A MESSAGE FROM YOUR NEW COUNTY CAPTAIN

On behalf of my Vice-Captain Gillian, Secretary Jean and committee members, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
I am looking forward to my 2 years as County Captain.
I know it's going to be a very busy time, especially with Renfrewshire hosting the West Division Inter County Team Matches at Haggs Castle in June.
 It just leaves me to wish you all, a Happy, Healthy and Handicap Reduction  2014 !!
I look forward to seeing you all at the Beetle Drive at Ralston on Sunday 2nd February.

Captain Gill

QUARTER FINALISTS FOR THE WINTER FOURSOMES

All the Winter Foursomes ties to be played by the 8th December 2013 have now been completed.
CLICK HERE to see all the quarter finalists.

LIFE IN THE AULD YINS YET !!! -- AND ALSO AN UPDATE FROM HEATHER ANDERSON AND LIZ HALE

Heather Anderson and Liz Hale  managed a win at Caldwell today (Sunday) in their Winter Foursomes Tie against  the youngsters, Laura Craig and Heather Mushet.

Good weather for golf and good conditions. Age difference makes you smile.  66 years between the youngest and the oldest.!!

Hi Carol,
Maybe far too late but I never followed up my story about Heather Anderson and her trip to Muirfield. -----     CLICK HERE for original story

Darren Clark

As you know Heather won the trip which included 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast at the McDonald Marine Hotel at North Berwick as well as a clinic with Darren Clark and a round of golf at Muirfield. before it closed for THE OPEN.. Heather was allowed to bring a friend and I was the lucky one.

We had a great time. The Marine was comfortable,friendly and good food. The clinic with Darren Clark was really informative and interesting - driving and short game- always something relevant you remember to take away with you.
This was followed by a wonderful buffet lunch in the Clubhouse before going out for our round of golf.
We were put into ten teams of four. As Heather and I were the only two ladies it was funny to see the expressions on the faces of the two Irish gentlemen who had been landed with us. They were great to play with.

The weather was good, sunshine and we each had a caddy. Heather played well which made the game enjoyable for her It was not my best round of golf. However, Darren Clark played 2 holes with our team and I have to say they are the only 2 holes that I played well. That was a bonus.
It was a great experience to play the course and made watching The Open itself more interesting as we recognised the holes.

After the game we returned to the Hotel where there was a prizegiving dinner with Darren Clark hosting a question and answer session. The men were given ties with the Claret Jug embroidered on it while Heather and I were given a lovely silver brooch of the Claret Jug. Nice keepsake.

A really enjoyable experience - a well deserved experience for Heather to add to all her very many golfing achievements. She was quite sad to come away from Muirfield.

Thanks go to Liz Hale for the story

SECOND ROUND TIES OF THE WINTER FOURSOMES ARE UNDERWAY

Brenda Conway and Fiona Armour

The 2nd round of the Winter foursomes are now underway -- 2 ties were played yesterday in mixed weather,
Match 1
The 2011- 2012 Winter Foursomes Champions Carol Fell (Ranfurly Castle) and Janette McCartney (Erskine) were up against the very strong Renfrew pairing of Brenda Conway and Fiona Armour.
The match started out at Erskine in torrential rain but after about 3 holes it dried up. With reasonably good play on both sides the match was all square at the ninth. The Renfrew partnership used their 8 shots well and with an exceedingly good run from the 10th to the 15th in one over par Carol and Janette were well and truly gubbed 4&3.
A birdie 4 at the 15th by Carol and Janette with a par to Brenda and Fiona finally sealed their fate !!

Match 2 
Barbara Lyle (Whitecraigs) and Susan Reid (Kilmacolm) played Linda McDougall and Anne Terrey (Greenock)  yesterday at Whitecraigs GC – Barbara and Susan won. Weather pretty mixed with rain, hailstones, wind and the occasional glimpse of blue sky!

2013 RLCGA AGM --- ALYSON IS GIVEN HONORARY MEMBERSHIP

Some of the Prizewinners

The 104th  RLCGA AGM was held at Haggs Castle Golf Club this evening --  the 6th November 2013.  

Captain Maureen Woodhead  welcomed Honorary President Eileen and all the committee and members to the AGM. 

WELCOME: 
Honorary members, Past Captains to our one hundred and fourth annual general meeting and thanked Haggs Castle Golf Club for once again allowing us to host our AGM in their clubhouse.
Secretary Jean Irvine read out over 70 apologies 
The minutes of the meeting held on November, 2012, had already been distributed and were taken as read

Matters Arising: None 

TREASURERS REPORT BY - TRACY MATHERTON (FULL FINANCIAL DETAILS WILL BE IN THE MINUTES)

This is my first report as the treasurer of the Renfrewshire Ladies County Golf Association.  I am pleased to report that this year we made a surplus of £431 compared to the deficit of £948 reported last year.

The main reason for the surplus this year is due to two amounts that we received from the SLGA – one for £1,748 and one for £774 – you can see these amounts recorded under other income.  Both amounts related to the Sophie Gifford Fund which I understand is a fund which historically had a link to East Lothian.  A decision was taken to cash in this Fund and this year the money was divided up amongst all of the counties.

The remainder of our income and expenditure for this year is broadly in line with last year.

Our entry fees show a slight increase and we also had the benefit of the income generated by the raffle at the biannual dinner. 

Our expenses this year in relation to competitions is higher than last year and this is down to the good weather that we have all enjoyed this year.  As a result of the weather all of our competitions were played.  I’m sure that no one has any complaints about the weather however the downside of the good weather is that we have spent slightly more than we did last year.

The increase in the expenses for the county team and the juniors is largely down to the new uniforms.  The additional money received from the SLGA allowed us to invest in new team uniforms for both the senior and the junior teams.  I’m sure that you’ll all agree that the new hot pink shirts that the teams have been wearing this year have been money well spent. 

At the end of the year we have a healthy bank balance.  However despite the healthy bank balance we have it is clear that without the income from the Sophie Gifford Fund our expenditure would have exceeded our income.  As you will all be aware our team have been very successful in recent years however this success does have an impact on our finances.  In the coming year the team are planning their own fund raising event (Gillian will fill you in later!) and you will all have seen the proposal to increase the membership fees from £30 to £35.  Assuming our membership numbers stay this same this increase will generate around £1,000 in additional income each year.  This, in addition to the team fund raising, should help us sustain a healthy financial position.

SECRETARY'S REPORT -  BY JEAN IRVINE

The weather has again been the talking point of our year.  I keep a diary of our competition weather and it started with wind and rain postponing our Championship, however with Kilmacolm's help we managed to complete the competition on the Saturday morning.  The April medal was again postponed and with Gourocks help we rearranged to the following Sunday and managed to complete that competition successfully as well.  Both competitons suffered with much lower numbers playing than is usual.

The rest of our competitons were played in good weather, however the Lochwinnoch medal in July suffered from the opposite problem of a very very hot day with lots of flies and we had call offs again.

We had smaller numbers playing this year, the highest entry being 40. 

It is getting more difficult  to get clubs to give us courtesy of their course, so I hope to see lots of entries for our competitions in 2014.

I was delighted to be Caddy Mistress for our team at the Jamboree at Bothwell Castle in June and then at the Scottish finals at Stirling in September.  Many thanks to all who volunteered to caddy  at both venues.

Membership is staying static with us having similar numbers to 2008, 242 members, 199 playing members.  Jean Smith tells me we usually have around 10 resignation and 10 new members each year.

If you haven't been getting my emails, please let  me have your email address.

Many thanks to Maureen for your help over these two years, thanks also to Tracy, Gillian, Freda and Jean Smith and of course to Carol Fell for all her work getting all information on to the website.

JUNIOR CONVENOR REPORT - BY JANETTE MCCARTNEY

RLCGA Junior Girls in Renfrewshire
At the moment there are approximately 25 girls with handicaps in the County and about another 75 who are members of County clubs and playing golf at some level, still not a lot when you consider we have 23 clubs, however we are much better off than lots of other counties who are really struggling for girls who play golf. There are pockets of girls where the membership is growing and very active such as Whitecraigs, MCGA, Erskine, Whinhill and Caldwell but there is still lot to be done to encourage more girls to get into golf.

West of Scotland Girls Golf 
I have left this slide in again this year as an illustration as to how girls can get involved in golf in this area. Clubgolf are active in schools and clubs throughout Scotland so this is a great starting place. Every child age 9 would have been introduced to golf throughout Scottish schools for the past 8 years and our 3 county areas Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde have been involved in varying degrees for at least 3 years. Hopefully from their introduction to clubgolf they then join a club where they can become involved in the Ladies section and the Junior section and get involved in competitions and match play.
They can also join the WSGGA where they get development, team matches and competitions. At County level, in RLCGA we offer free full membership to girls who have reach a handicap of 24 until they are age 23 and at this level they can play in all our competitions. We also offer coaching, development and team matches to all girls with or without handicap. Many golf clubs hold Junior Open Days where girls are very welcome and there are now a few that are girls only open days and we highlight these on the web and facebook. From Club and County golf girls can go on to SLGA competitions, development and national representation.

RLCGA Coaching 
In the depths of winter the girls started working on their games with an SLGA Development Squad of 8 at Playsport where snow was no deterrent as they braved the elements in wintery East Kilbride. Seriously though there were a few shortened sessions and cancelled days due to very severe conditions. There was another very healthy group of 12 Girls at Glasgow Golf Centre who although did not have snow to contend with it was still very cold indoors as Karyn put them through their paces. This year already we have 3 Development Groups at World of Golf, Playsport and MCGA and coaching has already started for most of them and they will be working hard over the winter just like all of us!
Seniors V Juniors A new kind of match play practice for the girls this year this year was a Junior v Senior match at Erskine which was meant to be a senior team event but numbers dwindled as the date approached and committee members past, present and future turned out for a cold but rewarding day over Erskine. Many thanks for all who helped out on the day with match play experience for the girls. We played fourball over the front 9 and foursomes over the back 9 I am sure they appreciated the game and the food afterwards

RLCGA Girls v RGU Boys.
Another first this year was match against the boys. With 9 turning up on the day We played 1 singles match and 4 fourballs with a very close result of 3.5/2.5. It was a lovely sunny day played over Erskine again with some very competitive golf being played.

Kennedy Salver Kirkintilloch

Renfrewshire - Kennedy Salver Team

We had high hopes for this year and got off to a great start with 2 points from the morning foursomes. However the afternoon proved too strong for us and Lanarkshire came bounding through with Ayrshire a close second. We ended up third again this year but with a few very close matches finishing on the 18th. The girls all looked fantastic with their new pink T Shirts and we would certainly have won the prize for the best looking team! It is being hosted in Lanarkshire in 2014 so we are looking forward to that already.

Campbell Clock Whitecraigs
After a disappointing cancellation to the first date the competition was finally played in not too bad conditions. It must have been easy for the girls as the winning score was a fantastic 45 points by Charlotte McCluskey of Whitecraigs. Many thanks to Maureen and Gillian Kyle for taking over on the day as I had to work.

Scottish Golf Academy News 
The Scottish Golf Academy is the national development programme for Scotland’s talented young golfers run by the SLGA & SGU. Maddie Cleat from Kilmacolm who has been very involved with Scottish Hockey and has not had as much time as she would have liked for golf has been invited back for a second year and last but not least is Jennifer Rankine from Haggs Castle who is real rising star. Jennifer started the year with a handicap of 28 and was playing off 13 just last month so she is definitely a name to look out for.

Girls Junior Championship 

I changed the format this year and invited girls to play so there was a total of 9 entries, giving them more match play experience and play at other courses. The final was contested between Alexandra Qayum and Mairi Gray over Gourock Golf Club and refereed by Captain Maureen. Alex retained the Junior Girls Championship for the second year in a row

RLCGA Junior Facebook

Niamh and Jennifer

WSGGA Championships at Troon this year was an all Renfrewshire Semi and Final with Bethany Crawford and Naimh Kinney from Erskine and Jennifer Rankine from Haggs Castle and Heather Mushet from Elderslie. Jennifer and Niamh won their morning rounds and had a great final with Jennifer the winner and the beaten semi finalists caddying for them.

This has been running all year reporting any club level news and away wins from junior girls. All who participate seem to have enjoyed the added feature and it keeps us up to date with what is going on. We regularly have between 100 and 400 viewing posts so thanks for participating and if you haven’t had a look yet please join the facetimers! Some other special achievements I would like to mention are Lauren Barbour from Erskine who won the Girls Open at Erskine Golf Club. Heather Mushet from Elderslie has had a great season and has reduced her handicap to 17 from 30 this season

As always I am indebted to Jinty Rodger and Sandra Littlejohn who formed the junior sub committee for all their very willing help throughout the year, I could not have coped without them and look forward to working with them next year. Carol Fell, of course for all the hard work she does on the web page and facebook. Many thanks also to all County Ladies and clubs for their ongoing support for Junior Girls. It is after all the future of the game.

2013 CAPTAINS REPORT - BY MAUREEN WOODHEAD

Renfrewshire and our representatives have had an exciting and successful season.

It began early in 2013 with Eilidh Briggs in the top 20 of her first tournament this year on the Orange Blossom Tour with Stirling University. She was in the top 25 in her second tournament. She then began her PE teacher placement in primary schools in Clackmannanshire.

On the social side, our Dinner here in March was successful even though we had no Speaker or entertainment. On chatting with some of you afterwards, and by the noise around the tables, it was clear that a great deal of catching up was taking place instead.

We had a very successful raffle, raising £440 to assist with the development of our County golf and I know that Susan Reid and a friend very much enjoyed the Spa Day, courtesy of Carol Whyte and Sandra Littlejohn and her select group had a fantastic round of golf over Pollok Golf Club.

Our well travelled golfers Eilidh and Alyson played in the French Under-21 Strokeplay Championship with Eilidh the leading British player, joint 12th, while Alyson finished joint 36th

In the Matchplay event of the French Championship Eilidh got to the semi-finals.

Our Winter foursomes Final was played on the Bank Holiday – by arrangement with the four competitors. I, like many others, was on holiday and I thank Jennifer Graham for being the referee. Congratulations to all four players and especially to Jinty Roger and Lesley Forsyth on their victory. I believe it was a particularly cold day in Glasgow – I was enjoying the sunshine in Lanzarote!!.

In the Scottish University Championships Iona Stephen was 2nd equal at Moray Golf Club and was in the winning St Andrews Team.

Our website has now been running for a decade and we continue to be indebted to Carol Fell for her hard work.

Our Championship this year was almost a wash-out. Had it not been for the support of Kilmacolm Golf Club there would have been huge difficulties to overcome to get this played. As it was, the sterling efforts of the green staff there allowed us to postpone the qualifying round to the Thursday. We had to reduce the number of qualifiers to 8 and played the quarter and semi finals on the Friday with the final being squeezed in front of the Gents medal at 8am on Saturday morning.

County Champion - Donna Jackson 

Iona Stephen was our top qualifier with a very creditable 81 and Tracy Masterton won the Peggy Clark for the best net (Gross 88, Net 75). She did extremely well to also qualify for the match play stages, well done Tracy.

The finalists were Donna Jackson and Gillian McGinlay. Donna came out the 4/2 winner. A full report was posted on our website. Congratulations to the finalists – and to everyone who braved the elements – I braved them for six holes, that was enough for me.

Our former member and past Champion – Clare-Marie Macaulay, who is now a fully qualified PGA Professional, is now working with her brother at Paisley Golf Club. We wish her continued success with her career.

In April the weather was horrendous and we also had to contend with yet another postponed Medal over Gourock. However, twelve hardy souls eventually played and that, as it turned out was the first and only qualifying round for the Rosebowl.

We continued with fairly unseasonal weather at Cathcart Castle with rain, hail and shine virtually all day but – we got it played!
In May Eilidh and Alyson played in the Welsh Championship with Eilidh finishing joint 11th (having had the best last round) and Alyson joint 36th. This meant they were unavailable to play in the West of Scotland Championship

Megan Briggs -- 2013 West of Scotland champion

In the West Championship held over 18 holes only at West Kilbride at the beginning of May, Megan Briggs ran out the individual winner with a CSS equalling 75. In a very close count-back Renfrewshire got the nod ahead of Lanarkshire for the Senior Team Trophy. Well done to our team of Donna Jackson, Gillian McGinlay and Megan Briggs.

We only had one Junior playing this year which was disappointing so we could not field a Junior Team.

Alyson McKechin 2013 Scottish Champion

A number of RLCGA members participated in the Scottish Close Championship at Longniddry. I wish to record our warmest congratulations to Alyson McKechin of Elderslie on winning the Scottish championship and the Gold Medal.

 Her perseverance over terrible overhead and underfoot conditions made her a worthy champion. Myself and Gillian were there to watch her – as were other Renfrewshire members. We were all pretty soaked by the end of it but it was smiles all round from Alyson.

Alyson has kindly brought her Championship trophy here tonight – a pretty impressive piece of silverware is it not!

Alyson joins Renfrewshire Past Scottish Champions - Dorothea Hastings, Heather Anderson, Aileen Wilson, Shirley Lawson and most recently Megan Briggs.

Eilidh and Megan Briggs also fared well in the Scottish Championship reaching the quarter and semi-finals respectively.

Denise Cowan reached the semi final of the Rosebowl. Congratulations to you all.
Alyson and Eilidh were two of the three members of the Scottish team the British women's open amateur championship at Machynys Peninsula, South Wales from June 11 to 15. While Eilidh qualified for the matchplay stages, Alyson went home to polish the Scottish Championship trophy.

Donna Jackson and Liz Stewart won the Inter County Finals at Ranfurly Castle by 5 shots with Val Lawrence (Kilmacolm) and Brenda Conway (Renfrew) winning the Handicap Prize by 8 shots.

Winning RLCGA County Team

Once again our Renfrewshire team won the Inter County Matches held this year at Bothwell Castle Golf Club. We had wins against all the three other West Counties.

At Bothwell Castle I was delighted to mark Donna Jackson’s 30 years service to the Renfrewshire team with a special presentation at the prizegiving. Donna had absolutely no idea what was about to happen but in her speech showed still just how much County golf still means to her.

We headed to the Scottish Finals in Stirling with great expectations. Those hopes were dented slightly when Eilidh Briggs once again had to withdraw as she had been selected to play for the Stirling University Team in France. Another disappointment was that Iona Stephen’s leave had been withdrawn and she could not take part. However, the team could rely on the call-up once again of Liz Stewart and the selection of Katrina Milne, a former Fife County player who had joined Renfrewshire as she now lives in Renfrewshire and plays at Erskine Golf Club.

As you all know, we just failed in our efforts to win the Scottish title. We kicked off with a great 7-2 victory over Borders then had a narrow defeat to Midlothian 4-5 the next day. It was all to play for on day three. Although we managed to beat the ‘bookies favourites’ Aberdeenshire 5-4, the countback put us into third place. The countback to decide the Champions went into the minutiae and because they played one hole less, Midlothian were declared the winners over Aberdeenshire.

I would like to record my thanks to players, caddies and supporters – as well as my Vice Captain Gillian and the Caddy Mistress, Jean Irvine. Everyone made a supreme effort but it just wasn’t to be.

I know that even now, some of our team are still smarting over missed putts and missed chances – never mind, there’s always next year!!

I would like to thank the team for my gift and the kind words in the card given to me at the Prizegiving. I will treasure them. The wine glasses have, so far, been pretty well used.

In the Senior Scottish Championship at West Linton, The West Vets Captain, Anna Telfer of Milngavie won the Title.

Renfrewshire’s Fiona Cameron (Cowglen) was the beaten finalist in the new Plate (2nd flight) competition.

The Scottish Girls Championship was played at Ranfurly Castle Golf Club this year. Local player Alexandra Qayum reached the match play stages but was beaten by the eventual winner Connie Jaffrey (Troon) – who has recently been announced as the Scottish Junior Order of Merit winner.

Alyson McKechin and Eilidh Briggs were selected as part of the team to represent Scotland in the European Women’s Team Championship at Fulford Golf Club, Yorkshire and later in the year were selected to represent Scotland in the British Championship at Prestwick Golf Club.

Eilidh and Alyson were joined by Megan Briggs on being selected to represent Scotland in the Home International Matches at Scotscraig Golf Club, Fife. While they all did their best, Scotland ran out with the wooden spoon. In August the Kennedy Salver was played at Kirkintilloch Golf Club on a lovely day. The young Renfrewshire Team were up against it but did their very best and I have no doubt they will come to the fore in the future.

Carol Fell - County Open Meeting Winner

Carol Fell (Ranfurly Castle) won the County Open Meeting at Drumpellier Golf Club with a net 69. Carol has enjoyed quite a successful golfing year – despite her initial anxieties when deciding to dump the broom handled putter and revert to a ‘regular’ putter. Well done Carol.

In the Scottish Under 21 Championship at Inverness Golf Club Eilidh Briggs was runner up while Alyson McKechin came 7th. Young Alexandra Qayum also played and must have gained much from her experience.

In September the County Rosebowl Final was held over Haggs Castle Golf Club between myself and Denise Cowan of Ranfurly Castle. The weather at the start was pretty miserable but it eventually cleared up.

Denise and Maureen County Rosebowl Finalists

Congratulations to Denise on her win. I was just delighted to reach the final and confirm that my game has not been completely lost since taking up office.

I would like to record my congratulations to Alexandra Qayum of Ranfurly Castle retaining the Junior championship. I refereed the match and I’d like to thank the few spectators who travelled to Gourock to watch our upcoming talent.

The Autumn Greensomes were played at Greenock with June Lockhart and new member Shirley Back from Gleddoch coming out on top. Vice Captain Gillian and myself were second – definitely life in us yet, Gill, and Lesley Stevenson and Gourock Captain Margie Carmichael were third.

Towards the end of the season, Eilidh won the silver medal at the European University Championships in France and was part of the Stirling University team who also won the silver medal.

 This was a wonderful achievement for Eilidh and having won the Junior Order of Merit for the last three years, Eilidh is up with the big girls now and has won the Scottish Order of Merit this year – very many congratulations Eilidh.

Left to right: Sammy Leslie, Megan Briggs (Champion of Champions) and Ailsa Summers - Courtesy of the SLGA

The last golfing even was pretty much the Champion of Champions and our West of Scotland Champion Megan Briggs was victorious with a fantastic five under par score. Well done Megan, a nice end to the season for you.

We have many Club Champions in Renfrewshire and I wish to record my congratulations to them all.

Other Golfing matters:

Unfortunately our Fundraising Bridge Night had to be cancelled due to lack of numbers. My impression is simply that we picked the wrong time of year as many people were away on an ‘end of season’ holiday.

We have decided to go with a Beetle Drive instead. It will be held in the afternoon of Sunday 2nd February 2014 at Ralston Golf Club. Please keep an eye on the website for further details.

That apart, the team, urged by Vice Captain Gillian, have agreed to do some fundraising of their own in February and they are to be commended for this. No doubt there will be more of this when things are finalised and now that I’ve mentioned it at the AGM there’s no getting out of it for them.

Our Past Captain Beth Paterson is now the SLGA Chairperson and our congratulations go to Beth. There is no doubt that Beth holds County golf at heart and will ensure that our interests are served throughout her term of office.

Audrey Sturgess of Haggs Castle is the new West Director at the SLGA. Renfrewshire wish to congratulate Audrey on her appointment and have no doubt that she too will do a terrific job.

The Amalgamation reports are all available via the SLGA website and I would encourage you to keep up to date with any progress – albeit somewhat slow progress. However, it’s all for the benefit of golf so it should be considered thoroughly.

West of Scotland AGM was held back in August and Nora McCrossin retired as Secretary. Lanarkshire outgoing Captain Fiona Scott has agreed to take over.

In order to better utilise our funds we have decided that fixture cards will not be printed but will be posted on the website. Those who do not have internet access will have a list of fixtures posted out to them.

Our AGM minutes will also be available to view on the website with copies being posted out to those unable to access them.

This will make a significant saving both with printing and stationery costs – but especially with postage costs.

I can honestly say I have really enjoyed my time as Captain. It has been demanding and rewarding in equal measure. I leave the County in the hands of a capable Committee and your incoming Captain Gillian.

My final task as Captain is that I am delighted to announce that as our National Champion Alyson has been granted Honorary Membership of Renfrewshire Ladies County Golf Association.

I would ask Alyson to please come up and receive her scroll.

Alyson receives her Honorary Membership Scroll

After Alyson received her Honorary Membership Maureen then introduced Gillian McGinlay and presented her with her badge of office as the new Captain of RLCGA -

CAPTAIN GILLIAN MCGINLAY'S REPORT

I am truly honoured to be taking over the County Captaincy from Maureen.
I know she will be a hard act to follow, but I hope I am up for the task.
Over the last 2 years, I have watched, learned and gained valuable experience, which will hopefully stand me in good stead, to fulfil my role.

Maureen, I would like to present you with your Past Captains Badge and also a token of appreciation for all your hard work for the County over the last 4 years.

Gillian Kyle

I would now like to introduce my vice captain…. Gillian Kyle.

She has been a past Captain and Club champion of East Renfrewshire.

Gillian joined the County in 1987 and has become an integral part of the county team. Gillian is currently the County Child Protection Officer.
May I propose and Maureen has seconded, that Gillian Kyle be vice-captain.
Gillian was then given her vice-captain badge

I propose that Jean Irvine continue as secretary, Tracy Masterton continues as Treasurer. Janette McCartney continues as Junior Secretary.
Coming off committee this year is, Jinty Rogers , Susan Reid and Nicola Henderson. I wish to thank them for all for their hard work and dedication t to the County over the last 3 years.

Donna Jackson Proposed by Maureen and seconded by …. Be elected as a committee member.

There remains two more vacancies on committee and despite several telephone calls, I have been unable to get volunteers. I would urge anyone who would like to come onto committee to contact me.

Other posts, Gillian will remain as Child Protection Officer. Jean Smith will continue as Membership Secretary and Freda Tuck will remain as Results Secretary.

Our thanks are also conveyed to our Auditor.

Proposed Amendments To The Constitution.

It has been proposed unanimously by the Committee that the membership fee to be increased to £35 per year. We have not had an increase for a number of years and our success in the Inter County matches is a bit of a double edged sword with us incurring significant costs.

It has been proposed unanimously by the Committee that from 2014 there is an annual fee of £10 for non playing membership and it would be nice if those of you who are currently non playing members would consider making a donation of £10.

Also in the non-playing category, it has been proposed unanimously by the Committee that from 2014 former members who have turned Professional are eligible to apply for non playing membership.

This enables them to continue to have involvement in the County which helped them along in their amateur career.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMANT WAS PASSED

OTHER POINTS OF NOTE

The Minutes of the A.G.M will put on the website for approx. 4 weeks after A.G.M. then removed.
It is proposed to put fixture list on the website. --- This would cut down on printing costs.
West Of Scotland County 4`s : It was passed at the A.G.M a change in qualifying rules..
It will now be 2 scratch and 4 handicaps teams that will qualify.
This was agreed as in the past years, handicap teams have had to play in the scratch section.
This will be for a one year trial period.

FIXTURES:

West Division Inter County Matches (Jamboree) will be held at Haggs Golf Club between 16th-18th June 2014.
Scottish County Final 19th -21St September, venue to be confirmed (suggestions that it may be at Hilton Park).
West of Scotland Sunday 4th May at Windyhill G.C.
Kennedy Salver will be held at Hamilton Golf Club on 23rd June 2014.
Inter County 4`S date and venue to be confirmed.
The Scottish Ladies amateur Championship will be held at Old Prestwick Golf Club 20th -24th May 2014.

With no AOCB ---- The prize giving was then held ---

PRIZEGIVING

The prize-winners were read out by Jean Irvine and President Eileen Gibb presented the prizes.

PRIZEWINNERS :

Winter Foursomes 2012/2013 (Salvers)

Winners: ​​Jinty Rodger and Lesley Forsyth (Williamwood)
Runners Up :​​ Thea Morgan and  Morag Little (Whitecraigs) -- Photo at top of post shows Jinty and Morag holding the trophies.

Spring Meeting - Old Ranfurly - 15th May, 2013
Scratch: ​​Gillian Kyle (East Renfrewshire)
Scratch -12 (Handicap ) :
​1st: ​Gillian​ Kyle ​(East Renfrewshire)
​​2nd: ​Linda Mcdougall (Greenock)
​​3rd: ​Jennifer Mack (Haggs Castle)
13-28 (Handicap)
​​1st​: Anne Aitken(Eastwood)
​​2nd: ​Jane McDonald (Kilmacolm)
​​3rd: ​Sally Smyth (Ranfurly Castle)
​
County Foursomes - Cathcart Castle - 29th April, 2013
Scratch: ​1st​ Donna Jackson(Cochrane Castle) and Liz Stewart (Greenburn)
​​2nd: ​Heather Anderson and Liz Hale (Caldwell)
​​3rd​: Gillian Kyle and Linda Ellery (East Renfrewshire)
Handicap​:
1st​: ​Donna Jackson (Cochrane Castle) and Liz Stewart (Greenburn)
​​2nd: ​Heather Anderson and Liz Hale (Caldwell)
​​3rd​: Susan Reid(Kilmacolm) and Barbara Lyle (Whitecraigs)

Challenge bowl (best net aggregate April Medal and Spring Meeting) - Knockout
Runner Up​​: Maureen Woodhead (Gourock)
Winner: ​​Denise Cowan (Ranfurly Castle)

Autumn Greensomes - Greenock - 10th September, 2013
​​1st​: June Lockhart and Shirley Back (Gleddoch )
​​2nd: ​Maureen Woodhead (Gourock) and Gillian McGinlay(Cochrane Castle)
​​3rd: ​Margie Carmichael and Lesley Stevenson (Gourock)

Medal Spoons
April: ​​(Gourock) ​​Tracy Masterton
June: (​​Ralston) ​​Brenda Conway
July: ​​(Lochwinnoch)​​ Cathy Morton
August: ​(Eastwood)​​ Carol Anderson
September​: (Gleddoch) ​​Fiona Armour

SLGA Brooch (awarded to winner in medal with largest entry) (Gleddoch)
scratch - 12​: June Lockhart
13-28: ​​Fiona Armour

Medal Finals (played in conjunction with June medal - 5 spoon winners from 2012)
Carol Whyte (Milngavie)

Team brooch awarded for being member of RLCGA team
Katrina Milne (Erskine)

Junior Championship
Winner: ​​Alexandra Qayum (Ranfurly Castle)
Runner Up: ​​Mairi Gray (Williamwood)

County Championship / Open Day (​​Kilmacolm - 17-19 April, 2013)

Scratch: ​​Iona Stephen​​
Peggy Clark Trophy: ​Tracy Masterton (Milngavie)
2nd handicap : ​​Iona Stephen (Ranfurly Castle)
3rd: ​​​Denise Cowan (Ranfurly Castle)
Finalists:​​ Donna Jackson  v Gillian McGinlay (Cochrane Castle)
Runner up:​​ Gillian McGinlay
Winner - Blythswood Trophy and Brooch - ​​Donna Jackson

Donna as Champion said a few words of thanks after the prize giving

AGM 2014

The A.G.M will be held at Haggs Castle on Wednesday 5th November.

VOTE OF THANKS AT END OF EVENING

Gillian Kyle, Vice-Captain gave the vote of thanks at the end

CLICK ON THE SMALL THUMBNAIL TO SEE SOME PHOTOS FROM THE AGM

RLCGA AGM 2013

RENFREWSHIRE AGM IS ON WEDNESDAY 6th NOVEMBER

The Annual General Meeting of the Renfrewshire Ladies’ County Golf Association, to which all members are invited, will take place at Haggs Castle Golf Club, Glasgow on Wednesday 6th November 2013 at 7.30 p.m. Copies of the Minutes for the 2012 AGM have already been distributed.

May I draw your attention to Item 10 on the Agenda. The Committee proposes to amend the Constitution regarding the category of Non-Playing Members.

Our success at the Inter-County matches over the last few years have had a significant impact on our finances and, coupled with no increases in fees in recent years, it is proposed that the Annual Fee be increased to £35.

I believe this is still excellent value for money having regard to the wide range of courses we play without any additional costs.

I do hope you can manage along to meet up with golfing friends. However, if you cannot make it, please intimate any apologies to Jean Irvine, Hon. Secretary. Email address: jean.irvine@sky.com.

Maureen Woodhead (Captain)

A G E N D A
1. Captain’s Remarks
2. Apologies
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting
4. Matters Arising
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Secretary’s Report
7. Junior Secretary’s Report
8. Captain’s Report
9. Election of Office Bearers
10. Proposed Amendment to Constitution: Substitute the following numbered Article with the corresponding Article in the constitution amended in 2011:

5. (iii) Members who become Professional Golfers may retain their membership of RLCGA by becoming Non-Playing members. The fee payable by all new Non-Playing members from the date of the AGM 2013 shall be an annual fee to be decided in terms of Section 5(i)

11. Any Other Business
12. Presentation of Prizes
13. Date of Next AGM
14. Vote of Thanks

MORE FIRST ROUND WINTER FOURSOMES TIES RESULTS

Two more Winter Foursomes ties have been played --- Julie Will and Angela Fergusson have won against Mo Neilson & Sandra Macdougall (Greenock).
The other tie was between Agnes Williamson and Jean Irvine (Ranfurly Castle) who won against Maimie Robin and Joyce Kelly (Elderslie) They played this morning in some sunshine !!!
You will find the full results on the link on the top of this web page
From your webmaster Carol reporting from Turkey !!!

WET WEATHER REDUCES WINTER FOURSOMES TIE TO 6 HOLES

Helen Abram and Mary Hardie (Ranfurly Castle) played Lesley Forsyth and Jinty Rodger (Williamwood) in the pouring rain yesterday (Friday 25th October) They paddled about the course and all agreed to cut it down to 6 holes. Eventually Helen and Mary won on the 18th. Couldn't really call it golf but better than tossing a coin !!

The other tie to be played was Brenda Conway and Fiona Armour (Renfrew) who played their 1st round tie on Wednesday at Whitecraigs against Thea Morgan and Morag Little and won the tie 4 and 3.

MEGAN BRIGGS WINS THE CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

FROM THE SLGA WEBSITE

Left to right: Sammy Leslie, Megan Briggs and Ailsa Summers - Courtesy of the SLGA

Renfrewshire's Megan Briggs continued the recent dominance of the Briggs family at the Champion of Champions by winning (Sunday 20th October) over Glasgow Gailes after her younger sister Eilidh had won the event for the previous two seasons.
On a day that saw some heavy showers mixed with bursts of sunshine a field of 11 players were competing in the season ending event and Megan with a score of 72, five shots under the CSS of 77, proved too strong for the quality field which included the current Scottish Champion Alyson McKechin and Girls Champion Connie Jaffrey.

WINNER:  Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) 72
SECOND:  Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) 75
THIRD:  Sammy Leslie (Aberdeen Ladies) 78
CSS 77

EILIDH BRIGGS WINS SLGA WOMEN'S ORDER OF MERIT

NEWS RELEASE FROM SCOTTISH LADIES GOLFING ASSOCIATION

Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) won the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association’s Girls’ Order of Merit three years in a row from 2009. After an impressive list of results, she has been crowned this season’s Senior Order of Merit winner.
Eilidh collected 2075 points to finish ahead of Scottish Ladies’ Amateur Champion Alyson McKechin (Elderslie) with Ailsa Summers (Carnoustie Ladies) in third place. Megan Briggs (Kilmacolm) – Eildih’s older sister – was fourth.
“I was delighted with the year,” said Eildih, a Stirling University physical education student. “I was consistent all season and really performed in the big events.
“I had top 15 finishes in the Scottish, Welsh and Irish Opens and not many players do that. I had the chance to win a couple of times and I learned a lot from the year. It was good that my form didn’t go up and down. It was steady throughout.”
In her third year at Stirling, the 20-year-old is grateful for the help she receives from the University. “It is tough trying to do everything, but I love the fact that I am adding to my education while my golf is still improving,” she said. “Everyone at Stirling helps me to combine both.”
A member of the Home International team at Scotscraig – as was Megan – Eilidh was disappointed that Scotland finished with the wooden spoon, but she could be proud of a personal haul of two foursomes wins and two singles points.
“We had a very new, young team and a lot of the matches were very close (Scotland drew with Ireland) so there were encouraging signs, she pointed out. “Also, a lot of our players are in the US so were unavailable.”
With another two years of study at University, Eilidh is not looking too far ahead. But golf definitely features in her future plans. “My goal is to get a GB and Ireland cap and finish my degree before making any serious decisions about my golf,” she added. “This year has been very good and I just want to keep getting better.”

2013 Order of Merit top ten

1 Eilidh Briggs Kilmacolm 2075 points
2 Alyson McKechin Elderslie 1613
3 Ailsa Summers Carnoustie Ladies 1520
4 Megan Briggs Kilmacolm 1410
5 Clara Young North Berwick 1335
6 Jessica Meek Carnoustie Ladies 1100
7 Jane Turner Craigielaw 1065
8 Lauren Whyte St Regulus 970
9 Rachel Polson Peterculter 880
10 Hannah Scott Broomieknowe 770