To start the Spring Newsletter, I would like to introduce everyone to the new Duff House Royal Golf Club website. After several months of behind the scenes work with our web developer, it is pleasing to finally showcase the new site, which represents a big step forward from the previous one, with so many changes in technology since then offering lots of new features.
One of the key benefits of the new site is the ‘News’ page, which will allow for instant news to be displayed on the site. This page is also easily printable, and will be printed and displayed on the noticeboards (for those without PC’s). This is a big cost saving on the ink and paper required to print the many newsletters.
Another key feature I’m sure members will be excited about is the online Event Diary, which allows members to keep tabs from home on important club dates, such as Sweeps, Medals, In-house competitions and Opens. This is completely synchronised with the club calendar, any cancellations of Medals etc will be updated in the Diary.
I am also pleased to say that we have many other modern introductions, such as a live weather feed from the BBC, a course profile containing photographs from every hole and a Hall of Fame section, which in the coming weeks will detail all our past champions from yesteryear – a timely introduction with it being the Club Centenary Year.
I have every expectation that members will enjoy the new website and I am happy to hear from any of you for further introductions!
On another matter, I am delighted to see the new course signage in place and must extend a big thank you to all our 18 sponsors for funding this project with their respective 2 year sponsorship deals.
The signage enhances the beautiful parkland settings the golf course is located in, next to the River Deveron, with products selected by Eagle UK, to blend in with the woodland and features of the course. The relationship the club has with local businesses augurs well for the future and I look forward to a continued working relationship with all of the sponsors. The sponsor plates are in production and will be in place by the end of June 2010, along with the new entrance sign.
Kind Regards,
James Cameron
CAPTAIN’S LOG…..
I recently had the pleasure of hoisting the new centenary flag to commence with the 100 year celebrations of the club. This was an apt way to start of the centenary year and I was delighted to see a full house in attendance, to enjoy the raconteur Duncan Cameron addressing the Haggis, ably assisted by Hughie Urquhart. A marvelous evening and the fireworks display ensured the centenary year went off with a bang!
COURSE DAMAGE UPDATE: Members are advised that the ongoing matter regarding the damage to the 7th fairway is still with the clubs’ insurers and we expect this to be resolved by the end of May. At present I cannot give an indication of how the matter will turn out, however we had a successful outcome to the bunker damage caused by the flooding and hopefully the 7th fairway will be remedied as well. I’m sure members will agree that Team Niblick did a great job of the bunker repairs and worked speedily to get the bunkers back in action. It is worth pointing out that on the subject of course damage, a lot of our members volunteered to help with the clear up and the club wishes to express a big thank you for this assistance.
JUNIORS SEASON 2010: I would like to take this opportunity to wish our junior section all the best for the coming season. I know the junior section is getting stronger, as I am informed by the Club Pro, Gary Holland that junior coaching is busier than ever, we have had juniors with good placings in our recent Gents Open and I have also been informed that Lewis Mutch and Kerr Baptie were not only selected, but performed exceptionally well in their first Abercromby Cup Match vs Huntly. Being selected for the Abercromby Cup is a huge honour for any player but to do so in our Centenary year is a fine achievement. Colin Milne does a great job as junior convener and I look forward with optimism to the coming season for the juniors. A warm welcome also, to any new juniors joining this year.
AA. Milne
Club Captain
HANDICAPS AND COMPETITIONS…..
Standard Scratch Score
Following changes to the course i.e. additional bunkers, smaller greens etc. a course remeasurement has been carried out and subsequent rerating by SGU/SLGA as follows:
Gents white – 69
Gents yellow – 68
Ladies red – 72
Scorecards have been updated and course signage renewed. Sky Hawk Technologies have been advised and will carry out remapping of the course in the near future in order to update their software for Duff House Royal. Members will be advised once completed in order to update their Sky Caddie GPS Devices.
Local Rules etc.
7th Hole – OOB is now defined by fence posts and not a ditch
Reseeded divots - the previous rule revoked, a ball as a reseeded divot must be played as lies
Preferred lies – period remains in force until 30th April at discretion of the Head Greenkeeper
Competitions
DHR Gents Mail on Sunday Classic Competition – DHR bt Garmouth & Kingston on Rd 3 (3/2)
DHR Gents Daily Mail Foursomes – DHR drawn away to Royal Tarlair in the next round. Abercromby Cup – DHR draw to play Huntly in the next round.
Robertson Challenge – DHR draw to play Garmouth & Kingston
Evening Express Champion of Champions – DHR represented by D Morrison (scratch) and C Millar (Handicap)
Tombstone Trophy Winner – K Findlay
Triples Cup Winners – D Morrison, C Stewart and G McDonald
Captain v Vice Captains Match resulted in win for Captains side 7 1/2 to 2 1/2
Changes to published diary
Please be advised of the following changes to the published 2010 diary:
North East Alliance scheduled on 24th February will now take place on Wednesday 10th March
Thursday 29th April add Junior Sam Dornan Round 1
Friday 23rd July North East Senior Championship (untill 1400hrs)
Tuesday 26th August add North East Police Championship
Saturday 4th September add DHR v Kirkhill (Centenary Match)
Glenn Jex
Handicaps and Competitions Convener
JUNIOR SECTION…..
Diaries
Junior members can now collect their diaries from the office or for the bar staff. The diaries contain all the dates for junior competitions (medals, sweeps etc) and the format for each of the knockout competitions. Pages 18 and 19 in the diary also contains information about when juniors can and cannot play so please make sure that you are familiar with these important rules.
Junior Competitions
Entry sheets for this year’s knockout competitions have been posted on the junior notice board. I am pleased to report that there was a good entry to last year’s knockout competitions and I hope that this year will see an equally good response. Can I please ask all juniors that enter the knock out competitions to please arrange and play their matches before the dead line dates as this year all matches that fail to be played will result in both parties being scratched from the competition. There is a folder in the clubhouse that contains information on all open competitions at other golf clubs in our area.
Junior Medals
This year monthly medals will be in the form of a draw as was last year. Entry sheets along with information on tee times will be posted on the junior notice board a couple of weeks before the medal. Tee times will be blocked off on the booking sheet and juniors given a specific tee time. The first medal will be on Saturday 3rd April. There will also be an additional centenary medal to be held on the Sunday 27th June as part of our centenary celebrations.
Junior Sweeps
The first junior sweep will be on Thursday 1st April and will be split in to two handicap sections 0 – 18 and 19 – 36 the same as last year.
6 Hole Handicaps
We now have 19 juniors that have taken the opportunity to hand in 3 cards and get a 6-hole handicap. This is an ideal opportunity for any keen youngster to get started without having to complete the full 18 holes.
Fun Texas Scrambles
These 6 hole scrambles (each team is supervised by an adult helper) take place in the school holidays for juniors of any ability and are great fun. Keep an eye on the notice board for entry sheets for these scrambles.
Junior Team Matches
As usual there will be the Felicity Trophy (teams of 8 playing scratch match play)and Pennant League matches (teams of 6 with full handicap difference allowed). Last year we made it to the final of the Pennant league, but unfortunately lost to Rothes 4.5 to 1.5. On a brighter note for the 3rd year in a row the juniors successfully defeated the seniors in their annual match. This year’s match finished 6 to 4.
Coaching
Junior coaching will start after the school Easter holidays and juniors will be split into ability groups supervised by Gary Holland and Nathan Keast. Details of days/times etc will be posted on the junior notice board in due course. UPDATE: Junior coaching will be held on a Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm to 8pm and will commence on Tuesday 4th.
Flood Damage
Due to the damage caused to the riverbank at the 7th there is a section of the fairway roped off, this section is classed as out of bounds and that any golf balls landing in this area should not be retrieved.
Thank you.
Colin Milne
Junior Convener
HOUSE AND PROPERTY…..
CLUBHOUSE: There have been sensor lighting put in changing rooms to reduce the use of power in certain areas. Members are advised not to tamper with the settings, they are controlled by a timer and switching them off results in the settings having to be reset, which is a time consuming exercise. The fire extinguishers have been serviced – Feb 2010. The notice boards in the vestibule have been updated and various small repairs carried out. A large notice board has replaced the existing Gents notice board due to an increase in the amount of space required to display handicap information etc.
BAR: The replacement of the two fridges which have become costly to repair and therefore quotes to replace will be sourced. The glass washer also requires to be replaced in the near future as it is 11 years old this should be a consideration if possible some time this year. The carpeted area in front of the bar: there has been an offer to make a repair which I am in favour of at the moment before we go down the route of new flooring. This will be considered over the coming weeks.
KITCHEN: The servicing of the air-condition unit has been carried out. Arrangements have been made for the extraction unit to be cleaned which should help with reports of food aromas reaching the Snug Bar. These arrangements will also meet the fire regulation requirement. The taps at the two main sinks also need replaced and will be fixed shortly.
EXTERNAL: Drips from the roof have been reported and a request to tidy up the moss and sand round the bottom of the building, which could lead to damp. I have asked a roofer to have a look at it to see if we can resolve the on-going problem.
GENERAL: Replacement keys for the visitors lockers have been sourced and the order will be placed in time for the start of the season. A replacement of the door closure at gents main locker room door. is required and I will arrange to fix this.
Many thanks,
Stuart Anderson, House and Property Convener
AROUND THE GREENS…..
The course has faced a difficult winter, with flooding in November and the long frost periods. A lot of work has been done therefore on the recovery of the course:
1. Compaction – there has been a lot of vertidraining carried out throughout the spring to combat the effects of compaction resulting from the weight of the water which was on the course. The process continues but we are starting to see the recovery signs now.
2. Bunkers – the damaged bunkers have been successfully repaired and Graeme Webster and his team did a good job of repairing them and getting them ready in time for the start of the playing season. Graeme advises that it will take a full season for the bunkers to “bed in properly, therefore members are encouraged to show patience when the occasional plugged ball happens!
3. Seventh Fairway – this matter is ongoing. The damage to the riverbank resulted in the fencing off a small strip of 7th fairway and we hope to resolve this matter in the coming weeks.
4. Greens – we are now concentrating on the Greens which suffered badly as a result of the coring being delayed last October, due to the postponed Gents Open, which delayed the coring. Hence, we had to core late when there was no growth, with the result of the cores not healing (due to no growth) which carried the problem into the spring, and has subsequently resulted in slightly to bumpy surfaces. We are investigating the possibility of carrying out this work earlier in the season from now on, and taking agronomist advice. This will be discussed at the next committee meeting. At the time of writing (18th May) at last, with the warmer weather, we have growth again which will be a huge boost to the course!
Kerbing
One of the winter programme jobs that the greens staff have completed is the installation of a concrete kerbing around the practice putting surface. This makes the putting area look tidier and will lead to less maintenance from edging this area etc.
Course
The club plumber is looking into replacing the copper piping for the toilet on the course with alkathene, due to increase in late of burst pipes from cold weather. Greens staff will be able to repair these in future and is a cost effective solution to the existing copper ones.
Regards
PD Dickson.
LADIES CAPTAIN…..
Duff House Royal were drawn to play against Garmouth and Kingston in the first round of the Robertson Challenge Cup. I am delighted to report that the team won 9-7 on aggregate, and I hope that we continue to progress through this year’s competition. Unfortunately Ellon knocked DHR out of the Mail on Sunday competition, but we still have representatives in the Daily Mail Foursomes and also in the Scottish Foursomes. The Scottish Foursomes is a relatively new competition and DHR are being represented in this by Penny Smith and Helen Watt, the winners of last year’s Robertson Salver, with Joyce Alexander being their third team member. Thanks to everyone who has agreed to represent DHR in the various team events this year.
The Spence and Merchiston Open takes place on 5 June. This year we are holding a raffle at this Open, and donations would be gratefully accepted by the ladies committee.
The five day, which will again be kindly sponsored by Downie’s of Whitehills, takes place from 5-9 July. As usual I will be looking for offers of power trolleys for the week from both men and ladies, as well as ladies’ lockers. A small fee is paid by the user to the owner of the trolley/locker. I will put up notices on both the gents and ladies boards shortly, but in the meantime I am happy to accept names of donors from now. I would also appreciate volunteers for help with desk duties for these open events.
I am looking forward to our Centenary week, and in particular to welcoming ladies from local clubs, as well as our local members and their friends, to our ladies invitational on 1 July. I also hope that the lady lucky enough to play in the DHR team in our first ever pro-am enjoys her day. A reminder- the qualifier for this is the lady with the best net score in the first round of our championship on 7 June. The Centenary notice board gives further information on what is happening during the Centenary week.
I hope everyone has an enjoyable and successful season, especially in our Centenary year.
Laura McLardy
Ladies Captain
OPEN TOURNAMENTS
April/May has been a very busy time with four Opens – a Mixed Greensomes. Texas Scramble, Gents Open and the Brangan Cup all being held. All of these have been a success with the Brangan attracting a field of 76 single-handicap players who enjoyed the warmest day of the year so far. Some excellent scores were returned but unfortunately, no prize-list winners from DHR. The winner was Neil Mitchell of Bon Accord with two excellent rounds of 66 , winning the cup by four shots over B Innes of Murcar. I feel a special mention is due to two of our own youngsters, Lewis Mutch and Luke Sutherland who, although not in the prize lists, conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and are a credit to our Club – keep trying, your turn will surely come!
The next Open is the Seniors on 3 June followed by a Gents Open in July.
This has been a steep learning curve but I could not do this without the help of volunteers at each event, however when an event is a success it all becomes worthwhile.
Neil Douglas
Tournaments Convener
CENTENARY LATEST…
The next event in the Centenary Celebrations is the COAST Festival Exhibition of Golf at Duff House Royal Golf Club, on Saturday 29th May and Sunday 30th May from 9am to 9pm. The exhibition has been arranged by Sandy Chalmers, ably assisted by Bob Strachan and I am sure the display will be fascinating, with an array of clubs, trophies and photos to take us all down memory lane.
Members are encouraged to refer to the event schedule, which is available from the Bar, for more information on any of the centenary related events or keep tabs on the centenary notice board.
Start of Season 2010 Newsletter
OFFICE MATTERS…..
To start the Spring Newsletter, I would like to introduce everyone to the new Duff House Royal Golf Club website. After several months of behind the scenes work with our web developer, it is pleasing to finally showcase the new site, which represents a big step forward from the previous one, with so many changes in technology since then offering lots of new features.
One of the key benefits of the new site is the ‘News’ page, which will allow for instant news to be displayed on the site. This page is also easily printable, and will be printed and displayed on the noticeboards (for those without PC’s). This is a big cost saving on the ink and paper required to print the many newsletters.
Another key feature I’m sure members will be excited about is the online Event Diary, which allows members to keep tabs from home on important club dates, such as Sweeps, Medals, In-house competitions and Opens. This is completely synchronised with the club calendar, any cancellations of Medals etc will be updated in the Diary.
I am also pleased to say that we have many other modern introductions, such as a live weather feed from the BBC, a course profile containing photographs from every hole and a Hall of Fame section, which in the coming weeks will detail all our past champions from yesteryear – a timely introduction with it being the Club Centenary Year.
I have every expectation that members will enjoy the new website and I am happy to hear from any of you for further introductions!
On another matter, I am delighted to see the new course signage in place and must extend a big thank you to all our 18 sponsors for funding this project with their respective 2 year sponsorship deals.
The signage enhances the beautiful parkland settings the golf course is located in, next to the River Deveron, with products selected by Eagle UK, to blend in with the woodland and features of the course. The relationship the club has with local businesses augurs well for the future and I look forward to a continued working relationship with all of the sponsors. The sponsor plates are in production and will be in place by the end of June 2010, along with the new entrance sign.
Kind Regards,
James Cameron
CAPTAIN’S LOG…..
I recently had the pleasure of hoisting the new centenary flag to commence with the 100 year celebrations of the club. This was an apt way to start of the centenary year and I was delighted to see a full house in attendance, to enjoy the raconteur Duncan Cameron addressing the Haggis, ably assisted by Hughie Urquhart. A marvelous evening and the fireworks display ensured the centenary year went off with a bang!
COURSE DAMAGE UPDATE: Members are advised that the ongoing matter regarding the damage to the 7th fairway is still with the clubs’ insurers and we expect this to be resolved by the end of May. At present I cannot give an indication of how the matter will turn out, however we had a successful outcome to the bunker damage caused by the flooding and hopefully the 7th fairway will be remedied as well. I’m sure members will agree that Team Niblick did a great job of the bunker repairs and worked speedily to get the bunkers back in action. It is worth pointing out that on the subject of course damage, a lot of our members volunteered to help with the clear up and the club wishes to express a big thank you for this assistance.
JUNIORS SEASON 2010: I would like to take this opportunity to wish our junior section all the best for the coming season. I know the junior section is getting stronger, as I am informed by the Club Pro, Gary Holland that junior coaching is busier than ever, we have had juniors with good placings in our recent Gents Open and I have also been informed that Lewis Mutch and Kerr Baptie were not only selected, but performed exceptionally well in their first Abercromby Cup Match vs Huntly. Being selected for the Abercromby Cup is a huge honour for any player but to do so in our Centenary year is a fine achievement. Colin Milne does a great job as junior convener and I look forward with optimism to the coming season for the juniors. A warm welcome also, to any new juniors joining this year.
AA. Milne
Club Captain
HANDICAPS AND COMPETITIONS…..
Standard Scratch Score
Following changes to the course i.e. additional bunkers, smaller greens etc. a course remeasurement has been carried out and subsequent rerating by SGU/SLGA as follows:
Gents white – 69
Gents yellow – 68
Ladies red – 72
Scorecards have been updated and course signage renewed. Sky Hawk Technologies have been advised and will carry out remapping of the course in the near future in order to update their software for Duff House Royal. Members will be advised once completed in order to update their Sky Caddie GPS Devices.
Local Rules etc.
7th Hole – OOB is now defined by fence posts and not a ditch
Reseeded divots - the previous rule revoked, a ball as a reseeded divot must be played as lies
Preferred lies – period remains in force until 30th April at discretion of the Head Greenkeeper
Competitions
DHR Gents Mail on Sunday Classic Competition – DHR bt Garmouth & Kingston on Rd 3 (3/2)
DHR Gents Daily Mail Foursomes – DHR drawn away to Royal Tarlair in the next round. Abercromby Cup – DHR draw to play Huntly in the next round.
Robertson Challenge – DHR draw to play Garmouth & Kingston
Evening Express Champion of Champions – DHR represented by D Morrison (scratch) and C Millar (Handicap)
Tombstone Trophy Winner – K Findlay
Triples Cup Winners – D Morrison, C Stewart and G McDonald
Captain v Vice Captains Match resulted in win for Captains side 7 1/2 to 2 1/2
Changes to published diary
Please be advised of the following changes to the published 2010 diary:
Glenn Jex
Handicaps and Competitions Convener
JUNIOR SECTION…..
Diaries
Junior members can now collect their diaries from the office or for the bar staff. The diaries contain all the dates for junior competitions (medals, sweeps etc) and the format for each of the knockout competitions. Pages 18 and 19 in the diary also contains information about when juniors can and cannot play so please make sure that you are familiar with these important rules.
Junior Competitions
Entry sheets for this year’s knockout competitions have been posted on the junior notice board. I am pleased to report that there was a good entry to last year’s knockout competitions and I hope that this year will see an equally good response. Can I please ask all juniors that enter the knock out competitions to please arrange and play their matches before the dead line dates as this year all matches that fail to be played will result in both parties being scratched from the competition. There is a folder in the clubhouse that contains information on all open competitions at other golf clubs in our area.
Junior Medals
This year monthly medals will be in the form of a draw as was last year. Entry sheets along with information on tee times will be posted on the junior notice board a couple of weeks before the medal. Tee times will be blocked off on the booking sheet and juniors given a specific tee time. The first medal will be on Saturday 3rd April. There will also be an additional centenary medal to be held on the Sunday 27th June as part of our centenary celebrations.
Junior Sweeps
The first junior sweep will be on Thursday 1st April and will be split in to two handicap sections 0 – 18 and 19 – 36 the same as last year.
6 Hole Handicaps
We now have 19 juniors that have taken the opportunity to hand in 3 cards and get a 6-hole handicap. This is an ideal opportunity for any keen youngster to get started without having to complete the full 18 holes.
Fun Texas Scrambles
These 6 hole scrambles (each team is supervised by an adult helper) take place in the school holidays for juniors of any ability and are great fun. Keep an eye on the notice board for entry sheets for these scrambles.
Junior Team Matches
As usual there will be the Felicity Trophy (teams of 8 playing scratch match play)and Pennant League matches (teams of 6 with full handicap difference allowed). Last year we made it to the final of the Pennant league, but unfortunately lost to Rothes 4.5 to 1.5. On a brighter note for the 3rd year in a row the juniors successfully defeated the seniors in their annual match. This year’s match finished 6 to 4.
Coaching
Junior coaching will start after the school Easter holidays and juniors will be split into ability groups supervised by Gary Holland and Nathan Keast. Details of days/times etc will be posted on the junior notice board in due course. UPDATE: Junior coaching will be held on a Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm to 8pm and will commence on Tuesday 4th.
Flood Damage
Due to the damage caused to the riverbank at the 7th there is a section of the fairway roped off, this section is classed as out of bounds and that any golf balls landing in this area should not be retrieved.
Thank you.
Colin Milne
Junior Convener
HOUSE AND PROPERTY…..
CLUBHOUSE: There have been sensor lighting put in changing rooms to reduce the use of power in certain areas. Members are advised not to tamper with the settings, they are controlled by a timer and switching them off results in the settings having to be reset, which is a time consuming exercise. The fire extinguishers have been serviced – Feb 2010. The notice boards in the vestibule have been updated and various small repairs carried out. A large notice board has replaced the existing Gents notice board due to an increase in the amount of space required to display handicap information etc.
BAR: The replacement of the two fridges which have become costly to repair and therefore quotes to replace will be sourced. The glass washer also requires to be replaced in the near future as it is 11 years old this should be a consideration if possible some time this year. The carpeted area in front of the bar: there has been an offer to make a repair which I am in favour of at the moment before we go down the route of new flooring. This will be considered over the coming weeks.
KITCHEN: The servicing of the air-condition unit has been carried out. Arrangements have been made for the extraction unit to be cleaned which should help with reports of food aromas reaching the Snug Bar. These arrangements will also meet the fire regulation requirement. The taps at the two main sinks also need replaced and will be fixed shortly.
EXTERNAL: Drips from the roof have been reported and a request to tidy up the moss and sand round the bottom of the building, which could lead to damp. I have asked a roofer to have a look at it to see if we can resolve the on-going problem.
GENERAL: Replacement keys for the visitors lockers have been sourced and the order will be placed in time for the start of the season. A replacement of the door closure at gents main locker room door. is required and I will arrange to fix this.
Many thanks,
Stuart Anderson, House and Property Convener
AROUND THE GREENS…..
The course has faced a difficult winter, with flooding in November and the long frost periods. A lot of work has been done therefore on the recovery of the course:
1. Compaction – there has been a lot of vertidraining carried out throughout the spring to combat the effects of compaction resulting from the weight of the water which was on the course. The process continues but we are starting to see the recovery signs now.
2. Bunkers – the damaged bunkers have been successfully repaired and Graeme Webster and his team did a good job of repairing them and getting them ready in time for the start of the playing season. Graeme advises that it will take a full season for the bunkers to “bed in properly, therefore members are encouraged to show patience when the occasional plugged ball happens!
3. Seventh Fairway – this matter is ongoing. The damage to the riverbank resulted in the fencing off a small strip of 7th fairway and we hope to resolve this matter in the coming weeks.
4. Greens – we are now concentrating on the Greens which suffered badly as a result of the coring being delayed last October, due to the postponed Gents Open, which delayed the coring. Hence, we had to core late when there was no growth, with the result of the cores not healing (due to no growth) which carried the problem into the spring, and has subsequently resulted in slightly to bumpy surfaces. We are investigating the possibility of carrying out this work earlier in the season from now on, and taking agronomist advice. This will be discussed at the next committee meeting. At the time of writing (18th May) at last, with the warmer weather, we have growth again which will be a huge boost to the course!
Kerbing
One of the winter programme jobs that the greens staff have completed is the installation of a concrete kerbing around the practice putting surface. This makes the putting area look tidier and will lead to less maintenance from edging this area etc.
Course
The club plumber is looking into replacing the copper piping for the toilet on the course with alkathene, due to increase in late of burst pipes from cold weather. Greens staff will be able to repair these in future and is a cost effective solution to the existing copper ones.
Regards
PD Dickson.
LADIES CAPTAIN…..
Duff House Royal were drawn to play against Garmouth and Kingston in the first round of the Robertson Challenge Cup. I am delighted to report that the team won 9-7 on aggregate, and I hope that we continue to progress through this year’s competition. Unfortunately Ellon knocked DHR out of the Mail on Sunday competition, but we still have representatives in the Daily Mail Foursomes and also in the Scottish Foursomes. The Scottish Foursomes is a relatively new competition and DHR are being represented in this by Penny Smith and Helen Watt, the winners of last year’s Robertson Salver, with Joyce Alexander being their third team member. Thanks to everyone who has agreed to represent DHR in the various team events this year.
The Spence and Merchiston Open takes place on 5 June. This year we are holding a raffle at this Open, and donations would be gratefully accepted by the ladies committee.
The five day, which will again be kindly sponsored by Downie’s of Whitehills, takes place from 5-9 July. As usual I will be looking for offers of power trolleys for the week from both men and ladies, as well as ladies’ lockers. A small fee is paid by the user to the owner of the trolley/locker. I will put up notices on both the gents and ladies boards shortly, but in the meantime I am happy to accept names of donors from now. I would also appreciate volunteers for help with desk duties for these open events.
I am looking forward to our Centenary week, and in particular to welcoming ladies from local clubs, as well as our local members and their friends, to our ladies invitational on 1 July. I also hope that the lady lucky enough to play in the DHR team in our first ever pro-am enjoys her day. A reminder- the qualifier for this is the lady with the best net score in the first round of our championship on 7 June. The Centenary notice board gives further information on what is happening during the Centenary week.
I hope everyone has an enjoyable and successful season, especially in our Centenary year.
Laura McLardy
Ladies Captain
OPEN TOURNAMENTS
April/May has been a very busy time with four Opens – a Mixed Greensomes. Texas Scramble, Gents Open and the Brangan Cup all being held. All of these have been a success with the Brangan attracting a field of 76 single-handicap players who enjoyed the warmest day of the year so far. Some excellent scores were returned but unfortunately, no prize-list winners from DHR. The winner was Neil Mitchell of Bon Accord with two excellent rounds of 66 , winning the cup by four shots over B Innes of Murcar. I feel a special mention is due to two of our own youngsters, Lewis Mutch and Luke Sutherland who, although not in the prize lists, conducted themselves in an exemplary manner and are a credit to our Club – keep trying, your turn will surely come!
The next Open is the Seniors on 3 June followed by a Gents Open in July.
This has been a steep learning curve but I could not do this without the help of volunteers at each event, however when an event is a success it all becomes worthwhile.
Neil Douglas
Tournaments Convener
CENTENARY LATEST…
The next event in the Centenary Celebrations is the COAST Festival Exhibition of Golf at Duff House Royal Golf Club, on Saturday 29th May and Sunday 30th May from 9am to 9pm. The exhibition has been arranged by Sandy Chalmers, ably assisted by Bob Strachan and I am sure the display will be fascinating, with an array of clubs, trophies and photos to take us all down memory lane.
Members are encouraged to refer to the event schedule, which is available from the Bar, for more information on any of the centenary related events or keep tabs on the centenary notice board.
Brian Sutherland
Centenary Chairman