Press Release – 25/1/26. On Saturday the 24th January, the next group of 10 East Lothian Juniors going to Pinehurst and their Parents, met the Group Leaders for lunch at the Glen Golf Club. The meal was excellent, and was followed by a presentation about the trip by the League’s Joint Secretary, Dave Warren. Dave welcomed everyone and, assisted by the other Leaders, Chris Barker, Jim Wilkinson, and Sue Warren, Dave explained all the facets of the trip involving flights, baggage, ground transport, accommodation, finance, meals, equipment etc. Dave then covered the golfing aspects of the visit to the USA’s “Home of Golf” where, between Feb 14 and Feb 20th the 10 Boys will play 7 rounds of golf on top class golf courses. There will be 2 days of open competition with Juniors from all over North Carolina in the “Winternationals,” over the course at Longleaf, which is the HQ of US Kids Golf. Then there will be three days of golf over 3 courses, Mid Pines, Pine Needles, and Southern Pines. These are all famous courses, designed by Scots legend Donald Ross. Pine Needles is the only course to have hosted 4 US Womens’ Opens, all won by very famous golfers, and most recently by Minjee Lee. There will be a match versus the local High School over Pinehurst No. 4, a recent venue of the US Mens’ Amateur Championship. The Teams will play for the Duncan McLean Quaich, in memory of a former Gullane and League Junior who tragically died in his early twenties. Duncan had once visited Pinehurst to compete in the US Kids World Championships. And lastly, we will all be hosted at Forest Creek a very exclusive Club, on their fine North Course. This will be followed by a closing dinner for our group, courtesy of all the friends of the League in Pinehurst, four of whom are Members of either North Berwick or Tantallon Golf Clubs. Invitations to Juniors are issued based on age, participation in League events, and on ability, as these courses are tough! The 10 Boys invited on this trip, with the Clubs they play for in the East Lothian League, are Ben Harley, Seb Harvey, and Oscar Wilkinson, all North Berwick West Links Juniors, Finlay Perry and Cameron Brown, both Kilspindie, Jamie Sievwright and Daniel Hogg, both Gullane, Max Elgin of Musselburgh, and Shane Hay of Dunbar. Usually there are 4 Girls invited on each trip, but sadly, there are not many Girls currently old enough to go on this trip, but there will be opportunities for them on future trips. Dave and Sue issued Team Golf Bags, Team Kit, after which some photos were taken. Sadly, Shane Hay was on holiday and is not in the attached photo. The 9 Players, L-R back row, are:- Jamie Sievwright, Max Elgin, Ben Harley, Daniel Hogg, Oscar Wilkinson, Cameron Brown, and Finlay Perry. Front row L-R, Ewan Stone and Seb Harvey.  Another golfing “trip of a lifetime” awaits the current group. This takes the total number of Boys and Girls whom the League has taken to Pinehurst since 2018, to 106. Thanks are due to our many generous sponsors for funding the League, from which funds the League provides substantial subsidies for the Juniors going on these trips. Dave Warren.

Many thanks to Winterfield GC for hosting this event at a Club which formerly had a Junior Team in our League. Hopes are high that they may return to the League soon, as they were able to nominate a Team of 4 for this event. Thanks to all the Winterfield Club Management, Greens Staff, Professionals, and Catering Staff for making us welcome. The weather was a bit unkind, but the good scoring was evidence that the course was in good condition. Thanks as usual to Chris Barker who braved the cold to be our Starter. The scoring and leaderboards can be see on the Golf Genius App using this code – PCYBGQ. The trophy is shared for 6 months each between the Teams with the best 3 out of 4 Scratch scores, and the best 3 out of 4 Net Scores. West Links Juniors romped home in the scratch event with a total of 14 over par, with scratch scores of 69, 70, 70 and 70! (Par was 65) Jack Rutherford scored the 69, so Jack also won the best individual scratch score prize. In the Net section, Gullane Juniors won with a total of 3 under par with net scores of 62, 64, 66 and a non counting 68. Rory McCrossan scored the 62 so Rory won the the prize for the best net score. Other prizes went to other Players and can be seen below this photograph. Any vouchers which were not issued to winners etc on the day, will be delivered to the Pro Shops of the Players’ Home Clubs. That concludes the 2025 season, other than the County Cup event which will continue to be played over the winter. 

Dave presented the trophy jointly to (L) Jack Rutherford of West Links, and to Freddie Bradley of Gullane (R) whose Teams will share the trophy for 6 months.  Well done to everyone! 

All the trophies from the 2025 Championships, the Orders of Merit, and the League Trophy have been engraved and have been delivered to the homes of the Players concerned, or to the Pro Shops at their Clubs.  Well done again if you were a winner this year! I have polished them up for you, and would like them returned next year in similar condition.

Cheers, Dave Warren. 16/9/25

Congratulations to the West Links Juniors Convenors Ric Foulner and Nikki Collingswood, and all of the WL Fidra squad for securing the title for the 2nd consecutive year! The League Table can be seen elsewhere on this website.

The scratch and net Orders of Merit were decided at MD10 and they can be seen under “Season Points” on the Golf Genius app. Attached is a screenshot of all the prizewinners.  The OOM tables for each of the scratch and net prizes were based on Players’ best 6 placings out of 10. One Player won a scratch prize from only 3 attendances!  Congratulations to Kyle Crawford for his victory in the net OOM by only 1 point ahead of Adam Mungall, in the tightest finish ever, as only 14 points separated the top 7 competitors. Jamie Sievwright had a narrow win by 4 points in the scratch OOM over Cameron Brown. The prize vouchers are being issued to the top 6 in each overall category and also to Girls and Boys U14s and U12s, unless they already gained a voucher in the overall listing. In that case, the voucher was awarded to the next eligible Player. The Trophies are ready to be sent to the engravers, and along with the vouchers will be distributed soon. 

The Team Strokeplay will be rearranged for a date in the school holidays in October.  Dave Warren. 07595 301425.

Slow Play – This is a perennial problem in Golf worldwide, but is at its worst ever now, evidenced by some rounds in the recent US Womens’ Open taking 6 hours! Professionals seem reluctant to adopt “Ready Golf ” principles, and are often not 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!)

The greatest putters in the history of golf became so because they had great putting strokes, without using any of the elaborate techniques now in fashion! They focussed on consistent putting strokes, on reading the contours skilfully, on judging the pace, on aiming the putter well, on distance control, and on getting the ball to the hole on a higher percentage of putts than their fellow competitors and opponents!

All of the current 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 for holding up play. 

Recently, together with Ric Foulner the Convenor of the West Links Juniors, I was on course advising Players on time saving techniques, and we monitored any groups who were “out of position.” That 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 have 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 will be identified and will be instructed to close the gap to the group in front within the next 2 holes. If there is no improvement observed, we will continue to monitor such groups and advise accordingly. If any group in future remains “out of position” we will warn them of their status, and begin to time individuals in the group who are suspected as being too slow. And, under Rule 5.6a – “Unreasonable delay; Prompt pace of play” we may impose penalties of 1 stroke for any subsequent breach of this rule, and further more serious penalties might be imposed if there is no improvement!

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 hold up players behind or this causes them to be “out of position. “If Players behind you are waiting to play when you commence any search for a ball, you must consider waving them through. Players should consider abandoning a search for a ball, if it appears that the ball is unlikely to be found or might be unplayable, with no penalty drop option nearby! Players who search for their ball for the maximum 3 minutes allowed, without finding it, then have the choice of abandoning play on that hole, or if they are still likely to score any stableford points, return to the location of the previous stroke, and put 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, i.e. if they cannot record a net bogey after allowing for handicap strokes received, they should pick up their ball with no further play.

What can Players do to improve? 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. If it is your turn to play, time spent looking at the line, “straddling” and “aim pointing” etc, and aligning and re-aligning the ball will count towards the 40 seconds you are allowed. 

I appreciate 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