John Murray

Hello Golfers,

Greetings from John Murray, Moray Golf Club - PGA Golf Professional
I hope you've all had a fantastic week on and off the golf course and welcome to another edition of the Moray Pro Shop weekly newsletter, bringing you up to date with all the latest news and gossip from within the walls of MGC. Also in this week’s mail we have a special Video of the Week with none other than Rory McIlroy, and we offer a little advice on how to improve your game.

Enjoy the read.

Competition news

Godsman wins in style!

Congratulations to Moray’s Kyle Godsman on winning the North of Scotland Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship for the David Blair Trophy by six strokes at Nairn Golf Club.

Kyle who now plays off a handicap of +4, virtually won the prestigious tournament with a brilliant second round of eight-under-par 64 on Saturday which included 2 bogeys !

That beat Fraser Fotheringham's course record off the blue tees, and lifted Kyle clear of the field.

Kyle maintained his pole position with Sunday rounds of 74 and 70 for a five-under final total of 283.
It was 3rd time lucky for Kyle after previously losing playoffs at Elgin in 2014 and last year at Royal Dornoch.

Huge Congratulations Kyle !

Final Results - Nairn Golf Club - Par 288 (4x72) SSS 74. CSS 75 / 74 / 74 / 74

283 K Godsman (Moray) 75 64 74 70
289 D Sanderson (Nairn) 73 71 72 73
292 L Murray (Troon Welbeck) 77 73 74 68.
293 R Gill (Tantallon) 77 70 74 72
296 A C Burgess (Nairn) 84 70 71 71
297 C D Scott (Nairn) 76 73 72 76

Moray victorious on Super Sunday

Congratulations to the Moray GC team on winning the Moray & Nairn Handicap League on Super Sunday, the final day of the league at Elgin Golf Club. The team captained by James Stephen narrowly lost out on the final day last year to Hopeman and so were hoping for better fortunes leading into their final match against Nairn Dunbar GC. The team eventually won their match 7-1 to beat both Hopeman and Nairn Dunbar to the trophy after all 3 teams had a chance to win leading into Finals Day!

Match report by James Stephen (Team Captain)

"Today was the culmination of all the teams within the league to cause possibly a few upsets. Moray GC were in the driving seat before any golf took place being top of the league and depending on results there was a possibility of any 1 team from 3 winning the league. Moray GC, Nairn Dunbar GC and last years winners Hopeman GC.

At the halfway stage Moray GC seemed to be out of it with 5 matches down of which featured four of the lower handicappers. Our first point was secured really early with Stevie Grant securing probably the biggest win of the season 9 and 8. Well done Stevie. Through the afternoon fixtures were getting tight, but the tide was about to turn in our favour. Bill Johnston fought from 2 down to gain a half. Richard Denning gaining a 1 up victory, Captain James Stephen 2 down with three to play fighting back also for a half. Moray now 3 ½ to 1 up only needed to secure another half to win the league as Hopeman GC failed to gain the victory they required.

Next up was Mark Quilter who was also 2 down with a couple of holes to play nailed a 15 to 20 foot putt on the 18th to gain his half and the 4th point which meant we couldn’t be beaten as we already had a larger games for advantage over Nairn Dunbar GC. But to ease any calculation nightmare for the committee, in comes Moray GC’s final player Davie Johnston with a 2 and 1 victory also having been 2 down during his match.

Well done to our other two players Mark Croft who also gained a half and David Taylor who lost his match."

Clydesdale Bank Silver Salver (CSS 70)

Scratch Division - S. Chalmers 70; K. Thomson 71; T. Findlay 72; J. Martin 73

Division 1 - S. Chalmers (4) 66; T. Findlay (5) 67; B. Ross (9), J. Martin (5) 68; K. D. Taylor (8) 69; I. J McKenzie (6) and B. Leslie (5) 70

Division 2 - J. Macfarlane (13) 65; P. V. Page (13) 66; A. R. Souter (14) 67; H. Farquhar (15) 68; H. Houston (19), W. F. Thomson (14), S. Beck (14), A. Campbell (21) 69 and C. A. Smith (16) 70

Magic 2’s were worth £3 to the following players:

K Thomson, I Geddes, N Stewart (2) J Martin, T Scholefield, M Atherton, C Farrell, L Mitchell, S Beveridge, D McKenzie (2), S Mcleod, K Donaldson (2), S Houston, R Sheils (2), T Syme, A Botley (2), J Spence, H Farquhar, D lampkin, D Gee, G Adam, N Sabiston and Farquhar Thomson

Ball Raffle - 8 Balls Mike Mann, 7 Balls S Chalmers, 6 Balls AR Souter and 5 Balls E Leggat

Senior Open (CSS 73)

Scratch Section - L. Chancellor (Inverness) 70; S. Finnie (Caledonian) 71; N. Dyce (Strathmore) 74 and A. Ross (Northumberland) 75

Handicap Section - J. Martin (5) 67; A. J. Fiddes (Murcar Links) (4) 68; S. Bain (Inverurie) (9) 69; B. D. M. K. Munro (Newmachar) (16) B. Nicholson (Muir of Ord) (7), R. G. MacPherson (6), W. Stewart (6), J. D. Mathieson (Newmachar) (8), S. Fawcett (Newmachar) (10) 70; J. R. Meichan (9), W. Bell (18), C. Tweedie (Inverurie) (8) and E. Middleton (7) 71

Magic 2’s were worth £6.50 to the following players:

Ian Tasker, JB Thomson, JR Mcleod, J Murdoch, and A Cowie

Senior Stableford [5] (CSS 69)

Results - H. Pertler (22), J. Kennedy (14) 42pts; J. Dennis (12) 40pts; R. G. Garrow (19) 39pts; A. W. Miller (14) 38pts; R. Crane (11), S. M. Crane (15), B. Casburn (18) 37pts and C. D. Stewart (14) 36pts.

Magic 2’s were worth £6.00 to the following players:

D McBride, S Low, JC Macgregor, M Boaler and R Crane

Ladies Daily Mail Foursomes (CSS N/A)

Results - I. Smith & A. Souter (21) 78; V. Dennis & B. Caie (21.5) and N. Forbes & H. Leader (32.5) 86.5

Ladies K.S.M. Cup (CSS: 79 R/O)

Results - J. A. Robertson (12) 30pts; I. Smith (19) 29pts and N. Forbes (28) 28pts

Senior Stableford [5] (CSS 69)

H. Pertler (22), J. Kennedy (14) 42pts; J. Dennis (12) 40pts; R. G. Garrow (19) 39pts; A. W. Miller (14) 38pts; R. Crane (11), S. M. Crane (15), B. Casburn (18) 37pts; C. D. Stewart (14) 36pts.

Magic 2’s were worth £6.00 to the following players:

D McBride, S Low, JC Macgregor, M Boaler, R Crane

Juniors

Moray’s junior team travelled to Cullen GC last Friday to play the first leg of the Felicity Cup semi-final. Cullen is always a difficult venue to play as local knowledge plays a big part. The team lost the first leg 5-3 but we are still very much in the game and I’m confident that the boys can overturn this first leg deficit when the match is concluded this Friday to make the final for the first time in a long number of years.

Good Luck Boys !

Shop news

Summer sale

We have a number of items reduced by 30% in our summer sale section in the Pro Shop including Under Armour, Galvin Green and Oscar Jacobson.

Come and grab yourself a bargain !

Reserve your MGC waterproof cart bag

We are taking orders for some fantastic Moray Golf Club waterproof logo cart bags. These are made by a new golf bag company called Oull. The bag designer has made bags for all the top golf companies for years and has now started up on his own to produce some fantastic quality golf bags available in cart and stand bag versions that we get through Lynx.

We are giving members the chance to pre order one of these great bags at a reduced rate of only £179.99 cart or £159.99 for stand and is available in Black/Red, Black/Green, Black/Orange or Black/Blue

We can also offer a std cart bag (not 100% waterproof) for £149.99.

Come into the shop if you would like to take a look at the bags quality and design. These are ideal for Christmas presents as we can have these available for December delivery.

Customer feedback please - Golf shoes 2019

Thanks to everybody who took a couple mins out of their busy schedules to fill out my shoe survey. We have still to see some of the ranges for next year but your feedback will certainly help us to make some informed decisions going forward.

There is still time to give us your thoughts by clicking here.

Thankyou.

Bonus ball draw

We are running a bonus ball draw in the shop with a chance of you winning one of the new SkyCaddie SX500 GPS units. There are only 59 numbers available and each number costs £6. The new SkyCaddie has an RRP of £379.99 and comes with a new 5” touchscreen and is very simple to use. Click here to find out more.

Members trip

Castle Stuart - Last few spaces!

We still have a few spaces left for a members trip to Castle Stuart on Sunday 23rd September. I have now confirmed this date with Castle Stuart so need to start collecting everyone’s green fees as I need to pay this in advance on the first week of September.

If we still have spaces available at the start of next week then I’ll open up the available slots to members guests. Anyone who has not paid their fees by the Friday 7th September will also lose their place and these slots may be filled.

The date is Sunday 23rd September with tee times from 11.20-12.20. The cost is £90 which includes your green fee, bacon roll and coffee before your round and a main mail served after your game. £5 will also go towards providing a couple of prizes for top 2 stableford points score on the day. Practice balls and trollies are also complimentary on the day.

Click here if you'd like to join us.

Rule of the week

Those pesky birds

Dan had a long putt from the front of the 18th green Old with the hole cut back right. As his Ball was nearing the hole it was swooped on and picked up by a seagull and carried away and dropped off the green into the bunker.

Do I have to play my next stroke from the bunker he asked ? Not being sure how he should proceed, Neil was on hand to explain this rule ‘ Ball in motion deflected or stopped’ R 19-1

A seagull is an animate outside agency, which is any outside agency capable of voluntary movement. Under Rule 19-1b, when a ball has been deflected or stopped by an animate outside agency ( except a worm, insect or the like) and the stroke was made on the putting green, the stroke is cancelled and the ball must be replaced and replayed. If the ball is not immediately recoverable, another ball may be substituted. If the ball was stationary at the time the seagull picked it up there is no penalty and it would have to be replaced at the spot where it was picked up by the seagull.

Setting your sights

How many times do you find yourself lining up your shot and thinking "this is about an 8-iron from here to the pin", only to find that you end up 10-15 yards short of the hole? Being able to utilise accurate yardages is a key step to taking your game to the next level, which is why we'd recommend using a GPS device to ensure you always know exactly how far you have left to the pin.

Information at a glance

If you are yet to make the step into GPS assistance, why not try out the Garmin Approach S20? The watch's high-sensitivity GPS receiver gives you the distance data you need to fire away with confidence and hone in on the pin. You'll have distance to the front, back and middle of the green, as well as hazards, doglegs and layups.

watch our review >