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.

East vets to play in both the Midlothian County Championship and the "B" Championship

Two East Vets have qualified to play in the main county championship, and three in the county "B" championship. Noreen Fenton (Dunbar) and Gilly Glen (Craigmillar Park) face Linda Caine - defending champion and Karen Marshall (first seed) respectively. Margaret Thompson (Turnhouse) Isobel Halliday (Merchants) - last years's runner-up - and Sandra Ashurst will play in the "B" Championship and having got through to the next round Isobel and Sandra would have the prospect of facing each other! All of these ties take place at Kingsknowe Golf Club on Saturday morning.

Fiona de Vries who plays for Midlothian in county matters and Midlands for Vets matters (complicated)was due to play in the qualifying rounds but has been unavoidably detained in a US hospital bed having broken her leg in a fracas on the ice. She was representing Scotland in the Word Curling Team Championship - talented lady. This is a very serious blow for Scottish Senior golf in 2011 but we wish her all the best for a very speedy and complete recovery.

Good luck to all thos playing on Saturday.

Team for Annual Match Against the British Senior Men at Elie

The East Vets Team to play against a British Senior Men's Golfing Society Select has been picked and should represent a good cross-section of the membership with regard handicaps and clubs and includes serving officials of the East Vets and LGU together with some past Captains. This Elie match is a little different from our other matches in that emphasis is placed on variety and hopefully including ladies who might not be included in our regular games against the West, Borders and Midlands.

The game against the Men is on Thursday 12th May and is always at Elie. The format is a two ball foursome and generally the ladies get strokes but all that apart, this is a very competitive match. This is the team to do the works.

Margo Blair (Baberton)
Phyl Early (Glencorse)
Noreen Fenton (Dunbar)
Katy Gillies (Melville)
Val Hallam (Glencorse)
Isobel Halliday (Merchants)
May Hardy (Baberton)
Gillian Kirkwood (Gullane)
Norma Richmond (Murrayfield)
Margaret Rodger (Turnhouse)
Elizabeth Simpson (Murrayfield)
Katherine Thomson (Murrayfield)

Wish them luck.