Friday, July 23, 2010

Aberdeen Quaich is coming back from August 6 to 8

.... but it needs entries from men, women and juniors

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
The three-day Aberdeen Quaich tournament, organised by Aberdeen City's Leisure Department and always played at the municipal Hazlehead No 1 and 2 courses in early August, was once one of the highlights of the North-east golfing calendar.
I cut my golf reporting teeth on the event back in the 1950s, when the Press and Journal used to devote a lot of column inches to the daily reports, qualifying scores and match-play results. I even played in it at least once when Sandy Pirie was still in short trousers and his father was the head greenkeeper.
But it wasn't played at all in 2008 or 2009 as part of the Aberdeen Town Council's bid to economise alongwith the closing of swimming pools, libraries and other penny-pinching decisions.
The good news is that the Aberdeen Quaich is coming back from August 6 to 8, thanks to the enterprise of Hazlehead Golf Club and its secretary Roy Witteveen. They have raised £2,200 to get the show on the road again for men, women and juniors.
Because it has taken so long to cut through the red tape that entangles city-run events, there has been little time left to promote the event and there are only around 40 entries at the moment. There is room for a lot more.
The Quaich is open to golfers from outwith the Aberdeen area. In fact, in years gone by, some of the winners came from England. Dr Sangster from Maxstoke Park in the English Midlands was a force in the tournament when I was a cub sports reporter. Hector "High Velocity" Thomson from Troon - a fixture in the Scotland amateur team of the 1930s - won the Quaich in 1950 and 1954. The one-time Aberdeen FC left winger and later manager, Tommy Pearson, who was no mean golfer, won the Quaich in 1948 - beating J H Sangster in the final - and again in 1949. "TUP" lost to Thomson in the 1950 final.
In more modern times Sandy Pirie (pictured above), a Walker Cup player in 1967, won the Quaich four years in a row from 1963 to 1966 and lost in the finals of 1961 and 1967 to boot! So this is a tournament of considerable pedigree.
The entry fee is £20 for men, £15 for women and £10 for juniors.
What do the men get for their £20?.
Two rounds of qualifying stroke-play on Friday August 6 - one round over the No 1 course, another over the No 2 course. The players with the leading scratch and net aggregates go on to the match-play stages over the No 1 course on the Saturday and Sunday (August 7 and 8).
There are prize vouchers for the best three qualifying totals, both in scratch and handicap.
The match-play winner will get a £300 voucher and the beaten finalist a £190 voucher. For the handicap finalists it will be a £200 voucher for the winner and £120 for the loser. The semi-finalists in both scratch and handicap are also rewarded.
What do the women get for their £15?
 One round of qualifying stroke play over the No 1 course on Friday, August 6. Scratch and handicap qualifiers go forward to the match-play on the Saturday and Sunday.
The women's scratch final will have a £160 voucher for the winner and a £90 voucher for the loser. The women's handicap final will be worth £120 to the winner and £80 to the loser. Again there will be vouchers for the beaten semi-finals in both scratch and handicap.
What do the juniors get for their £10 (I have to confess at this moment I do not know if juniors is another word for "boys" or whether by using the term "juniors" the organisers men boys and/or girls?
Anyway, it's a three-round stroke-play event for the Under-18 years competitors. The first two rounds on the Friday and Saturday will be over the No 2 course, the final round on the Sunday.
The junior prize vouchers will reward the best scores daily and also a 1-2-3-4 for the 54-hole totals.
From anywhere in the world, you can not only enter the tournament but state your preferred tee times by phoning Aberdeen (01224) 310711 during bar hours ... but not on Monday when the Hazlehead club is closed.
+The men's winner of the last Aberdeen Quaich, in 2007, was none other than a teenage Hazlehead member by the name of David Law. The same David Law, pictured right, who won the Scottish boys' and men's amateur match-play titles last year. David has made a commitment that he will definitely play in the resurrection of the Aberdeen Quaich next month, no matter how he gets on in the defence of his men's national title at Gullane next week. Good for you, David! Never forget your roots.
FOOTNOTE: To say the Aberdeen Quaich has always been played at Hazleead, as I stated in the first sentence of this article, is not stricly true but I thought it would confuse readers if I recalled that the "Aberdeen Corporation Quaich," as it was first known, started life at the Kings Links from 1926 to 1934. The venue was switched to Hazlehead in 1935. It wasn't played during the 1940-45 World War II years.

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