The Chase Golf Club

Club News

Winter Aggregate 2 results

The 2nd of our scheduled Winter Aggregate events took place at Belleisle Golf course and was a hard fought contest. With the opening event having been postponed twice, this was a chance for players to post an opening score in this best of 2 from 3 against par format and 20 players took part. Again the course was playing it's full length although Belleisle was not as wet as it had been the previous week. Once again scoring was excellent with 5 players within 3 shots of each other at the business end of the event. During last week's contest John Cathcart had unfortunately fallen victim to the course as he took a tumble leaving the 15th tee and found himself covered from head to toe in mud. Today, John's golf proved a match for the course and despite a 6/6 start a fine birdie at hole 9 kept him in contention. Ultimately however, the course did bite back as double bogeys at hole 15 and 18 cost him dearly and John finished with a nett 70. Alan Smeeton was once again in the thick of the action as his fine gross 72 would see him in contention at the sharp end of the contest. Birdies at holes 1 and 8 set the standard but much like last week the course bit back on the back nine as 2 bogeys saw him also finish with a nett 70 but 4th on countback. At the head of the field the podium places were tight. Alan Muir last week's winner, was once more to the fore and despite only 2 pars in the first 8 holes, a birdie at 9 brought him into contention. With 4 pars in his last 5 holes he stayed on the podium but this week, double bogeys at 11 and 13 cost him the chance of successive wins as he finished with a nett 68. Just ahead of Alan came John Kelly who opened with a birdie at the 1st but then proceeded to bogey the next 5 holes. 8 pars in his next 11 holes dragged him back into contention and a birdie at 18 meant he finished with a nett 68 and a second place finish. (John chose to play for his handicap on the Sunday of the competition and fired a sensational round of gross 71, nett 64 and no doubt a handicap cut). At the top of the tree this week was one of our newer members, Steven McLaughlin whose steady front nine included a birdie 2 at the 7th. Successive birdies at holes 10 and 11 propelled him up the leader board only for double bogeys at 12 and 16 see his lead diminish sharply. A par 5 at the last saw Steven finish with a nett 67 and a 1 stroke victory. Once again we had a glut of two's in this event with birdies at hole 3 from John Brodie & Archie McCaig; Steven McLaughlin at hole 7 and hole 10 alongside Robert Gilchrist and finally from Sandy Ferguson at hole 17. Our next event is the latest round of fixtures in the Winter League followed by the December medal a week later - both events taking place at Seafield golf course.

December Medal Draw

The December Medal takes place at Seafield Golf course on Wednesday 9th, Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th December. The draw is as follows: Wednesday game is J Burnett/J Boyle/S Smith/A McCaig; Saturday game 1 is T Bloor/J Simpson/S McLaughlin; game 2 is A Smeeton/S Hannah/R McCubbin; game 3 is S Kirk/S Ferguson/S Arrandale/D Beattie; Sunday game 1 is G Christie/E Borland; game 2 is A Muir/W Rae/W Murdoch; game 3 is John Kelly/R Gilchrist/J Cathcart/J Brodie. Tee times should be booked via BRS as normal and the reserve list ( via the Secretary) is open for all 3 days.

Winter Stableford results.

This year's Winter Stableford competition took place at Belleisle Golf Course and was a keenly contested event. We had 20 participants after the Wednesday players decided the weather had beaten them and the tussle for the prizes was a close run thing. The course was playing it's full length with wet fairways, boggy rough and soft greens meaning it was all about accuracy and distance carr11y with no run anywhere on the course. Despite the conditions 7 players scored 30pts or over but sadly not including the Club Secretary who started with a fine birdie at the first in a steady front nine of 18pts only to lose his way and several golf balls on the back 9. At the sharp end John Cathcart appeared to have made a poor start with no pars in his front 9 holes. However, a re-focus from the 10th saw him fightback with 18pts despite double bogeys at 11 and 15 as he finished with 32pts and 5th place. Just in front of him Roy McCubbin's round followed a similar pattern including a triple bogey at hole 5 but a great back nine of 19pts including a birdie 2 at 10 brought him back into contention. In the end however his failure to complete the 15th hole ultimately cost him a podium place. In 3rd spot was Stephen Hannah who opened up with 2 double bogeys but a birdie 2 at hole 3 put him back on track. A steady back nine was derailed by a triple bogey at hole 11 and a bogey at the last as he finished with 35pts. In the runners up spot was ex Captain and Club Champion, Alan Smeeton who battled the conditions manfully with a fabulous gross score of 72 strokes. His front nine of 33 blows featured a bogey at hole 2 which was cancelled out by birdies at holes 3, 4 and 8. However, the course bit back and 5 bogeys on the back nine reined him in, although a fine birdie 2 at hole 17 saw him finish with 37pts. In first place came Alan Muir who armed with a new Mavrik driver managed to tame the course. A steady front nine of 18 pts despite a triple bogey 7 at hole 4, kept him well in contention at halfway. A fine birdie 2 at hole 10 was a promising start to the back nine which he maintained steadily. Despite a setback at the 17th where trees and a visit to water cost him a quadruple bogey 7, he kept his cool to hole a 25ft putt at the last green for a par 5 and ultimately the win, by a solitary point. This putt coincidentally saw Alan and his partner John Cathcart also take the spoils in the match against the Secretary and Robert Gilchrist despite having been 2 down twice and never in front until the last. (I knew I should have quit after birdieing the first - it could only get worse!). We had a glut of two's recorded this week with Alan Smeeton, Stephen Hannah and Steve Arrandale birdieing the 3rd as well as Alan Muir, Roy McCubbin and Steven McLaughlin at the 10th and Alan Smeeton again at hole 17. Our next event is the Winter Aggregate again at Belleisle weather permitting of course.

Re-scheduled Winter Aggregate 1

Following the bad weather during this event which led to only 9 holes being open on Wednesday 21st October and course flooding on Saturday October 24th, only 10 of 21 players were able to attempt to complete their rounds. Consequently, as this is less than 50% of the field this event has been abandoned again and will be re-scheduled. All members are advised to check this web site for further details.

Winter Program 2020/21

Our winter program started on September 30th with the first Winter Aggregate competition being held at Dalmilling golf course. The full winter program is available to view within this website. Members should note that this competition will also see the re-introduction of the £1 entry fee for all events. Obviously with the recent COVID-19 restrictions re-imposed access to the Chase Inn is not available. Until further notice entry fees will be noted by the Secretary and Handicapper and payment can be settled at a later date. Entries for any events must be submitted to the Secretary to allow him to conduct the draws and post them on the website. The Winter Playing conditions are posted on the website and came in to operation with the opening event of the winter season. I would remind everyone that our program has been somewhat forced on us with only Belleisle, Seafield and Dalmilling open to us as venues. As always late venue changes may take place if we are unable to book tee times but I look forward to seeing you all on the golf courses.

Electronic score returns

Please refer to the email instruction sent out on 10/08/20. If members require further assistance in this matter they should contact Alan Smeeton as per the guidance attached to the email.

Amendment to procedure

Following 2 incidents where a member was left without a game, the following procedure must now be followed by all players who pull out of a game after the draw has been made. It is now a requirement that the player pulling out contacts EVERYONE PLAYING IN THE GROUP to inform them. This should happen as a common courtesy but clearly has not been.

Office Bearers Season 2019/2020

Captain	Tony Bloor	Vice Captain	John Simpson
Secretary/Treasurer	John Brodie	Handicap Secretary	Alan Smeeton
Committee		Committee	Alan Muir
Committee	Roy McCubbin	Committee	Robert Gilchrist
		Committee	Jimmy Kelly