2020 CHAMPIONSHIP DRAWS

Ladies Club Championship

Rnd 1 - Play by Sunday 2nd August

Match 1: Denise Cowan (W w/o) v Eleanor Cannon

Match 2: Allison Murray (W 3&2) v Marion Munro

Match 3: Anne Judge (W 2&1) v Sheila Biggart

Match 4: Jan Macnab (W 3&2) v Eunice Muir


(Round 2 to be played by Sunday 16th August and Final on Sunday 30th August)


Ladies Bronze Championship

Rnd 1 -Play by Sunday 2nd August

Match 1: Joy McLeod (1) v Bye

Match 2: Vicky Rennie v Alison Templeton (W 1up)

Match 3: Karin MacKenzie (3) v Bye

Match 4: Helen Abram (2) v Bye

(Round 2 to be played by Sunday 16th August and Final by Sunday 30th August)

Please advise Jan of any match results and this post will be updated with winners.

SCORING APP TRIAL - OUTCOMES AND LESSONS

This will be a long post. Please be patient and read to the end!

Firstly, thanks to all the ladies who went out gamely yesterday to try out the new technology.

Congratulations to Sheila Biggart and Rosemary Ogilvie who had the best scores with 36 points each.

We all learned a lot but there is a long way to go before we can say things are running smoothly. For that reason I propose to run exactly the same thing again next Wednesday 22 July - a non-counting, green tee, stableford competition, for more practice. If you want to try sooner, there is the same type of competition already set up to enter this Saturday 18th.

NOTE: Anyone who wishes a qualifying score for their handicap can get this on the 22nd by playing in the competition. Notify me IN ADVANCE by email that you wish your score to qualify and we can treat it additionally as a qualifying supplementary score.

WHAT WE LEARNED YESTERDAY

1) When you input the score at any hole, make sure you click TWICE to input and confirm it. Check at the top that the App has moved on to the next hole. Review the card say every 4 holes (buttons at the top for Front 9 and Back 9) to check for and fix any pink highlighted discrepancies.

2) Groups who played in a 2 had a much better success rate with the scoring than groups that played in 3s. Maybe something to consider when booking future tee times.

3) "Mixed" groups that had some using their phones and some using cards were a lot harder to sort out than ones that were "all phones" or "all cards". Again something to bear in mind when booking your group. You need to be clear whose card you are marking and who is marking yours, just as in the past.

4) The backup cards were generally a mess, which was ok yesterday but won't be ok going forward - please see below.

5) There are still some people who want to use the App and have capable phones that have problems Signing-in to the App, or Entering/Checking-in for a Competition, or with changing email addresses, or with their CDH numbers. If any of these, or any other problem, still applies to you -please EMAIL ME setting out all the details/symptoms of the problem. I will coordinate all the issues and these will be passed to David Stewart who will get his Scottish Golf contact to deal with them all together. We have been asked NOT to contact Scottish Golf directly individually as this is a less efficient way for them to deal with problems.


FOR THE FUTURE

The R&A have given a dispensation for the signing of Handicap Qualifying scores because of COVID 19. This dispensation allows you to sign your own card and initial/tick/etc on your card for your marker. This is the only dispensation. The new technology does not mean that scores do not have to be verified by a marker and signed.

If you and your marker finish your round and are able to agree 18 holes of scores on the App the green Finalise Now button will appear and when that is clicked there is the opportunity to sign your own card on your phone and tick/initial for your marker.

If you finish your round and are unable to sign your phone to verify both people agree the score - for example because one person doesn't use a phone, someone has a technical problem, someone has used "Score for All" or for whatever other reason you have clicked the other "Finalise in V1" button, that means YOUR SCORE HAS NOT BEEN SIGNED AND VERIFIED.

In future therefore, if you have not been able to get to the point that you sign your phone, you MUST properly fill in a card (dated, signed etc, etc just as you would have put in the box last year). The only difference is that YOU can initial/write verified etc in the markers box once you confirm the score with your marker. And then, at the moment, you need to send a picture of it to me or whoever is running that particular competition, rather than put it in a box.

This does mean that for all practical purposes, for the next trial, it would probably be worth keeping a card on the way round, after checking in on your phone when you reach the carpark. You can then either attempt to also score on the phone as you go or try to complete it on the phone for all holes when you come off the 18th hole. (You don't HAVE to do this, it has just been suggested by a few players). But, to repeat, if you want your score to count it MUST BE SIGNED either on phone or card.

I will stop now as that is probably enough to digest all at the one time!

Summary
1)Try again next Wednesday. Book tee time now and enter on the App once competition set up (after this Saturday's competition is finished)
2)Email me if you still have any technical problems
3)Make sure in future you sign for your score.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WEDNESDAY TRIAL STABLEFORD

Wednesday 15th July will be the first ladies competition using the new Scottish Golf VMS scoring App. Here are some step-by-step instructions.

Note there will be no entry fee and no ballots and everyone must play the GREEN COURSE (things are not yet set up for us to run a 2-tee competition).

It will be a NON-COUNTING, STABLEFORD competition.

Whilst we are encouraging everyone to try to use and get to know the new App, there will be contingencies in place for those who do not have a phone suitable for this. If you are in any doubt, take a card from the starters hut with you and mark this instead/as-well-as your phone and we can sort it out afterwards. On the day I am going out before the bulk of the players and will wait afterwards to provide assistance to other finishing groups. Anyone playing first thing in the morning or later in the day who has problems, please just contact me afterwards directly.

Part A - Initial Set-Up
1) Download the Scottish Golf VMS App onto your phone. See my earlier blog for a picture of how this App looks in the App Store

2) Register/Sign-up. This uses your email address and the App should "know" you and your handicap once you Register and then Sign-in.

Anyone with any problems to this point, email me and I will reply or phone you as necessary.

Part B - Enter the Competition
This is what we will do from now on to enter any competition. Wednesday's Stableford is now set up on the system for you to enter. Here are the steps to follow:

1) Book your tee time with your playing group USING THE CLUB V1 APP AS USUAL.

2) Sign in to the Scottish Golf App. You should see Ladies Stableford on 15th. Click the RED Enter button.

This is what my screen looks like after entering. Withdraw is now an option where Enter was.

3) This is the confusing bit. Before playing, you must use the purple My Tee Time button to book into a SLOT with your whole playing group (2 or 3 people as appropriate). This is NOT your tee time, as we are booking tee times as usual using Club V1. It doesn't matter which number of slot your group is booked in as long as you are all in the same one. Only players in the same SLOT can mark each others cards using the App.

4) On arrival at the course there are further steps to do which I won't go into detail here, as 1-3 are what you need to do in advance.

The club emailed all members a document last week which gives this guidance in more detail and what to do on the day. If anyone does not have this, please email me and I will forward it.

Here is also a link to a YouTube tutorial prepared by Scottish Golf for another club which you can watch if you wish.

Using the Scottish Golf App

Lastly, please bear with the Committee - we are as new to this as everyone else!

NEW SCORING COMPETITIONS

Ladies it's time to get back to "having a card in your hand" without having a card in your hand!

The first competitions of the season will be on Wednesday 15th July and Saturday 18th July 2020. These will be non-counting stableford competitions to give us a first chance to see and use the new Scottish Golf VMS scoring system, which is done on your phone.

Further instructions will follow, but meantime download the Scottish Golf app onto your smartphone. Search "Scottish Golf" and it looks like this in the App Store.

Then see if you can Sign up/Register.

You cannot yet enter the competition, but you can book a tee time to play, as usual, via the ClubV1 app. There will be no ballots or entry fees. Book to play with arranged friends or add Guest Request Game if you are looking for a playing partner.

LADIES CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Ladies Club Championship and Bronze Championship are going ahead, working towards the originally scheduled Finals Day on Sunday 30th August.

This year there will be no qualifying rounds and everyone who is eligible can enter either the Championship or the Bronze Championship. Seeding will be by current exact handicap, with the Holders at No1.

Please email me by Wednesday 15th July if you want to be included in one of the draws for these scratch, knockout competitions. The draw will be posted online.

The Club Championship is open to all lady members with full playing rights and the Bronze Championship has a further restriction of a playing handicap of 21 or above.

To enter email janmacnab@hotmail.co.uk

BACK TO GOLF, ONE MONTH ON

Hi Ladies

I hope everyone is well and has been able to get back out on the golf course to enjoy some post-lockdown social games. The weather has been pretty good (until this weekend, of course!)

I am pleased to say that we have had some new lady members join us over the last few weeks, and others who maybe haven't played with many of the ladies before have been out on the course with family members.

So, if you see any new faces, please say hello (from a distance!) and make them welcome.

Now we have been back playing for a month, it is time to plan for the rest of the golf season. When I sent out the email asking for ladies' opinions, everyone said there was no immediate rush for competition golf as they were enjoying social games, and that we should ease back into it.

This contrasts with the men, who are desperate for competition play - so we can maybe let them trial the new VMS system for a couple of weeks before we try it ourselves.

Watch this space, as I hope to report soon on the timetable for the rest of the season. We are also hoping to find a way to resume bounce games with a new format, as we cannot obviously have everyone turning up at once for a draw as we did in the past.

Finally, if you are looking for a social game and don't have a regular partner to play with, you can now enter your name on the booking sheet (using Club V1 app) and add a new fictional character we have created called Guest Request Game in the same slot. Others can then see that you are looking for a game and put their name up to join you. It was decided to do this as some people may still be wishing to play by themselves, which deterred others from joining single players. Let me know if anyone has any problems using this.

Hope to see you soon on the course
Jan

LOCKDOWN BLOG

I hope everyone is healthy and managing to keep occupied in this bizarre lockdown world we now live in.

Every day I lament the fact that there is no golf, when the weather is so gorgeous. Hopefully our great course will be in stunning condition when we are able to get back to it (a sneak peek tells me that the 8th, 9th and 11th greens are all now re-laid, so hopefully will bed-in soon).

Here are some course photos from recent days. Please email me your pics if you have any good ones, particularly of the lovely daffodils when they were out (I missed seeing those) and I can post them here.

Meanwhile, away from the course several of our lady members have had lockdown birthdays. Celebrations will not have been as normal, but big congratulations to Moira Wilson and Marion Reid, who have celebrated special big birthdays. Hope to see you back on the course soon in your 9th decade 😃🎂🎂🎂

LADIES UPDATE

Ladies you will all be expecting this news but for the avoidance of doubt...

1) The planned supper and rules night on April 2nd will not now go ahead.

2) Wednesday's Winter Greensomes competition has been cancelled and there will be no ladies competitions organised until further notice.

3) Casual golf will continue, taking into account the guidance issued in the recent Board email.

As the weather improves, I hope many of us can enjoy this casual golf as a way to keep our morale up over the coming weeks.

Look after yourselves, everyone.

Jan

Golf and Government Advice re COVID19

Ladies, you will have by now seen the recent government advice about “social distancing” and we need to give serious consideration to how this will affect our golfing life over the next few months.

Obviously, the health and wellbeing of all members is our primary consideration. Many of our lady golfers are in a government identified “risk” category but at the same time they are well and active and would wish to keep exercising. Golf, like walking, is one of the activities which it may be possible to continue under certain conditions.

The situation is fast moving and official advice changes almost daily. In the first instance, we have decided to cancel the 12 hole 5-club competition scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday 18th March, while we take time to consider the best advice.

It may for instance be possible, come the competition season, to have no ballots but for players who are well, want fresh air and choose to do so, to play by arrangement throughout the day while still managing to achieve social distancing.

It is likely that the planned supper evening on April 2nd will have to be cancelled.

This is all very disappointing but this is an unprecedented time and our wish is for everybody to stay healthy.

All further updates on these matters will be published on the Blog.

New Email address

Maureen Cook has changed her email address.  For those with the yellow address book please change it to:-  maureen.a.cook@virginmedia.com

BRIDGE AFTERNOON WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2020

Thanks to everyone who attended this year's Bridge Drive on Wednesday 26th February.

The whole event seemed a great success with 17 tables of players, all of whom enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea, and some of whom enjoyed some fabulous cards.

Several couples made small slams, only to be eclipsed by Robin Scott and Alistair Forsyth who had a Grand Slam (we can't remember the last time this was achieved!)

The bridge winners were:

• 1st Kay Black - 2700 points
• 2nd Elspeth Osbourne - 2650 points
• 3rd Dorothy Simpson - 2307 points

Sincere thanks to Vicky Rennie who coordinated the whole event, together with her team of helpers including Joy McLeod and Maureen Cook. Thanks also to the large team of bakers and sandwich makers who provided the afternoon tea, which was much commented on and appreciated.

We would all like to thank Simon, Mandy and the rest of the catering team who provided the tea, coffee and scones and then donated the whole proceeds for these back to the raffle charity. Thanks to everyone who donated raffle prizes and bought tickets. A total of £255 was raised for Glasgow Samaritans.

AFTERNOON TEA

Judging by the noise, the 34 ladies who attended the afternooon tea yesterday enjoyed their afternoon.
A lovley spread was provided by our caterers which was enjoyed along with the chat.   A lovely way to spend another wet afternoon!

BRIDGE AFTERNOON

The Ranfurly Castle Bridge Afternoon is coming up this month, on Wednesday 26th February, 1.30 for 2pm start. The cost is £30 for a table for four.

If you would like to play and have not already booked a table, please sign up on the Main Notice Board or contact Vicky Rennie to reserve a table. It promises to be a fun afternoon of cards with a delicious Afternoon Tea prepared and served by members of the Ladies Section.

LADIES HARD AT WORK

Sunday 19th January saw 7 ladies putting in a tough shift of gardening work outside the Clubhouse.
Well done girls, what a difference a bit of weeding and tidying up makes!
I'm sure all the members would like to thank you for your hard work.

     BEFORE:

     AFTER:

Volunteers to help out the gardening team always welcome!

90th AGM

Saturday 18th January saw the Ladies section host the 90th AGM.  Approximately 45 ladies gathered in the dining room where Captain Jan welcomed everyone.  Various reports were given covering events of the past year before Jan introduced Gillian Donaghy as her Vice Captain and welcomed her to the post.  2019 was a difficult year for Jan with no Vice Captain but, with the help of many of the members, she survived and is generously giving her time to continue as Captain for anoher year.  She thanked both Sheila Biggart and Marion Munro for their services as they departed from the committee and welcomed Anne Gordon and Helen Abram as new members to replace them.
A congratulations Birthday card was sent to Ronnie MacLaren who has reached the grand age of 100, our oldest Past Captain.
The meeting continued with Jan presenting the prizes and Trophies to the winners from the last seasons golf.
Finally two dates for next month were given for people to put in their diary:-
Wed 19th February - Afternoon Tea event and Wed 26th February - Bridge Afternoon.
Look out for sheets in the locker room to sign up if you are interested and further information will follow shortly.

CAPTAINS' DRIVE-IN 2020

Thanks to everyone who came along on Sunday 12th January to witness the new Captains' Drive-In.

2019 Captain David Stewart handed over the badge of office to Eunice Muir, who then introduced the 2020 Gents Vice Captain, Brian McLaughlin.

Eunice, Brian and Lady Captain Jan later hit their tee shots off the first tee in front of a cheering audience (all balls in play, but Jan's disappointingly in the bunker!).

We were then very lucky with a dry and pleasant weather window for the 9 hole stableford competition. This year's winner of the Captains Quaich was Joy McLeod with 24pts, narrowly beating Kevin Barr and last year's winner Martin McGoldrick.

Well done Joy, a good start to the season for the Ladies!

BREAKFAST ON 3rd JANUARY

Ladies, just a little reminder that everyone is invited to come to the Club on 3rd January 2020 for breakfast, a chat and, maybe, a little golf if wanted.  Time is 10.00-10.15am.
It would be helpful if you could contact Joy before hand if you plan to come along, but don't worry if that is not possible.  Looking forward to seeing anyone who is free for a catch up and a Happy New Year to you all when it comes.

LADIES AGM AND PRIZEGIVING

The Ladies Section AGM and Prizegiving will be held in the clubhouse on Saturday 18th January 2020, at 10.45 for 11am.

All ladies who are eligible to attend have been emailed paperwork for the meeting and there are copies available for inspection on the Notice Board in the Ladies Locker Room.

XMAS FUN!

There might not have been any golf because of the heavy rain but, great fun was had playing the entertaining quiz organised by Jan.  Everyone turned up in Festive dress - the jumper sales must have increased this year - but Anne Judge decided that a Xmas jumper was not nearly good enough as can be seen from the following photo.  Well done Anne!

Golf Teams of 3 were joined by ladies who had not intended to play golf anyway, but were prepared to put their general knowledge to the test.  No horrible head scratching questions this year, just a range of topics with plenty of possible answers for all the team to contribute to.   The overal winning team was decided by playing Family Fortunes and consisted of  Sheila Biggart, Evelyn MacDermid and Morag Cunningham - congratulations all.
40 Ladies then enjoyed lunch and chat upstairs, perhaps the first mince pie of the season for many of us, along with coffee or tea, rounded off the occasion.

NO GOLF THIS MORNING

Predictably, the weather is not pleasant for golf this morning.

We will revert to Plan B and meet at 11.15am prior to our Christmas Lunch.

If the weather dries up this afternoon, anyone feeling they have missed out on their golf can always have a few holes after lunch.

See you all later

Jan