Author: aileen

 

What a bumper turn out to hit balls, have a cuppa and a natter at the Braids Golf Centre today!
Bays were allocated and members were excited to jump in and hit a few balls. Catherine and Sally were heard challenging each other to hit those targets out on the range.
The cafe was buzzing - tables had been reserved and those eagerly anticipated scones were munched. How good to get together again after all these weeks.
Fiona F welcomed everybody and announced that there was a voucher from Ian Young for a half hour lesson with him. A lucky ticket was pulled out of the bag…………..it was none other than our Club Champion, Louise!
Louise magnanimously asked that the draw should be done again and this time the lucky winner was Fiona Hunter! Well done Fiona and thanks to everyone who came along today.

Looking forward to members signing up for the 9 Hole Fun Competition at Wee Braids on Friday 15th March and/or the 18 hole ‘Bramble’ Fun competition on Friday 22nd March. Sounds like it will be a lovely way to start the season. Hope to see you out on the golf course!

A great gathering at the Range Cafe        Lucky winner - Fiona Hunter

If you measure how good a night is by the volume of the chat, then it was a great night in Merchants clubhouse for Comiston’s AGM, Dinner and Prizegiving.

Sarah L is retiring as Captain but staying on the Committee for another year. Thank you Sarah!  Fi, Comiston’s new Captain, looked delighted as she received her shining badge of honour from Sarah. Tricia is our new Vice Captain and we are all delighted she has taken up the post. Susan R is now coming off the committee after 6 years! She definitely deserves to put her feet up, although knowing her, she’ll be out playing even more golf than she does! Maggie is the longest serving member of the committee and loves us all so much that she is staying on for at least another year. Sarah B has now officially taken on the Honorary Golf and Handicap position, although she has already been putting in the hours for several months.Mandy will now join myself and Lesley making up the Comiston Committee for 2024.

Julie and Craig Terry along with their excellent staff looked after us so well and served up a delicious meal.

After some jollity Captain Fi assisted by Bev endeavoured to hand out silverware, vouchers and balls to the correct recipients. We nearly got it right!

When fun golf is mentioned followed by food and drink, Comiston members are always keen! Chris Donkin from Braids United had rallied a group of 10 of their members to play a Greensomes match on the Braids in very breezy conditions against 10 gung ho Comiston members.

Sarah L and Zandra were out first playing Chris and his wife, Anne. Our team managed to secure a win at the 17th, Sally and Karina enjoyed their match v Mark and Mandy Munro gaining a half point for team Comiston.

Braids United got one back against Tricia and Sarah B. They were playing Andy White and Annette Hardie. Bev and Lesley thought they were playing a man and woman called Steff and Chris only to discover on the first tee that Steff was actually a man! It was very tight all the way round. They finished on the 18th with an honourable half.

So it all came down to the final match with the score standing at 2 points each! Come on Gail and Fiona!🙌 Time was marching on and most had finished the delicious salmon frittata and salad made by Chris and Anne Donkin’s daughter before  the Captain of Braids United, Dougie, entered the room(rather sheepishly) He announced that Comiston were 1 up at the last and so Comiston had won 3-2.

Sarah L thanked the Braids United players for organising the afternoon for us all and said that she hoped that it would become an annual event. It was lots of fun and an occasion to be recommended.Certainly, there was talk of investing in some sort of trophy for next year so watch this space!

(Below) Lovely silhouette photo of Steff on 18th(courtesy of Lesley)

There was a rainbow over the Braids for our Invitational today. Although it was blowing a hooley out there we all got round, some faster than others due to having to search for balls that turned up in the strangest places! Margaret, Carol’s guest, managed to land down a rabbit hole and another was reportedly in the gorse 2 feet above the ground.

By all accounts everyone had a good time. Maxi won closest to the pin at 17, Anne won closest to the pin in 2 at the 3rd and Sarah L won closest to the pin at the 10th.

Catherine and Tracy won the Scratch Prize,  the Runners Up were Maxi and her partner Pam and the Winners of the competition were Diane and Louise. Well done all of you! Today’s competition was sponsored by Miss Designer Golf.

There was a wonderful array of home baking from Sarah L, Carol, Sarah B, Tricia and Janet. Many thanks to those talented bakers. We had a collection for Macmillan Cancer Support and raised a fantastic £165.

Thanks to everyone for taking part and Vice Captain Fi for doing all the hard work with scoring for the competition and to the Committee for pulling everything together. Here’s to next year!

JRT took this lovely photo at the 9th this week  - not sure we’ve seen these growing on the Braid Hills before? They are just our colour too!

The last Comiston scoring competition on the calendar is the September Stableford and this year, was on the eve of the Autumnal Equinox. Woolly hats were being pulled out of golf bags and some were even putting on their winter gloves!

There was a very nice group of chaps who pitched up outside the Starter’s Building. The main man with a wonderful Glaswegian accent was telling us that he had brought some Swedes to play the Braids today for the very first time. He  was eager for any tips on the best way to play the Braids! He was asking US for tips? Oh no!

Tricia had a couple of putts that just fell short today like this one, early on in the round! Neither Maggie or Tricia could believe that this didn’t drop. She gave it the full ten seconds that’s for sure!

Maggie lamented that she wasn’t firing on all cylinders today and was calling herself by her Sunday name and so there were a few  ‘aw Margarets!’  We heard JRT’s shout out at the 17th and we hoped it was for a hole in one but sadly not! There were groans and a fair number of sighs at lost balls from players. Tricia tried to distract herself from the golf by picking brambles.  A few of us admitted to playing a game of two halves.

However, Maxi and Eileen had twos today, Eileen at the 9th and Maxi at the 17th - well done! You’ve both had a great season at Comiston!

Topping the leaderboard was Karina with 36 points and the Runner Up was Vice Captain Fi with 34 points. Congratulations to you both!

The Thai curry cooked by Graham and served up by Chris in the Braids United clubhouse was delicious and 12 of us got together afterwards for a good old chinwag and topped it off with a large wedge of carrot cake.
The good news is that they have offered to do it all again next year so reckon they thought we were alright!

And finally, a few of our members are away to sunny Spain for the Solheim Cup and below you can see Violet minus her gold bottle(she even messaged to apologise. that she’d unfortunately left it back home!) but looking very much the part in her European colours!

Louise and Sarah L, our Championship finalists, wisely delayed their tee off time until noon today and were rewarded with the best of the day for their match.

On the first tee, despite being photobombed by JRT and Sarah B, they composed themselves and hit two excellent tee shots down the fairway. We were missing our roving reporter, Jaci, so Janet took on the excellent job of keeping everyone up to speed on WhatsApp.

It was a great match to watch with a ‘Birdie Fest’ from the players. Louise birdied the third, Sarah birdied the 4th, they both birdied the 6th and Louise birdied the 11th.

The players were luckily ‘ in the zone’ oblivious to the abysmal attempt at a Mexican wave that was going on out on the course from some of the spectators!

It was nice to see Morag and Caspin out spectating during their lunch break with a very well behaved Chester the dog!

The match finished on the 17th with Louise winning 2&1. Congratulations to Louise and to Sarah for making it such an exciting final! ...continue reading "Championship Final 2023"

Comiston members do get about and over the last few days there are successes that we need to celebrate.

Carol played in the Islay Ladies Open at the Machrie and posted a winning score of gross 80.
Violet and Fiona H won 3rd handicap in Swanston’s Open Greensomes.
Mandy played at the Speyside Golf Festival and was a Daily Winner at Elgin with 38 points. Fiona F was also at Speyside and she came second at Boat of Garten with 35 points. Very well done to all of you!

The conditions, this morning, started off damp but no umbrellas were required until the halfway stage and it wasn’t cold which was a bonus. Not sure what happened out there on the course though as we had 5 NR’s. Violet reported a mare of a hole at the 6th where her ball didn’t seem to want to be on the fairway at all, no matter how many drops she took, it flew back into the bushes!

At the 16th green, Violet signalled to a running deer to stop whilst Sarah L, oblivious to her playing partner’s deer whispering talent, took her putt and sank it whilst the deer stood still and watched before moving on and disappearing into the gorse!

There were two twos today! Maxi had a two at the second and Karina had a two at the 13th. Well done both!

Congratulations to the winner of today’s final medal and also the 2023 Medal Winner. It was Diane with net 74 and Runner up was Sarah B with net 75.

Earlier this week was the Comiston Singles Knockout with both Diane and Sarah B in the final. By all accounts it was an exciting match with Diane winning on the 20th hole.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our September Medal played on the first day of September this year, is according to the meteorological calendar, the first day of Autumn. The playing conditions were lovely with no waterproofs required.

What is refreshing about playing in Comiston competitions is that you always get good chat and sometimes even learn new things! On Wednesday night for example, there was a blue moon with the next one not until 2037, hence the expression, ‘once in a blue moon!’

Four players went out early this morning, which obviously suited Violet who has being recovering from a leg operation. She was so delighted to get a net 74, her best round in a while. Good on you Violet!

Tricia was searching for some Vavavoom today but lamented the fact that her group, in the first few holes, had a series of frustrations with balls firing into the gorse and a couple of their bags falling off their trolleys. However the two Sarahs must have come good later as their scores weren’t at all shabby!

In another group someone’s trolley developed the most noticeable annoying wheel squeak which can’t have  helped the concentration of her playing partners! Some WD40 required before the next competition methinks.

Catherine hit the green at 15 except she was playing off the 16th tee at the time! Oops! She had just finished telling us that she plays the odds in the Gibson Cup so that might explain that!

Back at the Starter’s Building for a cuppa and a biscuit and the place was buzzing! Gail was there having played 18 and looking like she enjoyed being back.
A quick peek online at the scores and there was Susan R’s name at the top with a net 72 with Runner up, Janet, one back and a net 73. Good scoring!

Summer was back for the August medal! Blue sky, wispy clouds and warm sunshine. However there was a strong wind that seemed to inflict a few problems for some who played!
Some but not all - there were 8 birdies today!(as far as I’m aware - apologies if I have missed anyone!)
Maxi at the 1st and the 15th, Mandy at the 10th and the 15th, Eileen and Janet birdied the 11th and both Tricia and Violet birdied the 18th. Well done all of you!

Others, I’m sorry to say, came a cropper! There were 5 NRs or DNF(Did Not Finish)For one or two, it was one hole that caused them to throw in the towel! One of the positives today was Lesley’s home baking! You should have seen Jaci’s face at the 8th tee when the Tupperware box opened.It cheered her up no end!

In first and second place today we have tomorrow’s Lochend Championship finalists, Maxi with a marvellous net 73 and Eileen with a cracking net 75. Good luck to both of you!

It has been an exciting week for Comiston with the 5 aside team ending up top of their division and moving up next season. Thanks to Gail for organising the team and supporting them! Thanks also to Carol, Lesley and Sally (twice) for feeding the teams after the home matches. All the teams enjoy the catering at Comiston!

Sarah L qualified for the knockout stages of the Strathtyrum Tournament in St Andrews this week. She had a great match against a golfer who played off 1.8 and took her to the 18th. Great effort Sarah!

Susan R and Diane were playing at Royal Tarlair, near Banff. Susan got through to the low handicap match play final and held on until the 17th.

Looking forward to the Stableford for 9 and 18 holes on Friday 25th August at the Braids with catering of soup and scones served up at Braids United clubhouse. Sign up if you are free! Great chat assured!