Edinburgh’s Kingsknowe GC makes juniors a priority

Good work by others too !  April 2010 Edinburgh’s Kingsknowe Golf Club had been a model of good junior practice for many years. In 2008 the clubs had 75 junior members, 50 percent of them with handicaps, and there was a small waiting list.  Yet, despite its junior initiatives, the club felt youngsters were never made to feel like an integral part of the club.  Since 2008 many changes have been made to benefit juniors.  The joining age has been lowered from 11 to nine years old, and junior membership places increased from 75 to 100.  Junior annual subscriptions have been reduced and nine and 10 year olds pay just £50 a year. The club’s junior competitions have also been given a major overhaul. In 2009 the club signed up to offer clubgolf coaching and nine children took part in its first Stage 1 coaching course.  In 2010 four members had qualified as Level 1 coaches with the intention of running a bigger course starting in April. The club charges just £1.50 per child for an hour and a half’s coaching. In 2010 the club’s volunteer coaches helped Active Schools teach firstclubgolf in a local primary school.  They also organised a pilot scheme at nearby Wester Hailes High School to encourage more secondary school children to play the game. To read the full account of how Kingsknowe has created a booming junior section in less than two years visit the case studies section on this site. View Case Study

Longniddry Away - 9th May

The team for the match v Longniddry away ( 1.30pm  tee off ) is

Anthony Blaney
Peter Legget
Lesley Atkins
Greg Houlston
Duncan McLean
Michael Williams

Playing Reserves 

Tom Grey
Scott Gillies

Full team kit please - shirt , jersey and jacket 

Meeting and travel arrangements will be emailed

Other squad members who are being rotated / rested / revising  etc  -  Rachael Watton, Alexander Wilson, Calum Stephen , James Fisher , David Crummey, Jamie Black , Graham Swan,

League Table - 27th April

EAST LOTHIAN JUNIOR GOLF LEAGUE - LEAGUE TABLE 2010 @ 27th April
Team Name	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points	"Goal" Diff
Craigielaw	4	3	0	1	19	5	3	14
Longniddry	2	2	0	0	7.5	4.5	2	3
Haddington	2	1	1	0	7	5	1.5	2
Tantallon	1	1	0	0	4	2	1	2
Gullane	2	1	0	1	6	6	1	0
North Berwick	2	0	1	1	5	7	0.5	-2
Kilspindie	2	0	1	1	5	7	0.5	-2
Musselburgh Old	2	0	1	1	3.5	8.5	0.5	-6
Royal Muss.	2	0	0	2	3	9	0	-6
Glen	1	0	0	1	0	6	0	-6
Dunbar								0

Lady advocates take swing at 'sexist' Muirfield

THE SCOTSMAN

01 May 2010

By CHRISTOPHER MACKIE

IT IS one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, and has long counted
some of Scotland's most celebrated judges and advocates among
its exclusive list of members.

• Muirfield's membership policy has caused much discomfort 
among Scotland's Faculty of Advocates. 
Picture: Getty Images

But now, the relationship between Muirfield and the Faculty of
Advocates is under strain after lawyers described the club's
 membership policy as "socially and morally repugnant" and
called for a boycott of the clubhouse.

The comments came as the judges and advocates that make up
 the Bench and Bar Golfing Society prepare to tee off in the
annual foursomes competition at the historic East Lothian
course on Monday....

See link to full article   http://bit.ly/c6Q6v3

Ladies' amateur golf has changed for the better, says coach Craggs

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE

By MARTIN DEMPSTER

The latest staging of the Helen Holm Scottish Ladies' Open Stroke Play Championship at Troon provided conclusive proof the face of ladies' golf has been changed for good.
And, without wanting to cause any offence to the players who did their bit for the Scottish game over the years – Belle Robertson in particular springs to mind – it's certainly a change for the better.

My first real experience of women's amateur Golf came more than 20 years ago. I was a junior reporter on my local newspaper in Berwickshire and one of our readers, Gay Buchanan from Eyemouth – the sister of former Kenyan Open winner Craig Maltman – qualified to represent Scotland in the (now defunct] Ford Women's Home Internationals at Royal Lytham.

I went down to Lancashire to caddie for her and recall the journey well, due to the fact it took us a lot longer than it should have because we initially ended up in Stockport instead of Southport. George Will, who played in three Ryder Cups in the 1960s, captained the Scottish team that week and, to this day, it remains one of the many marvellous experiences golf has provided me over the years due mainly to the friendly nature of everyone involved.

All the players who took part in that event were – and I sincerely hope I don't upset anyone with this recollection – a fair bit older than me and, at the time, I didn't give it a thought.

Catriona Lambert, as she was at the time, was probably the first younger woman I really came across on a golf course yet even the current Ricoh Women's British Open champion would surely be surprised to see so many players under the age of 18 in the field for the Helen Holm event played over Troon Portland and, for the final day, Royal Troon.

Kevin Craggs, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the national coach of the Scottish Ladies Golf Association, believes the women's game is making great progress.

"It is becoming attractive to watch," he said, "and, while the cynics out there may have said in the past that it was a case of 'all gear and no idea', now it's 'all gear and a bloody good idea'."

That is definitely the case with the 15-year-old Maguire twins, Leona and Lisa, from Ireland. They played in a professional event at the age of 12 and Shane O'Grady, their coach, remarked at the time: "I've never coached anyone that good at that age. They are exceptionally good. They have the maturity of 17-year-old boys."

A year after finishing first and third, the Maguires tied for sixth on this occasion in the Helen Holm and look to have exciting futures ahead of them.

Scotland also has some promising young talent coming through, the likes of Kelsey MacDonald, Louise Kenney and Pamela Pretswell having good reason to be looking over their shoulders at the progress being made younger players such as Rachael Watton, Alyson McKechin, Gabrielle MacDonald, Ailsa Summers and Lesley Atkins.

Watch out for some of them being in the frame when the Curtis Cup comes to Nairn in 2012.

"For so long Scotland has prided itself on tradition but the wheel is finally turning," added Craggs, who has worked with the SLGA for the past four years and was delighted to see both Carly Booth and Kylie Walker show they had games that were good enough to earn Ladies European Tour cards this season.

"People still understand the values of tradition but they are also seeing the importance of progression and that's a big thing for me."

Strength and conditioning work as well as nutrition is also playing a far bigger role.

"The days of women's golf being a game where they tickled it up the middle and relied on being good pitch and putters to make their score are gone," said Craggs. "They are ball strikers who can shift the ball a fair distance off the tee."

Over the years we have often heard women golfers being criticised for lacking creativity with their shots but, on Sunday, we saw players showing wonderful imagination as they produced a variety of shots on an Open Championship course.

"I'm really excited about the direction women's golf is heading," continued Craggs, "and, when we were lucky enough to have Catriona Matthew with us on a training trip to Spain, she said a wonderful thing that was a compliment to the players. She told them that when she first went on the Tour she had to learn her apprenticeship but nowadays she believes the top amateurs have the tools to do well straight away in the professional game, something that's been proved by the likes of Anna Nordqvist."

East Lothian Girls Spring Meeting

The East Lothian Girls Spring Meeting took place at Haddington Golf Club.

On a bright but cold day the scratch prize and East Lothian Girls Strokeplay Championships went to Keren Ward (North Berwick) with a fantastic 75.
In the handicap event the first prize went to Lara Frostwick (Gullane Ladies) with a nett score of 69 winning on the better inward half from her clubmate Rachel McAnany.

Below are selected scores from the day
Par – 73, CSS – 72
East Lothian Girls Strokeplay Championship and scratch prize -
Keren Ward - 75 (5) 70
1st Handicap – Lara Frostwick – 87 (18) 69 BIH
2nd Handicap – Rachel McAnany – 116 (47) 69
3rd Handicap – Clara Young – 76 (6) 70
4th Handicap – Jenny Sewell - 88 (13) 75

East Lothian v Loretto Golf Academy

Dear All

Please find below the "provisional squad" for the next East Lothian match which will take place on Tues 11th May at 16.00 at Dunbar GC against a Loretto select team

Under 18's

Grant Forrest                   Craigielaw

Greg Smail                      Craigielaw

Fraser Thain                    Tantallon & Gullane 

Anthony Blaney               Gullane

Under 16's

Calum Hill                        Tantallon

Euan Bowden                   Tantallon

Calum Satterly                  Longniddry

Oliver Duffy                       Craigielaw

Under 14's

Chris Algeo                      Longniddry

Neil Bowden                     The Glen

Finn Donaldson                 North Berwick & Gullane 

Gary Brownlee                  Tantallon & Gullane 

The format will be 12 aside - 6 x 4 ball better ball with 4 from each of the following age groups u18, u16 and u14 with food being provided afterwards

Ric Foulner

Longest Day

Mi aerodeslizador está lleno de anguilas !!

Alexander Wilson recorded another major victory in the Easter holidays when he retained his President's Cup title at Sotogrande G.C. in Southern Spain. Alexander scored a 1 under par round of 71 over the Old Course at the complex to lead home a high quality field which included the Spanish Senior Amateur Champion. If he can win the event for the 3^rd straight year, he has the right to retain the trophy!

3 golf balls for the best translation of the heading - leave a comment with your entry !! 

Lothian Boys Championship 30 May - 4th June 2010

The Lothians Boys Championship takes place in June each year at the Braid Hills No.1 Golf Course Edinburgh. Sun 30th May - Friday 4th June 

Full details and entry form can be found on http://www.lothiansgolfassociation.org.uk/JuniorChamp.asp
( NB clash with dates for US Kids if you get through qualifying ) ENTRY DUE IN BY 17TH MAY 

It is hoped that Gullane will be well represented this year - the handicap cut will be 10 -12 or thereabouts 

 It is open to all boys who are members of Golf Clubs affiliated to the Lothians Golf Association. The Championship is open to boys under 18 on 1st January.

 The qualifying rounds of 36 holes will be played over Braid Hills No.1.
 Entry will be limited to 80 entrants with the lowest handicaps not exceeding 18.

 The qualifying rounds shall consist of two rounds of medal play. At the conclusion of play in the qualifying rounds the draw for the match play stages of the Championship will be made. Competitors who qualify will be responsible for establishing their starting time.

 16 qualifiers will go forward to compete under match play conditions. In the event of a tie for the final place, the competitor who has the lowest score in the second round will qualify and thereafter in such a manner as the Committee shall decide.

 After the commencement of the Championship Qualifying, Scratchings will only be permitted in certain circumstances on explanation acceptable to the Championship Committee. A breach of this rule will result in entries in future years not being accepted.

 Players must be ready to start punctually at their time on the draw sheet. This rule also applies to the Match Play stages of the Tournament. Failure to observe this requirement will render the player concerned to be disqualified.

 Competitors who qualify shall play under Match Play conditions to be fixed by the Tournament Committee. The first round will be played on the Tuesday, second round on the Wednesday, Semi  finals on the Thursday and the Final on Friday at 5pm each evening.

 Each match will consist of 18 holes with the final also over 18 holes.

 In the event of a halved match, competitors shall continue until one shall gain a hole, playing 1, 2, 17 & 18.

 The winner of the Tournament shall be styled the Lothians Junior Amateur Champion for the year and shall be entitled to hold the Spiers Trophy for the ensuing year.

Match v Tantallon and News Update

Tough day at the office for the Gullane team. The weather cleared up nicely over the West Links but the Gullane boys could not match the extremely impressive and steady golf from the excellent low handicap Tantallon team ( 6 under 6 ) . Highlights were a sub-par performance from Fraser Thain and a hole in one from Chris Low. Good Gullane performances from Michael Williams who was striking the ball extremely well and Graham Swan who did very well to record a convincing victory to bounce back from last week's reverse.

Greg Houlston lost to Fraser Thain                       5and 4
Alexander Wilson lost to Chris Low                      3and 1
Peter Legget lost to Ally Simpson                          4and 3
James Fisher lost to Callum Hill                            3and 2
Michael Williams defeated Euan Bowden              3and 2
Graham Swan defeated James Park                      5and 4

So Tantallon record a 4 : 2 win in their first outing of the year

Playing reserves Olly Ladbrooke and Craig Spinks also had games against Gary Brownlie and Ricard Foulner with Olly losing but Craig winning.

Next match 9th May v Longniddry ( away ) 


News Update 

Draw for the Junior Handicap Championship for the Morrison Trophy will be on noticeboard very soon

Well done to Junior team members Rachael Watton and Lesley Atkins who both played this week-end in the Helen Holm at Troon ie the Scottish Open Strokeplay Championship with Rachael doing particularly well to finish an excellent 11th with a four under par total of 221 for 54 holes !! ( See Kirkwood golf for full details )

Congratulations to to Duncan McLean who on Friday finished 2nd in the u15 handicap section of the St Leonards National Schools Championship with a 77 less 8 for a 69 over the Eden course at St Andrews.

East Lothian Boys Coaching has started off again with John Sandilands at Haddington with Gullane members Scott Gillies, Jamie Black, Tom Grey, Finn Donaldson and Scott Young all in the squads.

Monthly Medals

No Junior medals next week but please remember that Juniors with handicap under 24 can play in the Club medal on Saturday 1st May or Wednesday 5th May -  phone Starter for a time - nb you should play with an adult

ST ANDREWS BOYS' OPEN

Monday 2 to Thursday 5 August 2010 Eden and Old Courses

18 hole qualifying scratch and handicap match play tournament – for boys under 18 years of age on 1 January 2010 with a handicap not exceeding 9 – 150 places – entry fee £30 – closing date Thursday 24 June.

Established in 1948, the St Andrews Boys’ Open has a long tradition of providing a high level of competition for aspiring young players giving them the opportunity to compete on Championship courses at St Andrews Links, including the Old Course.

The Merchants’ Cup was presented by the St Andrews Merchants’ Association to recognise the scratch winner of the 18 hole qualifying and match play competition. A recent winner in 2005 was Chris Wood, now a successful participant on the European Tour. The Murray Mitchell Trophy, presented by a well renowned local golfing family, is awarded to the handicap winner of the 18 hole qualifying and match play competition.

The 2010 tournament will take place from Monday 2 – Thursday 5 August

More info 

http://www.standrews.org.uk/Tournaments/St-Andrews-Boys--Open.aspx

Entry form online 

http://www.standrews.org.uk/Tournaments/Entry-form---online-2.aspx

Entries to date 

http://www.standrews.org.uk/Tournaments/St-Andrews-Boys--Open/Entries-to-date.aspx 

GOOD LUCK V TANTALLON

Tweet from USKidsGolfEuro

USKidsGolfEuro 

  

450 entrants to European Championship so far - but still room for a few more! http://bit.ly/d74p7R

Matteo latest .... wouldn't happen at Gullane !?

Italian clubs that would not let 

Matteo Manassero on their 
courses when he was a kid

FROM THE REUTERS WEBSITE
By Paul Virgo
Italian Matteo Manassero, golf's teenage hot prospect who became the youngest to play the U.S. Masters, will bring the sport back to the forefront of his country's consciousness when he makes his pro debut next month.
Manassero's bow at his national open will bring a wave of optimism to Italy's burgeoning golf scene -- and surely a red glow to the faces of some short-sighted members of local clubs who tried to keep him off their course as a tiny tot.
"I started when I was three and on some courses they wouldn't let me play because they said I was too little," Manassero, pictured above by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography, who turned 17 on Monday, told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"They wouldn't accept that a child could play. So my parents had to argue at times with some people at golf courses so I could."
During a landmark week, Manassero sparked "Matteo-mania" at Augusta earlier this month when he became the youngest competitor at the season's opening major and made the cut for the weekend before finishing with a four over total of 292.
His father said nurturing a golfing prodigy was not always easy in Verona in the 1990s.
"There was one club in particular where I realised that a child's presence wasn't welcome and eventually we left," Roberto Manassero told Reuters.
"In the end we found another club. Now things have improved, but at the time it was really complicated to find somewhere open to children."
Matteo said he developed a passion for the sport by studying his father's golf videos when he was a toddler.
That early education paid off as he qualified for the Masters after becoming the youngest player to win the British amateur championship when aged 16 last year.
After the stir he created in Augusta, as a golfer and as a teenage heartthrob, Matteo will turn professional at the Italian Open in two weeks.
While prospective girlfriends will be disappointed he does not intend to hook up with anyone until "I become a full-time golfer", as a competitor he is already shaping up as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Europe in many years.
What amazed golf fans was the way in which he kept a cool head while competing alongside seasoned pros.
"It's something I mask well but the pressure is there," he said. "You are nervous in such an important tournament, otherwise it would mean you don't care at all about what you're doing. I probably hide it well.
"I don't fear the expectations people may have of me," he said, adding that his short-term aim is to gain his card for the European Tour.
"If I manage to achieve my goals great, if I don't I'll be the first not to make a drama out of it and keep playing and training.
"In the long term I want to win some tournaments on the European Tour. A major is a dream. If you manage to win on the European Tour, it's possible things will go right for you during the week of a major."
While Matteo is rapidly having to adjust to life under the spotlight whenever he walks out of his parents house, behind closed doors he is determined to maintain a low-key life.
"I have my friends at school and in my city Verona but I don't go out much at night," he said.
"I prefer to go home and be tranquil. I've returned to normality, school and training. Nothing has changed in my family, nor with my dearest friends. I'm still my old self."
His father agreed, saying: "He hasn't altered a jot."

(Editing by Jon Bramley and Pritha Sarkar).

GULLANE KIDS HAVE THEIR OWN 6 HOLE GOLF COURSE , CAN PLAY AS A VISITOR OR WITH ADULT MEMBER AT ANY AGE , CAN GET A PERMIT TO PLAY FOR NO 3 AT 8YO and CAN JOIN GGC OR GLGC AT 10 YO   

Update - Team Selection vs Tantallon - GOLD CARD - etc

The team for match v Tantallon on Sun 25th is

Peter Legget
Alexander Wilson
Greg Houlston
James Fisher
Michael Williams
Graham Swan

Playing reserves
Oliver Ladbrooke
Craig Spinks

Meet 12.30 SHARP on Gullane range for a warm up with Heather . First tee time 1.30pm .Help with transport required please. ( GF can you transport some on to NB ? ). Support welcome. Gullane kit please inc jersey / waterproof .

GOLD CARD 
Any junior  requiring 10% discount card for Members Clubhouse please ask the Secretary - no levy for kids 

Facebook - Gullane Junior Golf on Facebook now !!

Match v Gullane Golf Club 24th April 
Postponed - too many other commitments

Election issue ? Barack Obama plays more golf than George W Bush

Mr Obama often plays Vice-President Joe Biden for a dollar a hole Courtesy of the BBC  US President Barack Obama has played golf 32 times since he took office, more than his predecessor George W Bush  did during his entire presidency. He most recently played on Sunday, when the volcanic ash cloud over Europe forced him to cancel plans to attend the  funeral of Poland's president. The golfing figures were compiled by Mark Knoller of CBS Radio, the unofficial White House statistician. Mr Bush, who played 24 times, was mocked for his fondness of the game. In an interview following the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, the former president was filmed on a golf course  calling on "all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers", then pausing before saying:  "Thank you. Now watch this drive." Mr Bush later gave up playing golf while in office, saying in 2008: "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently  died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf. "I feel I owe it to the families to be... in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just  sends the wrong signal." Golf Digest has ranked Mr Obama eighth among the list of golfing presidents, behind Bill Clinton but ahead of Ronald  Reagan, who was known for practising putting in the aisle of Air Force One. John F Kennedy, widely considered the best golfing president, took great pains to ensure he was never  photographed on the course. Who plays more golf - Clegg, Brown or Cameron ?