East Lothian Junior Golf League

Supporting junior golf in East Lothian, Scotland

MD7 at Haddington – Results!

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Our thanks are due to all at Haddington Golf Club, especially to the GM Alan Mackay, who along with F&B Manager Lisa, made sure we were all welcome.  John Murdoch and I would like to thank our usual helpers, Chris Barker, Gordon Smith, Steve Walker and Shona Paton. In the Team event, in which the best 4 out of 6 net scores count, West Links Bass with 145 points, were 8 points ahead of 2nd placed Glen who were on 137. The scores have been posted to WHS, the Orders of Merit have been updated, and along with the Leaderboards, can be seen on your Golf Genius App. The League Table has been updated, and can be seen on the right hand side of this website. West Links Bass now are leaders by a few points from The Glen. Team and best individual scores are inserted below. All the leaderboards of every competition we organise, and the Orders of Merit standings, can be seen on the Golf Genius App.

We had fine weather for a change, but the rough was very high so there was a scarcity of really good net scores, except for 8 year old Callum Laughtland who, playing for West Links Bass and in receipt of 24 shots, amassed 44 net Stableford points! His handicap has now been cut by 3 strokes! In the scratch section, Daniel Hogg playing for Gullane, with a gross 70, scored 37 points closely followed by Lewis Young on 36 scratch points. Callum therefore goes to the top of the Net Order of Merit with his 1st place finish, and Oliver Tate and Phebe Pickett, playing for West Links Bass and Fidra respectively, are close behind. Lewis Young of Craigielaw was next best in the net section with 38 points. Daniel now has 2 wins this season, and leads the scratch OOM by a margin of 24 points over Cameron Brown of Kilspindie. Prizewinners may collect their prizes at one of our next events.  

SLOW PLAY – Play was reasonably paced on Sunday at Haddington, but one group fell 30 minutes behind the match in front, thats maybe 3 holes! As all groups started their round 8 minutes after the group in front, groups should be finishing their rounds 8 minutes after the previous group has finished. If not, then the slower group are probably out of position, and in some cases, might be liable to penalties for slow play.  You must try to close the gap between you and the group in front.

BALL SEARCHING – Sometimes, when a ball is seen to disappear in deep rough, and a good shot with a provisional ball has been played, it might be better to accept that to continue with the provisional ball is the better option, and to not even search for the original ball. Even if you find your ball, it might take you 2 or 3 shots to advance your ball to a more playable position. So this is a judgement call whether you actually even start searching for a ball which, if found, will probably be unplayable. And you will undoubtedly delay the group behind, thus contributing to slow play!  Just take the penalty, and announce you are abandoning the search and continue with your provisional ball! Note – if you do find the original ball within 3 minutes of starting a search, and deem it to be unplayable, you are not allowed to continue with the provisional ball. 

NEXT EVENTS – We are back at Haddington on Monday the 29th June for our “Flagship” event – our Individual Championships at which there are many trophies and prizes up for grabs.  Entries close on Tuesday 23rd June at 6 pm. Please enter this, and any of our other events asap as there may have to be waiting lists for these events. The morning round in our Championships at Haddington is a qualifier for the Justin Rose Telegraph Golf Championship.

FOURBALL FUN DAY – The planned Match Day at Musselburgh on Wednesday the 1st July has been converted to a fun Fourball event starting about 1100. Please enter this if you can. 

MATCH DAYS 8, 9 AND 10. – Entries for all of these can now be made on the Golf Genius App 

Dave Warren Jt. League Secretary 07595 301425 djjwarren@me.com

MD6 at Winterfield – Results!

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On Sunday 31st May, Winterfield GC successfully hosted their very first Match Day since rejoining the League. Their success was due to having so many willing volunteers from within their membership, particularly from Junior Convenors Scott Marjoribanks and Struan Macdonald, ball-spotter in chief, Nick Doggett, with further help provided by Musselburgh Old Convenor Alan Tweedie. When added to our regular Starter Chris Barker and “Shepherd” Iain Crawford, John Murdoch and I had ample help on hand. We hope this level of help from within Clubs is replicated at more of our events! The staff at Winterfield were also excellent in looking after us.   

Sadly, although there were 90 Players in the field, and 2 more awaiting spots in the draw, there were several late call offs, reducing the eventual field to only 84 entrants. Those calling off were courteous enough to let me know in advance but more notice is required in future please!

Turning to the actual golf now, the team scores and the best individual scores can be seen below or on the right hand column of this website, and on your Golf Genius App at the Leaderboard for MD6 at Winterfield. The League table can also be seen there in which West Links Bass and Craigielaw are now joint top. The Orders of Merit can be seen on the App under Season Points – Standings.

The leading Teams can be seen in the attachment, and in the best 4 scores from 6 format, West Links Bass emerged as winners with 141 points followed by Gullane with 135 points. The strong winds made scoring difficult, but one Player, Rory Mackenzie of Dunbar, scored an excellent 3 under par 64 to amass 37 scratch Stableford points to win by 2 points from Daniel Hogg of Gullane. In the net points category, Rory also led with 42 points, but cannot win more than one prize, so Oliver Tate of West Links Bass with 41 points picks up 1st net prize, with 2 very young Players 12 year old Laura Walker of Musselburgh with 40 points and 8 year old River Montgomery of The Glen with 38 points, taking 2nd and 3rd place. 

Our attention turns now to the next events MD7 at Haddington on Sunday June the 14th, followed by a visit for MD8 on Wednesday the 1st July to the other other recently rejoined member Club, Musselburgh Old, which venue has hosted 6 Open Championships. (Note – if any one ever asks you if you have played any Open Championship venues, then you can say you have!) Entries are open for both events, so get your names in quick! We are limited to 78 entrants at Musselburgh Old.

Our annual Championships are at Haddington on the Monday the 29th June. This event has 10 different trophies to be won for both Boys and Girls, in all age groups, plus prize vouchers, and merchandise from the Open Championship, US Masters etc. There may be a ballot for places in that event. Older Boys with low handicaps will be playing for World Ranking (WAGR) points there! Get your entries in asap for these events using your Golf Genius App. 

Dave Warren, Jt. League Secretary. 07595 301425

Junior Open Season!

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There are hundreds of Junior Opens every summer and if you are having a  holiday in the UK, and wish to try some different courses, then check out this website – “Golf Empire.”  This link takes you to the page listing JOs in the South East of Scotland which includes 6 of the venues in the ELJGL. These events would love to have your participation. Entering them is easy using the links on the Golf Empire website and entry fees are very affordable. When you are older you will wish you had played these courses – at these prices!  

MD5 at Kilspindie – Results!

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On a superb day of weather (for a change), 88 Junior Golfers enjoyed a Kilspindie course in top condition and the wonderful views. Scoring was good, and the Royal Musselburgh Team took the honours with a combined, best 4 out of 6 score, of 148 points, closely followed by Craigielaw on 146 and West Links Fidra on 145. The League Table has been updated – see the right hand column of this website. West Links Fidra have been caught by Craigielaw at the top of the table.  There were some great individual performances detailed in the Scoresheet below. Prizes can be collected at the next Match Day at Winterfield for which the entries close at 6 pm today. (Monday 25th May) There is a problem with the Individual Orders of Merit standings so please ignore these for now.  

 

MD4 at Craigielaw – Results

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These are the results of MD4 at Craigielaw. After 2 abandoned Match Days, it was great to see 77 Juniors out playing golf in good weather. Thanks are due to Craigielaw for hosting us and being very welcoming to the League! Thanks also to John Murdoch, Chris Barker, Iain Crawford and Scott Lothian for assisting on the day. We will need similar assistance at every MD this year, usually involving local Junior Convenors and other local volunteers.

Well done to both West Links Teams for consistently high scoring at Craigielaw, and to the Juniors with the best scratch and net individual scores. Prizes will be handed to winners at our next event. Individual and Team Scoring can be seen on your Golf Genius App. The League table, which can be viewed on this website, has been updated. Scores have been submitted to WHS.

Please remember to enter our next 3 events at Kilspindie, Winterfield and Haddington, using your Golf Genius App. Our annual League Championships are going to be held at Haddington on Sunday June the 29th. In view of the increased number of Players now registered with the League – now standing at 217, there may be a surplus of Players wishing to play in that event. There may have to be a ballot of Players by handicap indexes, in the various age groups. So please enter this event if you wish to play. Registration on Golf Genius is now OPEN! In the event of excessive numbers of entries, we may look at hosting the U12s Boys, and the Girls Championships, at other MD venues.

ELJGL Girls vs. St Andrews!

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On Saturday the 28th March, a Team of 6 Girls ventured to the Jubilee Course at St Andrews for a match vs. the St Andrews University Ladies Golf Team. The University Team were led by their Captain, Kate Thomson,  a recent ELJGL Player from Dunbar. The 3 pairings consisted of Anna Zonova and Lydia Pickett vs. Louisa Forman and Palakshi Siingh, Chloe Adams and Phebe Pickett vs Helen Boyd and Abi Mitchell, and Maisie Witt and Louise Martin vs. Clara Goldstein and Meili Fabre-Marques. The St Andrews University raised 8 Players so together with Gareth Jack, former Longniddry Junior Convenor, I played against Kate and Jemima Bullock. The overall result was 2 matches each. After a round played in very windy conditions, with sand from the beach stinging our faces, we adjourned to the One Under Bar in the Rusacks Hotel for soup and sandwiches. We were grateful for the support of several parents, George Adam, Chris Martin, David Witt and most of the Pickett family! We anticipate having a return match in 2027 in East Lothian. Photos attached in order as per the Teams listed above with a stand-in from another Pickett sister for a St Andrews Player who had to leave! Dave Warren, Jt. League Secretary.

 

 

 

 

MD1 at Gullane No. 3 Results

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Our 1st Match Day was successfully completed last Sunday at Gullane No.3. The weather was kind and the tee sheet was full but a few Reserves missed out!  We will request more tee times next year. The scoring was good as can be seen on this table of results. 

 

ELJGL County Cup 2025/6 – Final!

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The final of the 2025/6 County Cup was played on Sunday 15th March at Kilspindie. The start was delayed due to an atrocious squall which blew across the course. The few Members who were out on the course ran back to the Clubhouse! The finalists, 4 Players from each of the Gifford and Gullane Junior Teams eventually set foot on the course, and proceeded to fight the conditions with determined play, although survival was also a key motivation!  The Teams played alternate shot, foursomes golf, in two games with the aggregate score counting towards the overall result. Only 1 handicap stroke was given in a very even match on paper. Chris Stirling, the Kilspindie Junior Convenor, and County Cup Organiser, refereed Game 1 and I refereed Game 2. It was hard to keep score in the condition but the difficult 4th hole, played into the gale, was won in Game 2 with a 7 against a 9! The Gullane Team, whose Convenor, Barry Templeton, and a few hardy spectators, walked round supporting the Players. We sent out 8 Boys to play and they came back in as Men! Gifford, the holders, led ably by Junior Convenor Shona Paton, went into an early lead. Gullane took the lead on the back 9, and their first pair, Charlie King and Donald Templeton, won the 18th to finish 2 up against Ruaridh Clubb and Aaron Muldownie. Then the signal came from the 16th green that Aedan Halliburton and Adam Mungall of Gullane, had just gone 2 up against Calum Martin and Innes Logan of Gifford. So the aggregate score in Gullane’s favour was 4 up with 2 to play. There were excellent sandwiches and drinks for the Players and Convenors after the round, and a brief prize giving, at which both Teams received prize vouchers. Our thanks are due to Chris Stirling for organising this event again and to Kilspindie for hosting the final. Dave Warren, Joint League Secretary.
The Winning Team with the John Brown trophy are L-R Donald Templeton, Charlie King, Adam Mungall and Aedan Halliburton.
The losing side Gifford, soaked before they went out play, were represented by, L-R Callum Martin, Innes Logan, Aaron Muldownie and Ruaridh Clubb.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Girls’ Junior Framework!

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Scottish Golf have recently announced by email their new funded pathway for “Girls to enter, stay and thrive in Golf.”  All Convenors should have received this through their Clubs, but I have sent it to all our Convenors just to be sure they see it.  The complete information on how to apply for funding etc is at this link

 

 

Ava Paterson in Dubai!

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Ava, a recent Junior at Kilspindie, and now a student at Heriot Watt University, was in touch with me recently. Ava told me she was heading to Dubai, where Heriot Watt have a Campus, for a semester from January till the Spring. Ava’s Mum Eleanor, asked me if I knew anyone in Dubai, as Ava had expressed the wish to help to coach Junior Golfers whilst she is there. I recalled that Euan Bowden, and Ryan Gallacher, both former ELJGL Juniors, were working in Dubai. I viewed the “Tommy Fleetwood Academy” website where I saw that both of them are working there as PGA Professionals – see their full Team here! So, I put them in touch with each other. I believe that Ava will be seeing both soon Ryan and Euan soon, but in the meantime, Ava has met the Boss! Good luck Ava! 

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