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.

Ramsden Cup 2010

It's time for the Hole and Hole again so here's the draw for the Ramsden Cup. The first round has to be played by 2nd May but please don't play your first tie before the 6th of April. That will then give you almost two weeks to sharpen your short-game skills and polish your putting. Remember there isn't that long between rounds so get on the phone as soon as possible and get those ties arranged and just in case you don't know how to get in touch with your opponent, a draw will be on show at the Spring Meeting with all the phone numbers on it. After your game please let Katherine know the result as soon as you can.

Click on the draw to enlarge. Good luck.

Draw for Scroggie Cup

The draw for the Scroggie Cup and the Scottish Vets Championship has been drawn. This competition is played each year in September over the Lansdowne Golf Course at Blairgowrie. Fot those vets who have perhaps heard of this cup but are unaware of who qualifies, there is a set format whereby the champions from each of the eight vets divisions compete in a match-play situation.

The draw is as follows:

EAST V GALLOWAY
BORDERS V HIGHLAND
NORTHERN V WEST
MIDLAND V DUMFRIES

The East Vets championship - matchplay games- will be held Sat 10/Sunday 11 July over Haddington Golf Course

Draw for the Spring Meeting

The first East Vets game of 2010 is fast approaching and can only mean the new golf season is on us - at last. The Spring Meeting - and the first of the two qualifying rounds of the championship - will be played over Gullane No. 3 on Monday April 5th.

Here is the draw.

E.S.V.L.G.A.
SPRING MEETING MONDAY 5 APRIL 2010
GULLANE COURSE No 3

Time
8.48 M.Thomson, S.Penman, N.Fenton
8.56 E.Simpson, M.Cranston, P.Mavor
9.04 M.Law, P.Early, M.Woolgar
9.12 R.Denny, A.Chainey, I.Halliday
9.20 V.Hallam, P.Townsend, M.Matthews
9.28 D.Mitchell, A.Hanna, J.Millar
9.36 G.Corstorphine, R.Brown, M.Davidson
9.44 M.Stewart, M.Blair, N.Richmond
9.52 N.Gow, M.Milligan, R.Lynch
10.00 M.Cantley, H.Elder, C.Foggo
10.08 S.Cunningham, C.Kinnaird, B.Biggart
10.16 C.Ross, J.Squires, P.MacKenzie
10.24 C.MacLeod, E.Cackett, M.Lauder
10.32 M.Sneddon, C.Shedden, C.Tait
10.40 C.Campbell, E.Todd, K.Milne
10.48 G.Glen, D.Thomson, M.Mackay
10.56 Y.Hasegawa, K.Gillies, S.Hunter
11.04 M.Richardson, C.Halliday, E.Smith
11.12 G.Andrew, C.Smith, S.Grant
11.20 P.Williamson, A.Brownie, D.Silver
11.28 B.McIntosh, M.Wardrop, L.Gray
11.36 S.King, J.Dawson, Asp Robertson
11.44 C.Bowe, K.Ballantyne, P.Rose
11.52 S.Caton, L.Campbell, P.Stephenson
12.00 L.Johnston, R.Thoresen, L.McLelland
12.08 I.MacDonald, G.Thomson, J.Cuthbertson
12.16 E.Jack, D.Simpson, S.Cullen
12.24 M.Armstrong, E.Burnet, J.Herd
12.32 I.Hastings, R.Dee, M.Woodward
12.40 M.Pollock, W.Ross, J.Watt
12.48 M.Hynes, A.Taylor, B.Halliday
12.56 B.Freedman, F.McLaren, M.Campbell
1.04 P.Scott, M.Maxwell, V.Cullen
1.12 M.Magson, M.Hutchison
1.20

Please try to bring the exact money with you (£10). If unable to turn up please phone Katherine as soon as but conversely if you now find you can play please phone Katherine to see if there are any slots. Play well and fingers crossed for the weather - but not whilst golfing.

Scottish Vets team to play against Irish Select announced

The Scottish Vets team to play against an Irish Senior Select team on 18 - 19 April over Portmarnock Links has been announced today. This annual tussle for the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy is - and isn't - the tenth anniversary of the competition. In 2006 the Irish ladies were in the process of administrative change and did not host the competition. Both sides had been slightly worried that this very popular event might disappear off the Vets Calendar but no such worries.

This year, amid celebrations of its tenth anniversary, the competition will take place over Portmarnock Links, outside Dublin, on a fairly new , but very exciting course designed by Bernard Langer. The format will be exactly the same as usual, with a four ball on Day One and singles on Day Two. The beauty of this competition is that it is fought in a very friendly atmosphere, but with daggers drawn. However the singles matches are drawn out of a hat which always causes great excitement and laughter as no one ever knows who they will play.

The team is possibly a little surprising in that there are changes from last year's winning Vets' team at Bath in the Jamboree. The captain, Pamela Williamson of Baberton - who also captained the winning team in the Senior Home Internationals at Newport - has introduced a new face - Alex Glennie from the West. Two caps from the winning Home International Team at Newport, no doubt disappointing for them, are now first and second reserves, the first of whom, Kathleen Sutherland from Royal Montrose was a reserve to the team, only being brought in when Lorna Bennett of Ladybank withdrew for personal reasons. Lorna has resumed her rightful place in the team. Noreen Fenton of Dunbar who did not play at Bath but was in the winning team at Newport has been recalled, whereas Helen Faulds from Douglas Park, who played in Bath for the successful winning team, a reserve at Newport, has now been selected. She will have a busy three days as she is also the Vice-captain.

The team therefore is as follows:

Heather Anderson (Rosemount)
Lorna Bennett (Ladybank)
Fiona de Vries (St Rule)
Helen Faulds (Douglas Park)
Noreen Fenton (Dunbar)
Alex Glennie (Kilmarnock Barassie)
Mary Smith (Tain)
Moira Thomson(Gullane)
First reserve: Kathleen Sutherland (Royal Montrose)
Second reserve: Fiona Hunter (Baberton)
Captain Pamela Williamson (Baberton)
Vice-captain Helen Faulds (Douglas Park) - member of the team

Good luck to the team. Lots more news will follow as snow boots are abandonned and the golf clubs come out for good.