Scotland v Norway

Sunday 6th April sees the annual match against our friends from Norway. Ian and Marion have completed the draw, which is shown below.

1st Tee

11.00: Jane Taylor & Lewis Duncan v Roald Fiksen & Ingeborg Leira
11.07: Iain Butchart & Mary Menzies v Harald Lekven & Randi Lekven
11.15: Chris Sturgis & David Norman v Anne G Olsen & Svein Rasmussen
11.22: Annette Grewar & Graham Haynes v Alf Henning Lerum & Rolf Rasmussen
11.30: Heather Dawson & Jim Davidson v Georg Gåssand & Lars Reisæter
11.37: Jackie Moran & Grant Martin v Nils K Lygre & Trygve Dale
11.45: Rhoda Fraser & Eric Gray v Anne M Holsen & Lars I Lepsøy
11.52: John Menzies & Stephen Schofield v Arild Bøthun & Øyvind Heggland
12.00: Sam Balderson & Frank Moran v Mette Helgesen & Geir Dalen
12.07: Graham Hood & Janet Griffiths v Jan M Birkeland & Stuart Ferguson

10th Tee

11.00: Jenny Groom & Peter Tinker v Erik J Olsen & Kari H. Myhre Gåssand
11.07: Rhona McGeogheagan & Olav Skretteberg v Olav Søreide & Siri Kolderup
11.15: Dawn Butchart & Alan Donachie v Olav Aarseth & Jan Sørestrønen
11.22: Sheena Scott & Graham Hunter v Bernt E Helen & Rolf E Olsen
11.30: Lesley Haynes & David Douglas v Sigvor Reisæter & Gunnar Våge
11.37: Chris Tinker & David Dawson v Tord Færøy & Alf Ǻrnes
11.45: Margaret Hunter & Mike Grieve v Vidar Øvreeide & Jørgen Kvamme
11.52: Jack Scott & Mary McDiarmid v Bjørn Juvet & Steinar Stølsnes
12.00: Fergus Martin & Kay Finlay v Bernt Skaalvik & Hans T Røttingen

Any chance we can win it this year, as I see they have a nice little piece in the Blarie about how they won last year.

Drive-In Saturday

What a fantastic field we had for the Captains Drive-In on Saturday. Congratulations to all those who turned out on what looked like being another wet weekend in Strathmore, but which turned out quite pleasant until we all got back to the clubhouse! What an escape that was! As usual the event was preceded by the obligatory photocall and Flag placing. This raised a total of £151 for both Captains Charities, Caring for Kids and C.H.A.S. Congratulations to Ryan Craig and Lee Bushby, who both guessed the correct location of the Gent's and Ladies Captains Drives respectively.

It was an extremely close call, however when the final results were tallied the Vice-Captains had taken the prize of "Pats Putter" by 6 points. Thanks to all who took part, and special mentions for Ian and Marion for organising this event and to the Centre for the hospitality provided after the event.

Judge My Drive

Today's Golfer magazine offers its readers the opportunity to have their swings analysed by the general public. By a unique coincidence, the bloggers have obtained footage of our erstwhile Gents Captain attempting to thrash the living daylights out of the ball at the Captains Drive-In. What do you think?

A Round With Parker - Apologies to the BBC!

For many years golf lovers enjoyed a very entertaining golf series on TV known simply as " A ROUND WITH ALLISS". As with any Peter Alliss television presentation the series was funny,entertaining, informative and quirky. I'm not sure if all the members at Strathmore are aware that we have something on our own doorstep which is equal to all that made Alliss's TV show such lively entertainment. It's known as " A ROUND WITH PARKER"

I had the honour of playing with the jocular, quick-witted Parker a few weeks ago and the memory of the 18 holes will never be forgotten. Anyone who has played with him in the past will know that a game with Parker will be accompanied by his ready wit, banter and waggish sense of humour. This particular round was not noted for these. No, he had not been gagged or forbidden to speak. He wasn't poorly. Nor was he in the huff . He was well and as usual the eyes sparkled with mischief. What made this round memorable was that he for a reason known only to him he'd decided to whistle all around the course.

Four of us teed of on this particularly nice Saturday morning. The sun was shining, the wind was strangely subdued for Strathmore, we were all excited and full of expectations of the miracles that golfers of our calibre need. And, Parker was whistling.

Much to our surprise we all hit decent first tee shots. And, that's where the whistling started. I suddenly became aware that Parker was feeling happy with himself and the rest of the world as he whistled " Step We Gaily Off We Go" . Without a pause for breathe, the tune then changed to "Straight Down The Middle" It's not a tune that's too often heard on the first but on this occasion very appropriate.

Sadly for me my round came to grief very quickly. That was when I realised that Parker seemed to have a tune for all occasions. My approach shot to the green on the first landed in the bunker. It took four attempts to remove the ball from that hellish trap. By this time Parker was whistling " Love Letters In The Sand" Love letters were the furthest thing from my mind as I then three putted the green to score a very inglorious 10. At this stage I wasn't sure if Parker was mocking me but I swear to the Almighty he was by then whistling " It Doesn't Matter Anymore" It sure didn't for me in my attempt to win the money that day!

Archie Blair was another member of our foursome. He and Parker have a keen rivalry. They take great pleasure in winding each other up all the way round the course. For reason beyond me, when Archie teed off Parker would whistle " Do You Believe In Miracles" And some times these miracles would happen as Archie would now and again outdrive our whistling friend. Parkers contempt for these rare occurrences would result in him changing his tune to " Singing The Blues". That was the only way we could tell that Parker was hurting from being out -driven by Archie. By this time I had lost concentration on my golf. I was simply trying to guess what tune Parker would attempt to whistle next. I should add, at this stage, it was not the most tuneful whistling I had ever heard. But it was whistling. It was loud enough to heard on other fairways. I saw more than one golfer look across to our foursome as these strangely strangulated whistled tunes floated across the course and started to affect other golfers concentration.

I had the miss-fortune to pull my tee shot left on the tenth. . It was probably my longest drive ever, last seen running down past the Greenkeeper's shed and down towards the Alyth to Blairgowrie road. Sadly, it was also well and truly out of bounds. Parker smiled sympathetically and then burst into an off key rendition of "King Of The Road" His rhythm at this stage was as bad as my swing, but the tune was certainly recognisable enough.

Parker's golf was inspired by his whistling. He had a brilliant birdie on the 12th. The tune that accompanied that rare feat was perhaps predictable. Tina Turner mind you has nothing to worry about. Parker's version of "Simply The Best"has never sounded worse. It was quite simply the most horrific ever rendition of that number. Coming up the 18th our stamina was starting to wane but that seemed not to affect our happy whistler who by this time was giving us his best shot at "Keep Right On To the End Of The Road" And so it went on. We got back to the Clubhouse and as the scores were being tallied up it became apparent that Parker had won . We all chipped in our pound to the sound of Parker whistling "Money Money Money"

This wee story about " A Round With Parker" has a purpose. It's not a complaint about whistling on the course. It's not a complaint against Parker. It's actually a plea to the committee. I see they do a real good job coaching the youngsters. Apparently these young starlets are coached on the finer aspects of the game, from putting to driving to chipping and sand play. I realise that us oldies are beyond help with these matters.

However, the question to the committee is, would it be possible to hire a music coach who could help Parker with his whistling? That way we would not spend the entire round trying to guess what tune he was attempting to entertain us with. If this were done it would make playing "A Round With Parker" even more harmonious.

Leitfie Links Championship

After much deliberation and discussion, The Leitfie Links Championship has been reduced to a one round event.

Congratulations to Ian Butchart for a best Gross score of 67, and to Mark Truswell for a best Nett score of 50.

Drive-In Part 2 - Additional Info

The Captains Drive-In format details are below. Please note the new ruling and recommendation amendment!

Format – Better ball Stableford
Gents – Play off the white tees – ¾ handicap
Ladies – Play off the red tees - the ladies’ handicaps should have the SSS adjustment (1stroke) added before the recommended fraction (¾) applied .

The new rules and recommendations will apply for all mixed competitions. They are as follows:
"If these are Stableford or Bogey Competitions players should score against a common Par and Stroke Index (either the Men's or Ladies', although the Ladies' is recommended)."

Therefore the ladies par and index will be in play for ALL PLAYERS on Saturday.

Captains' Drive In

A fantastic turnout for the Captains' Drive In on Sat 29th March, which will Tee-off at 1030. As is traditional, take your opportunity to decide how good, or bad, the Captains' drives are going to be by arriving early and getting your flags out on the course. A shotgun start as always, the field is below, you will however notice that on some holes there are two groups starting due to the size of the field. Captains players in Red, Vice-Captains in Blue, these are also your colours for the day!

Tee

1 L Duncan & J Taylor A Christie & R McGeoghan
1 S McGibbon and J Griffiths A Ramsay & E Ralston

2 R Tinker & E Aird A Blair & M Young
3 S Balderson & C McNab L Bushby & M Aird
4 J Scott & K Finlay T Ogg & S Peacock

5 Mathew Bell & M Truswell J Davidson & A Jones
5 R Millar & G Ironside M Scott & G Allan

6 D Norman & P Crockart G Dolby & G Haynes
7 Mike Bell & S Schofield D Robinson & D Gordon
8 F Martin & P Barnett M Hill & I Taylor

9 C Davidson & M Grieve R Peacock & A Valentine
9 C McKenna & M Menzies J Menzies & E Gray

10 FJ Moran & H Dawson D Gillespie & J Groom
11 P Arkell & J Merry R Milligan & M Hunter

12 E Ritchie & B Buckett D Findlay & R Fraser
12 P Simpson & M McDiarmid B Jackson & S Fenner

13 I Gall & S Scott A Aird & D Butchart

14 M Tinker & S Bushby F Moran & C Sturgis
14 D Dawson & C Tinker G Martin & D Tinker

15 P Tinker & J Douglas B McGowan & G Gray
16 I Butchart & A Grewar M Melville & J Moran
17 G Millar & L Haynes DJ Alexander & DM Alexander

18 J Wood & G Hunter K MacLeod & R Michie
18 A Low & F Barber B Todd & B Morrison

Good Luck All!
N.B. Additions/replacements will be posted as and when necessary.

Spring has Sprung - Global Warming hits Strathmore

Unfortunately due to a snap snowfall, the 2nd Round of the Leitfie Links Championship had to be cancelled. An announcement on the re-arranged date will be made in due course.

Leitfie Links Championship Round 2 Tee-Times

Round Two of the Leitfie Championship will take place on Sat 22nd Mar. The draw is as follows:

1000 M Scott, I Butchart, G Haynes
1007 E Ritchie, F Moran, J Wood
1015 M Truswell, M Bell
1022 D Gordon, F Martin, P Barnett
1030 L Duncan, B Dawson, D Findlay
1037 FJ Moran, J Scott, B Jackson
1045 S Robertson, G Martin, J Davidson
1052 S Schofield, C Davidson, B McGowan

Good Luck All!

Daily Mail Championships

The 16th of March was not a day to remember for the boys from Strathmore as they travelled to Grange Golf Club, Monifieth to play in the Daily Mail Golf Championships. Full of high hopes when they set out, the team, consisting of Jack Scott, Brian Jackson, Brian McGowan, Sammy Bolderson and Derek Gordon, succumbed to a 5-0 defeat. "Next year," the Club Captain was heard to mutter, "there's always next year."

Hole in One

The shy and retiring Brian Jackson has finally done it, a hole in one at the 13th. The story goes that Brian, using a six iron, watched his ball sail towards the green, and as usual on the 13th, once the ball drops over the rise, it's final resting place cannot be determined. On arrival at the green, Brian's ball was nowhere to be found, and as a last resort, one of his playing partners thought, "I'll have a look in the cup!" Lo and behold, there it was.

Well done Brian

And The Winner Is...........

After a long and hard Winter, the final Top Ten Players and their Scores in the Winter League can be revealed. Congratulations to all those who participated in what turned out to be, again, a very close finish. Well done to Ray Michie and Norman Fenwick, amassing Top Ten scores of 369, with Dave Alexander (Senior) a close 3rd. The full Top Ten listing is below:

PLAYER.................. TOTAL

Fenwick, Norman.....369
Michie, Ray...............369
Alexander, Dave...... 367
Ramsay, Andy..........362
Moran, Frank...........360
Crockart Parker.......359
Brand, J....................358
Kerr, Dave.................357
Jerry Wood...............357
Simpson, Peter.........356

Those in Red managed to sneak into the top ten in the final week, well done Parker and Jerry.

A final Congratulations goes to Brian Jackson, winner of this years Winter Singles, beating G McCluskey in the final. Well done to both players on reaching the final.

Winter League Final Week

Firstly, apologies for the delay in releasing the Final weeks results for the Winter League, however here they are:

1st Place.....T Bennet..... 43 Pts

2nd Place....J Wood........38 Pts (Better Back Nine)

3rd Place ...P Crockart...38 Pts


2's.....DJ Alexander and D Kerr


Final Handicap Reductions

T Bennet......Old..26.5...New.. 23.0...Playing..23
P Crockart...Old..17.6....New..16.6....Playing..17
R Ross..........Old..14.0...New..13.5.....Playing..14
J Wood........Old..12.9...New..11.9.....Playing..12

WINTER LEAGUE TOP TEN

WITH ONLY THIS WEEK TO GO THIS IS HOW
THE WINTER LEAGUE STANDS

PLAYER.................. TOTAL

Fenwick, Norman......369
Michie, Ray................369
Alexander, Dave...... .367
Ramsay, Andy...........362
Moran, Frank............360
Brand, J.....................358
Simpson, Peter..........356
Kerr, Dave................. 355
Barnett, Pete.............354
Gibb, James...............354

WINTER LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 16

Winter League Week 17
24th Feb – 1st Mar

1st Place A Blair 39 pts (Better Back Nine)

2nd Place N Fenwick 39 pts

3rd Place DM Alexander 37 pts


2’s

A Gibb, N Fenwick, DM Alexander, R Michie, R Ross (2)

Handicap Reductions

N Fenwick....Old 6.6....New 5.1....Playing 5
A Blair....Old 15.3....New 13.8....Playing 14
DM Alexander....Old 7.5....New 7....Playing 7