Month: September 2020

A good turnout of 24 players for the annual triam at the Braids today.  It was a pretty good day for golf with no wind and no rain though it did get a wee bit chilly latterly.

Viv C got us all off to a good start with chocolates on the first tee.  Some people, no names (Susan Randall) ate theirs before striking a single ball!  The first 3 groups whizzed round while the remaining groups had a picnic on the course or something and wandered in eventually.

The team comprising Viv C, Sandra and Jaci M ran away with it scoring 79 points.  The contest for 2nd place was closer with the team of Ruth, Diane and Sue F and the team of Bev, Violet and Ali both coming in with 71 points.  Ruth's team won on a better back 9, demonstrating that she has not forgotten how to play the Braids.

It was good to see Gail and Ruth out, both on their only game at the Braids this year.  Apparently the guests also enjoyed it so hope to see them back again, perhaps as members.

Thanks to Viv for organising the prizes (must have been good as she made sure she won one).

There was a respectable turnout of 20 people for the last qualifying competition of the season.  The nice, tidy draw produced by Maggie all went pear-shaped when the people supposed to go out in pairs at the front of the field discovered that men had signed up to play alongside them.  It worked out more or less in that the pairs joined up to make a four - not what we are supposed to do for our competitions but needs must.  It actually worked out fine and the field got round in normal time.

The weather had a definite autumnal nip to it and everyone was ferreting in their bags for their winter gear but it was still enjoyable and the course is looking good - a credit to the new head greenskeeper, David McOwat.

Sandra won the competition with 33 points - congratulations. However, it was another reduction only competition, the fourth of the year.  The CSS was 74.

Several people used the VMS app to score and it was fun to see the leaderboard during the course of the day.  It seemed to be quite simple to use although there are still a few queries we need to sort out.  Well done Sue F for getting the competition set up for us all on VMS - good work.

We were blessed with a beautiful, warm and still day for our final medal of this too short season.  It was a relatively small field of 12 players spread out over the day but we were rewarded for signing up with balmy sunshine and superb views over Edinburgh.  Unfortunately the wonderful weather somehow did not translate to wonderful scores.  Captain Viv Curran lead the field though and becomes the winner of the medal winners' medal for 2020 - congratulations to Viv.  And the rest of us got away with it because it was a reduction only competition.  The CSS was 74.

Twenty-five of us visited West Linton for our autumn outing.  It was a little unusual in that the clubhouse was closed so it was golf and bring your own picnic lunch.  Many of us took the picnic bit seriously and brought sandwiches and flasks of hot drinks.  Coleen even brought her own folding chair which was a top idea as there were definitely more people than chairs on the terrace.

Although the forecast had been for cloud but warm temperatures it was distinctly brisk when we arrived.  However there was no rain and by the time we got to the prize giving the sun was breaking through - it probably heard Maggie's score.

The format was a stableford cha cha cha and we all enjoyed the course which always seems more challenging than it looks.  The winning team comprised Ruth B, Hanne and Bev with a score of 77.  Congratulations to them.  In second place were Janet, Sandra and Sarah B with 72 points.  In the individual competition, Maggie trounced the rest of us with a blistering 40 points, with Hanne in second place with a very respectable 36 points.

We had a low key prize giving outside and it was nice to have the wee bit of socialising that we are allowed at the moment and to meet new and new-ish members Hilary, Lesley and Sarah B.

Thank you to Captain Viv C for her gift of the centenary logo balls and to Anne B and Sandra for organising the centenary pens and ball markers - lovely to have these mementoes especially when we are missing all of the proper centenary celebrations.

It was a more than usually tricky day on the Braids - very windy with strong gusts and vicious ninja showers in between misleading moments of gentle sunshine.  A smallish field of 11 people played.  The best score of nett 75 came from Mandy playing in the evening group.  In second place was Diane with nett 78.  However, everyone else heaved a sigh of relief that it was still R/O.  The CSS was 74.