50th Anniversary Weekend

The extended weekend of 7 - 9 September saw us celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Club in fine style. We spent two nights at the Red House Hotel in Coupar Angus. It is geared up to host golfing parties and proved to be an excellent base for us. The food (and drink) were consumed in generous measures – especially when John Notman was pouring the pre-dinner gins kindly donated by Ian Jackson and John Dunn. Three snooker tables ensured there was fun and laughter after the evening meals.

Eleven of us played the Lansdowne course on Friday, 7 September. The scoring was remarkably good with Ian Jackson winning with a fine 38 points, a total that was not beaten all weekend. Barclay Wilkinson was second with a very creditable 35 points.

On Saturday morning, while our Captain returned to Edinburgh for a morning shift at work, 9 of us played the Wee Course at Blairgowrie. It was well worth playing and must rank as one of the very best 9-hole courses in the country. Dave Rankine had a blistering 22 points to inspire his team to a winning 24 points – thanks Dave! The returning John Dunn, Stephen Brannan and Richard Duncan joined us for the afternoon round at Rosemount. This was won with a very steady round by Bob Jackman with 36 points, one ahead of John Inglis. Coincidentally, Dave scored the same number of points in his afternoon round as he had in the morning.

Two further newcomers to the tour, John Christie and Murray Sykes, joined us at Ladybank on Sunday and had the cheek to win the team prize along with Graeme Stark. I am sure this had nothing to do with the goings on the night before. Graeme, with some justification, declared himself a ‘team player’ as he won all three 18-hole team events and never featured better than third on the individual prize list. Bob again won the individual event with another steady 35 points, two clear of Richard. This enabled him to win the specially commissioned 50^th Anniversary Quaich for the best total points for two rounds, one ahead of Ian J.

The weather remained very kind to us with only two or three damp holes in the whole weekend. Shorts were in evidence on the Saturday, while jumpers were hardly required at any stage. Another triumph for the organiser! Also the courses were excellent in every respect.

Ian Jackson was the event manager and did a superb job in organising the weekend, not least in arranging free wine for us at our evening meal on Saturday. Such occasions take no little time and effort to put together and Ian’s organisation was flawless. On behalf of all of us who attended and on behalf of the Club - thanks, Ian!

50th anniversary photo gallery.