CONGRATULATIONS KAREN BALLANTYNE, EAST VETS CHAMPION

The 2014 East Vets Champion is Karen Ballantyne of Craigmillar Park GC (Club Captain and Ladies Champion!).  Congratulations to Karen, pictured  below who  won her second East Vets Championship at Haddington GC on 19th July.

The story of  Karen's route to victory was that she first had to come through a very close match against Anne Brownie (Gullane Ladies) in the second of the morning semifinals which Karen won at the 19th. Anne had held a slender one hole lead for several holes on the back nine which but for several clutch putts from Karen (at the 14th, 16th and 17th) could have been extended. However, Karen won the 18th to draw level before going on to win at the first extra hole.  In the other semifinal defending Champion Anne Hanson (Glencorse) had a tough tussle with Jennifer Bryans (Harburn) with Jennifer's putter proving the to be the difference in securing her 4 & 2 win over Anne at the 16th.   Some excellent shotmaking and scoring were produced in both semifinals which, despite a dreadful weather forecast, were played in reasonably benign conditions until the rain came on mid way through the back nine.  Pictures of both sets of semifinalists are below (before the rain).



Anne and Jennifer

Anne & Karen 

And the Finalists with Captain Marjory Lauder  (in a brief respite from the rain):

The Final was therefore destined to be played in rather soggy conditions as the rain was on and off all afternoon but at least the forecast thunderstorms never materialised and the Final between Karen and Jennifer was able to go ahead without any suspensions of play. Jennifer in her first Vets final (at her first participation) had the better of the first nine against Karen and reached the turn 2 up.  Karen pulled one back at the 10th hole and was herself 1 up after 15 holes. Jennifer hit an excellent shot into the 16th hole to level things up before the 17th was halved in birdie 2s. It was looking like extra holes were again going to be needed when Karen guided in her 7 foot putt from the back of the 18th green to secure a 1 up win and title of East Vets Champion 2014.

EAST VETS CHAMPIONSHIP

The East Vets Championship reaches its climax this weekend with both the semi-finals and Final to be played at Haddington Golf Club on Saturday 19th July.  The quarter finals all proved to be close with none finishing before the 16th hole.

Top seed and defending champion Anne Hanson was pushed all the way by Sue Penman but prevailed with a 1 up win. Second seed Pamela Williamson built an early lead over Anne Brownie but Anne fought back to win narrowly by the margin of 2 & 1.  Jennifer Bryans posted a 3 & 2 win over Elinor Blair whilst Karen Ballantyne won her tie with Jane Herd by  3 & 1.  Well done to the winners and commiserations to the other four who played good golf in tight matches. 

The semi-finals are thus:
10.00  Anne Hanson vs Jennifer Bryans
10.07  Karen Ballantyne vs Anne Brownie 

The Final is scheduled for 3pm.  Spectators are welcome for semifinals and Final.

SCOTTISH SENIORS AT ELGIN (1 - 4 JULY)

 

The Scottish Seniors Strokeplay and Matchplay Championships took place at Elgin GC with 20 East Vets taking part.  Elgin proved to be an excellent venue and the course was in great condition.  The Strokeplay Championship (over 36 holes) was won by Alison Bartlett of Royal Dornoch with a 154 aggregate (against par of 148).  Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) of East Vets was in a tie for second place on 156 and won the over 60s scratch prize.   Anne Brownie (Gullane Ladies) and Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park) tied on 160 (11th place). Anne and Karen were joined by. Linda Grieve (Musselburgh) and Lesley Johnston  (Gullane Ladies) in the  Matchplay Championship  Draw. Full Strokeplay results can be found by clicking on the following link  Strokeplay results .  Well done to the above East Vets for doing well in the strokeplay and Congratulations from East Vets to the 2014 Strokeplay Champion, Alison Bartlett pictured below:

In the first round of the Scottish Seniors Matchplay Championship, unfortunately Karen, Linda and  Lesley did not progress into the quarter finals. Anne had a very close game with Sheena Wood (Aberdeen Ladies) narrowly winning 1 up (thanks to halving the 18th with a birdie).  Anne then lost her quarter final against another Seniors Internationalist, Alex Glennie of Kilmarnock (Barassie), in another very close match eventually losing 2 down at the 18th. The full results can be found using this link  Championship Draw.  Congratulations again go to Alison Bartlett who became the 2014 Matchplay Champion - the first time the double had been done since our own Pamela Williamson (Baberton) did it in 2005.  Alison is pictured below with both trophies

 

Away from the main event, the following six East Vets qualified for the handicap championship with Joanne Watt being 2nd seed:

Rita Dee (Kingsknowe), Joanne Watt, Dorothy Thomson,(both Gullane Ladies) Gilly Glen, Frances McFadzean (both Craigmillar Park)and Tricia Smith (Mortonhall).( Lesley Duncan from Craigmillar Park also qualified.) Click the link below to see how the net matchplay progressed: 

 Nett Matchplay 

 

Many Congratulations to Rita Dee (pictured below) who won the handicap event.  

 

As ever, a feature of the week up in Elgin was the great camaraderie among Seniors alongside the competitive golf. Over 90 ladies (and some gentlemen!) attended the Seniors' Supper which was a most enjoyable evening sharing good food, wine and reminiscences before the Cabaret.  Eliz Munro compered a highly entertaining selection of party pieces some of which were captured in the photo album below (links to photos at the end of this post). Chic Murray (alias Pete McNab from West Linton), community singing led by Elgin Ladies and a number of side-splitting/tear producing stories and jokes rounded off an excellent evening. (If you do look at the photos then yes, Karen Maxwell is holding a selection of "panties/lingerie" in her tale from babies to old age!!)  

 

Photos can be viewed by looking at the following links:

Senior Supper 2014 photo selection

Cabaret 2014

Prizes/winners selection