KIRKCUDBRIGHT GOLF CLUB

Transcription

1 Newsletter - August 2016 (Issue 08) KIRKCUDBRIGHT GOLF CLUB Follow us on Facebook: Kirkcudbright Golf Club info@kirkcudbrightgolf.co.uk Captain s Desk Another busy, busy, month. With the season well on the way and dare I say some winter preparations now started on the course, we start to look a little towards Thank you for your participation on the club survey and we (those on committee) will do our best to steer the club in your chosen direction. The greatest challenge is twofold yet directly related. Cash flow and membership. The challenges will always be with us for the foreseeable future. Which equipment do we replace? Can we get the course looking like Augusta in May? More resources in the club house? Fleet of new buggies! The wish list goes on. Two things do stand out. Our course is in the best condition for years and is constantly improving. Well done John and the Team. Secondly we would sink without the army of volunteers. Talking of volunteers, thank you to the team who turned out for the Divot Filling. Congratulations to all trophy winners and those like me who shared the bridesmaid places. We welcome some new faces to the office team this month and if you want to help directly we have spaces on a few of the other Teams. Let us use your skills to help your club. In particular, Match Competitions (Gents), Juniors and club house maintenance. Maurice. (Club Captain) 1

2 LADIES NEWS 19 ladies went to Slaley Hall for their residential outing. On the first day we had an individual competition on the Priestman course. On the second day we had a Waltz on the Huntsman course and then a Mexican Scramble on the Priestman course. It was all good fun. Courses, well maintained if a little long. Staff at the hotel very helpful and overall the three days very much enjoyed. On the 10th July Galloway Ladies brought a Championship competition to Kirkcudbright. 4 Ladies took part in the Championship and 31 ladies took part in the Rennie Salver. Mary Robertson and Gillian Rowlinson were second and third in the bronze section of the Rennie Salver. The Galloway Ladies are hoping to come back to Kirkcudbright next year as they were so pleased with the organisation and the condition of the course. This last weekend saw the Wallace Rose Bowl Competition. There were 59 entries and almost all would have said good things about the course. The overall winner was Angela Hiddleston with a wonderful score of = 66. Gladys Kelly was Division 1 Runner up with a score of = 71 with Margaret Locke lowest gross score of 80. Susan King was Division 2 Winner with 94-25= 69, second Lynn Kane with 91-21=70 Mary Robertson A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY We had some interesting correspondence earlier this month claiming to have uncovered the name of our original course designer. He is no ordinary run of the mill 19 th Century golfer, but none other than the great man, the Father of the Modern Game, Old Tom Morris himself. The gentleman has been undertaking some research over the last 9 years on the Golf Course by Old Tom Morris and has found his name connected to well over a 100, mainly scattered throughout the UK over 70 in Scotland, 20 in England, 4 Isle of Man, 4 in Ireland (north/south) and one in Guernsey. He is 99.9% certain of his involvement in our first course. Below is a copy of a short article from St Andrews Citizen dated Saturday 8 th April 1893 so far all the other names seem to be checking out. Welcome to the small band of unique clubs who share who have experienced the hand and mind of Old Tom Morris upon their courses. 2

3 EGGS NEWS EGGS V LOCHMABEN The Eggs played an away match against Lochmaben on Monday 4th July. The course was in excellent condition but the weather was mixed. Lochmaben fielded a very strong team but the result was a halved match 4 games each, a great result for the Eggs. EGGS V THORNHILL The Eggs travelled to Thornhill to play in the annual match on Monday 11th July. As Thornhill Golf Course was having some repairs done to the access road, the course was changed, forcing us to miss out on a couple of holes. The course was in good condition except for the 15th as it seems to be a bogey hole to the Eggs players. Thornhill ran out winners by 4 games to 2. We think their handicap secretary is not doing his job when it comes to the matches!! EGGS SHIELD The second round of the Eggs Shield was played on Friday 15th July with the weather playing a big part in the number of players who competed. Only 19 players braved the rain in the second round which was a bit disappointing - result as follows: 1st with a two round score of (135) Eddie Carruthers 2nd with a two round score of (139) Iain Proudfoot 3rd with a two round score of (140) Alastair P Millar Well done to Eddie for putting two great rounds of golf together. First round leader with a great score of 65 was Jim Judge but, unfortunately the weather did not help Jim. However he did go for therapy the next day (retail) therapy. He purchased new golf shoes and had his entire clubs re-gripped. Well done Jim, you are an inspiration to a lot of the Eggs. SENIOR TROPHY The Senior Trophy was played on 22 nd July a Double-Greensomes was the choice of Ian Senior to be played for the trophy; the format was a low handicap player and a high handicap partner which went down well with the Eggs members. Winners were Stuart McKean and Tom Brown with a score of 43 points, well done to both. Tom Brown is playing very nice golf, keep it up Tom. 3

4 JUNIOR NEWS Kirkcudbright golf club hosted the South of Scotland Golfers Association Junior Strokeplay and match play championships in July. Many thanks to John, Jamie and Robert for the superb condition of our course, all the comments from visitors and officials were full of praise. Our Juniors also did us proud with the four boys pictured finishing in the top four places of both championships. Well done Nathan, Callum, Cameron and William with South President Alistair Millar. (See overleaf) Congratulations to Nathan Watson the 2016 South junior strokeplay champion. Our juniors have had a very successful month. Pictured is our new South Junior Match play champion Cameron Gray and runner up Callum McMillan. Congratulations to David Broadfoot for a very successful summer camp. Eleven boys and girls participated and great fun was had by all. David is running another week long camp in early August there maybe a few spaces left for interested juniors. 4

5 HANDICAP & COMPETITION NEWS The matchplay competitions are moving towards the business end now with Finals Day on 11 th September fast approaching. It promises to be another good day for the club. There is still a lot to play for this season including; The Summer Festivities Ladies, Seniors, Gents and Mixed August, Douglas Maxwell (scratch and handicap) 4th September, Dalziel Trophy (Pairs) Sep 17 th & Locharthur (Pairs) Sep 24 th. As always, any offers of office cover on competition days would be a great help. Competition winners during July were: Robert Glover Trophy John Houston (40 Points) July Medal (Star Hotel) Nathan Watson (67-3=64) TCB Cup Keith Munn (72-6=66) Royal Cup Craig Rudd (72-8=64) Marble Trophy Michael Kirkham (77-17=60) Don t forget that all competition results can be found in the results section of our website at or directly through The Winnie Wallace Plate took place on 17 th July and was won by J&T Graham with 43 Points. Pictured below are Biddy Guthrie and Maurice Halliday with the winners. We re also very lucky to have a lot of enthusiastic volunteers around the club. Below are Bill, Alistair and Alec enjoying a well-earned coffee and a chat after a busy morning. 5

6 STAR INTERVIEW On the eve of the Wallace Rosebowl, we caught up with long-time member Margaret Locke. Margaret is a 4-time club champion at Kirkcudbright and was Ladies Captain in our Centenary Year back in Here s what she had to say What s your handicap right now? 8.8 achieved in the Wallace Rosebowl on Saturday. & whats the lowest it has been? 8.8 What's the best course you have played? Our own course is high up on my list, but I did enjoy my round at Kilmacolm last month. What course would you most like to play that you haven't? Gleneagles If you could only play links or parkland for the rest of your life what would you choose? Parkland Who would you pick to hole a 6-foot putt to win you 100? Jordan Speith Best player you've played with or against? with Eddie Carruthers, against Fiona Hunter What has been your best moment in golf? One of the most enjoyable moments occurred many years ago now. I was playing a few holes on a Friday night with Donald & Karen Shamash. I had a birdy at the 15th, so Donald challenged me to do it again at the 16th, saying he would buy me my tea if I did. Always up for a challenge I took him on. My drive was not great, but I holed the second shot for a 2, much to the delight of all three of us, all for different reasons, and Donald, always the gentleman, honoured his bet and bought me my tea! Who would be your dream 4-ball? Lydia Ko, Charley Hull, Catriona Mathews and me. What is your favourite club in the bag? For a long time it was my 5-iron, but now my sand wedge. If you could change one thing about golf what would it be? Slow play between shots. For example, the time it takes from holing out and teeing up at the next hole. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? When putting, looking at the grass behind the ball. This stops me moving my head. What's your bogey hole at Kirkcudbright? Changes every year. Do you have any golfing superstitions? Yes. In Doubles my partner must take out his/her putter, no matter the length of the putt. Away from golf, what are your other interests? Swimming, cycling, curling, gardening and bridge. I like to keep active! Thanks Margaret, that s great! Good luck for the rest of the season. 6

7 David Broadfoot's Coaching Column - August Edition Here's a question... does anyone know what level their short game is really at? How do you really know if your short game is holding you back? The answer is, you need to know your short game handicap. My offer this month is to take you through the 'Pelz Test' to work out your short game handicap. This test was designed by legendary short game guru, Dave Pelz, who previously worked with Phil Mickelson on his short game. The fact is, if you improve your short game handicap, you will improve your full handicap & lower your scores. It's a no-brainer. The first step is to take the Pelz Test and identify how you can improve your short game handicap. Many of you will be shocked at how high your short game handicap might be compared to your actual handicap. Just think how much you could improve your scores if you shave a few shots from your short game handicap! Everyone can do this regardless of how high or low your handicap is. I did the Pelz test myself, albeit quite a few years ago (probably 13 or 14 years ago!), whilst my handicap was 3. My short game handicap came out at 8. I knew that wasn't good enough and that my short game was holding me back. To get to the next level I had to improve my short game. I worked on the weakness in my short game and was soon a scratch golfer. Your short game is so important to you. If you are not at your best, your short game can save the day. I scored 64 (5 under par) in one of the Wednesday medals in July, I made 5 birdies, 13 pars & 0 bogeys. During this round of golf I really didn't play all that well. I missed 7 greens in regulation. I left myself in a few very tough spots but because my short game is sharp, I got up & down in 2 shots every time I missed the green meaning I didn't drop a single shot. If I had a higher short game handicap, I may have made 7 bogeys and scored 71 (2 over par). The short game separates the men from the boys when it comes to golf. Everyone can score when they play well but the best players can score even when they don't play well. The Pelz test will take around 1 hour and costs 25 (reduced from 30 as a trial!). I can't recommend this enough, it is guaranteed to show you how you can lower your scores through your short game. Please get in touch on or dbroadfoot87@gmail.com to book! David Broadfoot, PGA Golf Professional AND FINALLY Finally, don t forget this is your newsletter. If there s anything particular you d like to see included let us know. You might have a story or even photos from days gone by we could include. Feel free to pass them on, either to the clubhouse or contact me at malcolmk04@yahoo.co.uk 7