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Stuart Wilson

Portlethen Golf Club PGA Golf Professional

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Greetings from Stuart Wilson
Portlethen Golf Club - PGA Golf Professional

Get your thick jackets on, keep your eyes peeled that you don`t overflow your basket because you should always observe the spud limit! Yes, apparently it`s the Tattie Holidays! So if you`re frying off somewhere boiling to get baked, hopping on a Cruise chip or just frittering away the days I hope you`ve got something sautéed by now!?

The chips were definitively down for our Football players last week and one trip abroad we are certainly not making is the Tartan Army Tour to France! Merde!! So it looks like the only souvenir brought back from abroad by the footy fans will be some Rock of Gibraltar! At least our Rugby Team is still on the chip and charge but next up is the Aussies who have already given out a Pomme Fright!

But the Euro Qualifiers have thrown up a real mixed bag of results. The two Irish Teams look like they have ended their Major Tournament famine, Wales have also Qualified for their first Major Final ever having ploughed a lone furrow of underachievement for decades, but in starch contrast former European Champions Holland & Greece have failed to qualify. For the Dutch it`s probably no surprise when you think that their coach just picked his kids to play, because it was just a case of the Blind leading the Blind!

 

Back on the golf course there was a similar Father & Son situation going on at the Presidents Cup. (No, George Bush Senior & Junior weren`t playing!!) But the US Captain, Jay Haas had given his son, Bill, a wildcard selection. The result came down to the final match to separate the Teams with Bill Haas claiming the winning point for his dad! This tournament also featured a quite ridiculous Rules Infringement/Ruling Scenario! One which I have to admit I still can`t understand for the life of me! In a nutshell (well, my nutshell) The USA Pairing of Phil Mickelson & Zach Johnson went from all square to 2 down in the space of ONE hole!! Mickelson was penalised for putting a different type of ball into play, and was told "Loss Of Hole", however it transpired that the Rules Officials had advised the wrong penalty procedure so that meant the Americans breached another rule…..eh, sorry guys our fault…you`re now TWO Down!! Whit!? 


There was a similar storyline played out on Sunday here at the Club as the inaugural playing of the Cappro Cup at Portlethen took centre stage for the first time. I say similar storyline but I`m confident, although I don`t have the DNA to prove it, that Terry Taylor isn`t the offspring of our Captain, Ian Cruickshank! But Terry did secure the winning point in the very last match on the golf course to secure a win for The Captains Team in the Cappro Cup! 



 

  

The event started early on Saturday morning with the 2 sets of players (24 in total) meeting for breakfast before the big match. Some golfers then warmed up before they played, whilst some decided the best thing to do was to administer some, ahem, lubrication. Everyone gathered for the Team photographs and the first match got underway at 8am. The morning format was 6 Fourball Matches. The lead match saw all the big guns square off and a fantastic tussle between the Captains pairing of Lewis Shand & Graham Innesagainst my Pro`s pairing of Keith Horne & Kev Daglish. A tremendous birdie 3 at 16 by Graham squared the match and both Teams had eagle putts on the 18th that ultimately would have separated the sides. But a Half Match was probably the fairest result. Game 2, which featured Ray Cowan & Michael Edwards for the Captains Team against Stephen Cook & Ian Grieg for the Pro`s Team also went all the way to the 18th. This time the Captains Team held a 1 Up lead playing the last. After a great drive Michael went for the Par 5 in 2 and was extremely unlucky to see his 2nd shot find the cavernous greenside bunker. And unfortunately for Michael it certainly bared it`s teeth, because like many before him, after several attempts he was still in the bunker and the only way his ball got out was courtesy of his pocket. That concession meant another halved match.

Game 3 saw the deadlock broken, but again only just. The Captain sent out Stan Forbes & Scott Livingstone in Game 3 to match up against my pairing of Tony Lee & Ian Logie. Stan & Scott came out the blocks like Usian Bolt, a comparison that I`m sure neither of them have had before!! And found themselves 5Up after 11. But like the hair and the tortoise my duo slowly came out their shell and had clawed it back to only 1 down with 1 to play. A lovely pitch from Ian to about 4 feet set up a putt that looked like an unlikely comeback would be completed but it slipped agonisingly by for a victory to the Captains Team. Game 4 comprehensively levelled the scores! The Captains Pair of Chris Scouller & Tony Storey were effectively Boyle`d over by the play of the Pro`s Pairing which featured the Matchplay specialist Tom Boyle and his partner Stewart Clark. With all the games in the morning asked to play to the 18th for a holes up tally the shell-shocked Scouller & Storey found themselves 10 down after 15!! A late rally saw them at least get it back to single figures but the record books will still show a 9 down scoreline!

 

Match 5 got underway with the Captain`s pairing of Paul Dallas & Terry Taylor squaring off against my Pairing of Mark Wallace & Johnny Russell. Another tight game that almost went the distance, but some great form from Mark saw the Pro`s Team win by the 17th and post a 2 Up total. Game 6 was a particularly poignant Match Up in the event, largely due to the fact that having drawn the Teams out I managed to order the wrong colour Uniforms for the 4 people in the last match so they had to switch sides! Not like that storyline would come back and bite me! Read on! So the Captain inherited the deadly duo of Grant Chalmers & Peter Somerville and poor Jim Chissell & George Fenton were traded to my Pro`s Team. Needless to say Grant & Peter closed out the Match 1 Up on the 18th to seal the point for their new Captain and tie the score at 3-3.

Match Score at the end of Morning 1: Captains Team 3 - 3 Professionals Team

The afternoon saw the format switch to Greensomes but again the matches were close. Everyone played the same opponents and this time the scoring went as follows.

Match 1: Shand & Innes Beat Horne & Daglish 
Match 2: Cowan & Edwards Lost to Cook & Greig 
Match 3: Livingstone & Forbes Lost to Lee & Logie 
Match 4: Scouller & Storey Beat Boyle & Clark 
Match 5: Dallas & Taylor Lost to Wallace & Russell 
Match 6: Chalmers & Somerville Beat Chissell & Fenton

Match Score at the end of Day 1: Captains Team 6 - 6 Professionals Team

Day 2 and it was the traditional Sunday Singles. The significance was that in the event of a tied score the match would be decided on the Holes Up tally of the Saturday morning series of matches, which courtesy of that 9 Up victory meant the Professionals Team had the upper hand. The Captains Team knew they had to win the Singles series of matches.

The Captains lead man, Graham Innes, got them off to the ideal start by taking out the Club Champion, Kev Daglish, comprehensively 4&3. Ian Greig restored parity with a 5&4 win over Ray Cowan. Keith Horne got the nose of the Pro`s Team back in front with a 4&3 victory over Lewis Shand while Martin Edwards and Stephen Cook played out another great halved match. Scott Livingstone saw off Tony Lee at the 15th and Tom Boyle made it 2 out of 3 over Chris Scouller at the 17th. But Tony Storey had his partners back by levelling things up against their weekend's opponents by also making it 2 wins out of 3 and finishing the singles match on 17 against Stewart Clark. Ian Logie almost made it another great fight back against Stan Forbes, but much like their Fourball Battle Stan had enough in the tank to squeeze home by 1 Hole. With Mark Wallace seeing off Paul Dallas 3&2, George Fenton comfortably beating Peter Somerville 6&5 and Grant Chalmers also winning early at the 15th that left things at 11 ½ - 11 ½ with one match still going. That match was Terry Taylor for the Captain against Johnny Russell for the Pro. The Captain needed the outright win to claim the Cup, I could afford the half to win courtesy of the Holes Up advantage.

  

Johnny was battling hard. 2 down with 2 to play he won 17 and everything was still in the balance! Would youth prevail or would experience win the battle of the nerves! Terry was always in the driving seat down the 18th. A solid drive and second lead to a third that was slightly left of the green. Could Johnny capitalise? Unfortunately his approach missed right and once Terry had played a delightful little chip to within a couple of feet that was that! Victory, and well deserved to the Captain and his Crusaders.

Final Match Score: Captains Team 12 ½ - 11 ½ Professionals Team 

It was a great weekend all round. New friendships made, a wonderful spirit and camaraderie the whole time and hopefully the fitting finale to a very enjoyable season. Check out the Highlights Reel in next week's newsletter! 




There were also Medal Competitions being played that weekend for those who didn`t qualify for the Cappro Cup. It was a Stableford on Saturday and there were some fantastic scores. Not surprising as the course was in unbelievable condition for the time of year and the weather absolutely perfect too.

STABLEFORD Saturday 10th October `15

Click here to see the results 

  

  

  

Photos -Scott Burnett, Willie Somers, Colin Napier, Alan Mitchell, Stephen Wallace, Neil Watt, Brian Johnston, Alistair Fergus, Tom Stoddart

Sunday was a return to the Strokeplay format in slightly more Autumn like conditions and a strong, cold easterly wind made scoring much trickier than the Saturday.

WALK ON MEDAL Sunday 11th October `15

Click here to see the results 

  

  

Photos -Gary Esson, Martin Downie, Derek Miller, Mike Cameron, Craig Samson

Well done to Sean Lawrie who had a Hole In One at the 8th on Monday and whilst it wasn`t in a Competition or for a Ferrari, it was in the company of his Uncle Paul! 



Well I am officially back to work after my 10 days away visiting family and enjoying some sunshine back in Baku, Azerbaijan. For those of you who don't know already - this is where I was born and later moved to Scotland when I was 10 years old. There was no golf for me on holiday, although Colin Montgomerie was hosting the opening of only the second golf course in the country. I did get invited to play but without my own clubs, golf shoes or golf clothes I felt it wasn't worth the hassle this time.

Since I've been back I haven't been playing much (mainly due to weather) but I have had a few practice sessions on the range as it's that time again where you can work on technical things in the swing. I have also recently purchased a training aid club which I had read and heard a lot about - The DST Compressor. Basically its a normal club but the shaft is bent and in order for you to get the clubface square, your hands need to be more ahead of the ball. The club is designed to simplify the swing and strip out complicated and unnecessary movements, by pre-setting your hands at address into a position that closely replicates the optimal impact position. A lot of guys on the PGA Tour have started using this as a warm up including Jason Day and Henrik Stenson. If you are curious as to what I`m talking about then why not speak to myself or Stuart about it, I know Stuart is also adding one to his Training Aid Collection.

This past Sunday was the last Junior Competition of the season - The Junior Tattie Trophy

It was my student Pranav Maganti that swept up the last Trophy of the season with a nett 67! This also meant he cut his handicap by two strokes to finish the season on a high which will hopefully motivate him to practice hard for next season! Close 2nd was away player Dylan Smith who had the lowest gross of the day with a very solid round of 71 (-1).

Junior Results: Tattie Trophy

Men: CSS 72 Par 72 Ladies: CSS 74 Par 73

Pranav Maganti 91 - 24 = 67, Dylan Smith 71 - 2 = 69 Lowest Gross, William Lloyd 89 - 15 = 74
Louise Cook 93 - 18 = 75, Ewan Brown 86 - 10 = 76, Finlay Wallace 95 - 19 = 76 
Brandon Simpson 89 - 12 = 77, Ashley Wallace 99 - 19 = 80, Lewis Sinclair 95 - 13 = 82
Murray Sinclair 112 - 18 = 94

As the season is pretty much at an end it was also the last of the Junior get together sessions up the hill this past Saturday. With the kids on holiday just now I have been doing some extra individual lessons but as they go back to school that will be difficult as there won't be much daylight left after 5. So the weekends are the only real possibilities and is something I'm looking into. 

The Senior`s Season has been elongated thanks to mother nature and this Thursday (15th) see`s the last of the Qualifying Medals being played. We then just go to the Winter Seniors Sweeper every Thursday.

There is one good thing to look forward to and that is the Seniors Christmas lunch and Prizegiving. This will be held on Thursday 3rd December but more details on that event will follow nearer the time.



Neil has taken the opportunity to get some sun on his back in Dubai where he is visiting his brother. In his absence Bruce and the gang have been busy keeping on top of the maintenance. At this time of year everything just gets that little bit more heavy going with any cutting being done in dew laden grass. There is also the added burden of the trees shedding their leaves which is as equally frustrating to the greenstaff as it is the golfers.

Work to the 15th Burn will soon start so I thought it would be a good time to clear up exactly what is happening. Some of you may have seen a Red Line painted on the ground short of the burn. Yes, this signifies where the work will start. However, no, this is not going to be the width of the burn!!. The area of fairway from the red line to the edge of the current burn is simply being sloped slightly towards the water to allow the rain fall to run into the water rather than stagnate on the ground as it does currently. The gradient of that slope will only be a subtle change to its current state. But be prepared that if the ground will soon allow the water to run into the burn then so will a ball!!

"All the Golfing Gossip from the Powder Room" by Aileen McVey The Pro Shops 1st Lady

I`m glad that Kamran`s back from Baku because it`s my turn to fly to Dubai! Stuart assures me that he`s allergic to time off so is happy for Kamran and I to share it out! I`ve already realised that if we could guarantee weather like this all the time then I`d definitely play more golf!!

I hear the weather last Saturday for the Ladies Stableford was more to my liking and again that was reflected in the scoring.

Stableford Saturday 10th October

Silver 
1st: Elaine Stoddart = 43 Points, 2nd: Sarah Ritchie = 36 Points, 3rd: Mary Kelman = 33 Points

Bronze
1st: May Fergus = 37 Points, 2nd: Liz Smith = 33 Points, 3rd: Marjorie Davidson = 33 Points

As unfortunate as it is to say it, the reality is that both Winter and Christmas are just around the corner. So in both cases I`m here to stress that I can help you be prepared for both!!

In the build up to Christmas I will be letting you know of all the great Gift ideas I will have available for the golfer in your family (That might well be you so the only `Hint` you need to drop is for your loved ones to make our Store their first port of call for your Golfing Gift!)

Open 7 Days, FREE Parking, no queues and a convenient exchange service if required. Some great gift ideas have started to arrive already. Back by popular demand are the Portlethen Saltire Zip Sweater by Glenmuir - ONLY £65 (REMEMBER - We have a great selection of Crested Sweaters and you can choose any colour, style or Logo type you want and they will still be delivered in time for Christmas)

Glenmuir have also supplied great Gift Box Sets, whether it be Socks for Him or Her or a cosy Hat & Scarf Set!

Our Portlethen Range also features Crested Umbrellas, Shoe Bags, Holdalls, Caps and Scorecard Holders.
 



 

Layer up for the colder weather too with everything from Baselayers, Thermal or Lined Sweaters, Fleece and insulated Outerlayers, Waterproofs and of course Beanies, Snoods and Mitts!

  

There are still some fabulous Sale Offers on Shoes, Bags and Hardware.

New items Added to our Club Clearance are:

  • PING G30 Drivers - NOW ONLY £219! 
  • CALLAWAY XR Drivers - NOW ONLY £219! 
  • CALLAWAY Big Bertha Driver - NOW ONLY £259! 
  • TaylorMade R15 Drivers - NOW ONLY £259!

We also have a fantastic selection of Second Hand Irons & Woods to choose from right now. 

Click here to get in touch.

 
Have a great weekend and enjoy the rest of my newsletter. Stuart.
 
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