The League has a Google Calendar on which many Junior and other Golf events are listed. You can see these on the Calendar at this link. which will assist in planning your schedule.
Renaissance Club grant!
On Tuesday the 29th April, with Sue Warren, I attended an afternoon tea at The Renaissance Club, at which a representative from each of the Charities/Non-Profits who had received a grant from the TRCCF, The Renaissance Club Charity Foundation, were each asked to describe their organisation and explain what they did with the donated funds. Many speakers took their turn and Dave spoke briefly about the League’s activities, and thanked the Sarvadi Family and the Trustees for the grant. Catriona Matthew, a Trustee, and Grant Forrest, an Ambassador for the Trust, and former Player for Craigielaw in the Junior League, were both present. A photo is attached below of me with Catriona and the oversized cheque which only just fitted in my car! (And no – the donation did not include that Genesis car!) A letter of thanks has been sent to Renaissance, as follows:-
Dear Jerry, Billy, and the Trustees of the TRCCF. thank you for your hospitality on Tuesday at Renaissance, and to all the staff engaged in putting together a great occasion for the recipients of the fund.
Having listened to some incredible and emotional stories from dedicated volunteers, helping those in society who have had very serious health issues and/or have suffered other tragic misfortunes in life, I felt out of place to be in such company!
However, after some thought, I concluded that volunteers in Junior Golf like myself, with the help of Charitable Funds like the TRCCF, have a role to play in helping young people to avoid some of the dangers ahead in life, by encouraging participation in a safe and healthy sport, to stay fit, to experience regular competition, and to provide this at no cost to them through our non-profit organisation. Through our joint efforts, they gain social skills, self respect, self discipline and confidence, because we give them life-changing opportunities and incentives to help them to realise their dreams, whilst hopefully, they make lifelong friends and contacts along the way.
Your Ladies Champions board, containing the names of 3 of our recent Juniors, Grace, Lucy and Evie, who all competed in our League from a very young age, is a testament to Renaissance, and to our League I suggest, that combined, we give the chance to our Junior Golfers to excel. This is best recently evidenced I suggest, through Grant’s successes in Junior, in Amateur, and now in Professional Golf. It is great to see Junior golfers excelling but if they continue to play golf and enjoy golf for the rest of their lives, that’s what really matters! If they do that, then we have succeeded.
It is notable I think, that our League Patron Catriona, and Grant, a Junior in our League at age 12, are now TRCCF Trustees or Ambassadors.
On behalf of all the volunteers and players involved in the East Lothian Junior Golf League, thanks for your generous donation.
Dave Warren. League Secretary.
County Cup Final 2024/5 – Result!
The final of the 2024/25 Junior County Cup was played on the 23rd March between the 2 Teams from Kilspindie and Gifford. The venue was Longniddry, which was in excellent condition. The two Teams are pictured below. The Gifford Team were receiving 6 handicap strokes in the first match, and 4 strokes in the second match. Gifford went into an early lead in both games, and steadily increased their lead to emerge victorious, in the double aggregate foursomes format, by the winning margin of 9 holes up with 7 to play. The Match was played in excellent spirit, but both Teams often made tactical and playing errors, which at one hole resulted in a half in 8 strokes! The Junior Convenors for both Teams, Shona Paton for Gifford, and Chris Stirling for Kilspindie, were present and watched all the play. The Referee, League Secretary Dave Warren, was kept very busy having to rule on various situations! Prize vouchers were awarded to the 8 Players in the Final, and vouchers will also be given to the Players who played for either Team in the earlier rounds. James Hamilton of Gifford, the Team’s Captain, accepted the Trophy, the first trophy ever won by Gifford since they joined the League! Shona Paton was deservedly delighted with her Team’s performance, and all told, 8 different Gifford Players had played in the 4 Matches en route to the title against strong Teams from Royal Musselburgh, Longniddry, West Links Bass and Kilspindie. The League provided drinks and excellent sandwiches supplied by the new Caterer Rachael McGlashan. Many thanks to Longniddry for hosting the final, and to all Players and Convenors involved in the event. A special thanks are due to Chris Stirling, for again organising this year’s event. It is proposed to start next year’s event at the beginning of September 2025 in order to allow for any weather postponements over next winter. Dave Warren, League Secretary.
Top – The winning Gifford Team L-R Rory Burns, James Hamilton, Shona Paton, Innes Logan, Murray Snodgrass. Below – The Kilspindie Team L-R Cameron Brown, Liam Graham, Finlay Perry, Tommy Tunnock
Pinehurst 2025 Photo Gallery
Dear all please see this link for some excellent photos from our most recent Pinehurst trip in 2025.
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Pre Pinehurst trip lunch!
Seventeen Players who are going on the next League trip to Pinehurst USA from the 7th to the 17th February, attended a lunch at The Glen Golf Club on Sunday the 12th of January. Many of the Players’ Parents also turned up, swelling the numbers to 52. Dave Warren, the League Secretary, welcomed everyone to The Glen. The 4 other Leaders on this trip were present – Sue Warren, Brian O’Connor, Jean Waddell, and Gordon Smith. After an excellent meal, Dave gave details about the arrangements for travel, accommodation, golf, meals and other aspects of the trip. Team kit and golf bags were issued to every Player.
The Photo below shows the Players who are going to experience this wonderful opportunity. Reports will follow.
Front Row L-R Maisie, Katie, Louise, Ava,
Middle Row L-R Thomas, Harris, Jamie, James, Rory A, Diarmuid, Angus.
Back Row L-R Sami, Rory McA, Josh, Murray, Harry, Liam. Apologies from Kai received.
Kai Laing sent his apologies as he was playing in Winter League match for Dunbar.
Grace Crawford wins the Justin Rose!
Our League Member Grace Crawford, of the West Links Juniors Club, has just won the prestigious Justin Rose Telegraph Junior Golf Championship, played at Quinta De Lago in Portugal. There is a report here. Grace was even par for the 3 rounds and won by 2 strokes, in her final Junior event before heading to Alabama to start her college course on a scholarship. I have sent Grace our congratulations on adding another impressive title to her name, to add to the Scottish Womens Open Strokeplay and the R&A U16s Championship she has won before. Grace has kindly sent me these 2 photos. Scoring can be seen here at Golf Genius.
Grace Crawford
Grace Crawford, Charlie Rusbridge and Justin Rose
Watson Cup Scoring!
Scoring – the scoring in the Watson Cup can be seen at this Golf Genius link –https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/5056144
Good luck to our Team!
On the 12th October, the 2024 East Lothian Watson Cup Team departed for South Carolina to compete against the best Juniors in the South Carolina Junior Golf Association. The Team of 9 Boys comprises, in alphabetical order, and their East Lothian Clubs:-
Ben Austin – Haddington, Jack Collingswood, Sean Gallacher, Andrew Irvine, all West Links, Kai Laing – Dunbar, Kaylen Martin – Longniddry, Cameron Mukherjee – Gullane, Lewis Russell and Alexander Yuill, – both Craigielaw. The Team is being led by Ric Foulner and Jack Rogan. Jack was the Captain of our Team in 2018. Ric is the Junior Convenor at West Links Juniors, North Berwick, and was on the Committee for the match in 2022. Dave Warren, League Secretary and President of the East Lothian Watson Cup Team, is sadly unable to attend this playing of the Watson Cup. Provost of East Lothian has sent greetings to the Governor of South Carolina
The excellent itinerary has been put together by Jack Rogan and Ric Foulner, and they have worked very hard to set all this up so thanks are due to them. The schedule is as follows:-
Day 1 – October 12th/13th Travel from Edinburgh to Charleston USA and drive to Beaufort, SC
Day 2 – October 13th – Golf at Long Cove Club
Day 3 – October 14th – A day of practice at a local club in Beaufort then relaxation.
Day 4 – October 15th – Drive to Yeamans Hall, 1st Practice Round/Day, Begin stay at Yeamans Hall onsite
Day 5 – October 16th – Yeamans Hall, 2nd Practice Round/Day, Opening Dinner/Ceremony
Day 5 – October 17th – Yeamans Hall, Fourballs and Foursomes
Day 6 – October 18th – Yeamans Hall, Singles and Trophy Presentation, depart for hotel
Day 7 – October 19th – Golf at Seccession, return to hotel
Day 8 – October 20th – Check out of hotel and make way to airport in the afternoon. Some chill time in Charleston if desired after checking out
Day 9 – October 21st – Arrival back in Edinburgh – but Andrew, Cameron and Jack have travel to other destinations in the USA.
I would like to thank all our donors and helpers for assisting us in making all the arrangements, and also Alexander’s Dad, Calum Yuill., who is present supporting Jack and Ric, and the Team.
The Provost of East Lothian has sent a message of greetings to the Governor of South Carolina, and the Officials of the SCGA and the SCJGA.
A link to photos should appear on this page when available.
Results from the SJTC at Panmure!
Congratulations to Turnhouse GC for winning the Scottish Junior Team Championship at Panmure, and to West of Scotland Girls as the leading all-girls Team! Photos attached. Commiserations to runners-up Glasgow GC!Detailed scoring at the SJTC can be seen on the Golf Genius App, by entering only the code SJTC24 on the sign in page of the App. Attached is a list of prizes and the winners. As few Teams were able to stay for the prize giving, I have delivered them if local, or posted them out to more distant Clubs.The feedback from Convenors, Parents and Players at the SJTC event on Sunday at Panmure has been fantastic. Our sincere thanks are due to Convenors, and all the Parents, for the participation of 119 Players in 20 Teams, from as far away as Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire. The field included 25 Girls, a far cry from the 1 girl amongst the 120 competitors who attended the inaugural SJTC in 2017! The event gave all of the Players a rare chance to play one of Scotland’s most fabled courses!I would like to thank the Management, Staff and Members of Panmure GC, for the warm welcome we received and for the access granted for practice rounds, and for the excellent clubhouse facilities, catering, free range balls etc, as well as providing a golf course in tip top condition. The assistance from so many volunteers from Panmure members as starters and spotters etc was much appreciated, due to the recruitment work put in by their dedicated Junior Convenor, Euan Kerr.Reece, of Panmure Member and Visitors Services, and Panmure’s Concierge, Fraser, F&B Managers Craig and Jo, and their staff in the Clubhouse, and Dom the Assistant Professional, were in attendance for most of the day and ensured that the long day ran efficiently. David Brodie, the Panmure GM, was involved at the start of the inception of the SJTC whilst he was GM at Glenbervie in 2017, and was again instrumental in Panmure’s hosting of the event.Our thanks also go to Ian Howarth, former President of Scottish Golf, who donated the trophy and medals, but sadly was unable to attend on the day due to the sudden illness of his wife Audrey to whom we wish a swift recovery!The scoring and other organisational functions, etc, were handled from within the ranks of the East Lothian Junior League, and I thank Sue, Gareth and Chris for the long hours they put in, with particular thanks to Jenny Potter of “Golf Genius” for her assistance on the preparatory work, and for being contactable in case of any problems.We thank Rory Anton, who attended the start of the event to represent Scottish Golf, and hope Rory left with a good impression. I now respectfully ask all Convenors, if they think the concept and format of the free-to-enter SJTC event has any validity and importance to Players in Junior Leagues in Scotland, to write to Robbie Clyde and Fraser Crawford at Scotland Golf and support my contention that SG could adopt this event and include it in their portfolio of annual events. As far as I know, Scottish Golf have handicap events for Men and Women, but do not have a handicap event for Juniors. England Golf have, for some years, held a handicap Team event for Juniors. I am concerned about the number of costly Junior events now being run in Scotland by profit making organisations who are not affiliated to Scottish Golf and are therefore not authorised to hold “qualifying events” for handicap purposes. They may not have the required Child Welfare and Protection and other authorisations, to work in the area of Junior Golf. As far as I am aware, the East Lothian Junior Golf League is the only Junior League in Scotland affiliated to Scottish Golf, and we have to be because the League is run on a Strokeplay Stableford basis, and not on the traditional Matchplay format. We abandoned that format several years ago.The running of the SJTC is a large task, and I am doubtful that I will be able to be the sole Organiser for much longer. I see this as a golden opportunity for SG to now step forward and take on the organisation and running of the SJTC event. Such adoption would provide SG with an opportunity to raise awareness of the role of SG amongst our up and coming youngsters with higher handicaps, and that SG are there for them even if they never make it into any of their elite events for scratch golfers. That said, there were still 8 Boys playing on Sunday who possessed plus handicaps!I hope to see some of you at the next SJTC at North Berwick West Links on Sunday the 28th September 2025!Regards,Dave WarrenSJTC Organiser 2017-202407595 301425
Jack Collingswood WAGR result!
At the MD10 prize giving at The Glen, it was announced that Jack Collingswood had narrowly missed out on World Amateur Golf Ranking points for the first ever WAGR qualifying event held by the League. This is not the case. Due to a misunderstanding in the criteria for scoring for any WAGR events, Jack WILL get his first WAGR points for his 7 over par total over three rounds on tough courses and in testing conditions. See WAGR results for the event below, and well done to Joe and Alexander for also picking up more WAGR points! The full Mens and Womens rankings can be seen at wagr.com
Well done Jack! As it was Jack’s farewell to the Junior League, we presented him with an Old Course pin-flag which was scribed by both Ric Foulner and myself. Jack’s additional prize is a game over the Old Course with League associate Gareth Jack. We took a photo of the flag before presenting it to Jack. See below. And I dug up a photo of Jack from the start of his golfing career! His record of over 80 appearances in League events is a record unlikely to ever be beaten! And he did the “Double Double” in 2023 and 2024, winning the Scratch Championship and Order of Merit in both years!
League Championship 2024 decided!
Attached in the sidebar of this website is the final League table for the 2024 ELJGL season. Congratulations to the West Links Fidra Team for winning the trophy which West Links Bass won last year. In theory, the Fidra Team could have been caught by Haddington had they slipped up on the final Match Day, but the 11 points they received for being in 3rd place was more than enough to hold off Haddington, who had held a 3 point lead over West Links Bass. Bass made up 2 of those points, and were just pipped for 2nd spot! Ric Foulner has done a great job in guiding the 2 Teams to top 3 places again this year! The League will give some prizes to Ric Foulner to distribute to the Fidra players.
Both West Links Fidra and Haddington, will be invited to attend the Scottish Junior Team Championship at Panmure GC on Sunday the 29th September. This is an event created by the League, and I have the pleasure of organising it for 20 Junior Club Teams from all over Scotland.
Attached is a photo of some of the Fidra players. L-R – Jamie Crawford, Rory Papakyriakou, Kyle Crawford (Reserve,) Robbie Landles, and Captain, Harris Munro. Aedan Halliburton and Ben Harley played that day but were not available for the photo. The full squad of Players who competed for the Team or were reserves during the season included Murray and Rory Laird, Ben Churn, Jamison Sym, Ryan Killorn, Thomas Clark, and Connor McCarthy.
This photo shows more of the Players from the West Links Juniors who were present.
