Senior Home Internationals

The webmaster is unable to report on this at the moment due to playing commitments and recommends a quick link to Kirkwoodgolf (down the left hand side) to read all about how Scotland are top dogs at the moment but all rests on tomorrow - Thursday - when they meet Wales. An informal report of the "True Goings-on" may follow on returning home and one or two pictures. East Vets Home players are Fiona Hunter, Moira Thomson and Noreen Fenton.

Team Change for the Senior Home Internationals

Sadly after her success at Blairgowrie this week in winning the Scottish Veteran Ladies' Championship, Lorna Bennett has withdrawn from the Scottish Senior Home International Team due to family concerns. Her place has been filled by Kathleen Sutherland(Royal Montrose) a former Scottish Vets Champion. Lorna wishes the team the very best of luck but her departure is unquestionably a great disappointment.

East Vets are successful at Blairgowrie

Jane Herd (Musselburgh) and Noreen Fenton(Dunbar) were a winning combination in the Scottish Veterans Greensome over the Lansdowne Course at Blairgowrie on Tuesday. In extremely windy, although sunny conditions, they produced a steady score of 76 (handicap 4.2) - one over par, and lifted the Beddows Quaichs for best nett score and the Toni Moffatt Memorial Quaich for best scratch. This is the first time either has played in this competition and indeed, this is Jane's inaugural vet's competition. Their score included two, two's.

Their playing partners from the West, Helen Faulds and Carol Fell brought in the second scratch of 80 (bemoaning the fact - if it hadn't been for these two sevens all might have been different!)

Did anyone else see the little chap in the rusty brown fur coat, whizzing up and down trees? He wasn't very impressed that Carol Fell (West webmaster) didn't have her camera when he had bothered to put in an appearance.

Results
N Fenton and J Herd (East) 76 (4.2) - 71.8 Beddows Quaich and Toni Moffatt Memorial Scratch Trophy
H Faulds and C Fell (West) 80 (7) - 73 Toni Moffatt Memorial Scratch Voucher
M Chalmers and P Campbell (North) 87 (13.2) - 73.8 second handicap
S Young and J Blackwood (West) 89 (14.2) - 74.8 third handicap

Three East Vets in Scottish Team

Three East Vets have been selected to play in the Senior Home Internationals next week at Newport in Wales under the captaincy of Pamela Williamson of Baberton.They are Fiona Hunter (Baberton), Moira Thomson (Gullane Ladies) - both represented Scotland in the recent European Team Championship - and adding to their number is Noreen Fenton (Dunbar). The team leaves on Saturday, has two practice rounds, one on Sunday and one on Monday and then plays against Ireland on Tuesday, England on Wednesday and Wales on Thursday. The format is the same as usual with three foursomes in the morning and five singles in the afternoon. With the recent surge by Wales in other Home Internationals, their card is definitely marked.

Scottish Team
Heather Anderson (Alyth)
Lorna Bennett (Ladybank)
Fiona de Vries (St Rule)
Noreen Fenton (Dunbar)
Fiona Hunter (Baberton)
Mary Smith (Tain)
Moira Thomson (Gullane Ladies)

Reserves
Kathleen Sutherland (Royal Montrose)
Helen Faulds (Douglas Park)
Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie)

Captain - Pamela Williamson (Baberton)
Manager - Janet Wake (Merchants of Edinburgh)
President - Ethel Jack (Gullane Ladies)

The East is certainly well represented.

Some pictures from Blairgowrie

Here are some pictures taken at the annual vets golfing bonanza known affectionately as "Blairgowrie".

East Vets Scores in Patrick Rosebowl at Blairgowrie

Scoring in the Patrick Rosebowl round Rosemount was, on the whole, fairly high although the CSS only jumped by one to 75 so clearly scores were not high for everyone. The wind was gusty and the greens were variable - but possibly only found by those with higher scores. The winning scratch score was actually 76, so it was definitely possible.

Here are the scores for East Vets. The best scratch was from Barbara Biggart with a commendable 83.

Results:
Barbara Biggart 83 - 9 = 74
Sue Penman 84 - 6 = 78
Noreen Fenton 87 - 3 = 84
Sandra Ashurst 91 - 13 = 78
Ethel Jack 93 - 10 = 83
Clare Bowe 93 - 12 = 81
Margaret Sneddon 96 - 14 = 82
Carol McLeod 96 - 13 = 83
Pat Mavor 97 - 15 = 82
Elise Guy 103 - 22 = 81
Asp Robertson 105 - 18 = 87
Nancy Gow 105 - 15 = 90
Isabel McDonald 108 - 20 = 88
Kate Milne 109 - 20 = 89
Catriona Shedden 115 - 21 = 94
Avril Robertson 116 - 24 - 92
Marion Cantley NR

A great day was held by all - in spite of the scores!

Lorna Bennett wins Scottish Vets Championship

Lorna Bennett (Ladybank) won the Scottish Veteran Championship 2009 for the second time, the first being in 2004. She beat Moira Thomson (East) at the 19th after a most exciting final, when the spectators were treated to a veritable golfing display, incorporating a plethora of birdies.

The day dawned a little dull and certainly threatened rain on many occasions but nothing ever came of it. In the morning Lorna played Sheila Cuthbertson of Peebles, a game which could have gone either way if Sheila had persisted with yesterday's putting but this was not to be. Lorna played the tighter game and emerged the victor by 4 and 3.

In the other half, Moira played Lynne Terry and although Lynne had her name first on the board, Moira soon got back to all square and played securely. Holes were won in general with pars but it was enough and the game finished at the 14th.

In the afternoon Moira took the first hole when Lorna got herself in difficulties in a bunker but pars followed at the second and third. Lorna won the 4th to bring the score back to all square. On the short fifth, Moira was nearer the pin but Lorna swept the ball right across the green for a two. Nothing daunted, Moira reciprocated and sank hers also for a two.

Thereafter followed a ding-dong of a hole exchange with neither player ever getting more of a lead than one hole. Lorna won the 13th with a par to go one up but Moira got it back on the 15th. The next three holes, when nerves must surely have been coming to the fore, were halved in par and with the game all square, the two proceeded to the first hole again to begin afresh. Good drives , two good lay-ups and both pitching well to the green, left the possibility of either one finishing the game with a birdie, but for an entirely strange reason, Moira was overly positive and left herself too much to do. Lorna sank hers and won the Championship. A great game.

First Round Results at Blairgowrie

The first round at Blairgowrie in the Scottish Vets championship produced one or two surprise results. The weather was possibly pretty well perfect for late September, sun, no rain and next to no wind. The course looked good but one competitor said it was a little "tattie" - and she won! As in previous years, the greens had been tyned very recently leaving a less than smooth surface which was possibly a little different from some of the player's home conditions - and certainly very different from those experienced last week at Kyle and Penfig.

Moira Thomson, the East Vets champion won fairly easily with a 6 and 4 victory over Pearl Beattie, from Dumfries and indeed she looked very much the champion with a secure game and easy swing. She was ably supported by Sue Penman, who caddied for her - pictures of both will follow when the blogger has returned home. Pearl seemed initially very much at ease with the course and greens but Moira eventually built up an over-powering lead. Tomorrow she meets the North Champion Dr. Lynne Terry who squeezed out a previous champion, Kathleen Sutherland, on her way to this final. Lynne is always a sticky opponent so this should be a good match. She had met and beaten Christine Brown from Galloway, again by 6 and 4. Christine is a long-hitting 12 handicapper who unfortunately was just less fortunate when she strayed from the straight and narrow than Lynne was.

In the other half of the draw and fresh back from Kyle and Penfig in Wales, were Lorna Bennett (Midlands) and Helen Faulds (West Vets Captain). The conditions here at Lansdowne could not have been more different than Wales with the course being more lush and the greens running at almost half the speed. Lorna on the whole putted better and sank several very useful putts. Initially the game was very tight but eventually, in the second half, Lorna simply took advantage of one or two slack shots by Helen and eased her out with a 4 and 3 scoreline.

The remaining tie was between Mary Smith of Highland and Sheila Cuthbertson of Borders. Mary will have been very disappointed to lose by 7 and 5 to Sheila as she had had some good results in the recent County Finals at Baberton. Possibly the change of terrain was unsettling but on the other hand, Sheila was the only person spoken to who "loved the greens" and apparently she sank a lot of great putts. Tomorrow Sheila and Lorna will battle it out and this also promises to be an interesting tussle.

Results
Moira Thomson (East) beat Pearl Beattie (Dumfries) 6 and 4
Lynne Terry (North) beat Christine Brown (Galloway) 6 and 4
Lorna Bennett (Midlands) beat Helen Faulds (West) 4 and 3
Mary Smith(Highland) lost to Sheila Cuthbertson 7 and 6

Good luck everyone tomorrow

Late Post - Kate Johnston wins Autumn Meeting at Murrayfield

Thanks to Kirkwoodgolf for this report. Kate Johnston(Baberton) picked up the trophy for the Autumn Meeting at Murrayfield on a lovely late summer day with a superb nett 71. She just pipped her namesake, home player Caroline Johnston who had a nett 72. Caroline was possibly well-pleased to have the best scratch score of the day - a four above par 77. Well done both. Great scoring.

Results:

71 Kate Johnston (Baberton)83 - 12

72 Caroline Johnston (Murrayfield) 77 - 5

73 Ann Hanna (Murrayfield)92 - 19

74 Sandra Ashurst (Murrayfield) 87 - 13, Norma Richmond (Murrayfield) 82 - 8

75 Anne McIntosh (Gullane Ladies) 96 - 21 (best bronze score) Pam Townsend (Murrayfield) 87 - 12

"Blairgowrie" weekend approaches

The Vets golfing weekend (equivalent to Glastonbury) starts on Sunday with the first round of the Scroggie Cup when the East Champion Moira Thomson will play against the Dumfries Champion. For all details look back in the archives for Tuesday 8th September.

Vets/Scottish results from British Senior Championship

Due to networking difficulties at Kyle and Penfig, a report on the championship was not possible - but thanks to Kirkwoodgolf and West Vets websites, readers were able to follow the results. Lorna Bennett from Ladybank (pictured ) was the top Scot at the British Senior Ladies Championship, finishing the competition in the Top Ten. The winner was Vicki Thomas from Wales and runner-up, Roz Adams from England. Here is an abbreviated list of the East Vets and other Scottish scores.

232 Vicki Thomas (Wales) 76,74,82

235 Roz Adams (England) 75,78,82

242 Lorna Bennett (Ladybank) 83,82,77

245 Fiona de Vries (St Rule) 81,83,81

248 Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) 82,80,86

255 Pamela Williamson (Baberton) 89,81,85

262 Lynne Terry 87,85,80

Non-qualifiers

176 Ruth Brown (Lothianburn) 92,84

178 Helen Faulds (Douglas Park) 87,91

180 Jennifer Mack (Haggs) 92,88

181 Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park) 93,88

Aftermath

The British Senior Ladies Championship is over, fairly successful for some, not so successful for most. At the cocktail party the night before Day One, one caddy-husband (of whom there were many) declared knowingly that three 72's would take the championship but in spite of some very good scores (including Scotland's Lorna Bennett) this was not to be and there were actually only twenty-three scores below eighty in all the three days' play.

The sun shone 24/7 (us blogmasters have to adopt modern terminology) but the wind affected everyone at some point or other - although some more than others, depending on the timing of their rounds. Mornings and late afternoons seemed quieter, but perhaps that is self-delusory.

Many courses are made up of two different halves, especially older clubs which started life as nine holes, then on acquiring further land, incorporated a second nine later on. But Kyle and Penfig in Wales (P and K) has two halves which are as different from each other as Adam and Eve. The first nine were tricky enough especially the sloping par 3's, whose heavily bunker-protected greens produced nightmare scores that rendered the player a quivering wreck. However the second nine were hidden away in fern-strewn high dune country, where the only people one met were playing partners, dog-walkers and kindly ball-spotting volunteers, always nice, always encouraging with words like "no, don't do it, try to carry on, only six more holes and then the agony is over".

We should all be used to wind up here but the wind at P and K was definitely the main enemy (apart from one's psychological deficiencies). Such was the architecture of the greens, together with many unnecessarily evil pin positions, a seemingly perfect putt or chip could look good one minute and be twenty feet away the next, due entirely to the speed of the surface aided by a cruel and uncompromising side-ways wind. Three and four putting was EASY.

The semi-rough, often visited due to the afore-mentioned side-ways wind, looked innocuous from afar but on near examination was found to have closed round the ball with a claw-like grip and as for the bunkers - veritable caverns which left many in floods of tears and scores sent up in flames.

The LGU officials seemed a more benign lot than last year - in fact, although some were quite nice, most of them were very nice and the time warnings so common last year, were regretfully but so sweetly delivered.

The K and P members couldn't do enough. Even the solicitous lady who looked after the wonderful flowers in the locker room, was on hand to urge "wrap up well - it could get cold" which generally meant putting on a light jersey over one's scanty teeshirt.

Memorable championship? Well maybe when the great grandchildren are crawling round one's feet, one might look back in gentle reflection "when I was at Pyle and Kenfig ..." but for the bulk of the players with giant scores, maybe not quite yet.

Windy Wales hosts the British Senior Ladies

The webmaster is playing in the above competition and has been unable to send a report which will follow on her return. You will find all details on Kirkwoodgolf.

East Vets fade out in Irish Strokeplay

Alison Murdoch of Canada lifted her fourth Irish title today at Laytown and Bettystown, getting into gear no doubt for her next coveted prize at the British Seniors next week. With almost perfect golf she had a third round of 76 for a total of 231, two shots clear from local girl Phil O'Gorman. Scotland's best result came from Janice Paterson of Drumpellier who had a third round of 87 for a total of 253. Pamela Williamson of Baberton was unable to set the heather on fire with her third round of 89 to give a final total of 261. Barbara Biggart of North Berwick finished on 276.

This is a great tournament and hopefully more Scottish seniors will be able to take part next year.

Second round Scores in the Irish Senior Strokeplay

Two East Vets have qualified for the third round of the Irish Senior Ladies Open Strokeplay at Laytown and Bettystown situated 30 minutes from Dublin. The top 40 was the cut-off point and Barbara Biggart made it by the skin of her teeth. Pamela Williamson also qualified but is 17 strokes off the lead, so will feasibly only be hoping to have a really hot score tomorrow to cut this deficit. The weather was much kinder than yesterday as the wind had eased considerably, leading to greatly reduced scores on this superb links course.

Scores
155 Alison Murdoch (Canada) 81,74
156 Phil O'Gorman (Laytown and Bettystown) - yesterday's leader
157 Vicki Thomas (Wales) 83,74
158 Helen Jones (Ireland) 81,77
159 Karen Pults (Canada) 79,80
161 Diane Williams (Canada) 82,79
162 Ruth Lindley (England) 81,81
164 Edeltraud Jacob (Germany) 81,83
166 Sheena McElroy (Ireland), Janice Paterson (Scotland) 82,84
Other Scores
172 Pamela Williamson (Baberton) 85,87
184 Barbara Biggart (North Berwick) 95,89

Many of the entrants to this competition are using it as a prelude to the British Senior Ladies at Pyle and Kenfig, Wales which starts Tuesday 15th September and has the same format as the Irish - i.e. two rounds with the top 40 qualifying for the 3rd round. Apart from a very high entry from Canada, Sweden, France, Germany etc there are eight from Scotland including Pamela Williamson, Ruth Brown, Karen Ballantyne and Noreen Fenton from the East Vets.

East Vets feature in Irish Seniors

Two East Vets are playing in the Irish Senior Women's Open Stroke-play which is being played over Laytown and Bettysdown Golf Course. Pamela Williamson of Baberton - fresh from leading her Scottish Senior team to sixth position in the European Team Championship last week - and Barbara Biggart of North Berwick have completed their first round in driving rain and gale-force winds which laid waste to most scores. The best of the day was by Phil O'Gorman, a home player from Laytown and Bettysdown with a 78. The format is one 18 hole round on each of days one and two and the top 40 go through to a third round on Thursday.

Results (Scottish players)
78 Phil O'Gorman (Ireland)
82 Janice Paterson (Drumpellier)- nice picture on the West vets site
85 Pamela Williamson (Baberton)
95 Barbara Biggart (North Berwick)

Hope the weather tomorrow is a little kinder.

Scroggie Cup looms

Apart from the great golfing weekend, covered for most people by the vague denomination of "Blairgowrie" one of the main events of that weekend 27th - 28th September is the playing out of the Scroggie Cup. The finalists from each of the eight vets divisions(created in stone), meet to fight it out and produce a worthy Scottish Vets Champion. Our champion is Moira Thomson of Gullane Ladies and she will meet Pearl Beattie of Dumfries. For those who have never thought about it the different divisions are North, Highland, Midland, East, West, Dumfries, Borders and Galloway, a more detailed description of the individual counties in each, being on the SVLGA website - it makes interesting, if somewhat puzzling, reading.

The draw for this tournament is as follows:
Christine Brown (Galloway) v Lynne Terry (North)
Moira Thomson (East) v Pearl Beattie (Dumfries)
Lorna Bennett (Midlands) v Helen Faulds (West)
Sheila Cuthbertson (Borders) v Mary Smith (North)

From a reader's point of view there looks like several interesting matches ahead!

Gilly Glen wins the Ramsden Cup

Gilly Glen of Craigmillar Park has won the Ramsden Cup. She beat Mary Davidson, who has herself had a pretty successful golfing year, by 2 and 1 at Kingsknowe, after a very exciting and close final. AND, unbelievable though it may seem, inspite of the game starting off in breezy conditions it was dry - note, no rain. When they tumbled off the seventeenth green, the wind had completely disappeared and the midgies were out in force to see them in.

Gilly was excited about the result but she enthused primarily about having enjoyed the game very much as she had done with all previous rounds. It appears to have been a close game throughout, although Gilly was pleased to say she has never played the 11th so well having had a lovely iron shot to within three feet of the pin - always welcome. Despite many pertinent questions, all that was further gleaned of the game was the major disappointment of not catching sight of the mummy deer and the five little baby deers, seen the previous week!

Well done Gilly and bad luck Mary. It sounded like a great final.

Scotland lose to France

The Scottish Senior Ladies team with its two East Vets, Moira Thomson and Fiona Hunter, sadly were unable to get the better of a strong French team who beat them 4 - 1 to take the fifth position in the first flight of the tournament leaving Scotland in sixth. Although disappointing, the captain Pam Williamson (Baberton) must still feel this is still a huge improvement on Scotland's position in last year's competition.

Results (Scotland first)
Heather Anderson(Alyth) and Fiona Hunter (Baberton) lost to Helene Dutertre and Kadija Boutahchicht 2 and 1
Mary Smith (Tain) lost to Virgine Burrus
Lorna Bennett (Ladybank) beat Cecilia Morgue d'Algue
Fiona de Vries (St Rule) lost to Anita Remoleur 1 hole
Moira Thomson (Gullane ladies) lost to Marie Jose Ibarlosa
Scotland 1 France 4

Final table of results
1. Germany
2. Italy
3. England
4. Spain
5. France
6. Scotland
7. Sweden
8. Ireland

Scotland beats Ireland in European

Scotland beat Ireland, the leading qualifier by 3-2 in yet another day of torrential rain, heaving winds and even hailstones. In the history of the tournament never surely has there been such meteorological hazards thrown into the ring - not consistently anyway. It is to the credit of all competitors that they are still out there fighting.

Our resident spokesperson was again drying off but was happy with Scotland's performance although the time was not suitable for more details of the games. Results are as below.

Scotland first
Heather Anderson and Fiona Hunter beat Valerie Hassett and Violet McBride 3 and 1
Mary Smith beat Marilyn Henderson 2 and 1
Lorna Bennett beat Phil O'Gorman 3 and 2
Fiona de Vries lost to Helen Jones 3 and 2
Moira Thomson lost to Sheena McElroy 3 and 2
Scotland 3 Ireland 2

Scotland will now play France who beat Sweden. Scotland will at worst be sixth in the competition but hopefully fifth which is a pretty good result. Play well tomorrow all .

PS Webmaster in soggy Badenoch with poor reception.

East v Borders Annual Match at Ashkirk

The team representing the East Vets has been selected. This is a greensomes competition for players with a handicap in excess of 12 and this year is hosted by Borders at the Woll Golf Club at Ashkirk. In recent years this has been won more by Borders than by the East. 2009 must surely bring a change!

East Vets Team

Val Hallam and Phyl Early

Clare Bowe and Mary Davidson

Liz McLelland and Senga Grant

Kate Milne and Marion Cantley

Isobel Hastings and Sylvia Cunningham

Elise Guy and Maureen Cranston

The Woll Golf Course is reportedly a testing 18 hole parkland course of outstanding natural beauty. Many holes are surrounded by mature trees and the Woll burn comes into play several times. There are also ponds to contend with although the drainage throughout is very good indeed - just as well on such a wet year.

Three holes in particular are outstanding and even their names whet the appetite. The first hole - "the Island" is a short dog-leg par 4 which is surrounded by the Woll Burn. The twelfth, named "the Thief's Road" - is a long doglegged par 5. But the fourth hole - "Dipper Haugh" is the Woll Golf Club's feature hole which requires a good drive from an elevated tee with a pond lurking to catch the unwary. It sounds a real treat and watch out for the wild-life.

Scotland lose to England

Scotland was knocked out of a possible top four position, by "the auld enemy" in the European Senior Ladies' Team Championship today, at Dun Laoghaire Golf Course. They lost by 3.5 - 1.5 on yet another day of fearsome weather when the mere thought of going out must have made them want to run for cover! They were not the only disappointed team since Ireland - the leading qualifier - fell by a similar margin to Germany, the eighth seed. Similarly, Sweden the number two seed lost unexpectedly to Italy with a 3 - 2 margin.

Tomorrow the losing teams play each other to identify the fifth to eighth line-up. Scotland will play the home nation, Ireland, whereas Sweden will clash with France. On Friday the winners and losers of each of these matches will battle it out to determine who will be fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth respectively. So, still plenty to play for.

Our spokesperson in Dun Laoghaire was kind enough to stop drying her hair, to describe the situation in slightly more lurid detail as can be gleaned from mere paper results. She confirmed that this is a monster of a course, very long, very difficult, very windy, very wet!! needing exact placing of the ball. What changes. This surely, we ask, is always the plan. Well apparently, the weather changes. The course is American-style with bunkers and water galore - not just from the sky - and it has been constructed on top of a hill. So not only does one get wet, one sees it coming and one knows what one is in for.

The webmaster happened to comment that four out of our six girls all started their scores on day one with a seven and on day two with a six. Sensing unjust criticism, our spokesperson indignantly explained that even in the terrible conditions that they have endured, on an already long hole, the first tee was from the gents. This required a huge carry to cover water to the right and very little space if one went left - straight not being an option due to arboreal specimens of a blocking nature.

Not complaining - more resigned to the inevitable - our spokesperson further elaborated, on how England ("the auld enemy") in the shape of Janet Melville (playing Fiona de Vries) and Chris Quinn (playing Mary Smith) both sank mid-iron shots from the fairway, which are unquestionably very good shots but are also very lucky ones. Everyone has lucky breaks but there is one country whose lady golfers must spend every night on their knees because this hasn't been the first time by a long shot. Sour grapes? Maybe - but true!!!! We love them really.

Our halved match - Lorna Bennett v Jo Ashmore - was stopped by an official who informed them that the match had been lost (or won depending on your allegiance) and they could pack in (out of the rain) with an honourable half should they wish. Apparently the score was all square at the very long 17th, which required three good woods to the green, but the webmaster is reliably informed Scotland looked very much like taking that hole - unless of course England holed out from the very deep rough in which they were sheltering!!!

It sounds as if they all deserve a medal.

Results (England first)

Chris Stirling and Lucy Newton lost to Heather Anderson and Fiona Hunter 2 and 1

Chris Quinn beat Mary Smith 2 and 1

Janet Melville beat Fiona de Vries 4 and 3

Jo Ashmore halved with Lorna Bennett

Sue Dye beat Moira Thomson 3 and 2


It is to be noted that England played Roz Adams for both rounds in the strokeplay only but substituted her in the matchplay with the fresher Lucy Newton and Chris Stirling who only played one of the two qualifying rounds, the reason for this not being known outwith the tournament itself. This substitution is perfectly in keeping with the rules but of course can only be taken advantage of by teams who registered seven players - which Scotland did not do. Others teams did likewise which in the terrible conditions when players must have been pretty tired, was quite an asset.

Team results:

Ireland lost to Germany 3.5 - 1.5

England beat Scotland 3.5 - 1.5

France lost to Spain 3 - 2

Italy beat Sweden 3 - 2

Good luck tomorrow!

Senior Ladies European Team Championship

Days 1 and 2 of the Strokeplay Qualifying stage of this competition have been completed at Dun Laoghaire Golf Course in Ireland in very difficult conditions, when all competitors have donned the obligatory waterproofs and worn concrete-soled golf shoes simply to keep their balance. Scoring has been fairly high with few really low rounds. However Scotland has achieved its primary goal by qualifying for the first flight of the competition after which all teams are on an even playing field when the matchplay games kick off.

Scotland was fifth out of fifteen having a total for the top five players of +109 over par for both days. Ireland (home team) hold the honours with +78 over par. Scotland's total of 423 on Day One was improved by seven strokes on Day Two. The first flight consists of (in order of scoring) - Ireland, Sweden, Spain, England, Scotland, France, Italy and Germany.

At the time of posting, the draw had not been made but following general principles it will be:

Ireland v Germany
Scotland v England
Spain v France
Italy v Sweden

Individual scoring for our girls over the two days was :

Fiona de Vries(St Rule) 81,87
Lorna Bennett(Ladybank) 83,85
Mary Smith(Tain) 87,82
Heather Anderson(Alyth) 90,79
Moira Thomson(Gullane Ladies) 86,85
Fiona Hunter(Baberton) 86,85

An aimless meandering through the individual hole-scoring by our team produced only four birdies - two by Mary Smith, one by Moira Thomson and one by Fiona de Vries. Less than half the holes throughout the two days were pars. This gives some idea of the horrendous conditions. Many congratulations to Heather Anderson who recouped on a disastrous first round of 90 with a pretty fantastic 79 in Round 2 - and that included a seven at the par 5 twelfth which she successfully put straight out of her mind by producing six straight birdies. Well done, Heather.

Tomorrow the matchplay stage begins with one two ball foursome and four singles, each game having the same value when it comes to scores on the doors. Good luck to you all!

PS Have you noticed that there is a link straight to the live scoring on the left hand side? Just in case this only applies to the qualifying rounds you should have access to the matchplay results as they happen if you go into http://www.ilgu.ie/. and click on the European Senior Ladies Championship top left.

Draw for Autumn Meeting

The draw for the East Vets Autumn Meeting at Murrayfield on September 15 has been made and is as below.

9.30 Marjory Lauder, Norma Richmond
9.38 Elizabeth Simpson, Maureen Stewart
9.46 Gillian Kirkwood, Ellice Cackett
9.54 Sandra Ashurst, Anne Chainey
10.02 Cynthia Guthrie, Veryan Biggar
10.10 Elise Guy, Betty Redwood
10.18 Catriona Shedden, Anne McIntosh
10.26 Sylvia Cunningham, Irene Lindsay
10.34 Dorothy Thomson, Margaret Shedden
10.42 Denise Mitchell, Caroline Johnstone
10.50 Asp Robertson, Seonaid Stewart
10.58 Jane Neville, Kate Johnston
11.06 Avril Robertson, Martha Beatson
11.14 Mary Davidson, Gratian Andrew
11.22 Pam Townsend, Margaret Magson
11.30 Anne Brownie, Val Hallam
11.38 Margaret Dalrymple, Phyl Early
11.46 Gillian Glen, Sydena Cullen

Here's hoping for a DRY,WINDLESS day and tumbling handicaps!