

Some fantastic performances during our 6 matches. I’m sure every player will have learned something from their matches, and hopefully will use that as part of their development. 

REID BOYS MAKE IT A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FOR MUM AND DAD

Met Conan this morning after his round, he was playing in the Gents event and shot a gross 74 (40 points) and will have a well deserved handicap cut. Then had the pleasure to play with Jack and Keir in the afternoon. 

Keir had the best round of golf I have ever seen him play. He played steady on the front 9 and shot 47 for 20 points then the fireworks began. Remembering his handicap is 27.7 and he is only 10 years old his back 9 started with 4 straight pars, he bogeyed 14 after missing a par putt. But parred 15 before bogeying 16, parred 17 with a fantastic pitch from 50yds to within a foot. Then doubled 18 for an amazing back 9 of 39 and 27 points. 47 points will give him a big handicap cut. I am so pleased for him, his chipping and putting today was superb. Great preparation for Gogarburn next week, his confidence will be sky high. 

He plays Jack in the junior Club Championship handicap semi final on Wednesday and although they will be playing from the White tees I think Jack knows he’s in for a game. 

Ally Brass put his hired Rangefinder to great use and shot 37 points with the highlight being a birdie on 10. 

Louis and Olly also played to handicap. The banter again was great and seeing these kids all loving golf makes it all worthwhile. 

WHAT FANTASTIC SCORING

Yesterday we held our Junior Open. 31 players entered and 1 withdrew after qualifying for the Scottish Girls at Forfar. New member Gus Donaldson playing off a handicap of 16.8 shot a fantastic gross 80, only 8 over par and won the scratch by 2 shots. He reduced his handicap by 5 shots to 11.9. In the handicap section our own Joseph Frullani shot an incredible 98 gross nett 57, 15 shots below his handicap leading to a reduction from 38 to 31 of 7 shots. It’s brilliant to see these players progressing so quickly, all down to playing more often. Only 5 of the players in the field played under handicap so it shows how good these scores were. Boys Scratch Gus Donaldson Girls Scratch Marisa Foley, Boys Handicap Joseph Frullani Girls Handicap Jane Reilly