East Lothian County Championship Qualifier at Dunbar

East Lothian held the qualifying round of their County Championship at Dunbar on Monday 26th April on a day which was bright, occasionally showery but for most, Dunbar's normal windy self. The damage that the golf course incurred in the storms of a few weeks ago, is still visible in places, especially around the boat-house - pictured above before the sea ventured a little too close. The 14th hole and immediately before it looks more like the bermuda grass of Mediterranean climes in February - it is quite brown. And in many of the seaward holes, the chances of a wayward shot in the wind veering off to the beach seem that little bit more inviting. All adds to the charm. It's only thanks to the greenstaff and many willing members that the course was in the condition that the ladies found it.

Quite a number of East Vets ladies took part and Moira Thomson of Gullane won second handicap with a splendid nett 75. The scratch winner Fiona Prior was unable to play in the match-play stage of the championship and consequently Moira became first seed. She will play F. Playfair in the first round. Other vets who have qualified are Elinor Blair, Barbara McIntosh, Jane Herd and Barbara Biggart.

Draw for the County Championship
Moira Thomson (1) v F. Playfair(16)
A. Marshall(9) v E. Blair(8)
L. Grieve(5) v A. Archbold(12)
D. Huish(13) v K. Ward(4)
Clara Young(3) v Barbara McIntosh(14)
D. Young(11) v M.L.Renton(6)
Jane Herd(7) v J. McNicoll(10)
Barbara Biggart (15)v E. Fairnie(2)

The quarter and semi-finals of the Bronze Quaich will take place at Dunbar on the 3rd of May with the final on the 4th.

Draw
M. Vandepeer v J. Sewell
M. Ross v Liz McLelland
V. Skinner v Maureen Woodward
A. Sewell v Shona Low

Good luck everyone.

Midlothian County Championships

Today, Monday 24th April, was a typical golfing day. The Midlothian County Qualifying 36 hole competition had first of all, drizzly rain, then just as the waterproofs were getting slightly warm, there was lovely sunshine and afterwards the wind got up. The lucky ones were having lunch when the rain returned but not for long. As already stated - typical weather.

Prestonfield was the venue for this competition and in the sunshine it was very pretty indeed although the flowering cherry trees weren't yet in bloom as in previous years, but that was not the fault of the management. (Proper golfers would be so focussed they wouldn't notice anyway!) There were one or two comments about green difficulty but isn't there always. Although not quite fulfilling Vet Criteria, it seems justified to mention here that Rachel Watton, Gabrielle MacDonald and Kate McIntosh, (young potential vets) are to be commended for playing so well today at Prestonfield after returning only yesterday from the Helen Holm in Troon where the greens must have been so completely different.

Vets playing today were Fiona de Vries, Fiona Hunter, Noreen Fenton and Gilly Glen. Fiona Hunter (Baberton) and Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) will now play in the matchplay stage. Fiona De Vries(St Rule) unexpectedly cannot now participate in this due to family circumstances and Gilly Glen (Craigmillar Park) unfortunately did not qualify.

Top Qualifiers
154 Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe)
158 Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) (better second score) Linda Caine(Dunbar) Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw)
163 Karen Marshall (Baberton)
164 Kirsten Blackwood (Craigmillar Park), Fiona Hunter (Baberton) Kate McIntosh (Broomieknowe)

Midlothian County Championship Draw (to be played Friday 28th April)
Wendy Nicholson v Linda Bain
Kate McIntosh v Gillian Simpson
Karen Marshall v Hilary Laughland
Claire McDonald v Gabrielle MacDonald
Linda Caine v Sal Shepherd
Claire Hargan v Kirsten Blackwood
Fiona Hunter v Louise Fraser
Noreen Fenton v Hannah Scott

Immediately after the County championship matches, the Bronze Championship will take place, the qualifying round for which was over Murrayfield last week.

Bronze Championship Draw
10.00 Denise Mitchell (Murrayfield) v Yvonne Blyth (Prestonfield)
10.07 Susie Laughland (Royal Dornoch) v Phyl Early (Glencorse)
10.15 Jaci Moriarty (Lochend) v Elsa Todd (Prestonfield)
10.22 Helen Warnock (Harburn) v Sandra Ashurst (Murrayfield)
10.30 Anne Brown (Deer Park) v Helen Martin (Kingsknowe)
10.37 Lynda Taylor (Dalmahoy) v Sandra Dickson (Mortonhall)
10.45 Coleen Derighetti (Lochend) v Isobel Halliday (Merchants)
10.52 Eileen McLaughlan (Kingsknowe) v Margaret Alexander (Baberton)

Good luck everyone. Hope the weather forecast is wrong.

Round-up of SVLGA news

A round-up of events where Vets from the different divisions have participated, is now being included in the SVLGA website (can be obtained on the Link down the left- hand side). Go into the SVLGA website and look for Vetsround under "Latest News" if you want to hear how friends from other divisions may be doing.

East vets well placed at Midlothian County Spring Meeting

Several East Vets picked up prizes at Murrayfield on Wednesday 21st April in the Midlothian County Spring meeting. In an all-day event, the weather was fair to all, morning and afternoon, it being sunny on the whole with only odd moments where ominous dark clouds looked as if they were going to do their worst. Murrayfield was playing quite well although comments on the greens were inevitable at this time of the year. Certainly there were mumps to be heard about missed putts and strangely none of the very lowest handicappers in the county squad elite, appeared in the prizelist!

Vet Prizewinners
Bronze Division
Ist handicap (and one of the last out according to the draw) Susan Tudball (Murrayfield) 100 - 24 76

Silver Division
Ist Handicap Denise Mitchell (Murrayfield) 84 - 13 71
2nd Handicap Susan Rennie (Uphall) 82 - 9 73
1st Scratch Hilary Hogg (Mortonhall) 75
2nd Scratch Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park) 79

Best Overall nett Pam Townsend (Murrayfield) 77 - 11 66 (BIH)
2nd Overall Nett Norma Richmond (Murrayfield) 81 - 8 - 73

2's
Pam Townsend (10th) Norma Richmond (eagle at the 16th) Pat Walkinshaw (13th) Karen Ballantyne (7th) Jaci Moriarty (2nd)
Greens can't have been that bad! Well done everyone

Volcanic Disturbance Causes Disappointment to Defence of Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy

Until a few days ago most people had not even heard of Eyjafjallajokull far less been able to spell it. Now they know it refers to the Icelandic volcano which has caused a fair degree of chaos over Northern Europe. However, as far as the Scottish Vets (two of whom are East Vets - Moira Thomson of Gullane and Noreen Fenton of Dunbar) are concerned, it has resulted in the postponement of the annual game - nay, contest - against the Irish Senior Select Team, for the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy. And this in the "tenth anniversary" of its conception - it's not really ten years but that's another (Irish) story.

The report of this volcano sending up debris into the upper atmosphere was possibly treated with abstracted interest by everyone who could not see their own involvement, but few probably thought it would ever cause such disruption. Scottish team members, emailing and phoning each other up to ask how many golf balls, waterproofs, teeshirts and underwear they were packing so as not to incur Ryanair's exhorbitant charges for excess baggage, may jokingly have said "see you Saturday - unless we can't go for the - MAG-ma" and now wish they hadn't tempted fate like that.

The captain, Pamela Williamson of Baberton, like the rest of the team, had no doubt been idly watching the volcanic news (before sitting up in her chair to watch the really riveting stuff about the impending General Election) when gradually it had dawned that this volcanic situation wasn't looking so good. And then suddenly the flights were not endangered but cancelled. She tried everything from ferries to alternative flights to Shank's pony but sadly they were all heavily booked. So the end result is no match this weekend but watch this space in October.

Draw for Midlothian Spring Meeting

Thirty two East Vets (same number as those who finally played at Gullane on Monday) are playing in the Midlothian Ladies Spring Meeting at Murrayfield on Wednesday, 21st April. Fingers crossed the weather is kinder than at the East Vets Spring Meeting this week past. Here are the times for those ladies.

8.07 Viv Curran (Lothianburn), Caroline Johnstone (Murrayfield)
8.22 Pam Townsend (Murrayfield), Libby Campbell (Baberton)
8.30 Denise Mitchell (Murrayfield), Fiona McLaren (Baberton)
8.37 Sue Caton (Kingsknowe), Sandra Ashurst (Murrayfield)
8.45 Isobel Halliday (Merchants), Julie Baird (Glencorse)
8.52 Jane Neville (Murrayfield), Margaret Alexander (Baberton)
9.07 Norma Richmond (Murrayfield), Anne Brownie (Lothianburn)
9.15 Sue Dalrymple (Craigielaw), Barbara Halliday (Murrayfield)
9.45 Catriona Shedden (Murrayfield), Brenda Scott (Baberton)
10.00 Janet Collin (Liberton), Maureen Stewart (Glencorse)
10.30 Helen Peplinski (Murrayfield), Kate Johnston (Baberton)
10.45 May Hardy (Baberton), Mandy Charters (Mortonhall)
10.52 Mary Davidson (Kingsknowe), Stella Thomson (Swanston New)
13.07 Rita Dee (Kingsknowe), Morag Wardrop (Niddry Castle)
13.15 Ray Lynch (Murrayfield), Pamela Duncan (Craigmillar Park)
13.45 Anne Patrick (Mortonhall), Janet White (Merchants)
14.15 Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park), Susan Rennie (Uphall), Caroline Kinnaird (Glencorse)
14.22 Gilly Glen (Craigmillar Park), Elizabeth Taylor (Prestonfield), Val Hallam (Glencorse)
14.30 Lesley Ballantyne (Turnhouse), Christine Clarke (Deer Park), Helen Warnock
14.45 Phyl Early (Glencorse), Muriel Gilligan (Swanston New), Moira Stratham (Broomieknowe)
14.52 Maureen McLeod (Merchants), Katy Gillies (Melville), Ann Hanna (Murrayfield)
15.07 Hilary Hogg (Troon Ladies), Mary Richardson (Craigmillar Park), Suzie Williamson (Swanston New)
15.15 Elizabeth Moody (Prestonfield), Jean Inglis (Kingsknowe), Sheila Hunter (Murrayfield)
15.30 Mary Stewart (Deer Park), Susan Tudball (Murrayfield)

Play well ladies

East Vets Spring Meeting

What a day it was at Gullane today, the first meeting of the year, cheers and flag- waving for some and tears and lamentations from others. Well this is golf we're talking about, so what's new.

First and foremost for those who only want this particular bit of news and then want to go and listen to the last ten of the Classic FM Top 300 , today was a counter and this is from the very top. The CSS was 71 and if you find this hard to believe on a day where all horrible weathers were possibly present, it is all down to three excellent scores, arriving together with smiley faces, fairly late in the day.

Pamela Williamson of Baberton (pictured above) brought in a scratch 74 which was pretty amazing. OK those poor souls who braved the earliest times and were frozen to death, blown to kingdom come and soaked to boot, certainly had the worst of it but there is no taking away from the fact that this was a pretty good score. We'll forgive a bogey at the first hole - just getting into one's stride, but no blips till the seventh - another bogey - oh dear - and really the 12th, where the wind laid waste to pheasants' tails blowing them up behind them such that they bore a passing resemblance to giant scorpions and where the little deer were munching away, totally oblivious to these silly humans and their silly pleasures, that 12th is a tricky par four at the best of times so a five isn't that bad..... two more fives later on but - all five par three's, were three's, so that is something.

Coming in with a nett 67 was newcomer Mairi Pollock of Craigmillar Park. Not much wonder she was smiling when she came in.

This meeting was not that well supported in that out of an entry of over 90 only 32 intrepid golfers turned up. It is fair to say that next year Gullane has warned us that we will be liable to pay the agreed green fees and therefore that fee will need to be carried over to anyone who enters but does not turn up on the day. So be warned or start praying now for a slightly kinder day weather-wise. Gullane No 3 was in pretty good condition, a few wet bits here and there but those greens - nothing short of magnificent. (Pamela said she liked them!)

The one flaw in the ointment was the 11th hole which had a very temporary "green" and we shall use this term loosely. And then just to confuse further, because there was a huge gap where players had not turned up, the greenstaff thought they would just transfer the pin back to the now-dry green. Thank goodness Ruth Brown noticed and had this situation reversed. The same course throughout for all competitors?

Bearing in mind all sorts of problems and conditions pertaining to the course and the competition, the committee decided to take advice, the kind receipt of which led them to decide this could in fact be a counting competition which certainly seemed the fairest option considering the three very wonderful scores just begging for handicap reductions. So commiserations to all those who secretly hoped it would not be a 0.1 occasion.

Prizewinners:
Scratch: Pamela Williamson scratch 74
Handicap: 1. Mairi Pollock 76 - 9 - 67
2. Elsa Todd 85 - 17 - 68
3. Barbara Halliday 83 - 12 - 71
3. Anne Brownie 79 - 7 - 72

Bronze: 1. Katy Gillies 95 - 21 - 74
2. Patricia Rose 100 - 21 - 79

Congratulations to all our winners and to everyone who braved the conditions.