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. 

BUSY DAY AT THE CLUB

5th Club Championship qualifier and Keegan Fergusson showed his class in very windy conditions and a slow round, due to the course being very busy. His gross 80 nett 72 was very impressive. Cameron Robertson played his third card for handicap and he is delighted with his WHS 27.8, he can now enter all Club, County and Open events but has played himself out of the GolfSixes. Was great to see loads of juniors out playing on Leitfie today and it’s encouraging as numbers playing in Saturday competitions has dropped off and we need more players to step up. 

MEMBERSHIP UPDATE

Connor Braid and Bobby Gillespie became new members 12 and 13 for 2026 and both were fitted for hire sets today. Connor was up first and took possession of a full set of Jaxx clubs along with a trolley. He is relatively new to golf but after a few quick tips he was hitting some very good shots and shows a lot of potential. I had already met up with Bobby and his dad Scott, who is also a member, earlier this week and knew what size he required. The Golphin 112’s were a perfect fit and he was hitting his irons an extra 10 yards further and his driver distance had increased by up to 20 yards. His swing speed increased by 15% which shows how having the correct equipment is so important. Bobby donated his previous set to our hire scheme which is much appreciated and it just confirms the benefits of hiring and not buying during the growing years. 

Can’t wait to see who these two players progress.

WHAT A NIGHT

Route 36 is definitely the way to go. First up our new leader is now Arthur Grewar, playing the Yellow’s he shot 36 to progress to the White tees. So pleased for Cameron Duncan who missed out last week by one shot but made no mistake tonight smashing it with a fantastic 32. He had an eagle 2 on 7 and narrowly missed 2 holes in one. He went back out again to play two more holes. Disappointed for Vikram Prasad who shot 41 last week, but improved it to 37, only missing out by one shot. I’m sure he will be determined to do it next time. Keir McNicoll improved last weeks score by 3 shots and will be practicing his putting before his next attempt. Ellis decided to have a go at the Yellow’s but will try the Red’s next time. Spent a bit of time with Archie Puttullo on his putting and driving and hopefully a couple of tips I gave him will assist his obvious improvement. 

Had a very interesting call from Jeremy Teehan from Newton Stewart Golf Club who have recently adopted my Club Hire Scheme. It’s unbelievable the success that Clubs are having. 

GOLFSIXES

We hosted the GolfSixes today and last night I received a call from Muthill saying they were a pairing short so big shout out to Strathmore’s Hunter and Blairgowrie’s Max who stood in at short notice. It’s a fun event so better that all the spaces are filled. North Inch were the winners today and Strathmore tied 3rd. Ollie and Vikram made their debuts and from the feedback I’ve received everyone had a great time. I sold another 5 sets of our ex hire clubs to King James V1 to allow them to reopen their junior membership as they had run out ! What a success in attracting new kids to golf they are having, fantastic to see. When Dawn and I got back to the Clubhouse we received another full set of irons and other assorted clubs from member Anke. These generous donations really help out our Section. 

BUSY SATURDAY

First up 2 sessions of coaching, great to see the improvements being made. Hunter swapped his golf shoes for a bigger size after outgrowing his last pair. Keegan Fergusson won today’s Medal, in very difficult conditions, by 2 shots. Connor Braid became new member number 12 for 2026 and will be fitted for a set of our hire clubs and a trolley on Thursday. Jack reported that Cameron had played well on Thursday night. His putting was good as well as his iron play but his driving needs a quick fix at the coaching, spoke to his dad tonight and we think it’s just a tweak to his ball positioning, easy fix. Olly Whelan is the latest junior to achieve a WHS handicap, 48.5. He will play next week along with his brother Finn in their first competition. Angus Palmer and Archie Loudon unfortunately both lost out on the 16th in the P&K match play scratch and handicap respectively at Muckhart but it was an achievement to reach the last 8. 

THURSDAY COACHING

Phoebe and Lucy benefited tonight when the other four in their group didn’t appear. Both are showing a lot of promise and hopefully they will start playing more. The second group all arrived and had a great session working on their swings and chipping, Looks like Hugo and Jack have both outgrown their hire sets so we will swap them over next week.