Winter PAiS coaching at Loretto

October 25, 2020 By Dave Warren

New! Change of criteria at the first 2 bullet points below.

Winter Golf Performance Athletes in Schools (PAiS) at Loretto. Kate Green, ELC Golf Development Officer, has been in touch with the League to promote the following to all our Juniors. These coaching programmes are open to Juniors who have handicaps and attend High Schools in East Lothian. Full details are shown below, or can be found at this link:-

Following the success of last year’s PAiS (Performance Athletes in Schools) golf sessions delivered in partnership with Loretto Academy we hope to deliver the programme again this winter – when current Covid guidelines permit.

Loretto is fantastic facility to have locally and we are pleased to be able to support our local Juniors access practice facilities during the winter months. Criteria for the PAiS Golf squads is outlined below. Please note: depending on the handicaps of the players who respond the handicap criteria may alter slightly to accommodate the required numbers in each squad.

PAiS Golf Criteria

Main residence is in East Lothian
Member of an East Lothian Golf Club
PAIS Performance Squad = Handicap range 0 – 12
Pre PAiS Development Squad 1 = Handicap range 13 – 19
PAiS Development Squad 2 = Handicap range 20+
PAIS Development Squad 3 = Primary school age juniors with handicaps and if capacity final year Golf Sixes players

PAiS Performance Golf Sessions (Handicap range 0 – 12)

With Loretto’s support we are fortunate to be able to offer 8 places fully funded places to our lowest handicap golfers that attend high school in East Lothian.

The sessions aim to compliment these players existing coaching plans by giving them the opportunity to utilise local indoor practice facilities locally during the winter months.

All Pre PAIS Development Golf Sessions

We also have the opportunity to invite another 3 groups of 10 golfers to attend “Pre PAiS practice sessions” at Loretto Academy led by Loretto PGA Pros.

Unfortunately we don’t have the resources to offer the Pre PAiS sessions free of charge.

If however we have a minimum of 10 players (max 12) attending each squad we can offer the blocks at the reduced price outlined below.

Ordinarily the charge is £10 per hour per person for a block of group coaching at Loretto Academy however players that book into our PAiS squads pay the reduced rate of £5 per hour.

If we don’t meet the minimum numbers required we may not be able to proceed so in the first instance we are just looking to gauge interest.

If your child meets the above criteria and is interested in signing up please contact [email protected] confirming:

Child’s name
Current exact handicap
Home Club
School

PAiS Golf Coaching Days

PAIS Performance Squad = Handicap range 0 – 12

Day: Mondays Time: 1915 – 2015 Dates: TBC Price: Fully funded

Pre PAiS Development Squad 1 = Handicap range 13 – 19

Day: Mondays Time: 1815 – 1915 Dates: TBC Price: £5 per session

Block 2 Dates: TBC

Block 2 Price: £5 per session

Pre PAiS Development Squad 2 = Handicap range 20+

Day: Wednesdays Time: 1815 – 1915 or 1915 – 2015 (depending on numbers) Dates: TBC Price: £5 per session

Each block would be payable separately at commencement however players would need to sign up to attend both blocks to ensure numbers to cover costs etc. Block 1 last year was 6 weeks and block 2 was 7 weeks but the blocks this year will depend on if and when Loretto reopens.

Loretto’s PGA Pros will work with players individually on rotation covering:

1) Goal setting & data collection

2) Trackman Combine

3) SAM Putting

4) Short game skills challenge

5) V1 swing development

6) Pre shot routine building

7) Contraints practice routines, preparing for performance.

We recognise that players at your child’s level potentially all have their individual coaches with coaching plans in place. The intention of these sessions is to compliment their existing coaching plans by giving them the opportunity to utilise indoor practice facilities during the winter months. As spaces are limited we are looking for as close to 100% attendance as possible.

“OOM” – SORTED!

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.

Golf Sixes – final result!

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.

Nearest the pin on the 1st – Aaron (Craigielaw)

Nearest the pin in two on the 8th – Tom (Gullane)

Nearest the pin (chip shot) 9th – Callum (Glen

Wee Wonders Grand Finals 2021!

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.

Results ELJGL Champs 2021 + Photos!

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