The AGM and Prize Giving was held at North Berwick Golf Club on Friday 7th November 2013. There was a good turnout despite the miserable weather and most of the prize winners were there to collect their trophies and to pose for the camera.
We were well looked after by North Berwick who provided an excellent selection of canapés to accompany the welcoming glass.
In addition to the County prizes awarded on the night members who had won significant trophies during the year were asked to bring them along to the meeting so that other members could see them. They too were happy to pose for the camera.
Captains Report
It is surprising to me that a year has passed since I last stood here having assumed office from Mary Lou.
2013 has been a busy year but also an enjoyable one as ELLCGA Captain.
I have been supported by a very able committee and we hope that we have served the members satisfactorily.
It is not easy to run an organisation like ours without our own Clubhouse and we have tried to keep members informed of County business by posting information and results on our website and sending regular emails about forthcoming events. Hopefully this has been helpful and I would request that if anyone becomes aware of something they feel should be posted on the website please contact myself or Elaine Dick, who manages the website.
It is our intention to release a “Contacts List” for next season to members of our organisation which will give name, phone number and email address of members. Those not wishing to share their details have been asked to indicate this when returning their subscription renewal.
Likewise, the County relies on the use of Clubhouses and Courses for meetings and events and our thanks go to all Clubs who have allowed us the use of their facilities.
During this year we introduced “Conditions of Competition” for the 3 meetings and the knockout events. These can be viewed on the website as well as on the days of competition. Hopefully this has been helpful to new and existing members to clearly define what is required for each competition.
Further to the decision made at last years AGM with regard to allowing the use of DMD’s in County competitions, we received notification from the SLGA in January that they have also now allowed use of these devices in all their competitions. However, some organisations still do not allow use of DMD’s and it is important to check prior to teeing off whether there is a restriction.
We have extended the range of County clothing available to members and sales continue to be lodged after competitions when the items have been on show. The range can be seen here tonight and viewed on the website and I would encourage members to have a look. Our kit was well admired at the Inter County Matches this year when modelled by the team, so much so that another County have enquired where we purchase it from. I can highly recommend the snood/kneckwarmer for the cold winter days. Items can also be ordered without the County logo as not all ladies like monogrammed clothing.
Membership numbers of the County remain healthy but there is still plenty of room for more so if you are aware of any new members to your Club who have a handicap of 35 or lower please encourage them to join. Membership forms are available to download from the website.
Myself, Barbara, Liz and Mary Lou have attended various SLGA and Divisional meetings in the last 12 months. These are necessary for the future yearly organisation of running national and divisional events as well as junior golf development. Presently things run relatively smoothly but there is always a difficulty attracting people willing to devote some of their time voluntarily to help with such administration. There is a reduced lack of national funding and there are possible changes that might occur in the event of amalgamation between the SLGA and the SGU. Ongoing discussions that have yet to really involve us at County level continue to take place regarding the amalgamation and when the final decisions are made it is hoped that this will benefit aspiring female amateur players junior and senior through funding, coaching and selection to reach their goals and achieve national and international recognition.
Our County team events were a mixture of highs and lows.
Our first match of the season in February against Gullane GC had to be cancelled on the day due to snow.
We then took a senior and junior team to The Roxburgh in March for our annual match against Borders Ladies. Given the weather we drove through to get there it is surprising the match went ahead, however, as tee times approached the skies cleared and a lovely day followed. The senior team halved their match with a 2/2 result and the junior match was very nearly the same with the first match halving but the 2nd match lost on the last hole to give a final result of 1 ½ to ½ . A great day was had by all with much laughter and we look forward to hosting the match this year at Craigielaw.
The East Division Inter County Matches were held at Glenbervie GC in June and the team included Lesley Atkins, Jane Herd, Lesley Nicholson, Yasemin Sari, Keren Ward, Hilary Wardell, Mary-Lou Watkins, Clara Young, Reserves - Sue Penman and Joanne Free.
Day 1 (Mon 24) Stirling and Clackmannan v Midlothian 1 - 8
East Lothian v Fife 8 - 1
A fantastic 1st days result had the team fired up and raring to go against Midlothian
Day 2 (Tues 25) Stirling and Clackmannan v Fife 5 - 4
East Lothian v Midlothian 1 - 8
The team came back down to earth with a bump and took the result hard considering the team played well and most matches were tight and went the distance or near enough. On another day the results could have swung the other way if the odd putt had dropped. All was not lost and the team rallied for the last day
Day 3 (Wed 25) East Lothian v Stirling and Clackmannan 5 - 4
Fife v Midlothian 4 ½ - 4 ½
Playing a County on one of their home courses is never easy and that’s exactly what happened, S&C performed well and we were up against it with the score line 4/4 with the last singles match still on course, but the all important winning point was earned on the 17th green to achieve an overall win.
We ended in second place which is an improvement on recent finishes. This all bodes well for 2014 when we will be on home turf and can get lots of practice in. Thanks go to all the caddies and supporters to the team throughout the tournament.
For next season we have added 2 further matches to get more practice, the first against Lanarkshire County Ladies in December at Gullane 1, it is hoped that this will become an annual fixture similar to our match against Borders Ladies. The second match will be over the North Berwick West Links in March against a team of low handicap men from NBGC and Tantallon GC. We have been granted courtesy for both of these matches and this is much appreciated.
Mary Lou mentioned in her report the coaching that the Juniors have received.
Just prior to the Inter County Matches we arranged for Martyn Huish to run 2 short game practice and consolidation clinics for members with handicaps of 10 or less and who would be likely to be selected for county teams. These clinics proved to be very popular and helpful and we will endeavour to run these again next year.
Our annual social event, the preseason lunch, held at NBGC, was another success story. Numbers were slightly down due to conflicting functions but all 58 who attended thoroughly enjoyed the fine food provided by James and Lisa and the excellent speaker Helen Faulds, Captain of the Scottish Seniors Team. The raffle on the day netted £315, thanks go to Archerfield, Martyn Huish and Alasdair Good for donating the prizes. Our thanks also go to Barbara for organising the whole day. The 2014 lunch will be held on March 22nd again at NBGC.
Barbara’s other official duty is the organising of the 5 aside scratch matches for the various clubs involved. This years div 1 winners are Dunbar and div 2 winners North Berwick. Unfortunately at the beginning of the year we lost Royal Musselburgh’s team due to lack of players, however, as a result of Barbara’s hard work we now have 2 new teams joining div 2, namely Kilspindie and Dirleton Castle. These additional teams created an imbalance of team numbers in div 2 under the present rules so at the annual 5 aside meeting the issue was discussed and a vote taken which resulted in the bottom team in div 1 not being demoted. We now have an equal even number of clubs in each division.
With regard to 2013 County competition fixtures, all our senior events went ahead and were well attended. In particular the Spring Meeting at Luffness attracted a very large entry. Even when the weather was awful, hardly any of the entrants called off. Thankfully the weather improved for the rest of the Championships to complete a successful inaugural ladies tournament for Luffness GC.
Results of all the County competitions will be announced during the prize giving. However, I would like to make a special mention of other winners during this season.
In May the Scottish Ladies (Close) Amateur Championship was hosted by Longniddry GC. We had a number of County members participating and we had entered a team of 3 to represent East Lothian to play for the McNeill Trophy which is awarded to the County team returning the lowest aggregate gross scores
for the qualifying rounds. I am delighted to announce that our team consisting of Lesley Atkins, Hilary Wardell and Clara Young won this trophy for East Lothian for the first time.
Also during this championship the 3rd member of this team, Clara Young, lifted more silverware by winning her way to the final. Although she did not emerge victorious she received the runners up Beddows Trophy and a silver medal to keep. She also became the youngest ever finalist for this event and attracted one of the largest galleries the final has seen in many years.
Lauren Lee, a junior member from The Musselburgh GC, played in the East Division Regional Medal Finals at Kirkcaldy GC in June and qualified through to the finals with the best silver division score of the day 72. She then competed in the finals in August at King James VI GC and won 3rd handicap.
In July at Braehead GC, after a 19 hole final, Joanne Free from Gullane Ladies GC, became East of Scotland Girls Champion. Joanne was also crowned the Stephen Gallacher Foundation Scratch and Handicap orders of merit winner for 2013.
Charlotte Munro, also from Gullane Ladies GC, won the East of Scotland Girls Order of Merit for 2013. This was a close run affair as she beat Joanne by 1 point! It is most encouraging that East Lothian girls are topping the table.
In September the Scottish Ladies Foursomes took place at Kirriemuir GC. The Gullane Ladies GC pairing of Mary Lou Watkins and Hazel Saunders had the 2nd best scratch score of the day and were also awarded the “Dunfermline Building Society Trophy” for the best scratch as the pairing with the best scratch score on the day were not from the same club and could therefore not win the trophy. I would add that I also played in this event and won 1st handicap with my partner Dawn Darling from Kirriemuir, sadly there was no silverware for me to bring home to display.
Also in September the SLGA Commonwealth Spoons Finals were held at Fortrose and Rosemarkie GC. The East Lothian pairing from Gifford GC, Ingrid Elgsaas and Georgene Parsons had a table topping score of 74.5 to win the spoons.
I have asked these winners to bring along their trophies tonight for us all to see. They are displayed on the table.
Lastly, there is one member of our county who cannot go without recognition. One of our Honorary members, Catriona Matthew MBE.
Catriona has had a glittering career with 11 Professional wins and some of her recent accolades are:-
She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from the University of Abertay in Dundee in Dec 2012. In 2013 she has had 6 top 10 finishes including the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Ladies Open, runner up after a play off in Wegmans LPGA Championship. Catriona played in her 7th Solheim Cup team in Colorado and sank the winning putt to bring 1st time victory on US soil to Europe.
We are very lucky to have such a wonderful ambassador for ladies golf living within our midst. To be number 10 in the world player rankings is quite an achievement and it wouldn’t surprise me if she rises higher in the future. She is definitely ranked no.1 as a role model for our young players. So well done Catriona on all your achievements so far and I am sure we all look forward to witnessing more from our local heroine in the future.
I would like to bring my report to a close by saying a few thank you’s.
Carol McLeod, our President, for being available for advice and support as well as attending various team events.
Janette Buchanan, our vice president, for coming and supporting us at the County Matches.
Barbara Biggart, you have been a most supportive vice captain, as well as taking on the organisation of the lunch and 5 asides with ease.
Liz McLelland, our Secretary, has made the administration run very smoothly and always there to help.
Gwen Stewart, our Treasurer, has dealt with the finances and subscriptions superbly.
Mary Lou, our Junior Secretary, has provided a great season of golf and coaching fixtures for our juniors and also made it fun.
The Committee members who have helped during competitions as well as the following:-
Hazel Bryson-Chalmers and Marion Currie for running the Knockout competitions
Elaine Dick for keeping the website up to date and also compiling a history of our organisation in her spare time
Janice Reid who has been liaising with East Lothian Alliance to obtain sponsorship for the County team.
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