Scottish and Irish teams

Scottish Vets Lose to Irish at Hilton Templepatrick

This blog, written on Sunday seems to have got permanently delayed over the Irish Sea which is all the more unfortunate since at that time there was all to play for, and with a two all draw after the first day's fourball foursomes, the singles matches on day two were eagerly awaited. Unfortunate was indeed the correct term, because the singles matches were to prove a massive disappointment. The previous year at Craigielaw, the foursomes were the disappointment with only half a point coming to Scotland but in the singles, the team rallied to produce the most creditable and exciting fightback, just failing to grab back the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy. At Hilton Templepatrick, Scotland only managed to get one halved match on Day Two, resulting in possibly one of their worst ever results in the Tournament - 9 1/2 to 2 1/2.

Having said that the games were, on the whole, very close and almost all finished on the 16th, 17th or 18th holes. The singles are of course almost a lottery as the couples doing battle are not drawn on a skill basis but literally "out of the hat" which is always exciting and generally causes much hilarity. There is no question that each match is treated with the utmost focus and determination, on both sides.

Results (Scotland first)
Day One 4 ball Foursomes
Lorna Bennett and Mary Smith beat Sheena McElroy and Carol Wickham 4 and 3
Heather Anderson and May Hughes lost to Helen Jones and Pat Doran 2 and 1
Elaine Allison and Linda Urquhart beat Mairead MacNamara and Suzanne Corcoran 2 and 1
Karen Ballantyne and Alison Bartlett lost to Pauline Walsh and Gertie McMullen 2 and 1
Result Scottish Vets 2 Irish Senior Select 2

Singles (Day 2)
May Hughes lost to Sheena McElroy 3 and 2
Alison Bartlett lost to Pat Doran 3 and 2
Linda Urquhart lost to Gertie mcMullen 2 and 1
Heather Anderson lost to Pauline Walsh 2 holes
Mary Smith halved with Carol Wickham
Elaine Allison lost to Mairead Macnamara 2 and 1
Lorna Bennett lost to Suzanne Corcoran 2 holes
Karen Ballantyne lost to Helen Jones 4 and 3
Scottish vets 1/2 Irish Select 7 1/2

Total Scottish Vets 2 1/2 Irish Senior Select 9 1/2

Scottish Vets Team on point of leaving for Ireland

The annual match against an Irish Senior Select Team for the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy is almost on us and will take place on Sunday 15th and Monday 16th April with Saturday as the practice day. The match will be played over the Hilton Templepatrick outside Belfast, a course which will be familiar to a few of the team as it was the venue for the British Senior Ladies in 2008. They may possibly remember it with a little apprehension for the not inconsiderable expanses of water!. It will be a great match. Our own Karen Ballantyne (Craigmillar Park) is again representing Scotland and we wish her well.

Scottish Vets team
Elaine Allison (Midlands)
Heather Anderson (Midlands)
Karen Ballantyne (East)
Alison Bartlett (Highland)
Lorna Bennett (Midlands)
May Hughes (West)
Mary Smith (Highland)
Linda Urquhart (North)
Non-travelling reserves
Anne Ryan (Highland)
Jill Harrison (North)
Alex Glennie (West)
Captain Helen Faulds (West)
Vice-Captain Noreen Fenton (East)
President Jean Thomas (Borders)
Vice-president Sally Coster (West)

Jinxed!

Somewhere, sometime, in another life, the East Vets must have been a thoroughly bad lot when they are constantly being punished with terrible days for their Spring Meeting. Although many ladies turned up simply to have a coffee and chat, many were prepared to "go out" should their partners be keen. But the ladies from Edinburgh, Mid and West Lothian had had snow to cross through en route for Gullane and their eagerness to play had never exactly been kindled by the time they had arrived. Strangely therefore no one showed distress when another date Tuesday April 24th, was found and the game was cancelled. It is to be stressed that Gullane No 3 was in no way unplayable and was indeed almost begging for friends to play with as no other golfers showed any enthusiasm for going anywhere near it.

All ladies who originally entered today's Spring meeting (before any changes were made) have been emailed with a fresh copy of the draw. Should any of you be unable to play on Tuesday April 24th, could you please telephone Katherine not later than 17th April and she will remove your name. However if there are any ladies out there who didn't enter today's draw but could now play on the replacement day, please phone Katherine and see if there are any spaces. We have booked the tee only till 12.56 so no additional names can be accepted beyond this.

Should April 24th be at all suspect - and surely not - please phone the reception desk on 01620 842255 where a report on the state of the course will generally be ready before 8am and this might stop a journey. You can also phone mobile no 07845 25 2014 to inform that you are not coming.

Fingers crossed for the 24th.

Spring meeting Reminder

Latest weather report looks not too bad, showers at worst. Phew!

Katherine wishes to remind everyone that the balance to pay on Tuesday is £7. If possible can you please bring exact money. Good golfing.