June 23rd 2007
MS & MINESTRONE SOUP
Saturday’s MS Trophy competition saw a great turnout by the membership, who, once again, wonderfully contributed to, and supported, Willie Smith’s (and Mrs Smith) brilliantly organised event. The main benefactors are, of course, the MS Society, but the real winners on the day, are the club ( for having Willie do all the hard work, except the cooking), and the golfers who turned out and participated. With Ladies, Men and Juniors all participating in a drawn team event, the results were in the balance until the last golfers walked off the course at around 5:45 pm.
With the competition being drawn teams of four, and on this occasion all four scores counting as opposed to the best three from four, the onus was on everyone in your team contributing something. Spare a thought then for poor young Stewart Munro who strode into the clubhouse early in the afternoon, having posted a magnificent 50 points, as he eagerly awaited the returns from his three playing partners. Unfortunately his three playing partners only managed a combined total of 52 points between them (27, 25 and a shameful zero points…in a Stableford!). I suppose I’d better come clean, admit to being the scorer of 25 points in this group, and apologise to young Stewart for being the first to disappoint him on Saturday. Stevie Wonder playing in the fog could outscore me at the moment, and I’m beginning to reach that point where golfers of my calibre (small bore) who begin to really struggle, start to harbour terrible thoughts on the golf course when Pythagoras’ theorem (the one concerning right-angles…whisper it, lest the Barber hear you!) is foremost in the mind when addressing the ball.
Stewart was, however, consoled with the prize for best Junior on the day, and we were left rueing our inability to properly back him up.
Winning Team on the day were Peter O’Brien, David Gray, Neil “The Barber” Morrison and Jane Nicolson (36, 42, 38 & 38 pts), with David rightly being in the winning team having scored the best senior round of the day.
Jane could not stay for the photoshoot, having to get back to work rounding up, and keeping in check, Stornoway’s dimmest, but her place in the picture was taken by Christine MacLeod who was the highest woman scorer of the day, matching David’s 42 points.
Afterwards we were rewarded with the best minestrone soup ever seen in the Islands( again), and a sumptuous buffet provided for all competitors. This was followed by the prize-giving and a well supported raffle which boosted the charity coffers still further.
Many thanks again to Willie & Mrs Willie for a fantastic day.
Through the week we saw several competitions the results of which can be seen below.
Mary Joyce won the women’s 3-club challenge on Tuesday night with an excellent nett 68. When you have only three clubs to negotiate the course (and its hazards) with, it does make the decision, if not shot, making process somewhat simpler. It should also make getting round somewhat more difficult. Amazingly it does tend to produce some startling results, and many folk actually play some of their best golf without the added burden of an extra 11 sticks in the bag (fourteen is the maximum).
On Wednesday John R Gillies won the Centenary Medal ( stableford) Qualifier by scoring 42 points, on a day when the conditions varied from the sublime ( but windy) to the not not-so-sublime ( but maybe not so windy). Runner up was Murdo Macaulay, and winner in the low-handicap section was Ally MacLean.
Friday night saw Murdo “Griddy” MacLeod and Kevin MacRae win the Mens Fourball Betterball competition with the startling score of 59. Nine under par is a great score under handicap, but even under the better ball format, it is still remarkable shooting. Well played lads.
Griddy is getting back to form, having restricted his playing thus far to only a handful of appearances, and getting over the disappointment of not being able to travel to Rhodes for the Island Games due to an appointment in New York the same week. Good friend and former member of the club, Peter Lambert is marrying in the “Big Apple” and both he and Robert Rankin will be winging their way to the U.S.A. this week. There is a fair chance they may enjoy their visit.
Partner on the evening, Kevin, will be on the plane to the sun (in Greece) with team members Norrie “Onions” MacDonald, Andy MacDonald and David Black. The team are looking forward to the competition, and representing the Western Isles over four days against stiff international competition. They would like to thank generous sponsors, Kenneth MacKenzie Holdings, Roderick Smith Ltd, MacLean, Mair & Nicolson, Anderson MacArthur and Ken MacDonald & Co for their contributions to the costs of participation.
Special thanks too, from the team, to the members and committee of the Stornoway Golf Club for all their unstinting support over the previous couple of month’s fund-raising efforts, to Morag (and the staff) behind the bar, and many other individuals who helped them on their way.
Ladies 3 Club Strokeplay 19th June
1 Mary Joyce 68 Overall Winner
2 Jane Nicolson 72
3 Rita Macdonald 74
Centenary Medal Stableford 20th June
1 John R Gillies 42 pts Division 2 Winner
2 Murdo Macaulay 40 pts Division 2 Runner-Up
3 Alasdair Maclean 38 pts Division 1 Winner
Mens Fourball Better Ball 22nd June
1 "Griddy"Macleod & Kevin Macrae 59
2 Scott Macaulay & Stewart Munro 64
3 Kenny Cunningham & Euan Morrison 65
Multiple Sclerosis 23rd June
1 Stewart Munro 50 pts Overall Junior Winner
2 Scott Macaulay 43 pts Overall Junior Runner-Up
3 David Gray 42 pts Overall Men's Winner
4 Christine Macleod 42 pts Overall Ladies Winner
Mary Joyce
Ali Maclean & John Gillies
Peter O’Brien, David Gray, Christine Macleod & Neil Morrison
