In view of the imminent event today (Monday) at Royal Musselburgh, I am only publishing the scores from MD9 at Gifford at this stage without a report, which will appear here in a few days time. Scoresheet – attached. The League Table has been updated and can be seen on this website. Scores were input last night to WHS in time for Monday’s event. The U12s Championship was decided on Sunday at Gifford and the table of scores can be seen below. Well done to all 9 Boys, and congratulations to the Trophy Winners, Rocco and Harvey! The revised Orders of Merit can be seen on Players’ Golf Genius Apps. Dave Warren. 

 

 

 

 

 

Our thanks are due to the staff at Dunbar GC for hosting Match Day 8 on Sunday the 20th July. In particular, our thanks go to the Professional, James Gill, who coped brilliantly with the fluctuations of the mist which initially delayed play, and then later, caused a 20 minute suspension of play. During the suspension, Players had to mark their golf balls and wait for play to resume when the klaxon was sounded! Thankfully, all the Players managed to finish their rounds. Our Scorers Shona and Sue, and our Starter, Chris and Convenors, Gordon, Ric and Nikki, managed the extra long day with great fortitude.

Sixty four Players took part and the Team and Individual scores can be seen on the attached file below. Congratulations to the Gullane Team with 156 aggregate Stableford points who just pipped the West Links Fidra Team with 154 points.  

The best Individual scores were by Aedan Halliburton with 43 net Stableford points, and Nathan Tait with 37 scratch Stableford points, compiled with a round of  71. Prizes can be collected at the next League event. Scores should be uploaded to WHS on Monday.

The Scratch and Handicap Orders of Merit can be seen on the Golf Genius App under “Season Points 2024.”  Jamie Sievwright of Gullane leads the Scratch OOM and Kyle Crawford of West Links Fidra leads the Net OOM. 

The League Table has been updated and can be seen on the website in the side column. The leaders Glen now with 76 points, were overtaken by both West Links Fidra on 79 points, and Gullane on 77 points. With only two Match Days left, at Gifford and The Glen, the finish to the season should be very exciting! 

Our next event is our annual Championships which will be on Monday the 4th August at Royal Musselburgh. There are 10 trophies, and lots of prizes on offer for both Boys and Girls, in various age groups. We are still accepting entries for that event, and entry can be made through the Golf Genius App or by contacting me. Dave Warren 07595 301425.

 

 

 

A big thanks to Musselburgh for hosting our event on Sunday the 29th June.! Thanks also to the usual helpers, Sue, Chris, Gordon and Ric.

Gullane Juniors fielded a full Team this week which reaped dividends! Their best 4 scores from 6 were by Adam Mungall 40 points, Rory McCrossan 37 points, Jamie Sievwright 37 points, and Aedan Halliburton  32 points, giving them a total of 147 points. Craigielaw, The Glen and Haddington were close behind. In the individual event, a new Player, Jamie Crawford of Royal Musselburgh had an amazing 48 net points, with Murray Laird just 3 points behind. The best scratch scores were by Jamie Sievwright with 37 points followed by Ellis Tate with 35 points. The full scores can be seen on the Golf Genius App. Individual prizes detailed below, can be collected at our following Match Days. 

In the League, the Glen retained their top spot, whilst Gullane and Craigielaw closed up the gap between them and West Links Fidra in second place.  See the League Table in the right hand column of the website.

All the scratch and net scores and Order of Merit standings can be seen on the Golf Genius App. All Players scores have been posted to WHS. (World Handicapping System.)

The next MD is at Longniddry on Sunday the 6th July. Please enter this event if you have not already done so, and PLEASE enter our Championships at Royal Musselburgh on Monday the 4th August. There are loads of excellent prizes and 10 trophies to award in various age groups.  Dave Warren 07595 301425

Many thanks to Haddington for hosting us at our Match Day 5, particularly to the Haddington Junior Convenor Kate Henderson,  the Professionals Scott and Connor, and the Keatings catering staff. Kate was a massive help to our usual helpers, Steve Austin, Chris Barker, and Steve Austin. The course was in fine condition and the scoring reflected the blustery conditions in which, for the 3rd event running, no Players in the field scored 40 or more Stableford points! Home Club Haddington recorded a fine wine on home turf by amassing 136 points in the best 4 from 6 scores format. Craigielaw were in 2nd place, 7 points adrift on 129, followed by Gullane on 127. Shona Paton, the Gifford Convenor was absent but was in contact later in evening with me to point out that one of Gifford’s Players had recorded a qualifying score on the Saturday before which had not yet been entered on the World Handicapping System prior to MD5. So after reducing his handicap, his score on Sunday dropped by a point which unfortunately moved Gifford from 3rd place to 4th. This is a good example of the honesty that is expected from all Players and Organisers in Golf!

In the individual event, Ethan Bailey of The Glen led the net scores with 39 points and Cameron Brown of Kilspindie led the scratch scores with 35 points. All individual and Team scores can be seen on the table below, or on the Golf Genius App under “Member Portal” and “Results.” Prizes can be collected at future MDs. The Orders of Merit can be seen on the Golf Genius App. Players can enter our remaining events on the App. My advice – get in early as we may be oversubscribed.  The League Table can be seen on the website. Well done to the Glen move into the lead! 

Slow Play – This is a perennial problem in Golf worldwide, but is at its worst now, evidenced by some rounds in the US Womens’ Open yesterday taking 6 hours! Professionals seem reluctant to adopt “Ready Golf ” principles, and are seldom ready to play their shot when it is their turn. Sadly, some of our  Juniors, are now mimicking our top Men and Womens Players’ time consuming pre-shot deliberations, distance measurement calculation, taking several practice swings (up to 10 in some instances), pacing out putts, “straddling” the line and using “aim point” technique for putts, and lining up the ball on each and every putt, even when it may be a “tap in!” (The best putting coaches advise that for any putts outwith a distance of 15 feet, distance is more important than line!) All of these excessive and time consuming procedures can spoil the enjoyment of the game for the many Players. The R&A have quoted that for the majority of Amateur Golfers, “The futile mimicking of elite golfers should be avoided.” Any Coaches advising these procedures at the level of the game in our League should stress that if these procedures hold up play, then the Players are liable to receive a warning and ultimately receive penalty strokes. 

Yesterday, together with Ric Foulner the Convenor of the West Links Juniors, I was on the course advising Players on time saving techniques, and monitoring any groups who were “out of position.” Being so is defined broadly as – “making sure that your group never has an empty par 4 in between them and the group in front, or being 15 minutes or more behind the group in front. If your tee time was 8 minutes behind the group in front, then you should finish your round only 8 minutes behind them. We observed gaps of 2 clear holes in front of some groups which is unacceptable. If this happened to say 2 groups in any field, then the duration of play for later Players would be an extra 30 minutes or more! Groups falling behind yesterday were identified and were advised to catch up to the group in front within the next 2 holes. We did see some effort but not enough improvement in their position was observed, so we will continue to monitor groups in future and advise accordingly. If any group in future is “out of Position” we will begin to time individuals in the group who are suspected as being too slow. Players who do not play a provisional ball when clearly it was sensible to have done so, and so delay play by having to return to put another ball into play may be penalised, if they held up players behind. Players who search for their ball for more than the 3 minutes allowed, without finding it, have the choice of abandoning their play on that hole, or if they can still score any stableford points, return to the location of the previous stroke, and putting another ball into play. If they find and play the original ball after more than 3 minutes of searching, the score for that hole will not count. Any Player who, after several strokes during play of any hole, can no longer score any Stableford points, should pick up their ball with no further play.

What can Players do to help? Try timing yourselves during practice. From the time you arrive at your ball, and if it is your turn to play, then you are allowed 40 seconds to play your stroke. Use common sense to refine, economise and practice your pre-shot routine so you can confidently be within that limit of 40 seconds on every occasion you play a stroke. But 10 extra seconds are allowed for the first Player only to play – on any par three holes, on any approach shots, and on chips and putts. Note – on Greens, after marking your ball, repairing pitch marks, removing loose impediments etc, when it is your turn to play, you have 40 seconds left to strike your putt. Time spent looking at the line, “straddling” etc, and aligning the ball will count towards the 40 seconds you are allowed. 

I believe that to correct our Players at this stage of their golfing careers may seem impolite, but it is necessary for the good of their own development and for their future in the game. Nobody wishes to gain the reputation of being a slow Player!

Dave Warren 07595 301425

Our thanks are due to Kilspindie and to their Junior Convenor Chris Stirling for hosting us on Sunday on a very blustery day with sudden squalls of rain! There were 73 Players competing. Our usual helpers, Shona, Sue, Jean, Chris Barker, and Gordon dealt efficiently with all the Starting and Scoring duties. Scoring was exceptionally difficult but Players persevered. Perhaps this experience is part of learning how to manage your game in extreme conditions, which will useful in future. Congratulations to The Glen for winning the Team event, narrowly finishing ahead of both of the West Links Teams. The Team scoresheet and list of prizewinners is attached. Prizes can be collected at subsequent MDs. The League Table has been updated and can be seen in the side column of this website. The Glen are now on the heels of the West Links Fidra Team. Orders of Merit points have been awarded and the OOM positions will be published soon on the Golf Genius App.

Edward Millar had an excellent net total of 38 points, winning by 4 points from Reece O’Connor, Oliver Tate, and  Theo Cameron, all on 34 points. In the scratch section, Nathan Tait had a very commendable gross 72 and amassed 33 points. Cameron Brown was 2nd with 29 points, and there was a 3 way tie for Kai Laing, Seb Harvey and Jamie Sievwright on 28 points. These players can collect their prizes at the next Match Day they attend. Scores have been submitted to WHS so handicaps should have been updated. Team and Individual scores can be seen on the Golf Genius App. 

Entries will close on Monday 26th for the next event – MD5 at Haddington. There are 76 entries already. A “skeleton” draw will be prepared and published on Monday. There are 84 spaces available. Spaces in the draw will be filled in a fair way if we are oversubscribed. Some Players will be placed on a “waitlist.”  There were 9 Players who scratched from MD4 at Kilspindie, some at very late notice. The earlier notice I receive  of scratchings – the better for all concerned! Thanks.

Dave Warren 07595 301425