EAST WIN LIZ MISKIMMIN FRIENDSHIP QUAICH

What an enjoyable day up in St Andrews!  Great fun, good golf (with lots of birdies and even eagles!), wonderful company and fellowship,  lovely  food  and ………………..

a four to three win for East Vets against the Midlands Vets. 

(Full results at the end of this report.)

Pictured above is the winning East Vets Team with Captain Anne Brownie holding the Liz Miskimmin Friendship Quaich, followed by a photo of both  teams. 

Other photos  can be viewed by clicking here
This annual match between these two SVLGA Divisions was played over the Jubilee Course in St Andrews on 19^th May 2015. The strong North West wind  made a few holes play very long but then helped on others with players on both sides (Tricia Chillas of Midlands and Mairi Pollock of East) recording eagles on par 5s. Some  wonderful shot-making was on display and  several matches could have gone either way before one player pulled away whilst in others substantial leads were eaten into, keeping the outcome uncertain for a bit longer. Linda Grieve and Ruth Brown both recorded good 5 & 4 wins for the East whereas the first two matches were won by Dawn Butchart and Elsie Hutcheon for  Midlands : the match was delicately poised at two wins each.

Cynthia Guthrie then claimed Game 4 for the East at much the same time as Carol Brown lost her tussle with Tricia Chillas making it three apiece.  At this point it became known that the East would retain the Trophy as Mairi Pollock displaying a wonderful touch around the greens had gone to dormie four up against Katherine Keir.  Nonetheless it was a nail-biting last few holes to see whether Mairi could secure the outright  win for the East with Katherine mounting a valiant fightback, taking the game to the 18^th green.

There was just time for a quick few photos outside the Links Clubhouse before a hail storm  came whipping through. As seen from the flyaway hairstyles in these last photos (follow link above), it really was pretty windy even though the sun did come out on occasion! After the photo-shoot a delicious meal was enjoyed in the Links Clubhouse to round off a day of  competitive  yet friendly matches  in  the spirit of the Liz Miskimmin Friendship Quaich.  Thanks go to Midlands Captain, Bev Brown, for her excellent organisation of the 2015 Match.

Individual results (East names first):
Sue Penman (Gullane Ladies) lost to Dawn Butchart (Strathmore)  2 down
Hazel Saunders (Gullane Ladies) lost to Elsie Hutcheon(Ladybank) by 4 & 3
Linda Grieve (Musselburgh)  won  vs  Gillian Wallace (Blairgowrie) by 5 & 4
Cynthia Guthrie (Gullane Ladies) won  vs Fiona Hill (Crail) by 2 & 1
Ruth Brown (Mortonhall)  won vs Shelagh Quinn (Stirling) by 5 & 4
Carol Brown (Mortonhall) lost to Tricia Chillas by 3 & 2
Mairi Pollock (Craigmillar Park) won vs Katherine (Elie)  2 up

SUMMER MEETING DRAW / HASTINGS TROPHY / MATCH UPDATES

This is a busy time of our golfing season! What a shame that so many games are being played in cold, windy conditions. Can it really be that our Summer Meeting is only three weeks away?  Let's hope that the jet stream bringing all this cold air to Scotland changes direction soon.

 Meantime the Draw for the Summer Meeting at Haddington GC on Tuesday 9th June can be found under "Draws"; this is our Championship Qualifying round with the matchplay to be played in July (The Semifinals and Final are all to take place on Saturday 25th July with the quarterfinals to be played in the two preceding weeks by arrangement.)

In conjunction with our three meetings this year, a new Trophy is being played for : The Hastings Trophy. This rather lovely trophy (see picture) has kindly been presented by Isobel Hastings and all the winner needs is one good round - a better net score than her peers. However, all you new or younger Vets please note that this trophy is reserved for Vets over 75 years. We need to know who is eligible so if you are or if you know of someone who is, do let Anne Brownie or Katherine Thomson know.

Our annual match against the British Seniors Men took place on a chilly May day at Elie Golf Club. Despite the cold wind, both sides thoroughly enjoyed this sociable yet competitive event. Our East Vets hopes were raised when the first two foursomes went our way but then the men won the remaining four games resulting in an overall 2- 4 loss. Next year ............... !

The match against the Midlands Vets takes place on Tuesday 19th May in St Andrews for the Liz Miskimmin Fellowship Quaich. Our team of   Sue Penman, Hazel Saunders, Linda Grieve, Cynthia Guthrie, Ruth Brown, Carol Brown and Mairi Pollock will be trying to ensure that the Quaich remains in the hands of the East Vets.  Good luck ladies.

The team to play the West Vets for the Elise Duncan Trophy has also been selected and will be announced on this site shortly before the match takes place on 2nd June.  Teams to play in the Foursomes Match vs the West and the Greensomes Match vs the Borders and ladies in the appropriate handicap ranges will be receiving reminders to indicate if they would be interested in playing.