Hello golfers,
We have had an eventful week here at the Golf Club. On Sunday we had a huge unexpected thunderstorm which managed to fry the Internet connection cable between the shop and the Clubhouse and has left us with no internet in the shop this whole week. It's scary how much we now rely on modern technology as we have been unable to take golf bookings, take or reply to emails during shop hours and do very little office work at all.
Thankfully I have been away for most of it as I've been taking some time off as I've had my son Jack up for the week. I am off to St Andrews for a few days tomorrow to finish of the week before dropping him back home in Ayr and returning to work next week. Hopefully everything will be back to working order by then.
Derek also has a busy few weeks ahead with some tournament golf to finish off his season. This weekend he's off to Shotts to play in the Assistants Order of Merit event. Next weekend Derek is playing in the Portlethen Pro-Am followed by the Young Pro's Championships at West Lothian.....Good Luck Derek.
It's also been a busy time in the world of golf outside the walls of Moray GC, with the Olympic Games hosting Golf for the first time from this Thursday 11th -14th August. I'm looking forward to watching the events unfold over the weekend.
By the time you read this a few medals will have been handed out already in Rio - but who's going to take home Olympic gold in the golf?
The build-up to Rio - in terms of the golf - was dominated by many of the game's biggest stars dropping out, and these players have all received a lot of criticism for doing so.
Was the Zika virus a convenient excuse? Can today's elite stars be forgiven for skipping the Games because of their hectic schedules? Where does an Olympic gold medal stack up against a Green Jacket or Claret Jug?
Whatever your opinion, it has raised the question as to whether amateur golfers should have been targeted to represent the sport in Rio, rather than professionals.
We'd be interested to know your opinion, so click here to visit our homepage and register your vote.
It's a discussion that will rumble on. In the meantime, let's see how those who are playing get on. When the medal ceremony does take place, we wonder whether any of those who did decide to withdraw will regret their decision. Just a thought…
Elsewhere in the world of golf, Scotland's Russell Knox holed a 12 foot putt on the final green to win the Travellers Championship. This makes Knox only the 4th Scottish Golfer to make it into the World's Top 20 and he also moves up to 10th position on the World Points list in the Ryder Cup qualification race which will see the final team chosen in 3 weeks' time on the 30th August. Knox is just one place away from automatic qualification on the world points list and must also give himself a shout for one of Clarke's 3 Captains picks.
There was also some records being broken during the Travellers Championship as Jim Furyk became the first man to shoot 58 on the PGA Tour. Furyk's final round -12 under 58 wasn't quite good enough for victory but made sure his name was written into the history books. He also became the first person to shoot in the 50's twice having previously shot 59 at the 2013 BMW Championship.
''There are a lot of rounds by a lot of great players ahead of me that have never reached 58. So to hold it on the PGA Tour is phenomenal," Furyk said.
We only have 2 qualifying events now for our very own Ryder Cup event....The Capro Cup which takes place on the same weekend as the Ryder Cup. Last weekend's Monthly Medal was a qualifier and with me being away and our internet access being limited this week, we haven't been able to update the current points table. This Saturday we have the 9th qualifying event in the RNMDSF on the Old Course.
Good Luck to everyone playing and I will update these results as soon as I can
Charity Golf Day - Sunday
One of our own members, Craig McLean is holding a charity golf event on the New Course. The charity day is to help raise money for 4 charities which Craig's 3 year old son Mylo has benefited from since he was born.
The charities are the Archie foundation, Ronald Macdonald house charity, Glasgow Hospital children's charity (formally Yorkhill children charity) & Scot STAR paediatric retrieval service (which is part of the Scottish air ambulance). If anyone would like to support the fundraiser then we have some raffle tickets for sale in the shop at the cost of £5 per ticket with lots of prizes up for grabs.
Look out for a special prize which we will be selling tickets for in the coming weeks.
We have a TaylorMade M1 Driver signed by the World Number one, Jason Day. We will be running a bonus ball draw in the shop in order to generate some good money for the charities.....watch this space..
Entertainment
The Clubhouse are having a Carvery on Sunday, 21 August
1 Course - £9.95
2 Course - £12.95
3 Course - £15.95
Please contact the bar to make a reservation.
Monthly Medal [5] (CSS 70)
Division 1
P. Beckett (6) 62;
J. R. McLeod (6) 65;
S. R. Little (3), D. M. Thewliss (7) 66;
N. Stables (3), K. Donaldson (8) 67;
S. Rendall (8), I. S. Geddes (3), M. Jamieson (7) 68;
J. Dawson (9), D. McKenzie (5), J. Higginson (6), I. Meggatt (2), A. Kennedy (8) 69;
M. Dixon (8) 70.
Division 2
J. A. Craig (11) 67;
M. Atherton (12) 68;
A. G. Neish (11) 69;
M. Spence (13), W. J. McInnes (10), J. S. Flett (14), K. Lindsay (12), S. Rankin (17) 70;
A. M. Bruce (16), S. D. Harding (18), A. Dunwell (20) 71.
Ladies 9 Hole Stableford - Monday, 3 August
1st = Sarah Harding - 19 pts, 1st = Ellie Docherty - 19 Pts, 1st = Barbara Caie - 19 Pts, 2nd = Myra Smith - 18 Pts, 2nd = Julieann Sutherland - 18 Pts
Ladies Dr G.D Gormley Trophy - Monday, 1 August
1st - Judy Ann Robertson - 89 - 10c = 79
2nd - Marlene Coghill - 98 - 17c = 81
3rd - Joan Grant - 110 - 28c = 82
4th - Anne Park - 111 - 27c = 84
5th - Irene Smith - 102 - 17c = 85
Junior Open (CSS 75)
Congratulations to some of the local juniors who did well in difficult conditions during Sunday's Junior Open.
Brogan Thomson won the lowest scratch score in the under 16 age category, while Ryan Sherwood won the handicap section with an excellent 67 nett ahead of Caiol Provan and Euan Docherty on 71, with Jack Ure 4th on 72 nett. Well Done boys..
Scratch
D. Bradburn (Aboyne) 79; J. Mackintosh (Nairn) 80
Scratch Under 16
Brogan Thomson - 85
Handicap
Ryan Sherwood (29) 67; Caiol Provan, Euan Docherty (16) 71; Jack Ure (20) 72
