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| Some of the Trophies and winners after the prize giving |
Captain Chris Fowler gave a warm welcome to the 56 ladies who attended the 51st AGM and Prizegiving of the West Vets which was held on Thursday 7th November 2019 at 2.00pm in Cowglen Golf Club.
Secretary Sandra McDougall had received 47 apologies and after the minutes were adopted and no matters arising Captain Chris gave her annual report.
Treasurers Report - Mo Neilson
Mo Neilson gave an excellent Treasurers report and finished by saying that she had been pleased to carry out the duties of Treasurer for the last 6 or so years - a bit longer than anticipated but it had been good working with the previous captains. Anna Telfer, June Lockhart, Marion Stewart and Chris. And the Secretaries - Morag Key, Anne Dunn and Sandra.
They had all been supportive and good fun. But as the post is not pensionable so she's off and assured everyone that she was leaving the accounts in good hands
Secretary's Report : Sandra McDougall
The membership has been kept level at 180. There were 14 resignations in 2019 and 14 new members admitted.
To date there has been 15 resignations as a result of the AGM and
Subscriptions Notice - and Sandra will be approaching the next 15 people on the waiting list.
This will leave us with 4 on the current waiting list. Sandra asked everyone to encourage friends to join the West Vets and make it known that they are likely to wait less than a year for a place
West Vets 2019 – Captain’s Report
Welcome ladies to our AGM. Before I get the meeting underway, it is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of two West Vets. Past Captain Mae Noble died 24th Feb 2019 Mae played for the RLCGA County Team from 1966 - 1988 and played for Scotland 7 times in the Scottish Vets team. She was Haggs Castle Golf Club Ladies Champion 8 times and Erskine champion 13 times. She won the County Rosebowl in 1980 and 1982 and lost in the semi-finals of the West of Scotland Championship in 1969 to Sandra Needham.The highlight of Mae's golfing career was winning the Evening Times Scottish Ladies' Foursomes in 1967 with Aileen Wilson (Haggs Castle).
Also Rosemary Dykes from Turnberry on Friday 6th September at the age of 89. Rosemary was a Life Member of the West Vets. Rosemary was involved in many administrative roles throughout her golfing career:-- 1979- 1981 Captain - Renfrewshire Ladies' County Golf Association 1985 - 1986 - Chairman LGU Executive Council, 1987: Honorary Member of Renfrewshire Ladies' County Golf Association 1999 - 2004 - Honorary President of RLCGA.
She was one of 13 SLGA Vice Presidents.
They were both well known in Scottish Golf and will be sorely missed
The Three Meetings and Championship
Unfortunately, the weather had a large impact on two of our meetings this year.
A total of 113 ladies entered West Vets Spring Meeting at Glasgow Gailes in April, all looking forward to the opportunity to play over this fabulous links, which has been host to 32 international championships since 1927. However, the Scottish weather had different ideas. Spring was not evident over the Ayrshire links and the vets had conscious decisions to make on whether or not to brave the elements. A total of 59 ladies ventured out - and to be honest, they should all be congratulated.
Gillian Kyle (East Renfrewshire) recorded the best scratch of the day with an 83.
Best net of the day was Marion Hamilton (Kilmarnock Barassie) with 92 - 14 =78.
Super vet and runner up was Anne Judge (Ranfurly Castle) with 91 - 11 = 80.
The Summer Meeting at Pollok Golf Club, saw 103 Vets took part, Pollok was in excellent condition & the weather – blue skies and sunshine.
Congratulations to the overall winner and recipient of the Heather Anderson Trophy was Lesley Lloyd from Hayston GC with a wonderful scratch score of 74, followed by Donna Jackson (Troon Ladies) on 75
Congratulations also to Anita McMillan from Erskine GC who had the best nett score, 74 (BIH) runner up was Liz Wilson from Kilmarnock Barassie also with a nett 74.
The winner of Division 2 was Pat Robertson of Caldwell GCwith nett 75, second was Barbara Cunningham, Hilton Park with a nett 76. A special congratulations to Janet Buchanan from Dalmally GC, who won the Super Vets, also with a nett 74.
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| West Vets Captain Chris presents Lesley Lloyd with Championship Trophy |
West Vets Championship at Renfrew GC Lesley Lloyd retained the Championship. She played Donna Jackson in the final, it was a very close game until the end, with Lesley winning 2 & 1
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| Captain Chris Fowler presents Fiona Armour with the Stewart Trophy |
In the Stewart Trophy, the final was contested by Fiona Armour and Sandra McDougall. Sandra went down 3 holes but fought back to one, eventually Fiona pulled away to win 4 & 2.
Click Here for more
Draw for the West Division Championship Knockouts: Further discussions following last year’s Championship, the Committee agreed that the following is added to the West Vets Rules:
Once the draw has been posted on the West Vets website, there should be no changes to the draw i.e. if a qualifying player withdraws - then their opponent gets a walkover - and there should be no substitution.
The Autumn Meeting was at Sandyhills GC. The weather for the second time this year was not kind the West Vets. Only 22 ladies bravely ventured out in pretty awful conditions – well done to them. The conditions overhead and underfoot made play very difficult on the day.
However, one player found these conditions to her liking, Caroline King of Clober GC. She came in with a gross 85/nett 75 to be the overall winner of the Autumn Meeting and the recipient of the May Craddock Trophy.
Our thanks to all these Golf Clubs who gave us courtesy of their courses for our three meetings and the Championship.
Team Matches
The Mid-West Trophy v Midlands Vets match was played at Falkirk Carmuirs Golf Club on Monday 27th May.
Thankfully, the weather did not turn out as forecast and the match was played in calm, dry and in some parts sunny conditions. A big thanks to Falkirk GC for looking after us and the Midlands Captain, Margaret Tough and her players for being so welcoming.
The West team retained the trophy, winning 5 to 2
In June the West Vets Team went to Glencorse GC to play for the Elise Duncan Trophy against the East Vets, hoping for a win for the first time since 2014.
It was much closer than last year, unfortunately we lost 5 ½ - 3 ½ However 5 games were very well contested, going all the way to the 18th Both teams thoroughly enjoyed Glencorse, finding it a tricky and interesting course. As usual the friendship was evident on the course and in the clubhouse during the meal, and we must thank Glencorse G.C. and East Vets Captain Anne Rorrison for hosting such an enjoyable day.
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| West and East Vets Teams |
West v East for the ASP Trophy. (Report by May Hughes) - CLICK HERE FOR ALL RESULTS
Cochrane Castle GC was the venue for our annual Friendship Match with the East Vets. The weather on either side of this date was not pleasant but the sun shone for us for a few hours for which we were all grateful.
The West Vets were on great form and we won the match by 4 games to 1 The matches were all played with good humour and we all enjoyed a first class meal on return to the clubhouse. Given that the caterer had only been in post for a few days. I would like to thank Cochrane Castle for pulling out all the stops to ensure we didn’t send our East Vets back to Edinburgh with the parting shot – oh you’ll have had your tea!
Scottish Senior Women’s Championships
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| Elaine and Donna with the Matchplay Trophy - Photo courtesy of Scottish Golf |
Also in June, we had 11 west players competing in the Scottish Seniors Women’s Championship at Edzell GC. In the Championship, Donna Jackson and Liz Stewart qualified from the stroke play.
Liz unfortunately lost in the quarter finals to Aileen Baker.
Donna went all the way to the final, losing to last year’s winner, Elaine Moffat 2 & 1
In the Handicap Championship, May Hughes, Caroline King, Fiona Cameron and Sandra Littlejohn all qualified for the match play stages. May and Fiona progressed to the quarter finals. Sandra made it to the final against Fiona Scott and won 3 & 2
International Honours Congratulations to Donna Jackson, Lesley Lloyd, Gillian Kyle and Liz Stewart for gaining International Honours throughout the season.
Donna Jackson, Lesley Lloyd and Gillian Kyle played in the match against the Irish Vets for the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy at Troon Portland in April.
Donna, Lesley, Gillian and Liz played for the Scottish Vets Team in the Jamboree at Northamptonshire County Golf Club from 6th -Thursday 8th August 2019.
Donna was selected to play for Senior Women’s Team for the Home Internationals in County Sligo, Ireland -- 1st to 3rd October
Spanish Seniors Championships
Early in the season, Donna Jackson, Gillian Kyle and Liz Stewart were at La Manga in Spain playing in the Spanish "Doubles" and Individual Championships.
SCOTTISH SCORES
16. - Gillian Kyle & Elaine Moffat 161 (76 + 85)
19. - Ellie Whyte and Sheena Wood, 164 (76 +88)
20=. Donna Jackson and Liz Stewart 165 (78 + 87)
Blairgowrie
For the second year in a row, Lesley Lloyd had to withdraw from the Championship at Blairgowrie.
This year she had a car accident on the way up to the Championships, thankfully Lesley was unhurt.
The Championship was played between Sheena Wood (Northern) and Fiona Hunter (Galloway)
This was a very close final, with Sheena Wood winning by 1 hole.
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| Gillian is presented with the Patrick Rosebowl |
The West did very well, in the Patrick Rosebowl, Gillian Kyle won the scratch and the handicap.
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| Chris, Gillian and May are presented with the Lyon Trophy by Wendy Cameron |
Whilst the West, Gillian Kyle, May Hughes and Chris Fowler won the Lyon Trophy, the three best nett scores in the Rosebowl.
The best placed west team in the Beddows Quaich were May Hughes & Chris Fowler, 15th.
The winners were Linda McDonald and Lorna Bennett of Midlands.
This year the West Division was allocated places (11 couples) by the SVLGA – and received one additional place (from unwanted places in other divisions), which left 4 couples on our waiting list, who did not get to Blairgowrie this year. Following discussion, the Committee agreed that if any of the people on the waiting list applied for next year’s Blairgowrie competition, they would receive priority. Otherwise the draw will again be random.
It was agreed that the Captain and Vice-Captain should also get priority.
2019 Irish Match Report
Troon Portland (the following report by Gillian Kyle)
Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy SCOTLAND 6.5 IRELAND 5.5
The annual match between the Scottish Vets and the Irish Seniors playing for the Mary McKenna Perpetual Trophy, took place on March 31st and April 1st over Troon Portland this year.
The team representing Scotland under the leadership of Ellie Whyte (North) and Karen Ballantyne (East) were: Alison Davidson (Midlands) Donna Jackson (West) Gillian Kyle (West) Lesley Lloyd (West) Lorna McKinlay (Midlands) Frances Millar (North) Elaine Moffat (Midlands) Sheena Wood (North)
After Sunday’s Fourballs, Scotland lead 3-1 with wins from 2 matches and halves from the other 2. A lovely buffet meal was served in the Ladies Clubhouse that evening which gave an opportunity for the players and officials to socialise and then find out who they were playing in the singles on the Monday.
Like the Solheim Cup, we needed 3.5 points to win as only 3 would have allowed the Irish a halved match and therefore retain the trophy!
Wins from Alison, Donna and Gillian gave Scotland 6 points then Lesley managed to squeeze a half to give us the win. (6.5-5.5)
It was a very exciting, well-fought match between 2 teams who are loving seniors’ golf.
Our thanks go to everyone involved in the SVLGA who made this all possible.
2019 Jamboree Report (the following report by Donna Jackson)
Four West Vets were select to represented Scotland in the Vets Jamboree at Northampton County GC in August – Donna Jackson, Gillian Kyle, Lesley Lloyd and Liz Stewart.
The course was long (par 75) and in lovely condition, consisting of heather, gorse and woodland. It was well bunkered with large sloping greens, in other words a traditional heathland course designed by Harry Colt in 1909.
We arrived on Sunday just in time for a thunderstorm, where water cascaded down the front of the Hotel and almost flooded our room, as water came in from a skylight window in the bathroom. However we survived and the weather was lovely for our practice round.
On Day 1 against the North, we lost the morning Foursomes 2-1 and lost the singles 4-2, though 3 of the matches went to the 18th green. On Day 2 against the Midlands (the eventual winners), we again lost the foursomes 2-1 as well as the singles to lose 6 ½ to 2 ½.
On Day 3, we were up against the South, where we didn’t have a good start losing all 3 Foursomes and the singles 4-2 thus ending up with a 7-2 defeat.
Although we didn’t win a match, a lot of the games were very close with some top quality golf on display, just not enough of it from the Scots.
Over the 3 days, all games were played in a great spirit and we made some new friends and caught up with some old ones, and that’s what golf is all about.
SENIOR HOME INTERNATIONALS AT CO. SLIGO (October 2019) (The following report by Donna Jackson)
This golf course was just under 6,000 yards long, well bunkered and with very large greens. Fiona De Vries was the Captain for the week and did a very good job, considering she had been called in at very short notice (a mere 2 weeks) after Lorna Bennett had decided to step down.
The team representing Scotland were: Aileen Baker, Jennifer Bryans, Alison Davidson, Donna Jackson, Lorna McKinlay, Elaine Moffat and Sheena Wood.
On the first day we played the holders Ireland, but lost all three foursomes in the morning. In the singles we lost 5.5 – 2.5, so overall not a great start to the campaign.
Although eager to make up for it in the other two days, unfortunately very bad weather coming in forced the competition to be condensed into one day.
Matches against England and Wales were reduced to singles only on the same day, where we lost 4-1 to England in the morning, but secured a victory 3-2 against Wales.
Ireland retained the trophy with a very tight game against England, winning on countback.
Other than the result, it was a great week with many lasting memories, and you realise you have to have your A game with you at these events. So it's practise, practise, and practise over the winter to try to make the team for next year. Click Here for More and Here for Photos from Donna
The 2020 Women’s Senior Home Internationals will be played at West Kilbride from 22-24 September.
Fixtures for 2020: - FIXTURE CARD
Spring Meeting: Wednesday, 8th April 2020 Lanark GC
Summer Meeting: Wednesday 13th May 2020, Cathkin Braes GC Autumn Meeting:Wednesday 3rd September, West Kilbride GC
Singles: West Division v Midlands (Mid-West Trophy) Troon Portland Thursday, 28th May 2020 TBC
Singles: West Division v East Division (Elise Duncan Trophy) Douglas Park GC, Tuesday 2nd June 2020
Foursomes:East Division v West Division (ASP Friendship Trophy) Turnhouse GC, Thursday, 13th August 2020
West Division Championship Finals: Renfrew GC 19th May, 2020 20th May, 2020
SVLGA v Ireland:Mary McKenna Trophy, Roganstown GC, Dublin 28th & 29th March 2020
Jamboree: Glenbervie GC 4th – 7th August 2020
Blairgowrie Meeting: SVLGA Championship 20th & 21st September 2020
The Patrick Rose Bowl Monday 21stSeptember 2020
Beddows Quaich Tuesday 22nd September 2020
SVLGA AGM Monday 21st September 2020
Election of Office Bearers for 2020
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| A"blurred June" with Captain Chris Apologies on this bad photo ! |
This is the end of June’s year on the Committee as Past Captain, and we will all miss her at the Committee meetings and all our competitions throughout the year – she’s now an absolute wiz on the computer, recording the scores as they come in.
She has been a great support to me as her vice-captain and my first year as captain. I can’t thank you enough June for all the work you have done for the West Vets, so please accept this small gift.
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| Wendy Cameron and Mo Neilson |
So I would like to propose Ann Coultard as Treasurer. I am very pleased to report that Sandra is continuing as Secretary for another year.
The committee now comprises of myself as Captain, May Hughes as Vice-Captain, Sandra McDougall as Secretary, Ann Coultard as Treasurer and Karen Maxwell and Lynn McColl
AOCB :None
Following the business meeting, the Prizes and Trophies were presented by Wendy Cameron.
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| Fiona Armour - Winner of the Stewart Cup |
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| Gillian winner of the Lyon Trophy |
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| Super Vet - Liz Hale |
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| Janice Paterson is delighted with her Autumn Meeting Runners Up Prize |
DATE OF 2020 AGM : Thursday 5th November 2020 in Cowglen Golf at 2pm
