Chris Patterson Appointed New Club Captain

The membership of Peebles Golf Club appointed Chris Patterson as the new Club Captain at last night’s AGM (15 February), taking over from Gavin Carruthers to lead the club over the next two years. Chris has been a member of the club joining as a junior in 1984 and has been vice-captain for the past two years, having also previoulsy served on the committee. Andy Pretswell was elected as the new Vice-Captain, while Craig McDonald has joined the committee, alongside the re-election of both Gavin, and Marny Waddell as General Committee members.

You can read a copy of Chris’s speech from the AGM below:

Thank you for your warm welcome.  Before I continue I’d just like to say how relieved I am to have now formally taken over as Club Captain.  I’ve seen Gavin striding about the golf course recently with his bright red baseball cap on and I think it says Make America Great Again or Titleist or something on the front and I just had this nagging worry that he might dispute that his Captaincy was now over and demand a second term in office.  Now, by all accounts I wouldn’t actually blame Gavin if he felt he deserved a second bite at the cherry because the last two years have been anything but normal.  But I’m glad to say that in keeping with everything else that Gavin has done as Captain he has chaired this evening’s AGM and now passed on the baton to me with great professionalism and aplomb.

So on that note, the first thing I would like to do is to congratulate Gavin on an excellent Captaincy and to thank him for all the hard work he has done in the role over the past two years, and indeed during his many years of service on the committee at Peebles Golf Club.

Shortly after I became Vice-Captain I was speaking to Gavin’s mum, Ann, and she said I don’t know what it is about the Carruthers’s, they asked Gavin’s dad, Jim, to be Warden of Neidpath in 2001 and there was a foot and mouth outbreak and then Gavin became Captain of the Golf Club and there was a Covid pandemic.  However, although Gavin’s Captaincy hasn’t perhaps gone quite how he’d imagined it, I feel that Peebles Golf Club has benefitted greatly from having someone like Gavin at the helm who has been able to provide strong and decisive leadership during two very challenging years. 

When the effects of the pandemic started to take hold just weeks into Gavin’s Captaincy it quickly became apparent that the impact of years declining membership (as was being experienced by golf clubs across the globe) had left us in a potentially precarious financial position.  However, under Gavin’s leadership we have capitalised on the resurgence of golf in the UK and he passes the Captaincy on with the club currently in a much healthier position.  Not only are we more financially secure but we have also managed to invest more manpower and resources in the upkeep and maintenance of our beautiful golf course which can only help to further enhance our greatest asset.

Remarkably, Gavin’s first stint on the Committee of Peebles Golf Club was way back in 1989 when he took on responsibility for organising the Peebles Open.  Gavin remained on the committee for a number of years before he got married, had a family and added six strokes to his handicap!  However, Gavin subsequently rejoined the committee several years ago during Ally Boocock’s Captaincy when he became Junior Convenor and started the Club Golf initiative with Graham Lowther. Since then, Gavin has given up many Sunday mornings, setting up and delivering coaching sessions in wind, rain and even on the occasional sunny day and was a key part of the team that saw Peebles win the Scottish Junior Club of the year in 2015.

In addition to reacting to the impacts of the ever-changing Covid situation, Gavin’s time as Captain has also included the successful search for a new Bar Manager following Willie’s retirement and of course what has unfortunately become a bit of a recurring theme, the appointment of a new catering team.  However, I’m sure everybody will agree that we have made an excellent appointment by bringing in Calum Chisholm who has done a great job in introducing some fresh ideas as well a host of new offerings to the bar and we are also confident that Vicky and Karen’s catering team will be the answer that we’ve been looking for in the kitchen.  Certainly if the fare on offer at the recent Burns’ Supper was anything to go by, they’ll be a great addition to the club.

The good news for the club is that Gavin has kindly agreed to stay on as a Director and Committee Member with a view to potentially taking over as Greens Convenor from Jim Dickson in 2023, who, I might add has himself done a sterling job in that position for the past 8 years. This will help to maintain stability and continuity within the board of directors and hopefully enable Gavin to take a bit of a breather before possibly turning his attention to the Greens in a year’s time which is undoubtedly a key role within the club.

And just before we move on, I know that Gavin is quite an emotional person and he spoke very fondly of his dad, my uncle, when he made his speech as incoming Captain two years ago, and so as a final word on your excellent Captaincy, Gavin, I can offer you no greater compliment than to say that nobody would have been prouder of the way in which you have performed the role than your dad, Jim.

Gavin has now joined the very elite Past Captains Club, and so on behalf of the club, I'd now like to present him with his Past Captain's tie.

When Gavin (eventually) called me to ask if I’d be his Vice-Captain, it came as a complete surprise.  In fact, I thought the reason for his call was to discuss my offer to take over the organisation of the Jim Carruthers Memorial Walk from Gordon and David who had indicated that they were going to step back after many successful years.  In fact, Gavin and I spent the first ten minutes of our call discussing my plans for the walk before he asked me about the Vice-Captaincy.  Now of course, as Vice-Captain you are required to play in the Captain’s – Vice-Captain’s match while the Memorial Walk takes place simultaneously and so the first part of our conversation had immediately become irrelevant.  However, I’m very grateful that my wife Kellie and Gavin’s wife Karen have subsequently agreed to organise the walk for the next few years until I’m available to help out again. And I’m sure those that took part last year will agree that they did an excellent job.

For those of you who don't know me, I've been a member of the club for the past 38 years. Having initially shown some interest in golf when it was on the television my dad bought me a half set of junior clubs at the auction market back in the spring of 1984.  Frustrated by the impact my practicing in the back garden was having on his lawn, a further £7.50 was shelled out for a junior membership at Peebles Municipal Golf Club and in July of that year I played my first ever round in the company of Noel Flannery.

I quickly fell in love with the game and after a few pointers from my Uncle Jim and next door neighbour Charlie Cole, it wasn’t long before I was queuing up to play in the junior medals every Sunday with the encouragement of legendary junior convenor – Dick O’Hare. Thereafter I spent much of my weekends and school holidays on the golf course, often playing morning, noon and night with various friends over the years but most notably Colin Noble and then Kevin Hamilton.

After leaving Peebles High School in 1992 I went on to gain an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering at The University of Edinburgh following which I took up a position in the Ports and Maritime department of the Babtie Group (now Jacobs) in Glasgow.  Never a huge fan of Glasgow I was conveniently able to tell my new colleagues that I needed to get home every weekend to play golf.  But little did they know that I would have come home regardless just to escape from Glasgow for a couple of days.

In 2002 I managed to secure a move to my company’s Edinburgh office and around the same time bought a flat at the bottom of the hill on Rosetta Road (it was the closest one I could find to the golf course).  I now manage a team of around 30 maritime engineers based in Edinburgh and Glasgow and believe that one of the most important things when it comes to making my team feel engaged, valued and informed is to ensure that I communicate with them on a regular basis.  Communications between the committee and members at Peebles Golf Club is something that I think has been excellent in recent years and this is something that I will strive to maintain during my Captaincy.

Now many of you will know that my good friend, Kevin Hamilton, emigrated to Australia a few years ago leaving me on the look-out for a new playing partner. Well little did I think that I would be standing here this evening with my new four ball being made up by my wife Kellie and sons, Callum and Harris but I’m delighted to say that they have all now joined the club and are enjoying learning the game. And what’s more they have all got a better swing than Kev’s.

But in all seriousness, I appreciate that being Club Captain is a big role, however I am honoured to become Captain of our wonderful golf club and I’d like to thank the many members who have already passed on their best wishes and kind words. During my Captaincy I will do my very best to guide the club forwards and continue the great legacy that has been passed on to me from Gavin and the long and illustrious list of captains that preceded him. 

Now, according to Gavin, one of the hardest jobs the Club Captain has these days is finding a Vice-Captain.  Well, having quickly found an excellent candidate for the role all I can say is that I hope the rest of my Captaincy goes as smoothly.  When I turned my thoughts to selecting a Vice-Captain, I naturally wanted to find someone with the right skillset to compliment the Board of Directors as well as being sociable and personable and able to handle the various aspects of the role.  But in addition to these important attributes I was keen to bring in someone that I know and trust and that I will undoubtedly have some fun golfing with in our respective roles over the next couple of years.

And so I’m now delighted to introduce Andy Pretswell as my Vice-Captain. I’ve known Andy since we were kids growing up on the north side of the town in the 1980s, but although we were in the same ‘gang’ in those days, we never actually played golf together until many years later. 

Andy has a long association with Peebles Golf Club having originally joined as a junior member in the 1990s.  Having moved away from Peebles for work for a number of years, Andy returned to the town about a decade ago, following which he rejoined the club and has now become what has to be one of the keenest and most dedicated players in the club.  If anybody isn’t sure who Andy is, I’d suggest that you hang around at the practice bays for an hour or two because there’s a good chance he’ll show up.

Andy is employed as a Network Consultant with Heineken in Edinburgh where one of his main tasks is working with the breweries around the UK to ensure the beer production flows smoothly so it’s fair to say he’s got a very important job!  Andy is married to Gabriela and they have two children, Rory and Megan, and whilst they haven't quite yet caught the golfing bug he's certainly hoping his Vice-Captaincy will help to inspire them.

I know Andy is keen to get up to speed with his new role and so on behalf of the Directors and Committee I am delighted to welcome Andy on board.

I'd also like to welcome Craig McDonald to the team as a new committee member and I’m looking forward to the strengths Craig will bring.  Before retiring last August, Craig was an experienced project, programme and change manager in the financial services industry, most recently with Lloyds Banking Group.  Craig has twin sons, Matthew and Stuart, who have Fragile-X syndrome and has seven years board experience as a trustee and director of the Fragile-X UK charity.  Craig is also a past Captain of the Bank of Scotland Golf Club. Welcome aboard Craig!

Now before I finish, I'd also like to say a few thank yous.  Firstly, I’d like to thank Alan Frain and his team of Sarah Waldie and Pam Sherrard for all their hard work behind the scenes. They have formed an excellent team and have done a great job in stabilising and supporting the administrative function within the club. The professionalism and proficiency with which they run things from the office very quickly became apparent to me upon joining the Board. 

And I’d like to thank Stevie Borthwick and his team of greenkeepers, Lewis, Jacob and Jack.  The golf course has never been in better condition than it has over the past few years and with four staff on the books again, and new equipment purchased over the winter we are in a good position to make further enhancements with every passing year.

I’d also like to thank the committee and sub-committee members, the BEG group, the gardening team, the ball washers and collectors, the car park snow clearers (Woody) and all the other volunteers and helpers who offer their time and efforts for the benefit of the club.  Your contributions are invaluable and are very much appreciated.

Finally, my thanks go to you, the members, for your support of Peebles Golf Club. When visitors and guests leave feedback on our course it is usually extremely positive. I’d urge you to be proud of your club and to help us encourage new members and visitors alike by promoting the positives. A healthy golf club relies on a strong membership and I would like to think that we all have a role to play by being positive ambassadors for our club.

As always, Mary and her team have prepared a full and varied fixture card for the coming season so please play as often as you can and I wish you all Happy Golfing.

Thank you.