The Annual Weekend was held in its usual spot at Elie on the 2nd weekend of October, and there was much excitement leading up to the event. We had two wins to celebrate, a former Lions captain as guest of honour, the new Warden, and a changing of the guard with a retiring Captain and Hon Sec, much to talk about and there was certainly a buzz to the event. Numbers were as high as they had been for at least a decade, with 57 for dinner and 44 golfers on Saturday. It was gearing up to be an excellent weekend and so it proved to be (at least for the Hon Sec!)

Golf Report
Saturday’s weather was fine and dry, but unexpectedly windy, and that combined with sandy greens led to some tricky conditions, although the rough was not at its summer height. David Rennie was looking to make it four in a row for the scratch and Sandy Dudgeon was back to defend the handicap and the veterans. A number of good rounds were recorded in the morning with a gross 74 from Mo McEachran and a net 67 from John Gordon leading in the clubhouse at lunchtime. In the overall reckoning scoring was good, with 7 rounds in the 70s scratch and 5 rounds in the 60s net. Three of those net rounds were recorded by Veterans, with two 69s from Jamie Skinner and David Sanderson not quite good enough to better John Gordon’s net 67. John’s gross 75 was good enough for third in the scratch and 2nd in the handicap, with another 69 from Fergus Booker (better inward half) earning him third place in front of Jamie and David. However, perhaps the lifting of the burden of office freed Mike Thomson up enough to produce some good golf as his 73, nett 66 was enough to do the Scratch and Handicap double.

Moment of the day was when a passer by attempted to steal the captain’s ball. Having driven off the 12th tee, in the rough just beyond the path next to the beach, the rest of the group were required to wait as some walkers came across the path between the 10th and 12th tees and then on to the chain walk. Fortunately we observed the gentlemen of the party pick up Stephen’s ball, at which point he thankfully heard the shouts from the tee and dropped the ball. He could have done the decent thing and thrown it 50 yards up the fairway, but he tossed it back to the rough, but possibly in a better lie than he found it.

I’m delighted to report a vastly increased ladies field this year with 7 entrants. This meant Fi Skinner had some competition if she was to win four in a row. Included in the new field is the society’s first associate member (non OG), Miranda Landale, who is both a former parent and current staff member at the College, Tilly Davenport (OG) is a new member who has only taken the game up in the past three months and her mother and in-coming captain’s partner, Samantha. These new joiners turned out to top the leader board, although I can’t promise that the Davenport household is a happy place, with mother Samantha beating daughter Tilly into 2nd place.

If the scoring was good on Saturday, it can only be described as obscene on Sunday. The weather changed, with almost no wind. However, a haar and some moisture on the ground affecting the first half of the round, before it burnt off in what turned out to be a lovely day as we enjoyed our lunch and drinks after the round. A very special mention must go to Andy Todd, who had an astonishing round of 62 gross. The society is delighted that the college pupils are in the hands of such an excellent golfer! We had the pleasure of the company of four pupils who enjoyed their days out at Elie.

In the ladies on Sunday, more discord was sown in the Davenport household, as Samantha managed to pip daughter Tilly again to be the leading ladies score on Sunday, with an excellent 46 points.

In the Stocks Trophy, scoring was remarkable. Jamie Skinner, a recent winner of this trophy presumably thought he was in with a shout with 40 points, but that was not enough to even grace the leaderboard. Son Max (there is a family theme here which is wonderful) managed to pip him to third place with 42 points. David Primrose, the winner of Stocks two years ago presumably thought his gross 65 and 44 points would be enough to regain the trophy. Not this time. In fact, he wasn’t even close. The winner, shooting gross 74 (having shot 94 the previous day), a net 57 (yes net 13 under par) and amassing a gargantuan 49 points was Euan McSherry. Samples have been requested and a meeting with his handicap secretary, but many congratulations to Euan.

AGM and Dinner
To celebrate his final AGM as Hon Sec, the meeting was conducted in rapid time, and was duly completed in 15 minutes. Those present were updated on the finances (good) and membership of the society (excellent) and the Captain and College Liaison officers gave their respective reports. There were lows, as we noted the passing of Donald Skinner and Chris Dundas this year, and highs as we celebrated victories in the Wimbledon putting plate and (the highlight of the year) The Cyril Gray. I’m glad that 4 of the team of 6 were present to celebrate. The trophy was present at dinner in celebration.

Willie White was re-elected to membership of the committee, Captain-Elect Niall Booker was duly elected as Captain, although he was concerned his children might blackball him so told Fergus and Calum that the meeting started 30 minutes later! Finally, much to the delight of the Hon Sec, Ruaraidh Stewart as elected as the new Hon Sec and Treasurer.

Dinner began as it always does with an address from the Warden. Sadly in recent years, we have seen regular changes to the person giving this address. Indeed, in the past nine years there have been 5 wardens and twice the address was given by someone other than the Warden. However, we are aware of the new circumstances, and we gladly welcomed Lucy Elphinstone to update us on the state of the College. She told us how close it came to closure, the steps taken and the investment that has been made in recent times, and how much more there is to do to get the school back on its feet. The audience was wowed by the energy showed, and our guest speaker noted in his address how impressed he was by her skill and passion (and he’s heard speeches from Jim Telfer and Ian McGeechan so he should know!)

The food was excellent, and I must recommend that anyone remotely close to Fife should get to Elie not just for its fine golf course, but also the quality of the food at the Golf House Club. The club has treated us so well for many years, and its only seems to be getting better. We were delighted to have Craig Hobkirk, Captain of the Golf House Club, Elie and his wife, Elle, as our guests for dinner, and we look forward to seeing them next year.

After dinner we were toasted by the guest of honour Gavin Hastings. Gavin is best known for being a former captain of both Scotland and the British and Irish Lions, but perhaps the real highlight of his career was his victory in the Cyril Gray (sadly playing for George Watsons, but we needn’t mention that). We were lucky to have him, as he had endured a journey from hell, stuck on the M25, he missed his flight from Heathrow, and then had to bomb it up to Stansted for the only remaining flight to get him to Elie in time. He arrived, but as he noted, (in the words of Ally McCoist), “this is the earliest that I have ever been late!” An accomplished speaker, his speech was written during dinner, and he entertained us greatly.

As you will now know, this was my final day as Hon Sec of the Old Glenalmond Golfing Society. Much to my astonishment, this did not get past some very kind members of the OGGS who did a whip round and I am now the proud owner of two outdoor benches and a coffee table. Included in the photo set below is a picture of the set, adorned with a couple of trophies I am grateful that you managed to let me win this year to celebrate my retiral as Hon Sec. Thank you so much to those of you who contributed to that, it means a great deal to me, and as I can’t thank you all personally, please note my thanks here. I look forward to the spring rolling round next year to enjoy them properly while I am not organising OGGS fixtures, chasing subs or adding up illegible scorecards at Elie! I’m glad to be passing it over to the very capable hands of Ruaraidh Stewart who I know will do an excellent job.

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