03/08/10 SGU RELEASE
Two young players from Mouse Valley Golf Club in Lanarkshire won the fourth and final South regional round of the clubgolf Junior Masters, the country’s biggest participation junior event for under 16s, held at Glencorse Golf Club.
And in perfect symmetry, Gullane and Glencorse produced the second and third placed finishers in both boys and girls categories.
The day belonged to 14 year old Claire Whitelaw from Mouse Valley. Not only did she win the girl’s event, her score of 46 giving her a good margin over next placed Charlotte Munro (Gullane) on 43, she also bettered the 43 scored by her club mate and leading boy, Andrew Thomson.
Fourteen year old Claire was almost at a loss to explain how, at the younger end of the competition’s age range, she managed the feat: “I was a bit nervous to start with because of all the people watching. I felt I was playing alright and could have done better. Some of my shots weren’t the greatest.
“When I found out that I had won it was really good because it is the first time I have played in something like this. I played the West of Scotland girls but this is the first time I've played in anything as big as this. It's a lot bigger group than I normally play with. This is the first time I've played the course.
“It was great to win and great fun to beat the boys.”
Mouse Valley’s junior section has well over 100 members and offers coaching for a wide range of ages and abilities through the national programme, clubgolf. The club’s pro, John Kelly, runs an extensive programme and the proof that it works was on show today.
Introduced to the game by her father, Claire was attracted by Mouse Valley because of its commitment to juniors and has been a member there for three years.
Twelve year old Andrew Thomson has been at the club for half his life. So keen is he on the game that after his round he was straight back to the club for his Tuesday night coaching session.
“I’ve been at Mouse Valley for six years and it’s a great junior set up,” he said. “When it’s a school week I play two times but in the summer it's nearly every day.
“I was quite surprised to win today. On the back nine I was feeling chuffed with myself. I’ve never played in this event before but I have been playing in some junior opens this summer. I’ve had some tied firsts but lost in the count backs. I’m quite happy to win today.”
Gullane GC, whose equally impressive junior set up made them finalists in last month’s clubgolf Junior Club of the Year awards, demonstrated once again the importance of a strong junior section and structured coaching.
Charlotte Munro, on 43, finished second in the girls. Gullane’s Jack Dunlop was the second placed boy on 42 points.
The host club’s Ryan Sloan and Emily Dalgetty finished their categories on 40 and 39 points apiece.
Today’s South Regional final concludes the qualifying stages of the event. The qualifiers will contest October’s Grand Final at the prestigious East Lothian Renaissance Club.
Gullane's other qualifiers were Sarah Dunlop and Graham Swan both with 39 points - well done !
Click here for results from Glencorse
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