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

 

 

Eighty-one ( a new record) of our League Players enjoyed a challenging day at Craigielaw on Sunday the 27th April,  with the wind increasing as the day progressed. The scoring was very good on a course in excellent condition.  The staff at Craigielaw made us all very welcome. Thanks as usual to all the helpers, Sue Warren Chris Barker, Iain Crawford, Gordon Smith, and John Murdoch.

Congratulations to the Gullane Team for winning MD3, closely followed by the Glen. Jamie Sievwright scored an excellent gross 73 from the back tees and amassed 34 scratch stableford points. The best net stableford total was by Rory Papakyriakou with 37 points. The Team scores and individual scores can be seen on the attached table, and on the Golf Genius App. Individual prizes can be collected at subsequent MDs.

The League Table has been updated and can seen on this website in the right hand side of the front page. West Links Fidra have a narrow lead over The Glen and Gullane.

Scores have been posted to WHS and handicap adjustments will be made overnight. The Orders of Merit have  been updated and Adam Mungall has a useful lead in the Net OOM with Jamie Sievwright narrowly ahead of Cameron Brown in the Scratch OOM. The tables can also be seen on the Golf Genius App. David Warren, League Secretary.

 

On Sunday the 6th April, in brilliantly sunny but windy weather, 76 Juniors turned out for Match Day 2 at North Berwick West Links.  The course was in excellent condition, after a long dry spell, and the greens were very fast! The best Team performances came from the two Host Teams, West Links Fidra with 151 Stableford Points from the best 4 from 6 net points formula, followed by West Links Bass on 141 points. The best individual scores were compiled by Murray Snodgrass of Gifford with 43 net points, and by Luke McLaughlin of West Links Bass  with 34  gross points. The scores for Teams and individuals can be seen below. Prizes can be collected at the next Match Day at Craigielaw on Sunday the 27th April. Please enter through your Golf Genius Apps for all upcoming MDs this year. All scores have been posted to WHS. Season Points for the Orders of Merit will be updated on Monday.

Dave Warren 07595 301425 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday 1030 – Scores are now posted to WHS. The League Table on our home page has been updated.  has been updated. 

On a wonderful day of weather for the end of March, the field of 80 Juniors, our largest ever for any Match Day, competed in our first event of 2025 at Gullane No. 3. The course was in fine condition, and the Club made us very welcome, with a special mention for the duty manager Andrei, who stayed late to allow us to finish the scoring. Assistant Pros Jack and Adam helped out with advice and provision of carts for some of the more elderly Junior Convenors! The Club also kindly provided range balls for the Players.

All the Junior Convenors for Gullane Juniors played a big part in making the day run smoothly, particularly Gordon Blackwood, who not only assisted with the flow of Players to the first tee, but also solved a computer issue for me! Chris Barker carried out a long solo stint as Starter then also helped with the scoring! The host Convenor, Jean Waddell, Shona Paton and Gordon Smith did all the registration and scoring. 

The League welcomed all our first time Players, and hope they will continue to compete in the League for many years to come. It was good to see the numbers of Parents out watching play, and I am pleased to report that our “Guidance for Spectators” was being observed.

The Team event was a very close run thing as you can see from the attached scoresheet. The Longniddry Team, now being managed by the aforementioned Chris Barker, pulled off a sensational win, with 5 Players all very new to the League, joining veteran Jamie Barker, in amassing  150 Stableford points, only 1 more point than West Links Fidra on 149.  The Glen were a close third, on 146. The best individual scores were a scratch 66 by Kai Laing for 37 points, and a net 60 by Callum Hynd for 43 points. Prizes of golf balls can be collected by winners at the next Match Day they attend. The scores will not be posted to WHS until later on Monday. The League Table and Orders of Merit will then be updated.

The next Match Day is at North Berwick West Links on Sunday the 6th April, and the tee times are from 0900 to 1300. Entries close at 6 pm on Monday 31st March, so if you wish to play, please register quickly using the Golf Genius App! Drop me a text if you have any trouble entering on the App, and also let me know if you are seeking an early or late tee time. Entries may be allowed later this week if there is space in the draw. 

Dave Warren, League Secretary. 07595 301425