ONLY AWAY FOR 3 FULL DAYS BUT SO MUCH HAPPENING

Where do I start. 2 new Junior members and father has joined Leitfie as well. We now have 73 junior members up from 67 last year. We lost 16 last year, some due to age which we have no control over and others who had tried Golf but had decided that other commitments had taken precedence. We have introduced 12 new Adult Leitfie Members already this year, 8 mums, a grandmother and 3 dad’s along with 22 new Juniors. 34 new Strathmore members. We now have 23 Girls in the section which may be the biggest in Scotland, I stand to be corrected. Benjamin swapped his clubs for new ones tonight and Ruby will be next very soon. We currently have 46 sets hired out but Emily needs to join my Hire Scheme extending our record breaking season. 3 more mums approached me tonight looking for Taster Sessions for themselves so we now have 7 wanting to have a go. With our biggest turnout tonight 10 youngsters taking part along with 4 adults this is growing into something special and I believe we have found another winning formula. Parents and youngsters out playing and having fun. This Saturday at 10am we have another fun event which will be followed by another on Monday night at 5.30pm and all juniors and any family members who are members of the Golf Centre can also take part. Let’s make Strathmore the Family Club and get more people involved.
We have a huge week ahead with the Scottish Girls at Blairgowrie with Kirsten and Megan playing. Our first Junior Bell Trophy Match takes place on Sunday at Crieff and I have every confidence in the team we have this year to go there and get a result.
Megan sent me a message tonight - Hi Iain, I received a phone call today inviting me to play in a pro-am at gleneagles next week! They wanted an all girls team because of the Solheim Cup and I will be playing with Hannah McCook. It's a 3 day event and we play a round a day wed, thurs and fri with a welcome dinner on tuesday night and a closing dinner on friday!  Unfortunately this means I won't be able to play in the junior open at strathmore. I'm really sorry but I hope you understand this is a great opportunity. Of course I said yes and what an opportunity!!
Strathmore Juniors just keep raising that barrier a little higher each time.

RESULTS FROM THE SCOTTISH OPEN

Keegan finishes 2nd in 6-8 age group and Archie 4th in 9-10. Well done boys

STRATHMORE BOYS PLAY AT THE SCOTTISH OPEN

Ok it was the Drive, chip and putt event before the Hero’s Challenge but they loved it !!! Archie and Keegan had a great time met some of the Pro’s and Vernon Kay. We loaned the boys Strathmore Junior Team Shirts to promote the Section however Keegan couldn’t resist getting his hero’s autographs all over his shirt and he might not want to give it back !!! We might even frame it. Unfortunately the boys were in different age group categories and only Keegan’s dad took photos.

Earlier in the day Sam picked up his new Clubs and is delighted with them.

ANOTHER COUPLE OF RECORDS GO AGAIN

Tonight Strathmore Juniors created another record by becoming the first all Girl P&K Scratch League team to win a match. Playing Muckhart at Strathmore it was a close run thing. Megan won 2&1, Kirsten lost 2&1 and Amy was 1 up coming up the last. 2 terrific shots left her just off the green and a pitch to 4ft left her with 2 putts to secure victory but in typical Amy style she holed it for a birdie and a 2 up win. I am so proud that we have an all Girls team as I was instrumental in getting the first girls ever to play in P&K Junior Scratch League. Megan and Emily Aird were the first followed by Hannah Robb then Kirsty Brodie and now we have an all Girl Team. More good news on the Girl front Megan and Amy have asked Kirsten to be their vice captain and she has accepted and will be Junior Captain 2020, and I for one could not think of someone so worthy of this honour.
Next up we upgraded Taylor and Jett’s hired sets and then another record went when Cameron became our 47 junior this year to use our scheme and he went straight to the range to try them out and is delighted with them.
Then it was our usual Monday night Golfsixes Fun Event. Archie drew the cards and ended up with me. We used 5 of his tee shots, he played 2 holes completely on his own and chipped over the hump on the 9th to 18 inches then holed out. His putting was superb holing from 18 inches, 3, 6, 8 and 10ft. Archie assisted by me shot a level par 27. 2 bogeys, 2 birdies and 5 pars.

ANOTHER TROPHY FOR MEGAN

P&K Junior Handicap Champion 2019 to be added to her already successful season. Great result and great score.

WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED IS BEING RECOGNISED

With 20 New Junior members (including 8 girls), 8 Mums, 2 Dads and a Grandmother already joined up this year and another 2 youngsters and a Dad about to join next week we are producing results the envy of most Clubs. This is done through the hard work of the Junior Committee and how we organise and run the Section. Our emphasis is on providing a fun and safe environment for youngsters to participate in a sport which will teach them life skills, make friends, improve their health and give them future employment opportunities. Our unique Club Hire Scheme has assisted us in achieving this and SSE have already recognised this and have recently given us a Grant of £6,000 to replace all our existing hire sets. The Club recently applied to the Solheim Community Fund 2019 and have been awarded a Grant of £2,500 towards the cost of a Administration and Storage facility which will be sited beside the driving range.
With 4 more Mums still to attend a Taster session we have already surpassed all our membership expectations but am sure there is more to follow.
Last year we had 38 sets of clubs hired out and with 8 being returned we started this year with 30 on hire. This has grown to 46 and with 3 more sets going out next week could we make 50 by the end of the year ?
We have some more amazing news in the pipeline but it will need to wait until it happens before it becomes public.

FINALS DAY

Congratulations to Amy for winning the Scratch against last years Champion Kirsten. Good match but Amy’s length off the tee made it difficult for Kirsten. Cammy won the Handicap event as his opponent could not make the final, but well deserved as he had played so well in the qualifiers. Next year it’s the Ladies for Amy, leaving Kirsten to take on one of the boys. Hopefully we will have enough players coming through that not only will we have both finals but maybe get back to semi finals as well.
Dawn lost in the Ladies final on the 36th hole, congratulations to Judy.