SEASON'S GREETINGS TO ALL OUR READERS

 

SEASONS GREETING TO ALL OUR READERS -- CLICK HERE TO SEE YOU CARD

LEVEL 4 COVID RULES FOR GOLF FROM DECEMBER 26th

Following the First Minister’s weekend announcement that a move to Level 4 will be implemented from 26 December, we can advise that there has been no changes advised to the previously shared sporting guidance based on each local protection level.

The Scottish Golf website remains current and the full detail of what is permitted can be found here, with further details from sportscotland on the wider sporting framework and responsibilities of COVID officers available here.

Should there be any changes advised in the days ahead, we shall of course keep you updated but in the meantime all detail on our website shows the current position for golf.

With best wishes to you and your membership for a safe festive season and collectively let’s hope for better things to come in 2021.

Kind regards, 
The Scottish Golf Team

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY WISHES TO RENFREWSHIRE'S HEATHER ANDERSON

 

Heather Anderson is 90 today  ---- Friday  (18th December 2020 ) - A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY

CLICK HERE TO SEE HER BIRTHDAY CARD  

Heather was Scottish Champion in 1969 and in the Vagliano Team in that year. She was also the Renfrewshire County Champion 9 times, and a Scottish Ladies Internationalist in 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971.

10 years ago we wished Heather a Happy 80th Birthday and at that time her life story featured in the RLCGA County Centenary Book  -- courtesy of Colin Farquharson (pages 36 - 38)

Now, her very good friend Renfrewshire Counties Liz Hale from Caldwell Golf Club has written a very nice tribute to her for her 90th birthday in 2020 which I am delighted to share  --

Heather took up golf at the age of 17. Her passion, up until this point had been horse riding however, after a serious horse  riding accident at the Royal Highland Show, her parents managed to persuade her to sell her horses. She was then left with a choice on whether to take up badminton or golf. Golf won.

Heather joined Caldwell Golf Club, aged 17 and in the same year, competed and won the Paisley Grammar School Championship. By 1948, Heather had a handicap and started playing in the Medals at Caldwell GC which were played on Saturday afternoons after the gents. It was during this time that Heather met Ian, her future husband.

Heather partnered a number of accomplished golfers during her career including Findlay Black (who holds the record scorecard at Caldwell GC) - playing in the final of the Daily Mail Medal Foursomes at Gleneagles and Margaret Sharp at Troon Portland and at Caldwell GC with many successes. Heather also performed with style, most notably at the Highland Open Championship, Pitlochrie, where she donned trousers, shirt, cap and glove – all in the Anderson tartan. A competitor was overheard saying; ‘My God, it’s a bag of pipes she should be playing!’.

By 1958, Heather was a scratch golfer and was chosen to play for the Renfrewshire Team which she continued to do over a span of 32 years.

In 1964, Heather’s international career took off.

Heather played for Scotland in the Home Internationals in Sweden and France. She led the team in the European Championship and then two months later, Scotland won the Home International at Western Gailes. This was when Heather defeated the National Champion of England, of Ireland and of Wales, finishing the series with 100% success and earning the honour of being asked to play for Great Britain and Ireland.

Heather’s most memorable win, of course, was at West Kilbride when she won the

Scottish Ladies’ Championship in 1969. There was a gold Medal but no prize money at that time.

However, history was made when Heather was presented with a replica owned by the late Jean McCulloch of West Kilbride. Jean had, in her earlier years, won the Scottish title on three occasions between 1913 and 1928 and it was this last replica that Heather now regards as one of her most treasured possessions. 

In 1980, Heather turned professional, only the second lady professional in Scotland, at that time and then reinstated in 1985 to the amateur ranks. 

In the same year, Heather received an Honourable Membership at Caldwell GC. Heather is a Ladies Caldwell GC Champion (20 times) as well as winning many other trophies. She is our current Ladies President. Heather is truly an inspiration to us all!

Since her 80th Heather still managed to play golf up until about 2016 and featured throughout the last decade with various achievements -- 

In 2013 She entered a competition through 'How did I do' . It was to tell a story about a memory of the 'Open'.

Heather's memory told about the time when her young daughter, Lesley, had approached Gary Player and asked for his autograph for her Mum. He was delighted to give this. At which point Lesley asked 'Would you like me to get my Mum's autograph now to give to you ?

This story made Heather one of the prize winners --  and to top it all she was informed she could bring a friend - and her friend invited was Liz Hale 

A round of golf at Muirfield (with Caddy) on Thursday 20th June, just before the closing of the course to perpare for the Open.

2 nights stay at the McDonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick . (Taxi to the Course included)

Golf Clinic With Darren Clark followed by Buffet Lunch.

Dinner on Thursday Evening with 'Q and A session' with Darren Clark.

They both had a marvellous day  --  the Marine was comfortable, friendly and good food. The clinic with Darren Clark was really informative and interesting - driving and short game- always something relevant you remember to take away with you.

This was followed by a wonderful buffet lunch in the Clubhouse before going out for our round of golf.

We were put into ten teams of four. As Heather and Liz were the only two ladies it was funny to see the expressions on the faces of the two Irish gentlemen who had been landed with us. They were great to play with.

The weather was good, sunshine and they each had a caddy. Heather played well which made the game enjoyable for her and Darren Clark played 2 holes with their team.

It was a great experience to play the course and made watching The Open itself more interesting.

After the game they returned to the Hotel where there was a prizegiving dinner with Darren Clark hosting a question and answer session. The men were given ties with the Claret Jug embroidered on it while Heather and Liz were each given a lovely silver brooch of the Claret Jug --  Nice keepsake.

A really enjoyable experience - a well deserved experience for Heather to add to all her very many golfing achievements. She was quite sad to come away from Muirfield.

In 2014 she was  first Commonwealth  Games baton bearer in her home town of Uplawmoor in East Renfrewshire. The BBC reported that -- Heather has long been an active member of the community and has been involved with the local council, the church board and the church choir. She is also an accomplished golfer, and won the Scottish Ladies Championship in 1969

It was an early start for Heather as she had to be there  for 6.15am!! The carrying of the torch was at 7.30am and the rain held off. All TV cameras and eyes on Heather in her blue and white uniform as she carried the torch about 400 yards before handing it on. Quite an honour and a day to remember for Heather. Half the village turned out  to see her and we were all given a lovely breakfast in the local hall afterwards. Heather had her hair done the day before and the first thing she asked her daughter on the  the morning of the event was -'Is my hair alright?'  She did well!!

Heather played in the West Vets Summer Meeting in 2016 over her Home course Caldwell with your webmaster who was so impressed with her still wonderful swing -- SO EASY!!

 

Heather, Wendy and Aileen

 
Later that year she was then awarded Honorary Membership of the West Vets at the 2016 AGM alongside Aileen Wilson  - West Vets now have 3 honorary Members - Wendy Cameron being the 3rd - she was awarded the title in 2010 

Thereafter, Heather has suffered poor health and been in and out of hospital -- She has however attended many events at Caldwell Golf Club and well looked after by her daughter Lesley.

Unfortunately she has had fall recently and has broken her hip and is back in hospital. She hopes to get home for Christmas.

We all wish Heather a Happy BIG Birthday and a speedy recovery -- and finally your webmaster Carol had wished she could have baked cake for you Heather !!

SCOTTISH GOLF EVENTS 2021

From the Scottish Golf Website

Scottish Golf is pleased to announce a full schedule of events for golfers of all ages and abilities will be returning in 2021.

Following a season-long hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a full 2021 schedule will offer thousands of golfers the opportunity to play some of Scotland’s top golf courses and bid to become a National Champion. 

With over 120,000 downloads of the Scottish Golf App since the start of November, the upcoming season will also see several exciting changes to enhance the player and viewer experience. 

Full hole-by-hole live scoring will now be available at all Scottish Golf events for the first time as players input their scores and sign off scorecards directly on their mobile devices using the Scottish Golf App. 

The App, which is free to download here, has many exciting features which entrants will be able to take full advantage of in 2021. This includes simple event entry, live scoring and an on-course Caddie which will give you accurate course information for every one of our Host Venues. 

The Scottish Medal Finals will make its debut as a combined event in 2021 with affiliated clubs invited to enter three of their top-performing male and female players from both the 2019 and 2020 season’s monthly medals into one of six Regional Finals taking place during May and July.

On the day of the Regional Final, male and female players will play alongside each other with the top six net male and female qualifiers booking their place at the Home of Golf for the Grand Final which will be played over The Duke’s Course on Sunday 15 August.

The offering for club golfers continues with the hugely successful and free-to-enter R&A 9-Hole Challenge, with Milnathort once again playing host to the two-day Scottish National Final on Thursday 10 and Friday 11 June. The prize for the top four teams from the National Final is the money-can’t-buy experience of playing in the R&A 9-hole Challenge Final over Royal St. Georges on the eve of The 149th Open Championship where they will compete against fellow qualifiers from across the world for the overall title.

Completing the portfolio of National Championships for club golfers is the free-to-enter PING Scottish Mixed Championship which will this year be played over former Men’s and Women’s Scottish Open venue, Gullane No.1 on Friday 17 September. This event will see the Top 40 pairs from a National Leaderboard qualify for a great day out and some fantastic prizes courtesy of Championship sponsors PING.

Fraser Munro, Head of Events at Scottish Golf, said: “2020 has been a hugely difficult year for everyone but we are looking forward to getting back out and engaging with clubs and golfers in the new year. Entries recently opened for our newly combined Scottish Medal Finals and we have been hugely encouraged by the level of response it has received. 

“As always, none of this would be possible without the support of our various stakeholders including our many host venues for allowing us access to their wonderful courses and our generous event partners for providing some outstanding prizes throughout the season. 

“With more than 120,000 people having now downloaded the Scottish Golf App, our events and the information available will be more accessible than ever and we look forward to welcoming more golfers of all ages and abilities to our events going forward.”

At elite level, the domestic season tees off with the Scottish Boys’ and Girls’ Open Championships taking place 7-9 April at Lundin and Longniddry who will be celebrating their centenary.

Scottish Golf’s flagship Women’s and Men’s Amateur Championships will be staged over Gullane (4 – 6 June) and Murcar Golf Links & Portlethen (27 – 31 July) with Southerness (28 – 30 May) and the newly announced 2024 Open Championship venue Royal Troon (16-18 April) playing host to the Scottish Men’s Open and Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open Championships respectively.

Elsewhere the Scottish Senior Men’s Open Championship will take place at Duff House Royal (16-18 June), Aberdour will host the Scottish Senior Women’s Open Championship (22 – 25 June) as part of their 125th-anniversary celebrations with the Scottish Boys’ and Girls’ Amateur Championships being held at Bruntsfield Links and Strathaven in July, with Kirkcaldy and Stirling completing the offering by hosting the Scottish Boy’s U14 Open and Scottish Girl’s Open (8 – 9 August) respectively. 

Participants should note that we will continue to work with our partners in Government and sportscotland to ensure that all events adhere to any restrictions in place at the time. 

Entries for all 2021 Scottish Golf National Championships will open on 1st February 2021 via the Scottish Golf App and website. To see the full 2021 schedule, please click here.

Scotland Central Ladies MGRanking - Week 50 / 2020

 SCOTLAND CENTRAL LADIES

1 Madeleine Macgregor (Hamilton) 1327 points

2 Alison Davidson (Stirling) 1222

3 Gillian Ping (Falkirk GC) 1181

4 Megan Docherty (Bishopbriggs) 1173

5 Jackie Carty (Hollandbush) 1163

6 Shaeen Ahmad (Balmore) 1157

T7 Anne-Marie Livingstone (Cawder) 1133 &

Ava Patterson (Tulliallan) 1133

9 Gayna McGreish (Balmore) 1117

10 Lorna Brown (Dunblane New) 1116

11 Jean Cosgrove (Falkirk Tryst) 1113

12 Laura Bissett (Braehead) 1111

13 Carrie Irvine (Bearsden) 1110

14 Andrea Torrie (Bearsden) 1106

15 Melanie Dunsmore (Dunblane New) 1104

SCOTLAND CENTRAL LADIES CLUBS

1 Braehead 996 points

2 Balmore 990

3 Tillicoultry 978

4 Grangemouth 959

5 Bishopbriggs 942

MyGolfRanking -- Scotland Week 49 / 2020

MyGolfRanking.net SCOTLAND GOLFERS of Week 2020/49 are MADELEINE MACGREGOR of HAMILTON LADIES retains her NUMBER ONE spot on SCOTLAND Ladies MGRanking

SCOTLAND LADIES

1 Madeleine Macgregor (Hamilton) 1327 points

2 Lynn Cranston (Liberton) 1292

3 Alison Davidson (Stirling) 1222

4 Alyson Phillips (Oldmeldrum) 1213

5 Dianne Watson (Leven Ladies) 1212

6 Colleen Stuart (St Regulus) 1190

7 Nicky Graham (Baberton) 1184

8 Gillian Ping (Falkirk GC) 1181

9 Megan Docherty (Bishopbriggs) 1173

10 Jackie Carty (Hollandbush) 1163

11 Shaeen Ahmad (Balmore) 1157

12 Isabell Donnelly (Gleddoch) 1150

13 Hazel Hume (Tillicoultry) 1144

14 Margaret Parr (Merchants of Edinburgh) 1142

15 Emily Aird (Blairgowrie) 1140

SCOTLAND LADIES CLUBS

1 Tillicoultry 1026

2 Braehead 997

3 Balmore 990

4 Loudoun Gowf 976

5 Grangemouth 959

6 Pitlochry 951

RENFREWSHIRE GOLFING STALWART NAN BLAIR (NEE MENZIES) HAS DIED

Home Internationals 1955 - Scottish Team 
Nan Blair (2nd from Right - back row) - All names in photo within the link in the Album below

PHOTO ALBUM OF NAN BLAIR 

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of Renfrewshire Ladies’ County Member Nan Blair (nee Menzies) 

Nan was a member of Erskine GC and then Ranfurly Castle GC and was one of the longest serving members of the County having joined in 1950 (70 years ago)

Nan, daughter of Alec Menzies who was a Scottish International golfer himself was selected to play in the Home Internationals at Royal Portrush after winning the RLCGA County Championship over Erskine in 1955 in devastating style, when she beat the West of Scotland Champion May Drummond of Paisley by 7 and 6.

In 1956 Miss Bettie Hendry (D&A) gave Nan Blair’s mother Mrs May Menzies £250 to start the West of Scotland Girls' Association. 

May Menzies was the first Chairman and she was assisted by Miss Jean McCulloch (West Kilbride), Irma Douglas (Wishaw), Mrs Nell McLean and Mrs Jean Buchanan (both Ranfurly Castle)  and Mrs Helen Lyon (East Renfrewshire) -  Together they formed the first committee of the WOSGGA. 

What insight these ladies had and because of them the association has been able to provide support and encouragement for girl golfers throughout the West of Scotland. There have been hundreds of members over the years -- some of whom have gone on to make golf their career and are well known names in the world of professional golf -- Mhairi MacKay, Janice Moodie and many more

Nan often relegated her golf to holiday golf, because of her Medical University examinations. However, intensive practice brought her game to its peak which made that year a very memorable one 

She was part of the Renfrewshire Team which, in 1954, at Gleneagles won the Scottish County Finals for the first time.  She was also in the winning teams in 1956 at Elie and and 1957 at Balgownie

She was then selected as Captain of the Scottish Girls’ team at the British Girls Championship at Troon Portland in 1966 - Nan who was a GP  then retired and lived in Bridge of Weir where she very much enjoyed art and music

When the County had their Centenary Celebrations in 2009 Nan took pride of place with RLCGA to cut the Centenary Cake with Centenary Captain Christeen Finlayson and the other longest serving member Heather Anderson. -- See Video

We send her daughters Judith and Jane and all her family our deepest condolences

Glasgow Herald  (4th December) 

BLAIR - Nan Aged 87 years, died peacefully at Elderslie Nursing Home on Monday 30th November 2020, beloved wife of Donald, proud mother of Judith and Jane and adoring grandmother of Hannah and Rory, retired GP to many in Bridge of Weir and Houston, friend to many more. Due to current restrictions, the funeral will be private at Woodside Crematorium on Monday 14th December at 11.30am. The family would be grateful for any donations in place of flowers to Alzheimer's UK. 

ELAINE MOFFAT WINS MASTERS CATEGORY FOR GOLFING ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2019/2020

From the East Fife Website

East Fife Annual Sporting Awards 2020 - Elaine Moffat won the 'Masters' category for her golfing achievements in 2019/20. 

This category was sponsored by St Andrews  Community Council. 

Elaine is the current Scottish Women's Senior Champion (2018 and 2019) beating West of Scotland's Donna Jackson in the 2019 final

Letter that Elaine received:

'On behalf of the EFSC Executive Committee I am writing to congratulate you all on being shortlisted for the EFSC Sports Awards 2020. We are very sorry not to be able to present these in person, but we are delighted to be able to write to you with the results'. 

Congratulations to winner Elaine Moffat and runners up Bill Duff and Miriam Rennet. 

With thanks to Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council for supporting this award