MIDLOTHIAN COUNTY LADIES' GOLF ASSOCIATION

NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2006

MCLGA is committed to supporting and developing county golf by providing training for junior girls and ladies - particularly those aspiring to play for the County Team and for National or International Honours. We thank all members for their valuable contribution to the Association.

2005 has been an exciting year for Midlothian. With so many individual and team successes, it has been 'a year to remember'. Thank you to all who gave such great support throughout the year and to those who came to caddy and support at both Alloa and Ranfurly Castle. Thanks also for all the cards and messages of good luck and congratulations. All were greatly appreciated. We wish all our members a happy and successful golfing season in 2006.

Scottish County Champions
We are delighted with the success of our County Team. To qualify for the finals for the first time for 17 years and then to become Scottish Champions after a gap of 70 years was a fantastic achievement. Our thanks to the players, who represented Midlothian in the matches - Kirsten Blackwood (Glencorse), Amanda Edwards (Liberton), Claire Hargan (Mortonhall), Claire MacDonald (Gullane), Rhona MacLennan (Baberton), Karen Marshall (Baberton), Belinda Murphy (Mortonhall), Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe) and Jane Turner (Mortonhall). Well done everyone - it was a great team effort.

MCLGA Championships - Champion for 2005: Claire Hargan (Mortonhall)
The County Championship was played at Ratho Park Golf Club. Sally Watson led the qualifiers with a total of 147, one ahead of Claire Hargan. Claire Hargan went on to become Champion for the third year in a row beating Jane Turner in the final. Claire reserved her best of golf of the week for the final and is a deserving champion. Congratulations to Claire on her achievement and also to Jane on playing in her first Midlothian County final. Sarah Devenish (Kingsknowe) won the B Championship, beating Helen Warnock (Harburn ) in the final.

Five-a-side League Matches
After a close finish, the Midlothian Inter-Club League Division 1 matches (and Macfarlane Trophy) were won for the fourth year in succession by Baberton (12 match points), with Mortonhall runners up (11 match points). The Division 2 winners (Thomson Trophy) were Broomieknowe (13 match points), with Murrayfield runners up (11 match points). Broomieknowe and Murrayfield are promoted to Division 1, while Kingsknowe and Prestonfield move to Division 2 in 2006.

Champion of Champions
Claire Hargan (Prestonfield) became our Champion of Champions for 2005 and won the Antonio Vase when she beat Amanda Edwards (Liberton) which both players were playing in for the first time. Congratulations to both players on the standard of golf, which they played in a sporting and friendly match. Claire Hargan has played in all the ranking tournaments run by the SLGA throughout the year. Consistent scoring gave her a 4th place finish in the SLGA Paull and Williamson's Ladies Rankings -2005.

Competitions
Arrangements for all three meetings are detailed on the entry form. Tee-off times are available from 0800-1630 for the Spring and Autumn Meetings, and from 0800-1800 for the Summer Meeting. Please do put the competition dates in your diary! We look forward to seeing you at our Competitions in 2006. We look forward to playing our Championship at Duddingston in 2006 and our meetings at Mortonhall, Kingsknowe and Lothianburn. The Midsummer Foursomes will be at Liberton

Scottish Ladies' (Close) Amateur Championship
A record number of Midlothian players qualified for the match-play stages of the championship in 2005. Claire Hargan and Karen Marshall reached the quarter-finals while Sally Watson reached the semi-finals. Hilary Laughland reached the semi-finals of the Clark Rosebowl. Well done everyone. I'm sure many Midlothian members will be playing in the 'Scottish' at Dunbar in 2006. Good Luck!
Karen Marshall was selected for the Scottish Team to play in the Irish Ladies' Open Amateur Stroke Play at the Hermitage Golf Club, Dublin. Karen captained the team of three, which finished 2nd behind Ireland

Junior Girls
Our juniors have had an excellent year and we are extremely proud of what the girls have achieved at Club, County, District and National level.
Special congratulations to Scottish Girls' Champion, Sally Watson; Scottish Under 14 Champion, Cara Easton; East of Scotland Champion, Jane Turner and Midlothian Junior Champion, Amanda Edwards. Sally Watson was selected for the Scottish team to play in the Girls European Team Tournament in Lausanne and Rebecca Watson and Sally Watson represented Scotland in the Girls' Home Internationals. Sally Watson represented Scotland in the Belgian Junior International Open girls' championship and was selected for the Scottish Team for the Home Internationals at Dundalk. Five Midlothian girls were in the winning East team at the Divisional Championships in June. Amanda Edwards & Jane Turner played in the Midlothian County team.
Our thanks go to Amanda Easton, Junior Secretary who has worked tirelessly on behalf of the girls this year. Thanks also to Viv Curran who assisted Mandy in 2005. We now have a junior committee to look after the interests of the junior section. We have 100 junior members and professionals at the Braid Hills Driving Range give coaching each month. We also encourage our youngsters to play in our 9-hole competitions held at the Princes Course. We now have a junior development squad and we are always on the lookout for emerging talent. Primarily we hope our girls will enjoy their golf, make friends and have fun!

MCLGA Committee
Ruth Wilkojc and Pamela Williamson have completed their terms of office as treasurer and selector and we thank them for their valuable contribution to the Association. Maureen McLeod is our new treasurer and Kate Rorke takes over as selector. Our thanks also to Club representatives for their work on the committee.

SLGA, LGU
Congratulations to Margaret Rodgers on her appointment as Chairman of the SLGA. We wish Margaret a most successful Season in 2006. Our best wishes also go to Janet Wake, who has been appointed to the SLGA Executive, to Gillian Kirkwood representative on the LGU from January and to Joan Marshall Scottish representative on the International Selection committee.

Seniors
Pamela Williamson won two senior championships in 4 days at Grantown-on-Spey. She won the Scottish Stroke Play Championship with a total of 147 and then went on to win the inaugural Scottish Seniors Match-play Championship.
Well done, Pamela. Fiona de Vries, Noreen Fenton and Pamela Williamson represented Scotland in the Senior Home Internationals played at Radyr in October. The whole team played well and Scotland finished in second place behind England.
In the British Seniors, Fiona de Vries finished in 5th position and was leading Scot.

East of Scotland Championship
Stirling & Clackmannan will host the East of Scotland Championship at Stirling Golf Club on Sunday 1st October 2006.