Some of our current and recent ELJGL Juniors have had a belated but sensational start to the 2021 season!
The St Rule Trophy, a WAGR 54 hole scratch event, was completed at St Andrews on the 30th May. There was fantastic scoring by Hannah Darling of Gullane, and by Clara Young of North Berwick, who finished first and second at 18 under par and 15 under par respectively. Both of them scored 5 under par 71s on the final round. Well done both! Scores can be seen here.
On the 30th of May, the Barrie Douglas Scottish Junior Masters WAGR event was completed over the Strathmore Golf Centre. The scoring can be seen here. Around 25 players who compete in our League played in this 54 hole scratch event. Callum Waugh of Craigielaw was 2nd in the Boys U18 event and Freya Constable was 9th in the Girls. In the Boys U16 event, Josh Beveridge of Kilspindie was 2nd, Andrew Hendry of Gullane was 4th.
On the same weekend, the 72 hole Scottish Mens Open Championship WAGR event was played at Southerness. Some current and recent League and Watson Cup Players played in this event, including Cammy Gallagher, Oliver Mukherjee, Cameron Adam, Jack McDonald, and Connor Wilson. Both Jack and Connor finished in the top 30. Scores here.
The North Berwick Club played host on Monday the 17th May to Carys Irvine again, but this time she had to play with yours truly, the League Secretary, against two guests from the World of Golf. Karin Sharp, the COO of Scottish Golf, was partnered with Phil Anderton of the R&A, who has strategic responsibilities for Golf Development, Amateur Championships, and sustainability. An excellent match finished all square with Carys holing a blind bunker shot at the 17th, which stunned our opponents into also losing the 18th! L-R Dave Warren, Carys Irvine, Karin Sharp, Phil Anderton.
The East Ladies Ladies Championship has been held at North Berwick. Local players Grace Crawford and Clara Young led the qualifying at North Berwick and were seeded 1 and 2 respectively. All four of the eventual semi-finalists have played in ELJGL and ELLCGA girls events in recent times. On Sunday the 16th May, Grace defeated Carys Irvine, and Tara Mactaggart was victorious against Clara but only at the 21st hole after Clara had squared the match at the 18th with a 50 foot putt for an eagle 2! In the final, there was some superb golf with Tara who was 2 up against Grace when her 2nd shot at the 17th hole, into a strong wind, found the green for a winning birdie 4. Scoring in the Matchplay sections can be seen here on the ELLCGA website. Congratulations to all 4 who will surely all go on to do great things in the world of golf. Pictured below is Tara with her Caddie, Angus Carrick.
A Junior Tour event was held recently at Southerness but was reduced to only 18 holes due to poor weather. Grace Crawford came out on top in the Girls’ competition with a gross 78. All the Girls scores can be seen here. All the scores from Boys and Girls can be seen on this Facebook page.
Pride of place so far must go to 16 year old Freya Constable of Prestonfield and Kilspindie who won the Midlothian Ladies Championship at Kingsknowe. After defeating the holder Louise Fraser from 3 down in the semi-final, Freya then won a thrilling final against Emma Morrison. Here is a link to a report with a photo of Freya with the trophy. The Secretary notes that Freya won against Rachel Livingstone in the 2nd round. Rachel was the ELJGL Girls Champion for 3 years from 2003-5! Freya, who was on the ELJGL visit to Pinehurst in 2020, is now playing off 4.7.
Connor Wilson of Castle Park and Dunbar, who was Scottish Boys Champion in 2018, admittedly rusty from a lack of competitive golf this year, recently partnered former Open Champion Paul Lawrie in the Royal Dornoch Masters. This experience clearly rubbed off on Connor, who has now returned to form by scoring a sensational 63 round Craigmillar Park in the Lothians Mens’ Team Championship. He was part of the winning Dunbar Team which included Jamie Duguid who scored 70. Jamie is now off +3.3 handicap and Connor is +4.4! Both were members of the ELJGL Watson Cup Team who went to Kiawah Island in South Carolina in 2018. Members of the next Watson Cup Team, Archie Finnie and Cameron Adam, both playing for Royal Burgess, scored 68 and 71 respectively.
There was a sensational match in the final of the 2020 North Berwick Ladies Club Championship which was delayed till 4th May 2021. The finalists were Clara Young, a 3 time winner of the ELJGL Championship, and 14 year old Grace Crawford, a winner of the ELJGL Championship in 2019 and who was on the ELJGL visit to Pinehurst in 2020. Their handicaps are currently +4.7 and + 2.2 respectively! On a windy evening, they had 13 birdies and 1 eagle! Grace had 8 birdies and Clara had 5 birdies and 1 eagle! They were watched by around 50 supporters. Both players birdied the par 3 15th “Redan” hole, and standing on the 17th tee, Clara was 2 up. A poor second shot at the downwind 17th hole led to a par 5 for Clara, whilst Grace safely got down in 2 putts from off the the back of the green for a birdie 4. At the drivable par 4 18th hole, Grace hit the green with a fairway metal, but Clara left her tee-shot short in the gully in front of the green. Clara putted up to around 15 feet. Grace then rolled her 45 foot putt for an eagle up to the edge of the hole for another birdie. Clara then missed her putt and her chance to win the match in normal time! So off they went up the 19th, now into a strong wind. Clara’s approach was 20 feet away, whilst Grace was 35 feet away with hers. After Grace’s long putt for another birdie, her 8th, dropped into the hole, sadly Clara missed her putt to prolong the final. Between them they had produced golf of the highest quality, a credit to them both, and they had played in the true “spirit of the game.” The spectators felt privileged to watch such a standard of golf for free! NBGC Ladies Captain Yvonne Keeling, who refereed the Match, presented the trophy to Grace on the 18th tee. The Secretary has posted a playlist of videos of Grace’s putts at the final 3 holes on Youtube here. The still photos below show Grace about to hole the winning putt on the 19th hole, with Clara watching. The next photo is of the 18th green where Clara two putted for her winning birdie. And the final photo shows Grace Crawford with the Trophy which was presented by the Ladies’ Captain, Yvonne Keeling, who also refereed the match.