Summer Meeting Draw at Haddington

The Summer Meeting at Haddington will take place on Tuesday 7th June. Here is the draw.

9.30 Joanne Watt, Noreen Fenton, Ellice Cackett
9.38 Anne Mckenzie, Christine Simpson, Irene Campbell
9.46 Ros Thoresen, Anne brownie, Elinor Blair
9.54 Moira Thomson,Ethel Jack, Gilly Glen
10.02 Margaret Campbell, Anne Hanna, Jean Dawson
10.10 Isobel Hastings, Mary Richardson, Vivien Mitchell
10.18 Sandra Ashurst, Marjory Lauder, Barbara Biggart
10.26 Alice Jack, Katy Gillies, Dulcie Barnes
10.34 Patricia Rose, Sylvia Cunninghame, Elizabeth Smith
18.42 Moyra Loughran, Sandra Simpson, Christine Reid
10.50 Karen Ballantyne, Fiona Hunter, Pam Townsend
10.58 Rosemary Denny, Margo Blair, Phyl Early
11.06 Maureen Cranston, Val Hallam, Margaret Dalrymple
11.14 May Hardy, Clare Bowe, Lyn Lockerbie
11.22 Cynthia Guthrie, Sophia Spiewak, Alice Archbold
11.30 Molly Woolgar, Fiona McLaren, Dorothy Silver
11.38 Margaret Thompson, Fiona Ford, Kate Johnston
11.46 Wendy Ross, Denise Mitchell, Caroline Johnstone
11.54 Ruth Brown, Susan Penman, Ray Lynch
12.02 Sydena Cullen, Lesley Johnston, Beth Freedman
12.10 Catriona Shedden, Jacqui Squires, Seonaid Stewart
12.18 Elsa Todd, Maureen Stewart, Jane Herd

The balance to be paid is £5 and it would be appreciated by the officials on the desk if you had the exact money on arriving. The draw has been made so withdrawals at this stage are not entitled to a refund of their deposit, as we have still to pay Haddington whether the time is used or unused.

Remember that Distance Measuring Devices are allowed but none which measure wind or slope.

This is the qualifying competition of our East Vets Championship for which the top eight scores count. The quarter-finals match-play stage of the competition will take place over the week prior to July 10th on which day the semis and final will be played so please check prior to coming if you would be available to take part should you qualify.

Last but not least, for those who have not entered, should your circumstances change or should you just have forgotten to enter but wish still to play, please contact Katherine who will be able to slot you into any cancellation time or at the end of the draw - but only up to the last time we have booked with Haddington which is 12.34. We would not be expecting an avalanche of latecomers so this should be OK.

Have a good game

Heavy Winds and Rain result in Cancelled Match

The long awaited return of the East v Midlands match came to a sorry end today when the weather caused an abrupt cancellation. It was found out later that the procession of vets transport to Pitfirrane might have got across the Forth Bridge, but they might not have got back! It was also noted that only one very honest team member said "Thank goodness" when informed of the postponement - because it was awful - but the others bled crocodile tears. Many a kettle had been switched on after that phonecall!

It is to be hoped that another date will be found in August.

East Vets v Midlands at Pitfirrane

The East Vets team to play in the scratch singles match at Pitfirrane for handicaps between 6 and 10 is as follows:

Barbara Biggart (North Berwick)
Elinor Blair (North Berwick)
Cynthia Guthrie (Longniddry)
Caroline Johnstone (Murrayfield)
Sheila Lyon (Kingsknowe)
Joan Marshall (Baberton)
Frances McFadzean (Craigmillar Park)
Non-travelling reserve: Caroline Kinnaird (Glencorse)

Good luck to the team. The Liz Miskimmin Friendship Trophy is at stake.

Noreen Eliminated After First Round in Scottish

Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) was eliminated in the first round of the Scottish Ladies at Machrihanish today. She lost to Susan Wood of Drumpellier, a scratch golfer, on the eighteenth by one hole after a tough ding-dong match. Susan went one up at the fifth after getting a birdie two but Noreen took this back the very next hole with a par. She lost the sixth but won the seventh with a birdie. She lost the ninth and then the fourteenth to an eagle to go two down. Noreen then won the fifteenth with a par and the sixteenth with a birdie two. All square. Unfortunately the seventeenth saw the second shot to the green plug under the lip of the bunker from which there was absolutely no satisfactory recovery and so she went into the eighteenth one down again. A half in par was not enough but both enjoyed a really good game. No vets left!

Susan won her next round by 5 and 4 and proceeds into the quarter-finals.

Lone East Vet makes it into the Scottish Championship Match-Play

Only one of the East Vet contingency has made it into the match-play stages of the Scottish Ladies' Close Amateur Championship at Machrihanish today after the second qualifying round. Noreen Fenton of Dunbar brought in a solid second round score of 77 in very blustery conditions, (described as a "four-wind" extra club status) together with squally showers. This score led the second round leader board for several hours until Rachael Watton from Midlothian upstaged her by bringing in the same score but with the better inward half. She was playing in the second last group of the day, having been one of the first day lowest scores. Rachael won the Glover 21st Anniversary Cup with Noreen as runner-up but Noreen won the Lyon Salver for the best nett score on the second day.

This was a reduction only day and the CSS rose from 75 to 78 RO.

Noreen who indicated at the end of last season that she did not wish to be considered for further international events was delighted with her score, especially as this is the very last time she will enter this competition. In line with many other senior golfers she feels this competition is geared almost entirely for the younger lady golfer especially those with greater length. Having said that, her successful score was most likely due to the lower controlled ball in the gale force wind. We all know there is more to golf than the big drive.

East Vets Participate in Scottish Ladies at Machrihanish

There are about a dozen Scottish Vets playing in the Scottish Ladies at Machrihanish this week but only three from the East Division, Pamela Williamson (Baberton),Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) and Barbara Biggart (North Berwick). However not to forget June McEwan and Gillian Kirkwood who were also whizzing around all day in buggies doing admirable work on the refereeing front. There were many lost balls particularly at the fifth hole (Punchbowl) where often the ball-spotters had been quite unable to spot wayward balls. Several of the holes had been lengthened to accommodate the need to challenge our younger massive hitters. There were delays almost from the beginning which was thought to be due to the eight minute interval between the pairings. (Can't really say pairings surely because they went out in threes). However this is liable to change to ten minutes which should reduce the terrible waiting which occurred with obvious deletrious effects on the concentration.

The weather was very kind at least for the early players as there was none of the destructive effects of wind that was so prevalent yesterday in the practice round. It was indeed a perfect golfing day which showed itself in some wonderful scoring from many of the competitors. Tomorrow might not be quite so kind when the second of the qualifying rounds takes place.

Readers are reminded that there is live scoring throughout the day on the SGA website.

East Vet scores
82 Noreen Fenton (Dunbar)
91 Barbara Biggart (N. Berwick)
93 Pamela Williamson (Baberton)

Ramsden Cup Results - first round

The first round of the Ramsden Cup has been completed and the draw for the second round is as follows:

Clare Bowe v Mary Davidson
Christine Simpson v Madge Hutchison
Denise Mitchell v Kate Milne
Rita Dee v Senga Grant

Sandra Simpson v Kate Johnston
Sandra Ashurst v May Hardie
Karen Ballantyne v Ruth Brown
Christine Clarke v Norma Richmond

Liz McLelland v Sandra Kempson
Dulcie Barnes v Betty Redwood
Fiona McLaren v Margo Blair
Maureen Stewart v Isobel Hastings

Seonaid Stewart v Christine Reid
Marion Cantley v Hilary Thomson
Isobel Halliday v Muriel Armstrong
Mairi Pollock v Katy Gillies

Good luck to all.

East Vets Blown Off-course at Elie

 
The idea was to chalk up a victory at Elie after the annual slap-up lunch and refreshments - heavens who said that. Completely misleading - dry bread and water followed by the very serious match between the East Vets and the Senior Golfers' Society yesterday - but we didn't. Almost but not quite. Two and a half points us - three and a half points them. That was pretty close, really.

The captain who chose a select team fulfilling certain criteria, had been promised with a drastic end, by one member of the team, if it rained so she put in an order for dry with a slight breeze. However, anyone at Elie on Thursday afternoon might have argued the toss about the 'slight breeze'. To be realistic that breeze was nothing short of a howling gale. It would be difficult to say who actually coped better with it, the ladies with more controlled but shorter shots under the wind or the gents taking an unfair advantage from very high shots pushed on miles by a following wind. When it came to the greens, it was however anybody's and balls could find themselves further from the pin after the gentlest of nudges.

The gentlemen had as usual provided an excellent lunch and prompted many replenishments of the wine-glass but all members of the team had been pre-warned about this evil tactic. The only unfortunate thing was having to uplift ourselves from our comfortable lunch-table to go out and face that wind.

All good fun. We are already looking forward very much to trying again next year.

Results
Noreen Fenton and Gillian Kirkwood beat Peter Bucher and Gilbert MacIntosh by one hole
Phyl Early and Val Hallam lost to Alec Mudie and Julian James by 5 and 4
Katy Gillies and Margaret Rodger beat Paul Laidlaw and Nigel Watt by one hole
Margo Blair and Liz Simpson lost to Alastair Brown and Ken Smith by 4 and 3
May Hardie and Isobel Halliday halved with Ian Galloway and Alisdair MacDonald
Katherine Thomson and Norma Richmond lost to Alastair Kerr and John Stevenson by 3 and 2

Well done ladies. It was tough out there.

East Vets in close games in East Lothian Championship

None of the East Vets who qualified last Thursday - 28th April - to play in the East Lothian Championship at Musselburgh have managed to secure a place in the semi-finals tomorrow. Several of the games were very tight indeed - some not so tight. There were no complaints of the weather as it was a fantastic day.

Qualifying Scores
71 Lesley Nicholson(Haddington)
76 Liz Dunn Butler (Gullane)
78 Moira Thomson (Gullane)
80 Clara Young (North Berwick)Jane Herd (Musselburgh) Sue Penman (Gullane)
81 Morag McPherson (Dunbar)
82 Viv Cupples (Dunbar)
85 Barbara McIntosh (Gullane)
86 Keren Ward (North Berwick)Mary Lou Renton (Gifford) Fiona Larnach (Castle Park)
87 Ros Thorenson (North Berwick) Elinor Blair (North Berwick)
89 Barbara Biggart (North Berwick) Jill Rankin (North Berwick)

The first round and quarter-finals were played today in brilliant sunshine although there was a cool wind coming off the sea. Elinor Blair - playing Moira Thomson - Barbara Biggart, Ros Thorenson and Sue Penman unfortunately did not survive into the quarterfinals. Sue sadly lost her fight only on the eighteenth against Mary Lou Renton. However, Moira Thomson, Barbara McIntosh and Jane Herd all made it through the first round. But this was a far as they got. Barbara met Lesley Nicholson, captain of Scotland's victorious Home International team and could do nothing against the brilliance of her game. Jane lost on the seventeenth to Clara Young one of Scotland's most up and coming juniors. Moira lost one of the tightest of tight battles against Mary Lou Renton having to go to one extra hole before losing. Mary Lou will certainly feel she had plenty golf today!
Well done all.

No East Vet Survivors into the Last Day

Sadly there were no east vet survivors into either the semifinal of Midlothian County Championship or the final of the "B" championship. On a wonderful sun-baked day at Kingsknowe on Saturday but with an increasingly troublesome wind, there were some very tight games for our vets so they went out fighting to the last!

In the main championship Gilly Glen (Craigmillar Park) bravely took on the very experienced Karen Marshall (Baberton), first seed but succumbed at the 13th. Noreen Fenton was drawn against her Dunbar team-mate and the defending champion, Linda Caine. This was a very tight match where there was very little in it. The game finished all square at the eighteenth paving the way to a 19th hole visitation. Linda, bunkered from the tee, had no stance at all and was lucky to come out at all far less make a controlled exit. Just off the green, Noreen chipped pin high. Linda failed to hole out and Noreen was into the quarter-finals against Karen Marshall.

This also was a tight match. Karen was more wayward occasionally off the tee in the strong, intermittent wind but exhibited a "Sevi Ballesteros" ability to play from almost any position and still land on the green. Noreen played steadily with the putting improved on previous rounds but, one down after the 16th only managed to halve the next two holes in par which was not enough.

In the semifinals and finals, Karen Marshall(daughter of Joan) raised her game and played beautifully to take the County Championship for the first time in 19 years.

In the "B" Championship, Margaret Thompson and Sandra Ashurst both went out in the first round but Isobel Halliday won through to the semifinal by 5 and 4. Unfortunately she lost on the eighteenth to Elaine Lumsden of Kingsknowe who was the eventual winner.