November 3rd 2007
GREG AND JOHN , DESERVED WINNERS.
When you ask golfers of a mid to high handicap how they scored, at times they will have played so well that they may feel somewhat “embarrassed” at the return they have posted.
It is all part of the improvement process, and as we all get to grips with the game and “manage” our way around the course more effectively( as well as becoming better golfers) our scores will hopefully begin to tumble, and our handicaps reduce. In the summer we see the occasional sub 60 ( nett) score and cry “bandit” ; but we all started somewhere, and as we strived to improve, many of us posted similar scores at some point in our golfing “history”.
It is the nature of club golf, and if the golfers concerned are “genuine” in their efforts to improve, by playing regular competition, then nobody has any qualms about their handicap being fair. We should applaud their good scores, as well as the excellent scores posted by our elite players. Whilst the quality of the golf may not be the same, it is precisely this fine-tuning and adjustment of handicapping that makes golf fair for all, and gives players of all abilities the chance to compete on what is generally regarded to be a very level playing field.
I mention this after reflecting on a comment from one of the players who formed part of the team who claimed maximum points last Saturday. On my return to the locker-room, I asked the general populace if there were “any good scores in?” A voice from behind a locker retorted “Yes, us, we had a bit of a bandit score today”. Further enquiry revealed the speaker to be John “Shillegan” Gillies who partnered Greg Brown to victory. Not only did they win, they won handsomely, but their score has been matched three times already this season, and bettered once ( without any shout of “ Bandit” ), yet I detected a note of apology in John’s tone. We have all witnessed acts of perceived “larceny” in the Winter League, and we joke about the “bandits” who take our £1 off us in a challenge of a weekend, yet here was someone who seemed somewhat apologetic about playing out of his (their) skin.
John and Greg play plenty (regular 18 hole) summer golf, have fair and accurate handicaps, and have been allocated a winter league allowance befitting their playing status in the club. This was no “banditry” (as we do all too often jokingly refer to it), it was a display of fine golf which no-one else could match on the day, and they won fair and square.
Well played lads.
Amongst the points scorers on Saturday were some very welcome faces returning to Winter League action after several years “away”. Big Fred MacLennan and son David teamed up this year after having both participated regularly in the recent past. Fred spent many years accompanying former captain Colin MacIver in many different guises, not least as the more vocal element of a very successful golfing partnership. Sadly Colin passed away not long ago, and Fred has been somewhat encumbered by a “dodgy” hip latterly, thereby negating his ability to traverse the course in any degree of comfort. Step forward a welcome present of the fastest shopping trolley in the west, and , despite the terrain, we now witness him negotiating the course he helped nurture to its present state as a former captain and greens convenor himself ,with ( not quite) gay abandon. With so many battery powered devices propelling clubs, and now golfers, around the course it is sometimes difficult not to think of the song “Ernie” by Benny Hill as the hum of an electric motor goes by.
David partnered the legendary Peter Legge (of McRae &Dick fame) for many years until Peter moved to the mainland to work, and he took time off to raise his young family. David is also the local area manager of S.N.H. and has spent many years helping with the protection and stabilisation of the local corncrake population. Spotting corncrakes in the wild should be a doddle after years trying to spot Peter on the course. It is good to see a golfer of David’s ability back golfing, and together with his father they form a formidable obstacle to anyone seeking an easy pound this winter.
It is refreshing to see and hear “Big Fred” back in the clubhouse, David too. We are richer as a club for their return to the winter “fray”.
Strange devices abound around the clubhouse these days, not all of them self-propelled. The expression “the wheels came off” is usually reserved until sometime during the round when things have not gone well; therefore it was somewhat strange to witness the wheels literally coming off for poor Jim Watson last weekend before he made it to the first tee. Jim is not alone in using a trolley to convey his bag around the course, but when you have a bag like Jim; any mishaps to trolley-bag combination attract more interest than most.
Jim has a bag which is the latest in golfing technology, and will hand him his selected club by merely dialling the correct number. Each club is housed in its own little rocket-like silo, and upon production of the right combination, it will whirr round effortlessly, a “hatch” will open, and the selected club will be produced from deep within. Resembling something which appears to have been designed by the combined efforts of N.A.S.A. and the folk who brought you the Goblin Teasmaid, it is truly in a league of its own, and only someone as smart as Jim can remember the correct telephone number for each club.
On Saturday , playing alongside partner Domnhall “Hamish” MacLean, they thought they would easily take care of poor Ali ”Ban” MacLennan who was playing on his own, partner Neil”Flute” Macleod being indisposed. Never a man to shirk a challenge, Ali still insisted they play for a £1, and some pride. Despite starting 8-7-8, and falling six shots adrift after the opening three holes, a display of golfing brilliance ensured Ali still managed to prize a pound from a pair who are fast becoming the “easiest touches” in the league. Nothing to do with his introduction of a “secret potion” in his hip-flask when the going got tough. No !
Near the end, and with a difficult club selection to contemplate, Jim, when looking for his sand-iron apparently mis-dialled his combination. A voice from the speaker on his bag replied “Hello, Samaritans”. Even they told him to give up.
Men’s Saturday 3rd Nov…Scores
1. John Gillies & Greg Brown 55 (12) 43 15pts
2. Six teams tied:
Bryan Geddes & Colin MacRitchie 48 (2) 46 8pts
Cal Roberstson & Richard Galloway 50 (4) 46 8pts
Paul & Jordan MacLean 51 (5) 46 8pts
Ken MacDonald (OHO) 56 (10) 46 8pts
Al”Greens” MacLeod & Ali Nicolson 52 (6) 46 8pts
F.W. & Dave MacLennan 55 (9) 46 8pts
8. Six teams tied:
Chris Kelso & D.R.”Bronco” MacArthur 54 (7) 47 2pts
Neil Rowlands & Andy MacDonald 49 (2) 47 2pts
D.J.Smith & Dave”Spider” MacLeod 54 (7) 47 2pts
D.J.MacLeod & Andrew Reeves 53 (6) 47 2pts
Scott MacIver & David Gray 51 (4) 47 2pts
Malcolm”Wahid” MacIver &D.A MacLean 55 (8) 47 2pts
Leaderboard
1.= Murdo”Hollo” MacLennan& Davie Black 32 pts
Neil MacKenzie & Norrie”T” MacDonald 32pts
3. Paul & Jordan MacLean 29pts
4.= Kenny”5” MacIver & Allan MacLeod 28pts
Ian”Todd” MacKenzie & Zebo MacLeod 28pts
Juniors Saturday 3rd Nov…Scores
1. Scott Macaulay 59 (8) 51, 10 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 77 (23) 54, 8 pts
3. Kenneth Macleod, 73 (16 ) 57, 5 pts
4. Charlie Morrison, 70 (12) 58, 3 pts
5. Kevin Gillies, 81 (22) 59, 2 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 77 (23) 54, 8 pts
3. Kenneth Macleod, 73 (16 ) 57, 5 pts
4. Charlie Morrison, 70 (12) 58, 3 pts
5. Kevin Gillies, 81 (22) 59, 2 pts
Leaderboard
1. Kenneth Macleod 29 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 26 pts
3 Scott Macaulay 25 pts
2. Stuart Macaulay 26 pts
3 Scott Macaulay 25 pts
John Gillies & Greg Brown