WEE COURSE TEXAS SCRAMBLE - Wednesday, 28th May

What a wonderful day was had by all, with the sun shining 19 ladies managed to finish their rounds before the rain started.

The competition was open to the Wee Course Ladies, Ladies 70+ and the Ladies Committee and it was lovely to see so many ladies there to enjoy a round of golf together and each other's company.

Post golf we met up for a spot of lunch, for those who wanted it, and were delighted to be joined by some more ladies where we chatted about our game.  It was Linda Clark's birthday and Pauline Hill organised for a small cake with candle to be presented to her, where we all sang Happy Birthday!!

Prize winners were:

1st.  Morna Bell, Hazel Grant, Jean Laburn and Heather Welsh (24)

2nd. Shirley Irvine, Marion Kay, Liz Ridsdale (29 on c/b)

Winners and runners-up received some prizes, presented by myself.  Well done !

Thank you to everyone who played, to Heather Welsh and Pauline Hill who helped with the draw.  My thanks also go to catering for setting up the tables.  It was such good fun, fantastic to play together and to spend some time together afterwards too.

Here are a selection of photographs from the day......

FRIENDLY MATCH v. STRATHMORE - Tuesday, 27th May

We were delighted to welcome the visiting ladies from Strathmore to Blairgowrie on Tuesday for our annual friendly match, with a nice mix of old friends and new faces playing together on Rosemount.

The course was in excellent condition, the weather warm and generally fair and all matches were keenly contested.  The teams were well matched on paper, and most games were very close, however our visitors fared slightly better on the fast greens and were able to win the match 3/1.

Post play we enjoyed a delicious meal in the East Lounge where thanks were extended to the greens, catering and hospitality teams and to Sean and Zoe for their assistance, and of course to Heather Anderson, Marion Kay, Anne Farquharson, Elaine Robson (team captain), Eileen McMurray, Meriel Walker, Jo Menzies and Louise Luke for representing the Club.

FRIENDLY MATCH v. CRAIL - Monday, 19th May

Blairgowrie ladies welcomed a team of 8 ladies from Crail on Monday, 19^th May with the format of 4BBB. Early morning the temperature was slightly cooler of late but gradually increased and by the time the match commenced it was very warm with little wind. The course was in good condition and this was commented upon by our visitors and members alike. Grateful thanks to our hardworking greenkeeping staff. 

Although the Blairgowrie team put up a brave challenge, it was not good enough to match the Crail ladies who were victorious in 2 matches and shared one, making the overall result 2 1/2 to 1 1/2. Congratulations to them. 

Despite the loss, it didn’t dampen our spirits to enjoy a good blether on and off the course with some new friendships being formed. A delicious 2 course meal was enjoyed by all after the match which was much appreciated. Thank you to Tina and the team. 

My thanks also to Fiona Johnston, Marion Kay, Shirley Lewis, Jo Menzies, Angela Rooney, Anne Walker and Meriel Walker for giving up the opportunity to sunbathe and represent the Club.  Last but not least, Anne Farquharson for being the Team Captain on the day and for producing the match report and photo !

LADIES INVITATION DAY - Tuesday, 20th May

Another glorious day of sunshine greeted forty six ladies to play in the Invitation Day.  The 4BBB stableford format on Rosemount produced some impressive scoring.

See below for the Prize Winners (full results can be found on the website).  

Vouchers have been left behind the Pro Shop reception desk addressed to the member of The Blairgowrie Golf Club.

Alongside the competition, Pauline Hill had organised a raffle raising another £136 for Alzheimer Scotland.  If you have not already collected your prizes, please ask at the Pro shop as I believe the office have kept them for safe-keeping.

My thanks go to everyone who helped on the day, especially two of our Ladies Committee, Heather Dawson and Pauline Hill.

I hope you all had a wonderful day.

Congratulations to all winners !!

FRIENDLY MATCH v. CARNOUSTIE CALEDONIA - Monday, 12th May

On Monday we were welcomed to the Caledonia Golf Club for our friendly match on the Championship course at Carnoustie. Whilst the handicaps and pairings were confirmed, we were treated to complimentary bacon rolls and coffee.

We couldn't have asked for better weather with clear blue skies and a warm, brisk wind (which for Carnoustie was calm playing conditions!). The course was in a fantastic condition, the fast undulating greens however posed a few challenges in the wind together with the deep, well placed bunkers and water hazards! On the plus side the rough was manageable as it is still early in the season for growth.

All the matches were keenly contested, however local knowledge of the golf course terrain certainly favoured the home team with a win of 4/0.

Afterwards we enjoyed a very tasty two course meal where we shared stories of missed putts, balls refusing to make their way out of the sand and balls lost to never be seen again after landing in the water hazards! Despite all these distractions we all had a fantastic memorable day.

Thanks to the Blairgowrie team - Morna Bell, Sheila Bruce, Anne Farquharson, Linda Rice, Elaine Robson, Angela Rooney, Sue Waddell (team captain) for the match report and photos and Louise Whitehead for representing the Club.

GOLF IN SCOTLAND BOOK IN THE BLACK & WHITE ERA

Following on from the success of the unveiling of the Jessie Valentine wall, Vike Brown has gifted the Club a fascinating book on golf with incredible photos.  

I will leave this in the Ladies locker room for you to have a look through - check out Pages 114-136  !!

P&K COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP SCRATCH FINAL - Sunday, 11th May

Defending Champion, Katy Alexander put up a valiant fight on Sunday at the County Championship at Alyth Golf Club but was beaten by Megan Ashley, both Blairgowrie Ladies.

Below is an extract from the P&K blog.

Congratulations to Megan on becoming the 2025 County Champion and to Katy Alexander for reaching the final.

 

SCOTTISH GOLF MEDAL FINALIST UPDATE

I am delighted to announce that Lesley MacPherson has qualified for the final at the Carrick course at Loch Lomond in August.  

Lesley came second out of 54 entrants with a 2 under par nett 70 at Falkirk Golf Club.  Well done Lesley !!!!

We wish her well in August.

GUR ON HEATHER TOPPED BUNKERS

 As you are aware, the heather on the top of bunkers are marked as GUR (Ground Under Repair).

If your ball goes into the heather, you must take the nearest point of relief in the General Area.  At no point, should you drop the ball into the bunker (as the nearest point of relief) as bunkers are not part of the General Area.

Please see the rules below:

UPDATE - AMOUNT RAISED FOR ALZHEIMER SCOTLAND - as at 14th May 2025

Thank you to everyone who has donated money independently to the Alzheimer Scotland top-up account, or found something to buy in the clothes recycling area, taken part in the Guess the number of Golf Balls competition or helped raise money at the Coffee morning on 8th May.

I am delighted to say that, as a result, we have raised a further £1,318.32 for the charity.  Please see the breakdown below which will also be posted on the noticeboard in the Ladies locker room.

The total amount raised since October 2024 is £3,400.78.

 Thank you so much - I really appreciate it !

ALZHEIMER COFFEE MORNING - Thursday, 8th May

A huge thank you to the fabulously talented bakers - Calum Christie, Anne Farquharson, Pauline Hill, Tony Kay, Lorraine MacGregor, Mary Miller and Angela Rooney who put so much time and effort into baking and donating cakes for this morning's fundraising event.

Also, thanks to everyone who came along to indulge (let's face it, who could resist!), we have managed to raise £585 in aid of Alzheimer Scotland.  For those of you who couldn't make it but still donated money, I really appreciate your generosity.

The office and catering staff have been a great help too in setting up tables etc.

I hope you all enjoyed the event.  Thanks again.

WEE COURSE TEXAS SCRAMBLE - Wednesday, 28th May

Sign up will open for this event at 10pm on Monday, 12th May; entry is open to all ladies aged 70+, all Wee Course lady members, and those serving on the Ladies Committee.  

Please join us for a fun competition with prizes for the winners and runners-up.

GUESS THE NUMBER OF GOLF BALLS COMPETITION - ** RESULTS **

Thank you to everyone who took part in the above fun competition.   Well done to all winners.  This will be put on the noticeboard in the main foyer and on the noticeboard in the Ladies locker room.

I will announce the amount raised for this and the Alzheimer Coffee Morning on Thursday, 8th May which is taking place at 10am..... I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

ALLISON TROPHY ROUND 1 - Friday, 23rd May

The Allison Trophy is a strokeplay competition played over 9 holes on the Wee Course.  There are three rounds, the first of which is on Friday 23rd May; the second is Friday, 20th June with the final round to be played on Friday, 25th July.  The trophy will be awarded to the player with the best nett aggregate of two scores out of the three rounds.

All lady members, including Lansdowne and Wee Course members, aged 65 and over on 1st January 2025 with a handicap index of 20.5 and above are eligible to compete.

Online booking for round 1 opens on Monday 12th May at 10:00pm.

GRAND UNVEILING OF THE JESSIE VALENTINE WALL - Tuesday, 29th April

The afternoon started with Iain Valentine hosting a lunch for those involved in the project, which was enjoyed by all before the members arrived at 3pm for the unveiling of the Jessie Valentine Wall.

There was a very good turnout and after a few opening words from myself regarding the background of the wall, Iain Valentine took the floor.  Iain's words were heartfelt and  had several of us in tears or near to it!.  We were then treated to a very interesting talk from Eve Soulsby, the author of the book "Wee Jessie".

Iain had not seen the wall and was delighted with the results.  Members were invited to view the various photographs featuring pictures of Jessie Valentine from age 5 onwards.  Some of Jessie's trophies were also on display together with Eve's book.

Thank you to everyone who made it along on Tuesday, however, if you didn't make sure you pop into the Dining Room to have a look.

My thanks also go to my team in the House Sub-Committee, Heather Dawson and Meriel Walker, to Stuart and his team in the office as well as Mark (the handy-man) and Tim Edwards,  and to catering for such a lovely lunch.

Here are a selection of photographs.  This story has also been covered in Golf Business and other online platforms, and has been published in the Perthshire Advertiser, the Courier and The Scotsman (see below).