Result- Strokeplay Round 1. PGA. Sat 10th May.

Mr Mike Collier launching a beauty on the 9th.

This morning saw the grand opening round of the Strokeplay Championship, played across the majestic expanse of the PGA course. On a crisp, picture-perfect morning, 27 brave souls launched their drives heroically into the blue from the white tees—some even landing on the fairway.

As for your humble correspondent, I finally found a cure for my chronic three-putting: simply don’t use the putter! My short game peaked early with a bunker shot on the 3rd that miraculously found the hole for a birdie, leaving Mr. McColgan purring like a contented cat. Not to be outdone, I chipped in from the front of the green on the very next hole for another birdie, earning a look of genuine astonishment from Mr. Collier. Naturally, the universe restored balance soon after, as I proceeded to rack up a generous helping of double—and even a quadruple—bogeys.

Speaking of Mr. Collier, he was left utterly bewildered as to why he’d been paired with yours truly for the second week running. Rumour has it, a third consecutive pairing might prompt a formal complaint to the Council. His only consolation? The ever-amiable company of Mr. McColgan.

Mr. David McColgan set the early pace, holding the lead for best Gross score of the day. Meanwhile, Mr. Doug Law, continuing his hot streak, briefly topped the Net leaderboard—until Mr. Crawford Gray, playing inspired golf and motivating us all, posted a net 72 (despite a 7 on the last!). Not far behind, Prof. Jonathon Fletcher carded a net 74 to lead the chasing pack.

The Gross leaderboard is currently topped by Mr. McColgan, with Mr. Alistair Cantlay and Mr. George Stubbs hot on his heels. As always, the plus handicappers (the cream of the crop) are floating to the top.

With 22 players completing their rounds, the championship is still wide open with two rounds to play.

Gross Leaderboard

Net Leaderboard

On a lighter note, as the photo below shows, the two Billy McNeills were all smiles in the clubhouse, comparing scorecards. Billy Z was calmly explaining how a missed putt on the last led to a tidy 10. In a twist worthy of a Hollywood script, both finished with the same net score.

Next up: the Spring Meeting, next Saturday, 17th May, on the truly magnificent King’s course. The forecast is for dry, sunny weather, and there are still plenty of spaces left—so sign up via the app!

Taz

History: The Stroke Play Trophy first awarded in 1984. In late 1983 there was some discussion at Council about changing the format of the Championship Cup (the original trophy of the Club) but it is clear from the minutes that this idea was not welcome and the result of the discussion at that time was the purchase of a new trophy by the Club to be called the Stroke Play Trophy. It was decided this would be a four round medal play trophy. For many years the trophy was played utilising medals on four consecutive months, two on the Kings and Two on the Queens. The best net aggregate was declared the winner. In recent years with the construction of the PGA Centenary Golf course the format of this has now been changed to three medal rounds one Kings, one Queens and one PGA. Again the winner is the member with the best net aggregate for the three rounds

The Scratch Stroke Play Trophy came into existence in 2020 when then Club Captain Andrew Lothian was delighted to have won the scratch section of the Stroke Play event only to discover there wasn’t a trophy for that….. he solved this by donating a lovely Claret Jug which has been awarded from 2021 onwards. Andy hasn’t won it…. yet!