Back Row L-R Jamie Barker (Longniddry) Scott McAdam (Kilspindie) Rory Leishman (Royal Musselburgh) Joe MacPherson (Kilspindie) Steve Austin (Haddington Convenor) Gareth Jack (Former Longniddry Convenor)

Middle Row L-R Riley Porterfield (Kilspindie) Angus Waddell (Gullane) Rory Leitch (Haddington) Ryan Pirie (Haddington) Sue Warren, 

Front Row L-R Shona Paton (Convenor Gifford and East Lothian Girls) Kate Thomson (Winterfield and East Lothian Girls) Louise Martin (Gullane and East Lothian Girls) Anna Zonova (Royal Musselburgh) Katie Mackenzie (Gullane) and Dave Warren.

In February 2024, 12 Junior Golfers from East Lothian Golf Clubs who play regularly in the (non-profit) East Lothian Junior Golf League, experienced a wonderful trip to Pinehurst, North Carolina. 

This was the fifth time the League had taken their Players to the “Home of Golf” in the USA. Our Juniors only have one opportunity to go on these trips and there has now been a total of 84 Juniors who have taken part. Some of our former and current Juniors are attending, or are applying for, golf scholarships at US Colleges and Scottish Universities. Several of the Players have now won Scottish Championships and/or are in the current Scottish Mens, Womens, Boys and Girls performance squads.

Pinehurst No.2 is now preparing for the Mens’ US Open in June, and they have 5 more Mens’ US Opens there before 2047 and a US Womens Open in 2029. I think some Parents of our Players may, in future, be visiting Pinehurst with their sons and daughters! 

A total of 39 Players, Parents, Friends and Leaders, including special guest Catriona Matthew, all met for a pre-trip lunch at The Glen Golf Club before the trip after which Dave Warren, the Secretary of the Junior League, gave details about the itinerary of the trip. The 5 Leaders who took part were, Dave and Sue Warren, who are both members of North Berwick and are also Overseas Members of a group of North Carolina resort golf courses – Mid Pines, Southern Pines and Pine Needles, and three other Junior Convenors, Shona Paton, (Gifford and East Lothian Girls) Steve Austin (Haddington) and Gareth Jack (former Convenor at Longniddry) who all voluntarily gave their time to the Juniors to ensure that all went well! Thanks are due to them from the League, and from the Parents and Players. Dave and Sue have some wonderful friends amongst the residents of Pinehurst, several of whom are Members of North Berwick Golf Club.

During their visit, the Juniors played 9 rounds of golf on some world class courses, such as Mid Pines, Pine Needles, Forest Creek, Pinehurst Nos 1 and 4, and Longleaf, where they experienced all that one of the biggest golf destinations in the world can offer. I would like to thank all of the owners, members and staff at all those courses for continuing to host our Juniors so well.

Families of the Players all paid for the Players’ airfares and for their dining costs whilst abroad, and the Leaders also paid for their own costs. The League receives some generous donations from Marine and Lawn Hotels and from Dan Van Horn, the founder of US Kids Golf, and these donations form the basis of the League being able to subsidise most of the other costs for the Players. One Player received financial help from the North Berwick Rotary Club and in one case of hardship, all of another Player’s costs were paid by donations from Members of their Club, backed by subsidies from the League’s funds. Parents of Players who have been on these trips also donate occasionally. Other donations came from many guests whom David and Sue have hosted at North Berwick and they are delighted to help fund these trips when they hear about the opportunities the League gives to young people. Thanks to all of them as well. 

After travelling from Edinburgh on Friday the 9th February, via Heathrow to Raleigh Durham, a wee problem at US Customs arose where the soles of all the Players golf shoes had to be scrubbed clean by a very enthusiastic Customs agent, which delayed us for an hour or more! Two rented people carriers, a taxi, and a luggage trailer then ferried the group to Pinehurst where we arrived about 9:30 pm. We then split up and checked into three addresses provided by friends. One house provided rooms for all 10 Boys and for Steve and Gareth, and another family shared their home with Shona and the 4 Girls. Dave and Sue were given the use of a 3 bedroom Condominium on Pinehurst No.5 Golf Course, together with the loan of a car. Thanks again to all those wonderfully generous friends, who even got together later with other Pinehurst friends to fund the closing dinner on our last night in Pinehurst.

After a good rest, the golf commenced on Saturday on the Pinehurst No.1 Course in the “Winternationals,” a series of seven 36 hole events played, as the name suggests, during the fairly mild North Carolina winter, on various courses at the Pinehurst Resort and surrounding courses. These scratch events are expertly run by veteran organiser Peter De Young, and by Pinehurst Head Pro, Matt Nunez. 

For many Players, their first exposure to US golf courses was hard to handle, with different types of grasses, and hard to read grainy greens, so scoring was high. The Leaderboards are here – https://wjsp.bluegolf.com/bluegolfw/wjsp24/schedule/index.htm  All of our Players were in the “Junior/Senior” Division, and 84 competitors in total competed in the various divisions. Joe MacPherson, a scratch player from Kilspindie, coped extremely well with jet lag and the unfamiliar greens and scored 74 and 70 to tie for first place! Joe received a trophy and some prizes from the League. Katie Mackenzie was our top girl and also received a prize from the League. Almost all of the Players improved their scores on day two.

The Players also enjoyed social mixed four-ball golf at Pine Needles (the host course for 4 US Womens Opens), Mid Pines, and Forest Creek South. The 8 Boys had our annual Match against the local Pinecrest High School over Pinehurst No.4 where we came a distant second to the State Champions! Meanwhile, the Girls ventured back to Mid Pines for another round. 

Then on the 2nd weekend, there was a practice round and 2 more rounds in the Winternationals at Longleaf, the HQ of US Kids Golf. The scores of the 69 competitors can also be seen on the Leaderboard link above. Sadly we had no success at that venue.

The weekdays were filled with various activities, including playing the sensational 9 hole Cradle course at Pinehurst, using all the Pinehurst practice facilities and the 6 hole “Bottlebrush” short course at Longleaf, a visit to the Donald Ross Museum with a talk from the Curator Audrey Moriarty, a visit to the Golf Pride offices, which is their Research and Development centre, with a guided tour from Katie Hoadley. Some Players had clubs re-gripped at Golf Pride. We also had a talk from Jaime Diaz, a renowned golf journalist and TV pundit for the Golf Channel in the USA. Jaime donated a huge box of brand new logoed golf shirts which he had built up over the years. Our Players were delighted to receive these.

Players appetites were well served with breakfasts at the Pine Crest Inn, at the Villager Deli, and with several dinners at The Pinehurst Brewing Company, The Sly Fox English Pub, and at other superb restaurants. On one evening, a generous couple, Charles and Cami Gregg, provided a superb BBQ which was swiftly devoured! Nothing matched the final dinner at the Pine Crest Inn, expertly provided by Drew Gross and his Staff, which was generously funded by all of our Pinehurst friends, and attended by most of them. Thanks to JJ Jackson and Eric Carrier for organising a great evening. The Juniors presented them all with gifts to show their appreciation for the hospitality shown throughout their visit.

Each Junior and Leader was given a dozen golf balls by the League, and souvenirs – a Pinehurst No. 2 pin flag for Boys, a Pine Needles pin flag for Girls, and a No.2 Course Planner for everyone, so they can watch the Mens’ US Open with the aid of the planner!

The Players and Leaders, apart from Dave and Sue who stayed on for a further week, all returned to Edinburgh on Tuesday the 20th February, all no doubt reminiscing and regaling their parents and friends with stories of their “trip of a lifetime!” We hope that fond memories of Pinehurst, their enthusiasm for the game of Golf, and the friendships they made on this trip, will last for the rest of their lives. 

Later, Dave and Sue tackled the Pinehurst No.2 Pro Shop and found that some items remained after the Juniors had been shopping! We were still able to buy a substantial quantity of merchandise, discounted thankfully by another good friend, which the League will give out as prizes at our League and at other events this year.

If any young Boys and Girls living in East Lothian are thinking of taking up Golf then, after they join a local Club and obtain a handicap, they can play in our League’s “free to enter” events, on many different courses in “Scotland’s Golf Coast” which events are all on our website at eastlothianjuniorgolf.org.uk There are also “Get Into Golf” programmes and “Golf Camps” held by local Clubs, and Schools Golf competitions through “Active East Lothian” There are some excellent Children’s courses in the area where players can start the game. Kate Green, our EL Council Golf Development Officer, runs Schools Competitions and Coaching events through the winter.

The League depends on donations to keep these trips affordable, and we want to take larger groups there when appropriate. There is a “Donate” button on the League’s website, or donations can be made direct to the League’s “Winternationals” account. Donors would need to contact Dave directly to arrange payment by this method.  

Dave Warren 07595 301425 djjwarren@gmail.com

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In the meantime, here are 3 photos from day 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For our newer Players especially, this link takes you to a short video on how to use the Golf Genius mobile App for live scoring. It will be used more often at our events as in future, most of the competitions you will be playing in anywhere, will have similar scoring systems in place. It is very easy to manage, and your playing group will be given a GGID code to access the scoring function. If one volunteer Player in each group double checks with their playing partners their scores after each hole, and keeps entering those scores as play continues, then it will be easier, and quicker, at the scoring desk, to accurately process the scores. However, all Players in the group should still exchange traditional scorecards and each Player should record a playing partner’s score as well as their own, in the correct “Player” or “Marker” columns. This process is essential in the case of resolving any disparities in scores. You will also be able to see Leaderboards in the App. So please use the App in 2024 as much as you can. Feb 29th 2024.

 

North Berwick West Links golfer Grace Crawford, who is currently on a Scholarship at the Windsor School at the Albany Club in the Bahamas, has just verbally committed to go to  the University of Alabama on a fully paid scholarship and will commence studies there in August 2025. This is great news for Grace and the League wishes her success when she embarks on the next stage of her golfing career. The photo below shows Grace’s new Coach and Assistant Coach at Alabama. And above that is an earlier photo of Grace taken when she started to play in our League! Grace’s news exemplifies the benefits of children starting golf early, and of being dedicated to the game. Well done Grace! Grace’s resume can be seen here.