SCOTTISH BOYS' CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRY HAS DROPPED CONSIDERABLY IN LAST SEVEN YEARS

E-mail from Iain Taylor

Colin, In response to your Scottish boys' championship entries debate, I remember when I was a junior off a handicap of five.
I was nowhere near getting in the field. The cut-off was like 3.8 and there were 30-50 reserves and now it's 6.4 handicap limit or something around that and they did not get a full entry.  
I am nearly 25 years old so in space of seven years the entries have dropped considerably! 
There could be many reasons for this. Parents might not be able to afford to commute their kids to the venue if coming from far afield due to the recession.
The weather at Murcar Links for last year's championship was so bad as well and this winter has been so cold which may have caused juniors to lose interest in the game.  
Maybe the timing is a factor as well as it is held in first week of the season and lads do not feel their game is ready or sharp enough for such a big tournament.  
Maybe the SGU could think about moving the Scottish boys' match-play championship to a later datewhen players have got some practice under their belt and feel sharper and feel more interested in the game.
But obviously the school holidays is an important factor in the dates scheduling..

Iain Taylor


Follow-up E-mail from Ian Steven
(who started the debate!)

Scottish boys' match-pay championship entries since 2007

2007 Dunbar               Ballot 5.5     96 Reserves on Waiting list  Last Reserve Grant Forrest
2008 Southerness       Ballot 5.4     54 Reserves  on Waiting list
2009 Royal Aberdeen Ballot 5.5     34 Reserves on Waiting list
2010 West Kilbride     Ballot 5.5     24 Reserves on Waiting list
2011 Dunbar               Ballot 5.5     26 Reserves on Waiting list
2012 Murcar Links      Ballot 5.8     14 Reserves on Waiting list
2013 Monifieth           No Ballot      Only 255 Entries -  No Reserves.