Every time! EVERY TIME! Why do we always manage to get caught somewhere between No Hope & Bob Hope!?

When we were rank rotten under achievers it was fine... it allowed the Country to do the one thing we are internationally ‘World Class’ at... Moan! Now, just because we have beaten the equivalent of Ayr United and Cowdenbeath we have been dragged back into the labyrinth of expectation!

Obviously I`m talking about the latest turn pipe in the Tartan Army rollercoaster thanks to Scotland convincingly beating Lithuania on Friday and picking up another win on Monday that could`ve been Malt-easier than we made it.

The upshot of those 2 wins means that we still have a fighting and mathematical chance of making a World Cup Playoff spot. All that stands in our way is a bunch of lethargic dysons, (I bet the Slovaks don`t even use a Sweeper!) and even slower Venians! But I`ve already started using this next month to prepare myself for more glorious failure that usually befalls our Scottish Football Team. And it would not surprise me one bit if our fate was sealed thanks to a last minute blunder from Scotland`s answer to the Gruffalo, Grant Hanley! Because with his knobbly knees and turned out toes, how on earth he made a footballer god only knows!

There was one ‘well kent’ fresh faced loon at Hampden on Monday. Portlethen`s Finlay Wallace was at the Malta game as he celebrated his 16th Birthday, and his youthful photo reminded me of that time Hampden hosted the Under 16 World Cup where a Scotland Team that included the likes of Paul Dickov, Brian O`Neill & Andy McLaren who all looked like Finlay came up against the, ahem, Under 16 Team from Saudi Arabia who all looked like William Wallace, or well-tanned Chuckle Brothers to be more precise! Never has the term ‘Men against Boys’ been so apt!

It wasn`t quite Men against Boys on Friday but credit where credits due, against Lithuania we did put in a very good performance.

Perhaps not as impressive a performance as Mr Justin Thomas once again produced over on the PGA Tour however. The USPGA Champ is certainly bang in form and his 4 shot victory in the Dell Championship was Justin`s 5th victory in 11 months! I think it`s fair to say that we`ll definitely be facing up to him in 13 months’ time at the Ryder Cup.

The European Ryder Cup Qualifying Race got underway at the Czech Masters but it didn`t do anyone much good seeing as a South African won it!! Hayden Porteous however did play extremely well to see off England`s Lee Slattery by 2 Strokes. Lee Westwood made a solid enough start with a Top 10 placing as he goes in search of his 11th Ryder Cup appearance. This week the qualifying race shows up in Crans, Switzerland for the Omega European Masters which normally attracts a strong European Field but it looks like most of our top players are involved in the FedEx Playoffs.

One name that did jump out at me was a certain Javier Ballesteros, son of ‘Mr Ryder Cup’, the late great Seve! I wonder what the golfing future holds for Ballesteros Jnr!?...no pressure though!!! GULP!

So that was a self-inflicted Rule infringement, while at the Czech Open the weather enforced a Local Rule to be adhered to by the players. One which unfortunately will very soon be back in place here at Portlethen. That is of course ‘Preferred Lies’.

So what better subject to cover in this weeks ‘Rule School’ – Preferred Lies

As usual, Resident Ref, Dave Fleming has done a fantastic detailed run through of the Procedure which you can find by Clicking Here, but here are a few quick Bullet Points of the Do`s & Dont's.

• Through The Green & Closely Mown encompass very different areas of the Golf Course.
TTG = Everywhere on the Course except Tees, Greens & Hazards.
CM = Anything cut to fairway height or less excluding the Green.

• You MUST Mark the original position of the Ball before lifting it – Anything other than this incurs a Penalty Stroke.

• You can only Replace the Ball (Or Prefer your Lie) ONCE! And this must be done within the stipulated measurement of the Local Rule and not Nearer The Hole.

• Plugged Balls only receive FREE Relief when they occur on a Closely Mown area unless otherwise covered by a ‘Local Rule’.

Hopefully Plugged Balls and even soft fairways requiring Preferred Lies will be a while away but the further you hit the ball the better you`ll cope with the Winter Conditions. Our next event in the Friday Fun Night Series will help us find out who the ‘Best’ are to cope.

So why not come along and take part in my:

LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP
‘BBQ, Beers, Beats & Bombs!’

Friday, 15 September @ 7pm

Here is the Format: (All depending on Numbers)
From our specially created Long Drive Stage outside the Clubhouse your Shots will be accurately measured for both Carry Distance & Accuracy by the GC Quad.

£5 for 5 Balls

The Best Drives in Each Category will Win a Prize and the Top 4 Longest Drivers of the night will then go Head-To-Head in the Semi`s & Final to find out who the Long Drive Champ is.

Enter your Long Drive Category:
• Junior (Under 15)
• Junior (16-18)
• Ladies
• Seniors (Over 60`s)
• Gents (5 & Below)
• Gents (6-12)
• Gents (13-18)
• Gents (19 & Above)

Fingers crossed the weather is kind to us as we hope to make this a good fun event to come along to and spectate at as we intend to have an Open Air Bar, BBQ & Tunes on the go as well. There will also be some Crazy Putting to keep you occupied as well.

To Sign Up - Click Here – And REMEMBER to state which Category you would like to be included in.

We could be tip-toeing towards having more Portlethen Champions in our midst with many of our Ambassadors doing a great job of representing the Club in County & National events.

Our Deeside League Team have made it through to the Knockout Final, having beaten Ballater GC in the semi-Final here at Portlethen. Our Final Opponents and venue have yet to be decided so keep an eye out for that info as I`m sure Team Captain Ian Elmslie and his troops would welcome the support.

Home advantage played a part as the duo of Mark Wallace & Alex Legge qualified for the Grand Final of the Belhaven Trophy which takes place at The Fairmont, St Andrews on Friday, 22 September.

Our juniors are also on their travels, this time to Scotscraig GC to take part in the Scottish Quarter Finals of the Junior Team Golf Championship 2017.

On the individual front Clark Brechin has made his way into the final of the Champion of Champions Matchplay thanks to an impressive away victory in his Semi at Newmacher.

Good luck to all and bring home the bacon!

There were many good scores last week, starting on Wednesday’s Yellow Tee Medal. Top scorer was Ale Correa who is clearly enjoying his new TaylorMade Woods & Wedges, and hopefully the Short game Lesson I gave him is also paying dividends.

Division 1
1 Steven Wallace 69(2) - 67
2 William Bothwell 76(9) - 67
3 Stan Forbes 77(10) - 67

Division 2
1 Alejandro Correa 74(11) - 63
2 Jake Legge 80(15) - 65
3 Dino Becci 77(12) - 65

Division 3
1 Scott Marshall 87(23) - 64
2 Paul Smith 82(17) - 65
3 Robert Horne 82(17) - 65

Saturday was September Medal time and the winner by quite some distance was Richard Lornie with a 66.

Division 1
1 David Walker 75(6) - 69
2 Andrew Cordiner 75(5) - 70
3 Robbie Murdoch 72(2) - 70

Division 2
1 Richard Lornie 79(13) - 66
2 Scott Brown 80(11) - 69
3 Stuart Winpenny 81(11) - 70

Division 3
1 Paul Dallas 87(18) - 69
2 Kevin Moir 91(22) - 69
3 John Cormack 88(16) - 72

Sunday saw Mark Roberston top score in the Walk on Medal.

Division 1
1 Kevin Daglish 71(2) - 69
2 Andrew Catley 84(10) - 74
3 David Ferguson 78(4) - 74

Division 2
1 Mark Robertson 78(11) - 67
2 James Cruickshank 84(12) - 72
3 Craig Baxter 85(13) - 72

Division 3
1 Mark Brake 86(17) - 69
2 William Brechin 91(22) - 69
3 Brian Alves 87(16) - 71

Saturdays Monthly Medal was a Cappro Cup Qualifier and there are now only 2 Counting Events left to cement an Automatic Spot in the event.

Here are the latest Standings: Click Here

I think it`s worth highlighting the achievements of some of our ‘walking wounded’ as it was great to see guys who have been laid up with various injuries and operation recuperation get back in the saddle quickly.

Great playing from Stan Forbes (Tennis Elbow Operation), John Cormack (Hip Replacement), Brian Alves (Broken Leg) and Robbie Murdoch (6 Day Hangover!!!)

I would have liked to say I qualified with ease and the round was stress free but that couldn't be further from the truth. There was 13 places and 48 people playing. Normally the mark is about +2. 
I started horribly and couldn't get with the grips of the super quick greens. I was +4 after 7 holes. I then steadied the ship with a few pars and managed to come back in -2 to finish on +2.

This meant I was now in a playoff with 6 others and we were playing for 4 spaces. I got up and down from short of the green on the first to extend the play off and then on 2nd, a two putt for par was good enough to get through. That was probably the most pressure I've felt but I really enjoyed it and it didn't affect my performance. I never make qualifying a boring task!