Girl Power to the Fore at Peebles

Exactly a year on from Scotland’s staging of The Solheim Cup, Peebles Golf Club’s award-winning junior programme broke new ground on Sunday with the girls outnumbering the boys for the first time at one of the clubs junior coaching sessions.

The Borders club has been doing its bit to build the support the legacy created by Catriona Matthew’s successful captaincy at Gleneagles and the game’s popularity among local girls has been going from strength to strength in recent years. No more so than Sunday, when the thirteen girls turned out for the Primary 5 to S1s coaching session, beating the number of boys by one. A further six girls were involved in the day’s earlier Primary 1 – 4 coaching group, with the club attracting more than 40 youngsters since coaching has been allowed to resume post-lockdown.

Girl power was also evident in the club’s most recent junior competition, with sixth year pupil Ellie Martin beating the boys to clinch her first title of the season, reducing her handicap to 18 in the process.

David Thorburn, the club’s junior convenor said: “We are delighted to see so many girls taking part in our junior coaching on a regular basis, with many now coming along for a number of years. Our aim is to make the coaching fun and inclusive, and the girls seem to enjoy the activities we put on, while playing as groups of friends. The proportion of female golfers in Scotland is very low at just 13%, so hopefully Peebles can help give those numbers a boost and keep our girls playing for years to come.

“We’ve had a few talented female golfers at the club most notably Ailsa Bain – now a PGA professional at Gullane - winning the Scottish Girls Championship in 2009 and it would be good to think we have a few more coming through the ranks, with some impressive swings on show at coaching. It’s great to see Ellie winning the junior medal and hopefully she can inspire some of the younger girls to progress into playing competitive golf.”

“A few of our junior members attended The Solheim Cup at Gleneagles last September and were there to witness Suzanne Petterson’s winning putt and that’s definitely had a positive impact on the girls’ perception of golf.”

News of the girls golf success at Peebles went nationwide when BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty, herself a keen single-figure handicap golfer, retweeted the club’s tweet to her 225,000 followers, while well-known golf social media influencer and broadcaster ‘The Jazzy Golfer’ mentioned the achievement on her Instagram channel, vowing to pay a visit to the club to meet the girls.

Overall junior membership at the club has been in excess of one hundred for the past few years and Peebles was named Scotland’s Junior Club of the Year at the 2015 Scottish Golf Awards, a reward for it’s efforts in developing grass roots golf in the local community. The club has recruited 80 new members across all categories this year, and encouragingly the average age of a new adult member is just 32 years old.

The club’s profile has also been boosted by the recent performances on the European Tour from Craig Howie, the 26-year old who came through the ranks as a junior, having finished tied fourth in the recent ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry, and following that result up with a top-25 finish at the Andalucia Masters, propelling him inside the top-120 of the Race to Dubai rankings.

Captain's Update - September

It’s now been just over three months since our ‘Return to Golf’ following lockdown so I thought this would be an opportune time to provide a quick update on some of the activities taking place at the Club in what has been a busy, eventful and successful summer period.

Given the challenging circumstances, it has been great that golf has given so many of us the chance to experience some level of normality and we are fortunate that we were one of the first sports to return in late May. The eagerness to get back to golf was evident, with more than 450 players out on the course over those first two days, and I’m delighted to report that the game’s popularity has continued throughout the last few months and that our tee-time bookings has been almost at full capacity ever since.

It is particularly pleasing to see so many new members joining Peebles Golf Club in 2020 and I would like to extend a warm welcome to those who are with us for the first time. I hope you have enjoyed the club experience, getting out on the course, meeting new friends and taking advantage of the good weather. It is also very encouraging to see so many young people joining and playing golf regularly, many of whom would normally be competing at football, rugby or other sports. From what I’ve seen, the majority have definitely caught ‘the golfing bug’ and we hope that you’ll stay with us for a long time, even when your other sports return! Indeed, the average age of a new adult member at Peebles this year is 32, which is significantly below the national average.

In total across our various categories, we have attracted 80 new members, which is a fantastic result. Although we have also lost a few members, this is a very encouraging statistic against the difficult backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis that we all faced back in March, and it’s been wonderful to witness the course being so well utilised by all of our members, young and old.

The recruitment and retention of members continues to be a key focus for the club and is an essential component in sustaining a long-term business model. As we approach our budgeting cycle for next season, we will carefully be reviewing both the trends and opportunities with respect to our membership base/profile, and that’s very much something which we’ll keep you updated on.

Competitive golf also made a welcome return at the start of July and participation numbers have seen a strong increase. We had 217 men and women playing in the first Saturday competition; 18 juniors competing the Junior Championship qualifying; a regular turnout of over 100 on our Wednesday competitions and nearing the 200 mark on most Saturdays. We’ve seen some incredible scoring, the highlight of which has been Darren Howie’s remarkable 11-under par 59, which set a new course record and the first player to break 60 in the history of the club. Darren also went onto win the Club Championship for the first time, beating Jamie Morris in a superb final, while Sheila Cuthbertson continued her record-breaking streak by lifting the Ladies Championship yet again. The Junior Championship was also hotly contested and eventually won by Frankie Masson, who has since won the Gents Holiday Tankard and got his handicap down to 5. My congratulations go to all the Championship winners and finalists and thanks to the staff and volunteers who worked so hard throughout the week to ensure we were able to stage our Flagship event.

We’ve also seen success on the professional stage with our very own Craig Howie now making his mark on the European Tour. Craig finished tied 4th in the Austrian Open, followed that up with a share of 21st place the recent ISPS Handa Wales Open at Celtic Manor then had us all on the edge of our seats by reaching the top of the leaderboard at The Belfry in last weekend’s UK Championship, going on to finish 5th with a superb final round 65. I am sure I speak on behalf of all members in saying that Peebles Golf Club is very proud of Craig’s continued achievements and we look forward to watching his progress at the highest level.

Craig has come through the ranks from our junior section and we were delighted to welcome back our ClubGolf junior members to coaching earlier last month, following a further easing of restrictions. We had a full house of juniors for both groups last weekend and encouragingly, more than 40% of participants were girls. It remains a big challenge retaining girls in the game, but we have a good group at present who have been part of the programme for a while so hopefully this will be the dawn of a new era.

On the coaching front, our professional Steve Johnston has been a busy man with lessons being booked up quickly and we’re delighted to welcome Bob Allan as the new Pro Shop assistant in helping Steve. Bob is a well-known face to many with years of golf industry experience and I know he’ll be a great addition to the staff.

On the volunteering front we have seen incredible support from many of our members. The B52’s have been busy filling in divots and helping keep the course well presented, whilst Rab Howie has continued collecting balls from the practice range. We also have our hard working gardeners, who’ve kept the flower displays around the clubhouse and practice putting green in beautiful condition.

Although we have a number of restrictions in place, the clubhouse has now been reopened for a few weeks with the bar and lounge being well used and our colleagues in the Harry’s View team are working hard to provide an excellent catering service. A number of events are being lined up including an Indian Night on Saturday 23 September and, following a successful promotion over the last few Wednesdays, the new ‘2 courses for £10’ deal has been extended to Thursday (lunchtime) and Friday (all day/evening). Please support the clubhouse if you can and bring your friends and family to enjoy our food and beverage service.

Finally, through the hard work of our Sponsorship Sub-Committee and generosity of a number of local businesses, we have made great progress in attracting increased sponsorship to the club, which is an important revenue stream for us. I would like to thank all the companies who have made a contribution to the club and we’ll continue to promote these businesses to our members – look out for more announcements on our social media channels, and you can find all our sponsors listed on the new sponsorship section of the club’s website.

Last but by no means least, thank you to all the members for your outstanding support throughout the season, helping to turn a very difficult year into an enjoyable one on the golf course.

Yours in golf

Gavin Carruthers - Captain, Peebles Golf Club

Birdie Blitz from Howie Clinches Top Five Finish

Craig Howie had the Peebles golfing public on the edge of their seats on Sunday afternoon as he challenged at the top of the European Tour leaderboard with a rousing final round 65 at the ISPS Handa UK Championship at The Belfry.

Playing in just his fifth start on the main Tour, Howie produced a bogey-free display with no fewer than seven birdies at the Ryder Cup venue on Sunday afternoon, grabbing a share of fifth place just two shots back from eventual winner, Rasmus Hojgaard, and the leading Scot in the field.

Having celebrated his 26th birthday on Thursday with an excellent opening round 68 to leave him inside the top-10, he consolidated that with a level par 72 on Friday, before moving up the leaderboard with fighting 71 in difficult conditions on the Saturday.

“That was a brilliant last round. I went out there not expecting a lot and just went out there to have a bit of fun and to shoot a 65 was pretty pleasing. It’s the first time I’ve been in contention on the European Tour, so it made for an exciting day.”

Starting the final round in a share of 11th place, he signalled his intentions with back-to-back birdies on the 2nd and 3rd holes and charged into contention with a further birdie at the 8th. Two more birdies came at the 10th and 12th holes, with the Sky Sports cameras finally showing a keen interest in the young Scot. His sixth birdie of the day came at the par-five 15th hole and the excitement levels hit fever pitch as his superb eagle attempt at the 17th came up just an inch short with a tap in birdie moving Howie into a four-way share of the lead.

After his tee shot found the rough at the famous 18th hole – best remembered for Sam Torrance’s winning putt at the 1985 Ryder Cup – Howie produced a superb mid iron approach to set up another birdie chance to go to 13-under and into the outright lead. Somehow his 15-foot putt just slipped past as he settled for par, and he was eventually overtaken by Hojgaard and overnight leader Justin Walters, as well as Scottish Open champion Bernd Wiesberger and two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer, who narrowly missed out on a play-off spot.

The result was Craig’s best performance in his three years as a professional, moving him up 53 places to 120th in the Race to Dubai rankings and giving a great opportunity of gaining his full European Tour card for next season. He’s also now inside the top 500 of the world golf rankings, and gains entry to this week’s Andalucia Masters, which takes place at another Ryder Cup venue, Valderamma.

Howie said: “That was a brilliant last round. I went out there not expecting a lot and just went out there to have a bit of fun and to shoot a 65 was pretty pleasing. It’s the first time I’ve been in contention on the European Tour, so it made for an exciting day.

“I haven’t really played a lot given the quarantine period and also being a Challenge Tour player, there hasn’t been that many events. So, to have some time on the golf course of late has been much appreciated.

“The course was still playing quite tricky on the final day and it’s tough to get a good score but then after a few early birdies, I managed to play a good back nine and now that I have finished top-10 I also get to play this week in Spain.”

Earlier in the week, younger brother Darren enjoyed a good performance at the British Amateur Championship, being held at Royal Birkdale, qualifying for the match-play stages and reaching the third round with a superb one-hole victory over Englishman Harvey Byers, eventually losing out at the last-32 stage.

Junior Update – Safeguarding, Competitions & Coaching Dates

It’s been great to have so many junior golfers using the club over the past few weeks, both in our competitions, on the practice range and taking part in the recent ClubGolf junior coaching sessions. We had a full house at coaching last Sunday and encouragingly more than 40% of the juniors were girls – well above the national average! We’ve also had a number of new junior members joining this season and we hope everyone has been enjoying their golf, whether new to the game or getting their handicap down.

The Club has worked hard to develop a comprehensive junior programme, from the ClubGolf coaching through to the 18 Steps group and onto junior competitions and the juniors teams, and we have also worked hard behind the scenes to ensure we are fully compliant with governing body guidance and legislation around Safeguarding. We have recently updated our website to include a new Safeguarding section and encourage all parents/carers and children/young people to take the time to read the relevant information on the website. These links can be found below:

> Safeguardiing at Peebles Golf Club

• Code of Conduct – one for parents/carers and one for children/young people

• Permission Form – parents of all junior members taking part in any of our junior activities and competitions must complete this and return by email or hand into the office if you haven’t done so already

• Registration for Coaching – compliant with Government Guidance relating to track and trace, parents/carers must register their child in advance of EACH coaching session. Coaching dates are listed below.

ClubGolf Junior Coaching Dates

• Sunday 6 September

• Sunday 20 September

• Sunday 11 October

• Sunday 18 October

We are also looking to extend the coaching into November to make up for lost time during lockdown and additional dates will be communicated in due course.

Junior Competitions

For those junior members playing in our competitions, we are pleased to publish the updated fixtures for September and October which can be found below:

·       Friday 4 September – Mascott Bond Trophy

·       Friday 11 September – Cuddy Cup

·       Sunday 13 September – The Rotary Competition

·       Friday 18 September – Tweeddale Handicap

·       Friday 25 September – Junior Monthly Medal

·       Sunday 11 September – Peebles Masters

·       Friday 16 October – Junior Monthly Medal

·       Sunday 18 October – Bruce Trophy

·       Sunday 25 October – Race to Peebles Trophy

·       Saturday 31 October – Maureen Haig Memorial Salver

It would be great to see as many of juniors with handicaps playing in these competitions and challenging for the various prizes, so make sure you get your tee-time booked if you are available to play. We’ve seen some fantastic scores so far with some good handicap reductions – the hours on the practice range are certainly paying off!

Finally, don’t forget the Clubhouse is open for food and drink throughout the week for members and non-members with a great selection available on the Harry’s View menu, including a Wednesday Special of 2 courses for £10.

Should you have any questions in relation to junior golf, please contact the office or Pro Shop.

Thanks for your support!

Cullen Kilshaw to Sponsor Thorburn Cup

Peebles Golf Club is delighted to announce Cullen Kilshaw as the sponsors of The Thoburn Cup, which takes place this Saturday 8 August.

Officially known as the Ian Thorburn Memorial Trophy, the event is highly regarded as one of the club’s most important competitions of the season. The trophy itself is the largest in club’s collection and one which all members have great aspirations of winning, with each champion having their name displayed on the club’s honours board. More than 180 players will compete in the event on Saturday, including club captain and former winner Gavin Carruthers:

“We are thrilled to welcome Cullen Kilshaw on board as Thorburn Cup sponsors, extending the fantastic support they have given Peebles Golf Club over recent years. The club is very proud of its partnership with the company, having also sponsored our Mixed Open for a number of years. Having a high-profile sponsor helps elevate the prestige of the competition even further and having won the Thorburn Cup myself in the past, it is a great honour to have your name on the trophy.” said Carruthers.

With the lockdown delaying the start of the competitive playing season by three months, the Club has thankfully been able to schedule it’s major competitions into a truncated calendar, having held the Club Championship Finals last weekend, but the Cullen Kilshaw Thorburn Cup retains its usual August slot on the calendar.

“We are delighted this year to be asked by Peebles Golf Club to continue our long association with the Ian Thorburn Memorial Cup, recognised as the blue riband handicap competition for amateur golfers in Peebles. The magnificent trophy is highly prized by all those who take part in what is always a full entry sheet, and I offer my best wishes to all competitors and my congratulations to the eventual winner, it will no doubt be a hard fought victory.”

“With nine property shops and offices spread across the Borders including our estate agency at 5 Northgate and our unit at Rowan Court in Cavalry Park, Cullen Kilshaw are ideally placed to provide a range of locally based property and legal services to our many Peebles clients. Having opened a branch in Northgate 20 years ago, our firm has been closely involved with local sports clubs and has sponsored a wide range of differing activities as we look to put something back into the community which has contributed so much to our success as a growing business.” said David Kilshaw.

“Over the last 12 months, for instance, we have provided financial assistance to local professional golfer Craig Howie as he tries to make an impact on the European Challenge Tour, and we have lent a helping hand to Lewis Buchanan , a promising young mountain biker who competes out of Glentress on the Enduro World Series with distinction, and our red and yellow logo has been worn by all the netball teams from Peebles High School at the national championships.”

For more information, visit www.cullenkilshaw.com

A limited number of spaces are still available this Saturday if you would like to take part in the Cullen Kilshaw Thorburn Cup. Click here to book.

Howie Roars to Championship Title

Just two weeks on from etching his name in this history books with a record-breaking 59, Peebles golfer Darren Howie added to his growing list of honours by lifting the Club Championship title on Sunday.

The Scotland international defeated defending champion Jamie Morris 4 & 3 in an enthralling final to lift the trophy for the first time, ending Morris’s hopes of a twelfth title and a hattrick of consecutive championship wins.

After a delayed season, it was one of the most eagerly anticipated championships in years, with no fewer than three Scotland internationals in the last-16, joined by the club’s finest talents. First to fall however was Allan Turnbull as he exited in the first round to Colin Fraser, but Howie eased through with wins over Mark Hosker and Kris Hopkirk to set up a semi-final clash with Scotland team-mate Stephen Roger. It was Howie who had the upper hand in the battle of the Scotland players and it was a comfortable win in the end, with Morris edging out youngster Fearghas Lowther in the other semi-final.

The stage was set on Sunday morning with the opening exchanges shared in a nip and tuck contest, and it was Howie who held a slender one-hole lead going into the afternoon round of the 36-hole final. A delightful chip-in birdie two at the 20th hole put him in command, but he went out of bounds two holes later as Morris clawed his lead back to one. Another Howie birdie followed at the 27th hole to move to two up going into the final stretch as the burners were turned on, and he closed out the match in some style with classy birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes of the second round, rolling in a 12-footer to clinch victory.

The Ladies Championship was a repeat of the previous year and there was no stopping Sheila Cuthbertson as she stormed to her 23rd title win, beating Denise Richards with some impressive golf to stretch her record-breaking run.

A new name went on the Junior Championship trophy as emerging talent Frankie Masson beat Reuben Sterricks in a high calibre final. Masson, whose handicap is down to just five, had a tough run to the final, beating last year’s finalists Michael Smith and Kerr Sutherland on the way, but proved too strong for Sterricks with a string of birdies.

One of the club’s other promising youngsters took the Gents B Championship title as Callum Waldie defeated Richard Latto in the final to join his father Steven’s name on the trophy, while Vic Roberts overcame the challenge of Ian Connor to win the Gents C Championship. The closest final came in the Ladies B Championship, with Sue Brown edging out Martha Shortreed at the first extra hole.

The Major events come thick and fast in this truncated golfing season with this Saturday (8 August) seeing the Cullen Kilshaw sponsored Thorburn Cup taking place. Good luck to all competitors.

Scotsdale Finance Extends Club Sponsorship

Scotsdale Finance team Alan and Moira Boocock on the 1st tee at Peebles Golf Club: Watch our interview with Alan…

We are delighted that Scotsdale Finance has extended their sponsorship of the club! A huge thank you to Moira Boocock and Alan Boocock for their continued generous support and making a significant contribution across many different activities within Peebles Golf Club:

• Scotsdale Monthly Medals

• Boocock Trophy

• Scotsdale Junior Shield

• Taylor Brothers Supper Dances

“It’s a great club and the membership are just so friendly…”

We spoke to Scotsdale Finance Managing Director Alan Boocock to talk about the company’s involvement with Peebles Golf Club.

For more information on Scotsdale Finance, call 01721 724435.

Evolution Flying the Flag at Peebles

Peebles Golf Club is delighted to unfurl a new corporate supporter this week with the announcement of Evolution Bottling and Packaging Solutions as the club’s new pin flag sponsor.

The Cavalry Park based firm, who employ 19 staff in Peebles, are one of the local community’s fastest growing companies and provide state of the art, innovative equipment for bottling and packaging to the food and drinks sectors.

Evolution have come on board as Peebles Golf Club’s flag sponsors this season, with the club enjoying record numbers of competitors in recent weeks following the return of competitive golf at the start of July. The striking new ping flags were on show for the first time during the Club Championship Qualifying, while Evolution will also be supporting the ever-growing junior section at Peebles.

Evolution’s Jill Clelland and Rachel Finney were on hand to show off the new flags and Managing Director Colin Clelland was only too pleased to announce his company’s support:

“We are very proud to provide sponsorship to Peebles Golf Club and when the opportunity came up to sponsor the new flags, it was a great fit for us. The club does a great job in developing golf in the local community for players of all ages and it is great to see so many juniors taking up the game in the town, thanks to the fantastic coaching programme.

It is a privilege to be able to share some of our success and give something back to our local community. We’re delighted to see the Evolution brand on show at every green thanks to the flag sponsorship and we’re pleased to have a strong association with the Club.”

Our new flag sponsors, Evolutuon Bottling and Packaging Solutions

Club Captain Gavin Carruthers added: “We are hugely grateful to Colin and the Evolution team for their support, particularly at such a challenging time. Sponsorship revenue is vital to the club as an extra income stream and it’s great to see a proactive company such as Evolution coming on board. I’d also like to thank our sponsorship convenor Les Biscomb for the excellent work he’s been doing in getting more sponsorship, which helps us continue to grow and invest in key areas of our business.”

Evolution are also the main sponsors of local racing driver Robbie Dalgleish, himself a member of Peebles Golf Club, who last year won the Mini Challenge Cooper Pro Series. Robbie’s consistent performance and success throughout the season saw him win the Sunoco UK 240 Challenge, earning him the opportunity to showcase his skill with a place in the BMW Endurance Challenge Race at Daytona in the US, as part of the warm up to the world famous Daytona Rolex 24.

For more information, visit https://www.evolutionbps.co.uk/

Club Championship Match Play Draws

The draws for the Club Championship match play stages have now been made for all categories. First round ties for the Gents A, B and C will take place on Sunday 26 July, with the Juniors commencing on Moday 27 July and the Ladies A and B from Tuesday 28 July.

In the Club Championship, likley to be one of the most hotly contested events in years, defending champion Jamie Morris will take on former champion Steven Waldie whle number two seed and leading qualifier Stephen Roger faces Andrew Hendry. Course record holder Darren Howie plays Mark Hosker in the first round with two former champions Allan Turnbull and Colin Fraser drawin each other in round one.

Record breaker Sheila Cuhbertson will line up against either Lorna Rutherford or Pamela Stevenson in the first semi-final of the Ladies Championship, with June-Anne Clark taking on Denise Richards in the other semi-final match.

Defending junior champion Kerr Sutherland plays Robbie MacKay in the first round with leading qualifier Frankie Masson up against last year’s beaten finalist Michael Smith.

> Full match play draws

Club Championship Qualifying Results

Club Championship qualifying has now been completed across all categories with the results finalised and qualifiers confirmed.

> Club Championship

> Gents B & C Championship

> Ladies A & B Championship

> Junior Championship

Congratulations to all players who have reached the match play stages. Games will be played w/c Sunday 26 July with the Finals day on Sunday 2 August.

If you have qualified but cannot play, please notifiy the office by e-mail.

Clubhouse Reopening - Wednesday 15 July

Following Scottish Government guidance, we are pleased to advise that the clubhouse will re-open tomorrow subject to maintaining physical distancing and appropriate hygiene routines.

What facilities will reopen?

• Changing rooms and toilets (please note that showering facilities will not reopen at this stage). 

• The bar, lounge, and restaurant.  Subject to the receipt of new chairs on Wednesday, the balcony will also reopen.

• The caddy-store. 

What are the opening hours?

• The cleaners will open the clubhouse around 0730 every morning.  The bar staff will close the clubhouse in the evening or where there is no evening service, the clubhouse will be closed at dusk.

• The current revised opening hours for the Bar, Harry’s View and the Pro Shop can be found below:

---

Mon     Bar: 11.00 - 14.30   Catering: Closed Pro Shop: 09.00 - 14.00

Tue       Bar: 11.00 - 14.30   Catering: Closed Pro Shop: 09.00 - 14.00

Wed      Bar: 11.00 - 22.00**  Catering: 10.00 - 19.00 Pro Shop: 08.00 - 17.00

Thu        Bar: 10.00 - 14.30   Catering: 10.00 - 14.30 Pro Shop: 08.00 - 17.00
17.00 - 2200**

Fri          Bar: 11.00 - 14.30   Catering: 10.00 - 14.30 Pro Shop: 08.00 - 17.00
17.00 - 2200* 17.00 - 20.00

Sat         Bar: 11.00 - 22.00*   Catering: 10.00 - 20.00 Pro Shop: 08.00 - 17.00

Sun        Bar: 12.00 - 20.00   Catering: 10.00 - 18.00 Pro Shop: 08.00 - 17.00*

*Bar may open to 2300 if sufficient customers **Bar may close earlier if insufficient customers

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Are there any capacity restrictions?

• Yes – general capacity will be restricted to maintain physical distancing at all times.

• Access to the changing rooms will be restricted to a maximum of two people at any one time.

• Similarly, except for the single Ladies/Disabled toilet upstairs, access to the other toilet facilities will be restricted to a maximum of two people at any one time.

• Entry to the caddy-store will be on a “one in one out” basis.

• Bar, lounge, balcony, and restaurant capacity will be restricted to the number of tables available.

• Whilst the tables have been spread out appropriately, it is impractical for individuals seated at tables to remain two metres apart.  As a result, we have taken measures to ensure that we can operate safely as a “1 metre physical distancing zone”.  In particular, there should be no standing at the bar or mixing between tables.

• Scottish Government guidance stipulates that you can meet people from up to two other households at a time indoors and this guideline should be adhered to within the upper floor of the clubhouse.          

What is the procedure for ordering food and drink?

• We will be operating a rudimentary one-way system for accessing the upper floor of the clubhouse.  Access will be via the main staircase with exit from the lounge via the balcony and exit from the bar via the rear staircase.

• To support “Test and Protect”, we are required to maintain the following contact details for each customer: -

  • A contact phone number for each customer, or the “lead member” of a small household group.

  • Date of visit and arrival/departure time. 

• On entering the upper floor, you should proceed directly (following the arrows on the floor) to the table by the right-hand side of the lounge serving hatch and record your contact details in the folder.  Please use the hand sanitising facilities provided.  You should then locate a seat in the bar or lounge.

• Service from the bar will be via the designated area in front of the Perspex screens (one in the lounge and one in the bar).  To avoid queuing, please wait until the service area is free before approaching the bar.  If you are in a small group, then ideally one of you should order drinks on behalf of the group.  On collecting your drinks, please return directly to your table.  

• Ordering of food will be via table service.

• Card payments are preferred, and we would encourage the purchase of drinks via your “Gold” card.  To minimise the handling of your gold card, you can provide the bar staff with your card number.    

Hygiene Protocol

• It is important that everyone coming to the clubhouse adheres to the general guidelines on public health.  Whilst the club has taken appropriate measures to minimise transmission of the virus, ultimately everyone needs to take personal responsibility to ensure effective infection control.   

  • If you are displaying any of the symptoms of Covid-19, you should stay away from the clubhouse and golf course and seek advice from NHS 111.  

  • Please wash your hands regularly and use the sanitising facilities provided by the club.  There is an automated sanitiser located at the foot of the main staircase and portable sanitisers are located at strategic points throughout the building.  

  • Please leave the toilets as you find them and wash your hands thoroughly before leaving. 

A final “Heads Up”

• We are right at the forefront of re-opening our food and beverage operation and like other hospitality businesses, we will no doubt learn as we go along and tweak our operating model accordingly. 

• We fully anticipate an inspection by the appropriate authorities, and we will risk closure if we are found to be breaching our own procedures.  It is therefore imperative that everyone adheres to the measures outlined above. 

• The bar staff have the authority to manage the bar in line with the above protocol and carry the full support of the Board.  It is important that everyone follows their guidance and treats them with respect. 

We are looking forward to re-starting a full service in the clubhouse and we thank you for your patience and support. 

Captains & Vice-Captain's Trophy: Draw

The draw has now been made for the knock-out stages of the Captains & Vice-Captain's Trophy with the top 16 nett scores from last Saturday earning their place in the first round of match play. Players are encouraged to arrange and play first round ties as soon as possible with strokes given on full difference of handicaps. A copy of the draw with contact details is available to view in the foyer.

> Click here for the draw