Girls McDermott Trophy

The Northern Counties Girls McDermott Trophy took place on Sunday 8th May at a rather wet & windy Garmouth & Kinston. The Par and CSS were 71.
Results were as follows:-

1st Scratch - Kelsey MacDonald - Nairn Dunbar - 80
2nd Scratch - Ashton Ingram -Fort William - 82

1st Handicap - Sammy Vass - Tain - 67
2nd Handicap - Chloe MacLeod - Nairn Dunbar - 78

Cara Gruber
Junior Convenor

County Foursomes

Please note that the County Foursomes/Commonwealth Spoons are being held at Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club on Thursday 26th May. Closing Date is the 10th May. Entry fee £10 per couple with an optional £2 per couple for Spoons competition. Entries to Mrs L.Loyd-Baker, Brin House, Fichity, Inverness IV2 6XE - Telephone 01808 629361

Championship Final Results

Mary Benton Trophy
Semi-Final - K. MacDonald (Nairn Dunbar) beat K. Harper (Inverness) 2 & 1; M. Howieson (Inverness) beat J. Milne (Elgin) 3 & 2
Final - K. MacDonald beat M. Howieson by 2 holes

Chetham Trophy (Handicap)
Semi-Final - S. MacDonell (Inverness) beat S. Mackenzie (Elgin) 6 & 5; F. Allan (Inverness) beat A. Strauss (Royal Dornoch) 2 & 1
Final - S. MacDonell beat F. Allan 4 & 3

Next year the Championship will be held at Forres Golf Club.

Championship Results

Mary Benton Trophy - Qualifiers
K. Harper (4) (Inverness) 74; J. Milne (2) (Elgin) 75; M. Howieson (8) (Inverness) 79; K Macdonald (3) (Nairn Dunbar) 79; E. Manson (6) (Thurso) 80; W. Ross (5) (Elgin) 80; L. Clark (7) (Nairn) 81; C. McAndrew (3) (Nairn Dunbar)83

Quarter Finals -
K. Harper beat C. McAndrew 3 & 2; K. Macdonald v E. Manson 1 up; M. Howieson beat W. Ross 5 & 3; J. Milne beat L. Clark 4 & 3

Chetham Trophy (Handicap) - Qualifiers
S. MacDonell (Inverness) (17) 72; A. Strauss (Royal Dornoch) (13) 73; F. Allan (Inverness) (23) 73; S. Mackenzie (Elgin) (12) 75

Winner of the Raffle prize which was a wonderful putter was - Trish Fraser from Fortrose & Rosemarkie Golf Club - Congratulations to you!

Congratulations

Wishing Cara Gruber and Kelsey Macdonald good golf at the Helen Holm at Troon this weekend.
Mairi Orr, Captain

Congratulations

Congratulations go to Cara Gruber for being selected for Scotland no. 2 at the Welsh Championship and we wish her every success. As our Junior Convenor and Secretary, she is doing a magnificent job rounding up the troops and encouraging them to play and what a role model the girls have to follow.

Congratulations to Kelsey MacDonald, Sammy Vass and Chloe Macleod for their efforts at the St. Leonards last week.

Congratulations to Christine McAndrew in the Vets. match against Ireland.

Northern Counties Championship Draw

Inverness Golf Club - Saturday 30th April

B - Brora; BB - Bonar Bridge; Bu -Buckpool; E - Elgin; F - Forres; F&R - Fortrose & Rosemarkie; FW - Fort William; I - Inverness; MO - Muir of Ord; N - Nairn; ND - Nairn Dunbar; RD - Royal Dornoch; S - Strathpeffer; T - Tain; TB - Tarbat; Th - Thurso; W - Wick

8.00 - L. Smith Bu & J. Milne E
8.06 - K. MacDonald ND & K. Harper I
8.12 - C. MacAndrew ND & M. Smith T
8.18 - W. Ross E & E. Manson Th
8.24 - A. Ryan T & A. Dunnett Th
8.30 - A. Ingram FW & N. Scrimgeour MO
8.36 - L. Clark N & M. Howieson I
8.42 - D. MacAngus W & P. Gordon I
8.48 - V. Spark S & C. MacKay I
8.54 - M. MacDonald Bu & G. Hutcheon I
9.00 - A. Gowie I & M. MacDonald RD
9.06 - L. Fraser FR & S. Mackenzie E
9.12 - H. Stuart MO & E. Coghill RD
9.18 - P. Morrison MO & M. Gordon TB
9.24 - E. Hutton MO & D. Marshall F
9.30 - M. Bagott RD & M. Barclay Bu
9.36 - A. Strauss RD & S. MacLennan ND
9.42 - D. McBride RD & A. Miller N
9.48 - T. WEekes RD & J. Nalder N
9.54 P. MacPherson ND & M. Ross FR
10.00 - N. Bowie I & D. Mackay MO
10.06 - M. Lane TB & E. Wallace MO
10.12 - M. Ritchie MO & M. Rennie RD
10.18 - F. Fraser FR & J. Glen S
10.24 - H. Cumming FR & M. Brennan RD
10.30 - S. Macdonell I & S. Vass T
10.36 -
10.42 - M. MacLean MO & V. Balfour W
10.48 - A. Rose MO & A. Burnett RD
10.54 - R. Bruce MO & F. Allan I
11.00 - A. Drummond FR & K. LAwson RD
11.06 - A. Ross T & K. MacKay ND
11.12 - C. MacKay MO & H. MacLeod I
11.18 - T. Miller ND & B. Little B
11.24 - M. Matheson BB & M. Hill RD
11.30 - S. MacDonald RD & M. Webster FR
11.36 - J. Elder ND & W. Hendry MO
11.42 - P. Webster BB & J. Cameron S
11.48 - S. Bruce B & M. Douglas RD

NC Girls Competition

The first Senior/Girl Foursomes stableford competition was held at Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club and was a great success. Results are as follows:-

1. Kelsey MacDonald & Cara Gruber (Nairn Dunbar & Royal Dornoch) 38 pts.
2. Rachel & George Clubb (Royal Dornoch) 32 pts.
3. Ashton Ingram & Mairi Orr (Fort William & Tain) 28 pts.
4. Chloe MacLeod & Sheena MacLennan (Nairn Dunbar) 24 pts.
5. Alice & Sally Rowan (Inverness) 23 pts.

Also Cara Gruber had her first ever hole in one at the 142 yard par 3 14th hole, using an 8 iron - Well done to her!!

County Championships

If you do not have your entry in for the Championships, what are you waiting for! Liz Maclaren is waiting for the postman every day. Look forward to seeing you all in Inverness.

Mairi Orr, Captain

County Gear

Enamel badges can be bought at £4 each and Polo shirts at £10 each. A small selection of sweaters are also available. We need you to purchase these items as without your support, county funding could be a problem.

Best wishes
Mairi Orr, Captain

Celebrations in Tenerife

Ten Northern County members are in Tenerife for Gillian Hutcheon's pre-nuptials and took time out to support Lix McKinnon at the Tenerife Open where she is on +2 after the first day. Liz did extremely well in Bangkok and will be back in Northern Counties on the 12th April to give us all her news.

Mairi Orr
Captain

Junior Training

The Junior Convenor intends to split the county into four areas - Caithness, Sutherland/Ross-shire, Ross-shire/Inverness-shire, Inverness-shire/Morayshire (roughly). It is hoped that the SLGA National Coach, Karyn Dallas, will come and teach the volunteers/leaders in the various areas. They will be taught the basics of a coaching programme and given some games to play with the girls. It is all about making golf fun and trying to keep them interested. The coaching will be run entirely by the volunteers (if she can get enough). All sessions will be free if they are members of the County. Coaching will also be available for more developed golfers (this will be done by pro's). 4 - 6 sessions are planned for the year, with the first being in May.
So as I am sure you have all guessed by now, she is on the hunt for volunteers.
Eileen Manson (Caithness), Mary Smith (Sutherland/Ross-shire), possible Mairi Orr in the same area and Jenny Milne (Morayshire) have already offered their services, but more are needed for the programme to work. Please let Cara Gruber (Junior Convenor) know if you are interested -
e-mail address - caz55_uk@yahoo.co.uk
telephone no. - 01997 421336
The above mentioned ladies, could you please contact Cara with possible times to get together with Karyn.

Reminder for Junior Girls

NEW COMPETITION - The Senior/Girl competition will take place on Sunday 17th April at Strathpeffer Spa Golf Club. Everybody is welcome and a handicap is not necessary. There will be fun competitions with prizes as well as prizes for the main competition. Please come along. I look forward to meeting you all then.

Cara Gruber
Junior Convenor

Reminder

Please note that the Closing Date for entries to the COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS is 15th April. This year they are being held at INVERNESS GOLF COURSE on 30th April and 1st May.

Mairi Orr
Captain

Pam's Quiz

A big thank you to all who took part in the quiz night at Fairways on Wednesday 23rd March. An outstanding amount of over £400 was raised for the junior girls. The entry was also the biggest ever received with 16 teams participating. A special THANK YOU must go to Pam Gordon for all her hard work in organising and running the competition. Great job Pam!

Cara Gruber
Junior Convenor

News from Liz McKinnon

Hi All,
Just to let you know that Roy and I will be back in Inverness on 12th April. We fly out of NZ this Saturday and go to Thailand where I am playing in the 2005 Thailand Ladies Open and then we go to Tenerife for the Tenerife Ladies Open. I met up with Annette Laing for a few holes at Auckland Golf Club. At the moment she can only play 9 holes as she recently had a back operation, though she should be back to full swing in a couple of months. She was asking after a lot of people and was very interested to know what life was now like in Scotland and the difference with New Zealand. See you all in 2 weeks.

Liz McKinnon

County Squad & Scratch League Organisers

REMINDER
The next Training Meeting wil be held at Elgin on Sunday 20th March at 10.00 am. If you have not done so already, please notify Captain of attendance (or not) as soon as possible.

Jenny Louden

Quiz Reminder

Everybody please note that Pam's Quiz Night is on 23rd March at Fairways, Inverness. 7 for 7.30 pm and the cost is £5 per head which will include light refreshments. Telephone 01667 453392 with your team details.

Mairi Orr
Captain

New Secretary

I would like to welcome Mary Hayden as our new secretary for Northern Counties. Our previous secretary, Pam Moscati, has had to retire due to ill health and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking her for the work she has done over the past few months.

Mairi Orr
Captain

Congratulations to Kelsey

The Officials of NCLGA send heartfelt congratulations to Kelsey MacDonald on being selected to represent Scotland in Team 2 on the 7th & 8th April 2005 in The St. Leonards 16s.
We are very proud of the effort which Kelsey has put in and we know she will be an inspiration to all of our junior girls.

Mairi Orr
Captain