Home Win v Title Rivals Haggs Castle
The junior team got their Fleming Watson League defence off to a winning start with a hard fought win over Haggs Castle.
Fresh off the back of a hole-in-one at a par 4 the previous day, Aaron McGuire was the first to get a point on the board, winning 5&4 in a game that he was always in control of. Team captain Ashton McKechan was never behind but saw his lead evaporate at 14 when his opponent recorded his first ever hole-in-one. Ashton regrouped and played solidly in the closing holes, winning the last to take the match 2 up.
As Ashton was finishing, vice-captain Zak McArthur was also securing his point on the 17th green to ensure at least half a point for the overall match with a 2&1 victory. The remaining 3 games were all tight at this point and it was clear the teams were very evenly matched and the match would go down to the wire. In the 4th match, debutant James Clark and his opponent swapped the lead throughout in a quality match, James eventually going down 2&1.
As that match was finishing, Evan Macaulay’s match was also coming to a close, losing 3&2. Evan too played some good golf but having to give his older opponent 5 shots just proving too much on the day. 3-2 Fereneze. That meant that the last game on the course was going to decide whether it was a half point each or a full point to Fereneze. In a game that had been nip and tuck the entire way, Evan McGill lost the 17th to ensure they went down the last all square. With both players making mistakes off the tee, and his opponent with a gimme, Evan held his nerve from 7ft to halve the match and give Fereneze the overall match 3 1/2 – 2 1/2.
In the reserve fixture, young Lucas Macaulay showed his quality with a well deserved 4&3 victory.
Thanks to Haggs Castle for the match and we wish them all the best for the rest of the season. Next up for the team is a development match away to Bonnyton where we will look to integrate some of the younger/higher handicap players
Easter Junior Coaching and Flag Event
As well as continuing to put the Fleming Watson team through their paces on week 1 of the Easter Holidays our junior team selector Clare Marie Macaulay also gave the younger juniors & juveniles the benefit of her expertise with 3 mornings coaching on various aspects of the game. We followed that up with the first of our Flag events so that kids could take their coaching to the course. All the kids did exceptionally well to get where they did with their 36 shots or in some cases less. Some of the kids here are 5 or 6 so even to be on a golf course doing this is fantastic. Here’s how it looks after 1 round. We’ll chart progress throughout the year.
| Player | Hole Reached |
| Rory Forrest | 7 |
| Finn Anderson | 7 |
| Finlay Aird | 7 |
| Cameron Rennie | 6 |
| Anna Sherry | 6 |
| Francesca Sherry | 5 |
| Oliver McKeown | 5 |
| Christopher McEwan | 5 |
| Rory Turnbull | 4 |
Scottish Golf Club Hire Fund
We’ve been successful in securing a £750 payment from Scottish Golf which we’ll match courtesy of a generous donation from the Senior Friendship League. We’ll use these funds to buy clubs that we can hire to our juniors for a season hopefully keeping the cost of golf down. This may also prove handy as we’re actively supporting the 6 local primary schools who are taking part in Scottish Golf’s Unleash Your Drive programme which in conjunction with East Renfrewshire Council introduces kids in P5 and P6 to golf.