6th NEW HANDICAP

Johnnie Armstrong achieved his WHS handicap and has huge potential. I have arranged a putting lesson for him on Saturday before he plays in his first Medal. 

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Johnnie Armstrong becomes first new member for 2027 with a 17 month deal. Look forward to meeting him on Saturday and giving him a quick lesson and taking him out in our Saturday Junior competition. 

New handicap

Arthur Grewar is our latest WHS handicap player 30.6 but that will reduce quickly. 

WHAT A ROUND

10 year old Andrew Brass made a huge transition on Saturday. His score of 35 points did not reflect his play, he could and should have been at least at least 10 points better. He had a 10ft birdie putt on the fifth which is stroke index 1 and had a 6 on the 14th which is stroke index 2, with his second shot out of bounds ! His driving was incredible both in distance and accuracy. Only development area is on the greens  where pace should be worked on and more time should be taken over short putts. Andrew has huge potential and I believe he has a very bright future ahead. 

BUSY TWO DAYS

 New member number 16 for 2026 Sorley Petrie joined yesterday, what a testament to what we are doing. Archie Puttullo who gained a Gleneagles Scholarship for this year invited Dawn and I to play there yesterday and what a pleasure to watch him go round the Queen’s Course in a gross 70. His course management and ball striking are key to his performance. Archie and Dawn were 4 up at one point and Ian and I pegged them back to 2 before losing out on the 16th where Ian looked like he was close to holing his tee shot twice !! The cambers on the green meant his ball swung first left to right then back again, shot of the day. Today Dawn and I took Keir Reid out to work on his game and it was a simple fix. He has so much ability and just needed a few pointers. 

UPDATED REPORT

Turning back the years today, both Keegan Fergusson and Alisdair Brass played in the Scottish Under 14 Open Championship at Edzell. Been a few years since we had 2 playing at this level. It’s great to see the progress they are making. Keegan shot a decent 80 and Alisdair will be hoping to improve on his 87. 

At Muthill yesterday our GolfSixes team played their final event, they finished 4th and 3rd equal overall in the league. Great experience for these youngsters. Keegan followed up his 80 with another 80 unfortunately Alisdair will take the positives and learn from the experience. 

GIRLS ON TOUR

Aoife Short and Mia Baxter teamed up at Carnoustie’s Burnside Course to represent Strathmore in a Girls GolfSixes event with teams from Anstruther, Carnoustie and King James V1. Great opportunity to play some links golf and meet new friend. Their individual team score tied 3rd.

FINALS DAY

Dawn had the pleasure of refereeing the Handicap final between Alasdair Brass and Keir Reid and what a display. Keir said he didn’t play his best but Ally was in top form and was only 3 over par through 13. He birdied the 6th and also had a superb up and down birdie from the bunker on 12. Dawn said his ball striking and all round play was amazing. His score included a penalty drop and a double bogey which makes his score more impressive. I refereed the Scratch final between Archie Pattullo and Tom Stevenson and again the standard of play was impressive. Tom went ahead on the first and despite never being more than 2 up and being pegged back to all square 3 times held his nerve to win 1 up. Tom’s ball striking especially off the tee was the best I’ve seen him play. On 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 16 and even 18 where he missed the fairway his distances were exceptional. Archie’s course management was as normal very consistent and he holed a number of clutch putts to keep himself in the match. Both their tee shots on 16 showed the talent these young men have. Remembering this is a 341 yard par 4, Archie was on the hump at the bottom of the green and Tom was 5 yds through the back. The quality of golf played today in very difficult windy conditions makes it more impressive and all 4 of these players have bright futures ahead. 

Makes what Dawn and I do so worthwhile to see these youngster develop and progress to this level. 

BUSY DAY

Early start with an unexpected call off due to illness. Thankfully Arthur Grewar was available to play in the Flag qualifier at North Inch for the team. His individual score of 110 was the top score out of the 24 who played. Our team finished a creditable 4th and everyone had a great time. Stevie Baxter, Mia’s dad was team manager and did a fantastic job and he was very impressed by all 4 players. At Strathmore Dawn took out Tommy Gillespie for his 3rd Handicap card and she thinks we might have unearthed our next  exceptional talent. His first WHS handicap has been confirmed at 24.9 which is the lowest first handicap we’ve had. Archie Loudon playing in the Stephen Gallacher under 12 Championship at Gogarburn finished in 20th position and should be pleased with his performance. Received a message from Newton Stewart golf club who have agreed to purchase 5 sets of clubs from our excess stock to help them develop and enhance their own schemes. Dawn and I are going on another road trip !

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI FINALS

 Semi finals of Scratch and Handicap Championship.

So proud of all eight semi finalists tonight, their camaraderie, sportsmanship, support and friendship shone through. We witnessed some great golf and some amazing scoring. In the Scratch Archie Pattullo played really well and his course management was outstanding. Jack Stevenson played well but could not match Archie’s consistency and lost out 5&4. In the other match Keegan Fergusson and Tom Stevenson’s match went to the 18th with Tom dormie. Keegan had a putt from 10 foot to square the match but it just missed. In the handicap Keir Reid got off to a nervous start against Cameron Galloway and found himself 2 down after 2 before fighting back and making the most of his 8 shots and winning 5&4 with a 4 nett 3, on what many consider the hardest par 4 on the course. The other match was between Ally Brass and Olly Stevenson, and in a closely fought match throughout, 18 holes wasn’t enough. The first extra hole has halved with a great up and down for par by Ally who was giving a shot. On the second hole Ally played an unbelievable shot from underneath low branches to nearly reach the green and using his putter from off the green secured another great up and down to win the match. 

Can’t wait for Saturdays Finals.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Dawn and I took 6 year old Finan McCallum out for a taster session today. We started out at the chipping area, moved to the putting green then finished up taking him out onto our Leitfie Links 9 hole course. He has just become new member number 15 for 2026. He was also fitted for a full set of Golphin 728 clubs (rrp £515) and a Young Gun trolley (rrp £50) . Our annual hire charge would have been £25 for clubs and £5 for trolley but reduced from total £30 to £15 as we’re half way through the year. In his bag were balls, tees, pencil, ball marker, pitch repair tool and a glove. He will be given a free pair of size 1 golf shoes from our Free swap scheme. All done and raring to go. He was so keen him and mum headed out again. 

GREAT SCORING

Dawn and I had the pleasure to accompany Andrew Brass on his round today and what a fantastic prospect. His score of 36 points did not reflect his overall play. His par on two and his birdie on three showed his potential. His brother Alasdair pipped him by one point so he has the bragging rights tonight. Archie Pattullo had a solid 34 points which should have been better due to a bit of bad luck on 17 and 18. These three players today demonstrated how far they have progressed.

 Strathmore Junior Open result

Boys 

Scratch 

Charlie Malone - Crieff             72

Robbie Hepburn - Kinross       75

Archie Pattullo - Strathmore    75 

Kieran Wilson - Crieff               76

Handicap 

Keir Reid - Strathmore                   68

Struan Shepherd - Alyth                69

Cameron Galloway - Strathmore  71

Ethan Esson - Blairgowrie             71

Jamie Griffin - North Inch             71 

Girls 

For the first time ever we had no girl entered ? We have both Scratch and Handicap prizes and a Trophy which for 2026 will have no names on it. 

36 boys entered we had 2 no shows. 

Fantastic that all 3 Strathmore players who entered picked up prizes with Keir getting his name on the Handicap Trophy.

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Jack Ogston becomes new member number 14 for 2026. 

FLAG CHAMPIONSHIP

What a close run finish with less than a foot separating the first two. Ollie McLaren and Cameron Duncan went out first and both played some great shots. Cameron reached 40yds up the 6th fairway. Ollie just missed his putt on the 7th and finished within a foot of the hole with his 36th shot. Harry Marsden-Adam holed his 36th shot on 5 by holing his putt and Vikram Prasad was delighted to finish 3rd with 2 good shots up the 6th. It all came down to Mia Baxter who had 5 shots left. Her tee shot was very high but her second shot made up for it. Her third shot was a great pitch onto the green and her first putt just missed going in. Ollie had went out with Tom Grewar for a game and was watching with interest when Mia rolled in her last shot to win by less than a foot. Great fun was had by all. 

Vikram also got fitted for a full set of Golphin Clubs from our Hire Scheme today along with a free pair of golf shoes from our swap scheme. Looking forward to seeing his progress now he’s fully kitted out. 

PERTH AND KINROSS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

Decent result for our team today. Archie Pattullo tied the best gross and out team including Keegan Fergusson and Cameron Galloway finished 3rd in both the gross and nett. We tied with 2 other teams in the nett, all with the same score, but lost out on the third score count back. 

JULY MEDAL

Had the pleasure to accompany Olly Stevenson and Cameron Robertson today. Olly played exceptionally well and his score could have been better,  as he was 3 off the tee on the 5th hole. His driving has improved so much and his baby draw is certainly working. He is hitting the ball further, has a very good short game and his putting was solid. Cameron was playing in only his third counting round since achieving his handicap and the experience he is gaining will help him get used to competition play. Like all new players he is trying too hard to smash every tee shot when really he just needs to relax a wee bit and it will all happen. He has a great swing and with a few adjustments will develop into another good player. Keegan Fergusson again played solid and in tough conditions shot a very respectable 80. His consistency reflects in his scores.

BUSY WEEKEND

Unfortunately we lost our last Bell Salver league match against North Inch and will not progress to the semi final stage this year. Jack Stevenson won his match 6&4 and included an eagle 2 on the tenth hole. Archie Loudon lost 3 & 2 in a see saw match where up until the 14th hole there had only ever been one hole in it either way. Keir Reid had been ahead early on but found himself behind but fair play battled back to take his match up the last before losing out. Archie Pattullo was finding it tough giving away 6 shots but managed to take his match to the 17th. Our GolfSixes team travelled to King James V1 and came a very creditable 3rd. We did have a late call off, so Arthur Grewar played alone, and was allowed one off green mulligan per hole. Delighted to say all 3 Strathmore scores were identical with 27 shots and 39 points. Ellis Murray and Harry Marsden-Adam were making their debuts and were teamed up with John Gillan and Mia Baxter respectively. Stevie Baxter took the managers role today and reported all 5 had a great time. Yesterday was the President's Cup and Keir Reid just pipped Archie Pattullo by 1 shot with a nett 70. 

STRATHMORE GOLF CENTRE’S WHS HANDICAP INCENTIVE

Following on from the Centre fitting Top Tracer to all booths at their Floodlit Driving Range they introduced a WHS Handicap incentive scheme. Players with WHS Handicaps receive 5 DigiCards and those with single figure handicaps receive an additional 5. Those gaining new handicaps and anyone becoming single figures receive the 5 DigiCards. 

Congratulations to Olly Whelan, Finn Whelan and Cameron Robertson on achieving WHS Handicaps and Jack Stevenson who now has a single figure handicap. 

More practice leads to lower handicaps but start on the putting green, move to the chipping area before hitting balls on the range. 

BELL SALVER

We travelled up to Crieff today to play our league match. Archie Pattullo played really well but found giving away 5 shots just a bit too much and lost out 2&1. Keegan Fergusson kept up his good form and despite giving away 3 shots won 4&2. Tom Stevenson was giving away 2 shots and took his game to the 16th before losing out 3&2. Olly Stevenson played out last and was getting 10 shots but his opponent played very well and he lost out 4&2. Not the result we were looking for but next Sunday we play our final league match and with a result against North Inch at Strathmore we should qualify for the semi finals.