18th Sept 2021 – I have corrected the errors in the set up for awarding OOM points and this resulted in significant changes. Thanks are due to GolfGenius for resolving these.

You can NOW view the Scratch and Handicap OOMs on your Golf Genius App under “Season Points.” If you click on your names, you can see your positions in all the MDs in which you have played. You can also see on the “Standings’ how many points behind you are and how you can quickly catch up!

For our 2021 season, the League is using a new system on “Golf Genius” for our Scratch and Handicap Orders of Merit. Previously, Players’ best 6 points scores in the fields at all 10 Match Days counted for both Scratch and Handicap OOMs. However, this year only, this will be relaxed to 5 out of 10 due to the shortened season and several fixture clashes. The new system, now awards OOM points only to the top 25 Players at each Match Day. The top 25 Players in each of the Scratch and Handicap OOMs will receive points for their placings in the field, as per the table below. The Player(s) finishing with the most Gross and Net Stableford points at each MD will receive a bonus of 5 points. Every Player attending will receive 5 additional points for competing. The finishing positions at the first 8 MDs have now been calculated and can be seen your Golf Genius App. Boys and Girls are all competing for the same OOM prizes. Players tied with the same Stableford points at any MD will receive the same points in the OOMs as no count-back will be applied to the MD placings. There are trophies for the 2 winners and prizes and prize vouchers for 1st to 5th placed players in each of the Gross and Net OOM categories. In addition, there will be some prizes for the top Girls, U14 and U12 Boys in the table. Players cannot win more than 1 prize, and they will be given the best prize they could be given should they feature at the top in both OOMs. The positions of Players in the OOMs, will have a bearing on who receives invites to go an any future trips that League Players make to Pinehurst, but consideration will be given to both age and handicaps at the time of any trip, and Covid vaccination status. Players who have been before may receive another invite if the size of the party allows.

There has been a lot of fun in the playing of these events, run by our Clubs in partnership with Scottish Golf, and other volunteers, so many thanks to them. All the earlier results can be seen on our Home Page at the “drop down” under “Golf Sixes 2021.” In the final fixture on the 5th September at the “Wee Course” at North Berwick West Links, home advantage paid off and West Links Juniors won the day with 141 points. Emilia and Aedan of WLJ were the high scoring pair with 50 points. The League however was won by The Glen with Gullane a close second. The Glen finished with 31 points and Gullane 27 points. It’s been a fantastic effort by all to run the league this year and very much hope it continues next year. The East Lothian Junior League donated prizes for all the Teams, and we hope to see these youngsters competing in our ELJG League events in future! A big thanks are due to Katy McNicholl and all the helpers throughout the year. Photos can be seen here.

The Grand Finals of the “Wee Wonders” have been held at the “Wee Course” at North Berwick and Gullane No.3, in which contestants as young as 5 years old and up to 12 years old from all over the UK competed in a scratch format. Gullane Player Stella Walters, with scores of 30 and 31 over “The Wee Course” at North Berwick, won the Girls 5-8 age group by 16 strokes! At Gullane’s No.3 course, Aidan Lawson of West Links Juniors was 2nd in the Boys 11-12 with a 36 hole score of 144 off the yellow tees. Stella’s brother Fraser was 5th. Ryan Killorn, pictured, also representing the West Links, was 2nd in the Boys 9-10 with a score of 143. Full results can be seen here. 

Apologies! – Calculation and publication of the results of the annual League Championships at Royal Musselburgh took longer than expected due to a technical issue over the accuracy of handicaps on the Golf Genius system. I wanted to make sure that everything was in order first and that trophies, prizes and vouchers are going to the correct Players! The Boys U16/U18 36-hole event was shortened to 18 holes due to the danger of thundery showers, some of which did occur. The event was a qualifier for the Justin Rose and Daily Telegraph Junior Golf Championship to be held at Walton Heath. I will nominate our Boy and Girl Scratch winners Luke and Lucy, and our Net winners Daryl and Rebecca, but sadly, their scores in relation to par may not be low enough to receive an invite.

Our thanks are due to Royal Musselburgh for hosting the event. RMGC Captains Stevie Gough and Helen Findlay presented the prizes to the various age groups. Many thanks to the helpers on the day, John Anderson, Sue Warren, Steve Austin, Stuart Findlay, Shona Paton and Calum and Cammie in the Pro Shop. Our new gazebo was very useful in the rain!

Scores for handicaps were submitted through Golf Genius on the day and your Index should have been updated at midnight! There were 59 Players in total. Trophies have been retained and will be engraved as soon as possible before presentation to you. For Players who were unable to be at the prize-giving, I have retained your vouchers and will pass these to you when I next see you at one of our events. Congratulations to the Players on the following list:-

Photos below- Players receiving their trophies from Stevie Gough or from Helen Findlay, Captains of Royal Musselburgh, or from Dave Warren, League Secretary.

Luke Greig

Lucy Morrison

Daryl Yuill

Brodie Cunningham

Gabriel Ridgeway

Finlay Langlands

Rebecca Wilson

Gabrielle Macdonald, a former ELJGL Player and Craigielaw Junior, has won her first tournament on the LET Access Series (LETAS) at the Allerum Open in Sweden. After a run of good finishes prior to this great win, Gabrielle is in top place in the Order of Merit with only 5 tournaments left, and is line to gain a full tour card on the LET. 

Clara Young, a former ELJGL Players and member at the West Links, is currently competing for a card to play on the LPGA Tour. The Q-School starts Thursday 19th August and scores can be followed here. Sadly Clara started with a 9 over par round, but there is still a long way to go! There are 336 + players competing in this first stage!

The GB&I Team for the Jacques Leglise Trophy has been announced and there are 5 Scots in the Team of 8 Boys. Cameron Adam, and Archie Finnie, both in our Watson Cup Team, have been selected for the Leglise Trophy, and Cameron is Captain. The match is being played in Sweden on August 27 and 28th August. More details here.

The British Boys and the British Girls Championships were held recently at Royal Cinque Ports and Fulford Golf Clubs respectively.

The ELJGL Girls competing in the British Girls were Hannah Darling and Grace Crawford. Grace just missed the cut to 32 qualifiers for the Match Play by one stroke! However, Hannah Darling, a member at Gullane, cruised through the qualifying in 2nd place, then all won her matches by the 16th hole, to reach the final. Hannah played Beth Coulter in the final and at this link, you can see the highlights of the final, and photos of Hannah with her trophy. With this win in her final event as a Junior, Hannah, now off a +8.3 handicap, has reached No. 27 in the Womens’ World Amateur Golf Rankings. Now Hannah goes on to the Curtis Cup to compete for GB&I against the best women golfers in the USA, at Conwy Golf Club in Wales, before going to College in the USA. Good luck Hannah!

In the British Boys, Sam and Oliver Mukherjee, Archie Finnie, and Cameron Adam, all made the cut of 64 at the 36 hole qualifying. In the Matchplay however, only Cameron progressed past the round of 64, and made it all the way to the Round of 8 where he was defeated. Highlights of the final can be seen here. Cameron, a Watson Cup Team member, also starts soon at College in the USA. Good luck Cameron. 

The Stephen Gallacher Foundation (SGF) National Matchplay has been completed. In the 36 holes of qualifying, Cameron Mukherjee, fresh from winning the Scottish Boys U14 title, led the qualifiers at Castle Park – scores here. The qualifiers went into the Matchplay stages and ELJGL players Harry Bent and Callum Kenneally reached the semi-finals. Watson Cup Team Member Harry Bent went on to win the final against Jack Mann by 2&1. There were 19 players amongst the 49 entrants who compete in the ELJGL. 

The results of the Scottish Boys U14s and U12s Championships are published here on the Scottish Golf website. Cameron Mukherjee of Gullane won the Boys U14 title by 2 strokes with a 3 under par total of 139 over the Kirkcaldy Golf Club. Cameron, who is 13 years old, has a handicap of scratch already! Kiron Gribble of Dunbar, also 13, with a handicap of 1, was placed 3rd on 143. In the U12s section, Aidan Lawson was placed 2nd only 3 strokes behind the winner! Well done Boys! There were no East Lothian Girls in the Scottish Girls U16/U14 Championships at Stirling. Come on Girls! 

Sam Hall of Gullane GC reached the final of the St Andrews Boys Open and had to play against … another Sam Hall  – from England! Sadly our Sam lost narrowly in the final by 2&1 over the Old Course.

Fergus Brown won the SGF U15s Championship and Cameron Mukherjee won the SGF U13s! held at Ratho Park. Fergus Brown started his remarkable series of wins by claiming the Boys U15 Scratch event by 2 strokes from James Wood and Brodie Cunningham. Cameron won by 5 strokes from Kiron Gribble. Scores and report here. 

Dave Warren, Secretary.

Longniddry’s Neil Canavan has won the Lothians Boys’ Champion of Champions event, competed for by the Junior Club Champions of all the Clubs in the Lothians. A report of the event can be seen at this link. Neil won by three strokes with a 69, with Luke Greig of Royal Musselburgh and Connor Currie of Turnhouse and Kilspindie. Winner, Neil Canavan is seen here being presented with the Junior Champion of Champions Shield from President, Jean Macnab and Margo Boyle, the Baberton Lady Captain.

Gullane’s Fergus Brown has won the 2021 Lothians’ Boys Championship on Wednesday 4th August, by beating fellow Gullane member Kiron Gribble by 4&3 in the final, at the Braid Hills. Photo of Fergus also attached receiving the trophy from President Jean McNab. Kiron can take lots of satisfaction by winning two trophies at the qualifying round held on Sunday. Kiron scored a 69 which won the trophy as leading qualifier and the U14 trophy. Fergus Brown won the U16s trophy. Please go to the scoring at this link where you will see reports of the match play stages. We note with pleasure that 30 of the 39 boys in the draw compete in the East Lothian League events! Of the 8 qualifiers for the Match Play section, 7 of the Boys play in our League. Well done to all! 

The results from this event came in yesterday from the Scottish Junior Flag Championships. Well done to the two West Links Juniors Teams and to the two Junior Golf East Lothian Teams  who occupied 4 of the first 5 places!. The screenshot below details the scoring.

5th June 2021. Two years later than planned due to Covid, the Watson Cup match between the combined East Lothian & Edinburgh Junior Leagues versus the best Juniors from South Carolina is now rescheduled for July 2022! The format will consist of three series of matches – Fourballs at Royal Burgess on Tuesday the 5th July, Foursomes  at Muirfield on Wednesday the 6th July, and Singles at Gullane on Thursday the 7th July. The Leagues are extremely grateful to the three Clubs involved for making their classic courses available for the first playing of the Watson Cup in Scotland! More details will follow soon!

24th May 2021. Despite there still being no confirmation of the dates and venues for the next Watson Cup Match in 2022, the Members and Management at The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers generously honoured their long standing offer to host a practice day at Muirfield. Seven of the eight Boys in the Team turned up, with apologies only from Jack McDonald who was working in his new role at The Roxburghe Club. Jack’s absence created the opportunity for Grace Crawford, a potential future Watson Cup Player, to come along and have her first game over the famed Open Championship links. Also playing were Captain DJ Russell, Vice Captains Gareth Jack and Martyn Huish. The 12th player was a Muirfield member, Duncan Weir, a long time supporter of the ELJGL, who has now recently retired from his post at the R&A. The Players went out in three x four-balls in testing weather, but they saw a course in wonderful condition. Reports on the scores involved a huge number of birdies being made but the final scores remain confidential! The Players enjoyed some wonderful sandwiches after the game, so many thanks again to the HCEG! The Watson Cup Team bonded well and they are looking forward to the next Watson Cup Match. The photo below shows a Tom Watson golf bag in pride of place, with the Team and Officials L-R Martyn Huish, Harry Bent, Fraser Wanstall, Grace Crawford, Archie Finnie, Cameron Adam, Ciaran Paterson, Joseph Cookson, Calum Robinson, Chairman Dave Warren, and Gareth Jack. The Watson Cup Captain DJ Russell had to leave before the Photo was taken by Duncan Weir.

Thanks for your continued support of the Watson Cup! I’ll keep you informed of developments. Dave Warren.

The series of subsidised or free golfing experiences arranged for Juniors who supported the League’s events in 2020 has continued into April 2021 when six Boys who had never played Muirfield before, were guests of two generous members, Douglas Connon and Brian O’Connor. They were Andrew Hendry, Adam Nichol and Magnus Braby, who all played with Brian. Ryan Gallagher, Sam Hall, and Harry Dunkinson were due to play with Douglas but as Douglas had an urgent matter to deal with, the Boys had to play with the League Secretary Dave Warren, who was delighted to stand in for Douglas! The weather was superb on the day and the course was, as usual, in immaculate condition, and arguably, still is the best Championship links course in the UK. The Secretary, who first played Muirfield when he was 16 and has never forgotten it,  enjoyed his match with Ryan against Sam and Harry, until Sam eagled the 17th hole to better his partner Harry’s birdie on the same hole to win the match. Thank you, HCEG, Douglas and Brian!

Two Boys who have never played the West Links at North Berwick before, were guests of the League. Blair Roberts and Tobin Witt played with League Secretary Dave Warren, and Blair’s father Steven also played in place of a third Boy who had to drop out.

Sadly, the plan for 3 Boys to play the Old Course in St Andrews for the first time has not come to fruition yes as they were unlucky in the ballot on two occasions. However, there are plans for this to happen in May 2021.

Catriona Matthew played at North Berwick with 3 Girls who played in the 2020 ELJGL Girls Championships, which was a joint meeting with the ELLCGA Girls Spring Meeting, yes Spring! 2020 was a difficult year! Catriona played with Lucy Thomas against Ellie Bent and Ala Gorka. Catriona and Lucy won by 1 hole. Catriona signed souvenir scorecards for the Girls. The League paid for the Girls’ green fees and presented Catriona with a bottle of something sparkling, and something to drink it from!

On the following day at North Berwick, 3 other Girls, who also played in our recent Championships, all played with Clara Young, a former Scottish Ladies’ Champion. This involved Maisie Witt, Molly Chapman and Megan Fallon, whose fees were again paid by the League. Clara partnered each Girl for 6 holes and was presented with some golf balls with the League logo.

Not to be outdone, 3 Boys who played in our earlier U18 Championships at Musselburgh GC, were hosted by Douglas Connon, a member at Muirfield, and former Chairman of Scottish Golf, who is a big supporter of Junior Golf. The Boys were Euan Cooper, Ryan Yuill and Byron Archibald. Douglas walked round the course with them, and his anecdotes and knowledge of the history of Muirfield will be long remembered by these 3 lucky Boys!  

The attached photos show L-R Brian O’Connor, Andrew Hendry, Magnus Braby, Adam Nichol, Harry Dunkinson, Ryan Gallagher and Sam Hall.  

L-R, Tobin Witt, Steven Roberts, Blair Roberts and Dave Warren,

L-R, Molly Chapman, Clara Young, Megan Fallon, Maisie Witt.

With Douglas at Muirfield, L-R Ryan Yuill, Euan Cooper, Byron Archibald.

With Catriona L-R Ellie Bent, Lucy Thomas, Ala Gorka.

A reminder for all our Juniors when the 2021 season starts. The attached link takes you to “The First Tee” a Junior Program in the USA. They promote 9 Core Values to which all golfers should aspire!