CRAIG MATHESON WINS MIDLAND ALLIANCE AT LUNDIN LINKS

The Midland Golfers’ Alliance resumed after its mid-winter break with the A Herd Team Competition at Lundin Links, Fife. 

In very testing conditions and winter greens, professional Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) led the way with a super score of 70 to win by two shots. 

Dougal Spaven, an eight-handicapper at Pitlochry, won the handicap prize by three shots with a 65 and also led his team of Chris Westland (Alloa) (10), Jim Wilson (Dunfermline) (14) and John Gilchrist (Dunfermline) (6) to a share of first place in the team event. 

Joint winners with a net score of 56 were Bill Crosbie (Blairgowrie) (5), Grant Jenkins (Crieff) (3), Rab Baldie (Crieff) (6) and Hugh Cowbrough (Muckhart) (6).

LEADING SCRATCH

70 Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst) p.

72 Grant Jenkins (Crieff). 

74 John Gilchrist (Dunfermline).

75 Fraser Robertson (Elie) ap.

LEADING HANDICAP

65 Dougal Spaven (Pitlochry) (8).

68 John Gilchrist (Dunfermline) (6).

69 Grant Jenkins (Crieff) (3).

72 Bill Crosbie (Blairgowrie) (5).

73 Colin Browne (Monifieth (3).

LEADING TEAM TOTALS

56 Dougal Spaven (Pitlochry) (8), Chris Westland (Alloa) (10), Jim Wilson (Dunfermline) (14), John Gilchrist (Dunfermline) (6); Bill Crosbie (Blairgowrie) (5), Grant Jenkins (Crieff) (3), Rab Baldie (Crieff) (6), Hugh Cowbrough (Muckhart) (6).
Next Meeting
Thursday, January 31
Venue: Arbroath (tee reserved: 8.30 to 12.30)
Sponsored by William Hill/

Lee Sutherland

JOHN HENRY BIDS TO FINANCE 2013 CAMPAIGN

FROM JOHN HENRY 

Scottish Alliance Champion 2012
I am getting ready to start the season and hopefully get into first two events on The Alps Tour in Egypt. 
This year I am going to be playing mainly on Alps Tour and play as many EuroPro Tour events as I can depending, on my schedule and financial circumstances.
 I am selling spaces on my clothing for the season ahead. The spaces I am selling are right chest, right sleeve and left sleeve.
On the left chest will be the logo of the golf club I represent: Clydebank and District Golf Club. 
The prices I am selling these spaces are as follows
Left Sleeve - £400
 Right Sleeve - £400
 Right chest - £600

This is a great chance for any business to advertise there company as I will be travelling all over the UK and all over mainland Europe. I also practise and play bounce games around the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire area so when wearing clothing the logo will be seen in plenty of areas.
John Henry
 johnhenry92@hotmail.com

R AND A LAUNCH COURSETRACKER AID TO GOLF COURSES

        See end of article for caption to above picture from Harrogate

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE RandA 
A free and easy-to-use new online system that helps golf courses manage themselves more sustainably and efficiently has been launched by The RandA.

CourseTracker was unveiled today at the British and International Golf Greenkeepers’ Association (BIGGA) Turf Management Exhibition 2013 in Harrogate.
CourseTracker is designed for golf course managers and club secretaries to record the income derived from the course and what is spent on its maintenance.
The secure system allows golf clubs to monitor their performance over time and identify strengths, weaknesses and areas where savings could be made in terms of energy and water, for example.
CourseTracker also enables golf clubs to anonymously benchmark their performance against that of other clubs of a similar size in their country. It produces accurate performance reports for the use of course managers and club secretaries and can be used to keep committees informed and to aid decision making.
The system has been extensively tested with course managers, club secretaries and industry bodies and their feedback has been used to develop and refine its range of functions. It has been endorsed by England Golf, the Golfing Union of Ireland, the Scottish Golf Union and the Golfing Union of Wales.
Around 50 representatives of the golf industry attended the launch at a special ceremony in the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate close to the exhibition centre.
Steve Isaac, Director – Golf Course Management at The R&A, said, “There is more pressure than ever on golf clubs to make the right decisions to manage golf courses sustainably, efficiently and cost effectively. CourseTracker can help them do that through recording, monitoring and reporting their activities and inputs. We know this is an area where many clubs struggle due to lack of time and resources.
“CourseTracker is free, completely secure and can enable clubs to compare their performance on an anonymous basis with other clubs of a similar size and situation. The aim is to give clubs more information and understanding of their course maintenance activities to enable them to improve performance.”
Paul Keeling, Club Services Manager at England Golf which has supported CourseTracker, said, “CourseTracker is an excellent new resource for golf clubs which can really help them get a grip on their expenditure on course maintenance.
"It is so important to manage golf courses sustainably both to protect the environment and reduce costs. This is a quick, easy to use system which can deliver accurate and useful management information for golf clubs. We will certainly be recommending CourseTracker to courses we work with in England.”
CourseTracker can be accessed online at www.coursetracker.org. Golf clubs need only spend a few minutes registering before using the system. It is simple to use and there are full online tutorials available for guidance.
Photo caption: (Left to right) Steve Isaac, Director – Golf Course Management, The RandA; Kevin Weir, Golf Services Manager, Scottish Golf Union; Paul Keeling, Club Services Manager, England Golf; Phillip Russell, Manager – Golf Course Affairs, The RandA, pose for a photograph during the CourseTracker press conference launch at the Majestic Hotel, Harrogate.
Picture by courtesy of  The R&A.

JUNIOR GOLF BEING PROMOTED AT NEWBURGH-ON-YTHAN

 By BRIAN CUMMING

Junior Convener, Newburgh-on-Ythan GC 

I wondered if you would be interested in publicising efforts on-going to promote junior golf at Newburgh on Ythan Golf Club.

Over the last few years, membership at the club had dropped off until at the start of the 2012 season the club only had a handful of juniors.  Several initiatives were introduced to address this problem, the first of which was re-starting the national clubgolf coaching programme.  

Due to the enthusiasm of a group of newly trained volunteer coaches, this proved highly successful with over 50 children participating over the course of the year.  

This coaching programme will continue throughout the 2013 season.

Competitive membership packages were devised for juniors including free membership for under-12s. This gives full access to the clubs 6-hole course as well as the main course when accompanied by an adult. 

The take-up of these was excellent and it was refreshing to see so many young golfers on the course throughout the year. The remaining packages are age dependent and excellent value for money.

Older junior golfers would be made very welcome and the intention is to have a full programme of junior competitions during the season.  Coaching will also be available for older, more experienced juniors through Ian Bratton, the club's PGA professional.  The junior room in the clubhouse will be refurbished in time for the start of the new season and will include a pool table and games console.

Newburgh-on-Ythan is a picturesque, challenging links course with excellent facilities including a six-hole par 3 course, a large practice putting green as well as the championship course itself. 

Any new junior members would be made very welcome and anyone interested should contact the club on 01358 789058.

 

Brian Cumming

Junior Convenor

Newburgh on Ythan Golf Club

REPORT FROM NEWBURGH-ON-YTHAN GOLF CLUB

In the wild, white winter wonderland that has been the North-east of Scotland in the past two weeks, Newburgh has been a green oasis of golf on each of the past two Sundays.
The Winter Sunday League has progressed through weeks 9 and 10 to give good hopes of the completion of the 16-week competition by early March.

On Sunday 13 January, Wullie Dyker produced a fine 41 points for his second win in the League.
Just behind was Stewart Clark with his fourth top four place on 40 points. Sheena Cruickshank kept the ladies in the picture in her third consecutive top four finish.

Leading scores Sunday Stableford Winter League
Sunday, January 13 
Wullie Dyker (3) 41pts; Stewart Clark (23) 40; Peter McAllister (12) 39; Peter Hayward (12) 39; Bill Wisely (22) 38; Stuart Mitchell (11) 38; Malcolm McDonald (19) 38; Sheena Cruickshank (23) 38.


On Sunday, January 21 there was a lower turn-out of 32 hardy souls for Week 10 of the Winter League.

Ronnie Toal secured his first victory with and excellent 37 points in a biting SE wind with snow flurries.
Stuart Mitchell''s 35 points gave a him a second place and three League points to open up a three-point lead at the top of the League. Dougie Morrison shared third place on 33 points with Don Hawthorn,
who enjoyed his third top-four finish.
 
Leading Scores Sunday Stableford Winter League
Sunday, January 13. 
Ronnie Toal (17) 37 pts; Stuart Mitchell (11) 35; Dougie Morrison
 (11) 33; Don Hawthorn (23) 33; Philip Milne (20) 32; Jeff Turner (22) 32.

Winter League table after 10 Weeks
(4pt for a win, 3 for second, etc).
Stuart Mitchell 13 pts; Stewart Clark 10; Shelley Johnstone 9;
Sheena Cruickshank 8; Wullie Dyker 8; Philip Milne 7; Ronnie Toal 7.


Robert McClymont
Seniors Convener
Newburgh on Ythan Golf Club

NORTH-EAST ALLIANCE STILL ON AT MURCAR LINKS TOMORROW

Wednesday's North-east Alliance is still ON at Murcar Links.
Although there seems to have been overnight snow in the rest of Aberdeenshire, Murcar Links escaped, says club secretary Carol O'Neil.
Will keep you posted if there is any change but, at the moment, it's GO for the North-east Alliance tomorrow.

TEAM GB'S GOLD MEDAL-WINNING QUARTET IN AUSTRALIA

Picture just received from Tegwen Matthews of the gold medal-winning TeamGB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival at Sydney.
Left to right: Ewan Scott (St Andrews), Georgia Hall (Remedy Oak), Chloe Williams (Wrexham) and Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie).