Annual Weekend 2024

The highlight of the OGGS calendar is our annual weekend, and this year it was held at Elie on the 13th and 14th October. Turnout this year was the highest it had been for a while, with 29 entrants for the main Saturday Trophies and and 46 at the annual dinner. We welcomed several new members playing in their first meeting, as well as several who had not been in some time. Long may it continue

On Saturday the members compete for the Boyes (Scratch), Neishes (Handicap) and Veterans Trophies, and our female members and guests compete for the Ladies Trophy. Conditions, its fair to say, were quite unpleasant, especially in the morning, with heavy rain and some wind. Some groups (wisely) did not complete their rounds and some of our most senior members sensibly preferred the comfort of the clubhouse in the afternoon. However, despite the conditions and some sandy greens, this did not stop some good scoring from a few notable members.

The Ladies Trophy had two competitors this year, but despite Kirsty Rennie’s return to the tournament, Fi Skinner’s grip on that particular trophy is iron clad, and she has now won it four years in a row! I think even Fi would like this run to end, so please can we encourage more women to play!

The Veterans Trophy, for members over 50, has a unique system of handicap adjustment, with those in their 50s receiving 3/4 of their course handicap allocation, those in their 60s receiving the full allocation, and those in the 70s and beyond being allowed to play off the forward tees. Coming in third, with a net 70 was Geoff Ballantine. In the runner up spot, returning after a decent absence was Graham Stewart with a net 68, but taking the trophy was Sandy Dudgeon with an excellent net 65

As there were only 8 golfers playing on Saturday who were not eligible for the veterans, it is inevitable that there is some overlap between the Veterans and Neishes (Handicap) trophy, and so it proved to be. In third place, was Willie White with a net 69. As Willie is in his 50s, his veterans net score was 72.25 so was only good enough for 5th, but his net 69 was good enough for third in the Neishes. Apologies have been made to Willie, as it was announced at prize giving that Tim Campbell had come third. A clerical error on handicaps (Willie’s had gone up 1, and Tim’s down 1) has been resolved, and hopefully we are all still friends! In 2nd place, doing the double with the veterans was Graham Stewart, and Sandy Dudgeon also did the double with his net 65, winning the Neishes.

In the Boyes (Scratch), scores, while not exceptional were still good given the conditions. In third was incoming President Sandy Gray with a 78. Sandy Dudgeon, whose net 65, gross 77 was good enough to come in 2nd, but making it 3 in a row and now 7 in total, David Rennie was victorious with a 74.

Congratulations to all of the prize winners!

The evening brings both the AGM and the Annual Dinner. The main news of the AGM was the appointment by the past presidents of Sandy Gray as our President for 2024-2028, replacing Jim Patrick. Jim will remain on the committee as the College Liaison and also will remain as Chief Selector. Brian Richmond ended his term as vice-captain, and Niall Booker (in absentia) was voted in as Captain-Elect.

Dinner, as always, was an excellent affair. We were joined by Tony Sinclair, Captain of the Golf House Club and his wife Elspeth. The Warden sadly couldn’t join us, as he is in Kenya recruiting, but we were joined by Robert Garnish, the College COO/Bursar and he gave a very upbeat state of the college, which was well received by the OGs present. As is tradition, the youngest OG present says grace. This year it was Angus Fitzpatrick, a photo of whom is included below along with his uncle, Willie White and his grandfather Donald – 3 generations of OGs from the same family at our weekend!

After an excellent meal, the first the society have had with Elie’s new chef, the society was toasted by David Rennie. No, not that David Rennie, but David Rennie, former head professional at Wentworth, who recounted his tales of meeting the great and the good in his time at the club. In coming president replied before the formal events ended with the prize giving.

On Sunday we welcomed 4 pupils and master i/c golf Andy Todd and thankfully the weather improved, although it was a little chilly. In the dry and bright conditions, scoring improved on the day before Sunday. The members play for the Stocks Tankard. Graham Stewart and Willie White put in two good rounds to get a spot on the podium, but not good enough to keep up with Nick Brown. Nick was returning to the weekend after a long term injury layoff, but that did not stop him putting in a good round on Saturday, and then 40 points on Sunday morning was enough for a 2 point victory. Congratulations to Nick and welcome back!

This ends a good year for the society. Although we have not had the greatest year on the course, we have seen our membership in crease by 20 since the introduction of our new website, and I hope that we will continue to see a steady increase in our numbers over the coming years.

We are waiting for confirmation of half term and leave out dates for the College (in order to avoid them) and as soon as I know the dates will be published. Please look out for an email in early December with the fixture list and subs reminder for 2025.

TROPHY RESULTS

BOYES (Scratch)				NEISHES (Handicap)
Rank	Player	Score		Rank	Player	Score	H’Cap
1	Rennie, David	74		1	Dudgeon, Alexander	65	12
2	Dudgeon, Alexander	77		2	Stewart, Graham	68	14
3	Gray, Sandy	78		3	White, Willie	69	13
4	Campbell, Tim	78		4	Brown, Nick	69	18
5	McEachran, Matthew	79		5	Campbell, Tim	70	8
6	Sanderson, David	80		6	Ballantine, Geoffrey	70	12
7	White, Willie	82		7	Sanderson, David	71	9
8	Stewart, Graham	82		8	Rennie, David	72	2
9	Ballantine, Geoffrey	82		9	Skinner, Jamie	73	11
10	Richmond, Brian	84		10	Gray, Sandy	73	5
11	Skinner, Jamie	84		11	Richmond, Brian	75	9
12	Thomson, Mike	84		12	McSherry, Euan	75	18
13	Russell, Graeme	85		13	Morgan, Harry	76	14
14	Stewart, Ruaraidh	86		14	Black, Robin	76	11
15	Brown, Nick	87		15	McEachran, Matthew	77	2
16	Black, Robin	87		16	MacLean, John	77	14
17	Gully, Andrew	89		17	Richmond, Andrew	78	16
18	Titterington, Stephen	89		18	Galloway, Bruce	78	18
19	Morgan, Harry	90		19	Thomson, Mike	78	6
20	Macnab of Macnab, Jamie	90		20	Russell, Graeme	78	7
21	MacLean, John	91		21	Macnab of Macnab, Jamie	78	12
22	McSherry, Euan	93		22	Walker, Tom	79	15
23	Richmond, Andrew	94		23	Stewart, Ruaraidh	79	7
24	Walker, Tom	94		24	Gully, Andrew	80	9
25	Galloway, Bruce	96		25	Titterington, Stephen	81	8
26	Gully, Jim	98		26	Gully, Jim	82	16
27	Sandison, James	102		27	Sandison, James	85	17
28	Burnett, Gerald	NR		28	Burnett, Gerald	NR	24
29	Fitzpatrick, Angus	NR		29	Fitzpatrick, Angus	NR	22

 

VETERANS (Handicap*)					STOCKS (Handicap Stableford)
Rank	Player	Score	H’Cap		Rank	Player	Score	H’Cap
1	Dudgeon, Alexander	65.00	12.00		1	Brown, Nick	40	16
2	Stewart, Graham	68.00	14.00		2	White, Willie	38	11
3	Ballantine, Geoffrey	70.00	12.00		3	Stewart, Graham	37	13
4	Sanderson, David	71.00	9.00		4	Galloway, Bruce	37	16
5	White, Willie	72.25	9.75		5	Gully, Jim	36	15
6	Skinner, Jamie	73.00	11.00		6	Gray, Sandy	36	3
7	Gray, Sandy	73.00	5.00		7	Titterington, Stephen	35	7
8	Brown, Nick	73.50	13.50		8	McSherry, Euan	35	17
9	Morgan, Harry	76.00	14.00		9	Russell, Graeme	35	5
10	MacLean, John	77.00	14.00		10	Richmond, Brian	35	8
11	Richmond, Brian	77.25	6.75		11	Sanderson, David	35	8
12	McEachran, Matthew	77.50	1.50		12	Rennie, David	34	1
13	Galloway, Bruce	78.00	18.00		13	Gully, Andrew	33	7
14	Macnab of Macnab, Jamie	78.00	12.00		14	Skinner, Jamie	33	10
15	Black, Robin	78.75	8.25		15	Campbell, Tim	32	8
16	Walker, Tom	79.00	15.00		16	Thomson, David	30	13
17	Russell, Graeme	79.75	5.25		17	MacLean, John	28	12
18	Titterington, Stephen	81.00	8.00		18	Fitzpatrick, Angus	25	20
19	Richmond, Andrew	82.00	12.00		20	Carnegie, John	23	9
20	Sandison, James	85.00	17.00
21	Burnett, Gerald	NR	24.00