SCOTTISH JUNIOR MASTERS

JOHN (12) AND JENNIFER (13) WIN SCOTTISH JUNIOR MASTERS
TITLES AT WINDY GLENEAGLES

John Gibson, a 12-year-old from Climpy, Lanarkshire, and Jennifer Sinclair (13) from Glasgow won the individual titles at the Scottish Junior Masters Grand Final in testing, windy conditions over the Queen’s Course at Gleneagles Hotel today.
John, only 4ft 9in tall and a 27-handicapper, had the highest Stableford points total of 40. He has not had a golf lesson in the 2 ½ years or so since his non-golfing father – his mother is not a golfer either! – started him playing the game.
“John says if he went to a professional he would only change the way he gripped and swung the club – and he is quite happy with the way he plays the game,” said his farmer-dad Jimmy Gibson (pictured above with his wife Lorraine and John).
“He’s been told that the clubs he’s playing with are too long for him but he says he likes them that way.
“I don’t know enough about the game to know if he needs clubs that are the right length for him nor if he has the right technique or not.
“I did apply for planning permission to lay out a few holes of a golf course in one of my fields so that John could practise and play every day he felt like it. But, would you believe, the council planners turned it down.”
Master Gibson, a junior member of Carnwath Golf Club and a pupil at Carluke High School, had a terrific last fives holes, over which he added 14pt to his total with four gross pars and a bogey at the last. His net scores from the 14th to the 18th were 1-2-3-2-3!
John’s 40pt total won him the boys’ trophy by two points from Lewis Meston, who plays off 23 at Ayr Belleisle. Age 14, Lewis has been golfing for only a year. Remember the name!
Two 11-handicappers Ryan Boyle (Bathgate) and Murray Winton (Mortonhall) both finished with 37pt, the joint third best boys’ score of the day. The countback went to the last six holes before Ryan prevailed to be awarded third place. He has been golfing for about three years.
Girls champion Sinclair Jennifer is a member of Elie and Earlsferry Ladies Golf Club which he joined when the family went there regularly for holidays. She was introduced to the game there was whe was four of five years old. In the beginning, that was the only golf Jennifer played – on holiday! Since then her interest in the game has increased tremendously and she has recently
joined Hilton Park Golf Club, Glasgow.
Miss Sinclair, playing off 15 of a handicap, totalled 36pt to win the girls’ trophy by just one point.
A field of 78 Under-16 year olds – 50 boys and 28 girls – qualified from regional eliminators all over Scotland. One of the farthest travelled competitors was 15-year-old Karen Mackay from Durness after winning one of the qualifying tests at Inverness. Karen has brought her handicap down from 31 to 23 this season. This is only her second full year since she took up golf.
Her score of 35pt at Gleneagles earned her the runner-up placing behind Jennifer Sinclair.
Third in the girls’ section was 15-year-old Ashley Alston (Royal Montrose). Playing off 18, she totalled 34pt. Ashley has been playing golf for only three years.

FINAL TOTALS (Stableford points)
BOYS
40 J Gibson (Carnwath) (27).
38 L Meston (Ayr Belleisle) (23).
37 R Boyle (Bathgate) (11) (bih), M Winton (Mortonhall) (11).
36 D Laing (Inverness) (8).
35 M Wiseman (Peterhead) (8).
34 C Graham (Milnathort) (7), A Elliot (Prestonfield) (9), G Mathieson (Muir of Ord) (20).
33 A Wiseman (Fraserburgh) (10).
32 G Burns (Bothwell Castle) (9), F Thain (West Linton) (13), S Hepburn (East Aberdeenshire) (12).
31 N McGregor (Bridge of Allan) (13), S Grant (Hilton Park) (9), R Fergus (Musselburgh Old) (10), E McIntosh (East Aberdeenshire) (7), S Duff (Strathpeffer Spa) (8).
30 B Ward (Glen) (14), D Gallagher (Clydebank & Dist) (6), K Moore (Jedburgh) (6)..
29 S Gray (Grange) (11), A Anderson (Kirriemuir Players) (11), C Jackson (St Boswells) (13), J Williams (Castle Douglas) (14), N McInnes (Glencruitten) (23), G Dunlope (Fort William) (7).
28 L Rafferty (Prestonfield) (12), C Stevenson (Monifieth) (5), C Cockburn (Turnhouse) (8), S Blackie (Jedburgh) (11), S Liddell (Duns) (20), N Skene (Garmouth & Kingston) (12).
27 C Hastie (Linlithgow (9), S Cruickshanks (Glenrothes) (10), H Burness (Westhill) (8), C Cromar (Lumphanan) (10), L MacDonald (Brora) (7).
26 M Gillespie (Falkirk Tryst) (14), G Mathieson (Deeside) (17), G Murray (Aboyne) (18).
25 S Bell (Linlithgow) (7), C Bell (Falkirk Tryst) (7), G Law (Newburgh on Ythan) (15).
24 S Burgess (Nairn Dunbar) (17), J McFadzean (Newton Stewart) (23).
23 C Morrison (Kilspindie) (19), G Guild (Huntly) (10).
20 M McDougall (Rothesay) (7).
17 S Ronald (Lanark) (6).
GIRLS (CSS 73)
36 J Sinclair (Elie & Earlsferry Ladies) (15).
35 K Mackay (Durness) (23).
34 A Alston (Royal Montrose) (18).
33 E Franks (Ballater) (21).
32 T Stark (Inveraray) (21).
31 F Milne (Glen) (23), K MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) (+1).
30 C Bain (St Michaels) (14), G MacDonald (Prestonfield) (17), G Simpson (Midlothian Ladies) (8), G Arnott (Ayrshire Ladies) (13), L McCallum (Newburgh on Ythan) (8).
29 L Smith (Kirriemuir Players) (13), R Wilson (Monifieth) (5), L McGillivray (Oldmeldrum) (16).
28 N Taylor (Thornton) (15), N Quayum (Ranfurly Castle) (19), S Vass (Tain) (5)..
26 K Scott (Windyhill) (13).
25 C Penrose (Monifieth) (27).
23 K Beveridge (Aboyne) (13).
22 N Muir (Wishaw).
20 K Hennen (Kirkintilloch) (29), F Fullerton (Huntly) (16).
18 K Ward (Glen) (17), G Richens (Newmachar) (8), S Alexander (Deeside) (20).
15 R McQueen (Ayrshire Ladies) (6).