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The season is upon us - call us, join and play!

The season starts here! We still have Open Day membership offers available, so come and join us for what promises to be a great season if the current weather is anything to go by!

Get all the membership details and background to our Club from us by clicking here, and we’ll even have a payment scheme over 9 months available to help you budget your golf. So come along and take a look at what we have to offer:-

• a very accessible course that suits all categories of player;


• great golf at the club that has developed several current Scottish Junior squad players;


• the club that is home to several recent Dunbartonshire Gents, Ladies and Junior matchplay champions including the current Gents’ champion;


• a great social programme that you can see from the coverage on our website pages;


• a very balanced membership across gentlemen, ladies and juniors including many, many families;


• and an all-day welcome from a very friendly and informal club that is renowned for its hospitality and its bar and restaurant catering.

Please call or use our contact page to get more information, or just come along to the Club to try for yourself!

Start 2012 with a brand new golf membership! Call us, or use our contact page by clicking here to get in touch.

The season has started - come and join us!

Opening Day Texas Scramble report

As we see here, our Opening Day Texas Scramble was preceded by Club Captain Mark Ferguson taking the first drive from our new, repositioned 9/18th tee.

--> src="http://bearsdengolfclub.co.uk/images/mce/briansutton/opening_days/DSC1386_impact_mf.jpg" alt="Impact!" width="200" height="302" />Some of us were looking forward to a bit of a misfire (nothing wrong with a hint of schadenfreude here and there ), but none of it! He took three shots, and they all landed (as intended) down the right of the fairway within 15 feet of each other (5 metres in new money).

First, on the left, we see the impact position; then, on the right, we see a full unconstrained follow-through; and lastly, on the left, the finish, proudly held as the ball sails arrow-straight down the right of the fairway as intended. Click here to see the full video of the shot!

Having tried the shot for the first time, Mark feels this change makes the tee shot more interesting and encourages some thought about course management on this hole.

A driver might run out of room on the right, and a shot too far left might well obscure the second shot to the green, so we'll see what the various ways are of playing this effectively reshaped hole.

Greens convener Jim O'Brien is already planning changes to the rough, the semi-rough and the trees beteeen the 9/18th and the 4/13th fairways (just beyond the "hump") which will increase the landing area for the 9/18th and put a slight dog-leg into the 4/13th.

Watch this space for more course improvements over the season, including the imminent provison of new seating at the many fantastic viewpoints around the course. 

As for the Opening Day Texas Scramble itself, we had 25 teams battling it out today, and you can see the draw by clicking here and all the results by clicking here.

Winners were the Match Secretary's team (yes, I know!) with Jim Austin, David Queen and Sam Lowrie. Here they are pictured with Captain Mark Ferguson who might have taught them something about tee shots! You see them receiving their prizes, and you can see all their team pictures by clicking here; I'm taking guesses as to what Paul Donnelly is holding so proudly!

Second prize, with the best gross score of the day, was taken by the Brown team of Chris Prior, Michael O'Neill, Bryan and John Brown Jnr (John over on a visit from N. Ireland for the event). Unfortunately they must all have been receiving other awards elsewhere on the night (!) and so couldn't be at the prizegiving, but you can see their pictures here. Alan Duncan, however, representing his third placed team-mates Kenny Allan, Iain MacMillan and Graham McLean, was on hand and looks very pleased to have received all their prizes form Paul!

It was a beautiful day enjoyed by a hundred players and many others in and around the Clubhouse (preceded by a whole week of sunshine) and the course was in fine condition. Amongst a lot of other excellent work, the Greens team has done a fine job on the new 9/18th tee, seen again on the right (and also the new 7th tee) over the winter, and the day was a very good start to what we hope will be a successful season for our Club.

And so I come back to our theme - if you are not already a Bearsden Golf Club member, don't lose any time in coming to see us about membership. Our Open Day deals (see the next article) remain open for the time being, so click here for our contact page and get golfing!

The James Torley Memorial Trophy

This year's Torley Trophy competition attracted a record entry of 24 teams, all vying to wrest the Trophy from Gordon and Ross Gibson, last year's winners.

The Torley Trophy is a competition for teams of two, either an adult and Junior or a family combination of any mix. You can see this year's teams and draw by clicking here.

With a late run at the end of the day, the Trophy was won by Club Captain Brian Howat playing with new Junior member this year, William Nixon, with an amazing score of gross 77, 58.5 net, a full four strokes ahead of the field. William's friend Kyle McGovern was a member of the Gala winning Junior AND Mixed teams a fortnight ago, and it's good to see new members in the Club winning trophies so early on, William having only started golf in April this year just before he joined Bearsden. Captain Howat happily admitted to being carried by William's putting and booming drives!

Second, and with the best gross score of the day, were the Kirkwood team of father/son combination David and Cameron. Cameron has just won a place in the Scottish Junior squad, and David - er - hasn't! Added to Cameron's Johnstone Cup wins this year at both junior and senior level, it's been a great year for Cameron. The whole Club, and of course especially David are immensely proud of him. With Ewen Ferguson, Cameron's close friend, already in the Scottish squad, we look forward to Bearsden and Scottish golf over the coming years being successfully entwined.

A very close third were the team of Marty Hughes and Matthew McGovern, just squeezing out Alistair Creevy and Kyle Reid on count-back.

Additional prizes were offered for Nearest the Pin in 2 at the 18th, won by Graham and Jordan Manuel, and Nearest the Pin at the 14th, won by Cameron Kirkwood.
 
Over half of the field came in with a score under 70, eight of them at par or better, and so this year the large field was matched by some high quality play. You can see all the results by clicking here.

We have to make a special mention of Jim Cumming, pictured on the left, following his half-marathon on the same day, running for charity (for the avoidance of doubt, and contrary to rumour, he doesn't always dress like this). Jim's time of 2 hours and 15 minutes was well outside his personal best, this achieved running from the finish to the Club chased by love-starved fruit-flies, wasps and other sundry Glasgow wildlife. Further comment is left to your imagination...

All competitors and their supporters once again enjoyed Madeleine's hospitality in the Clubhouse; thanks yet again are due to our greens staff under John Brown, and to our bar staff for helping to make the day so successful. Dougie McBride, Junior Convener and James Conlon, Marketing Convener set up and ran the competition, showing once again with their excellent event organisation how the Club welcomes the opportunity for good golf, convivial company and a busy clubhouse. Well done all!

Bearsden's sunny Gala weekend

The 2011 Gala Juniors Texas Scramble - Friday

Now that the dust has settled on our Gala weekend, it is time to time to write up the report of the weekend's events. Nearly 250 members, guests and family members played over the weekend, enjoying golf, the hospitality, the entertainment and of course the convivial company.

First up was the Junior event on Friday evening, with the spirits of our energetic youngsters not dampened at all by the wind and drizzle. I think they enjoyed their meal (courtesy of Madeleine's sponsorship) and drinks even more in the comfort of the cosy Clubhouse.

Winners of the 9 hole Texas Scramble event were the Fergie's Fairways team led by Ewen Ferguson. His team of Lewis Brown, Lewis Burns and Kyle McGovern (more of Kyle on our other Gala pages!) had the joint best gross score of 30, and won with a net score of 25.85. Here we see them receiving their prizes and medals from Mark Ferguson, Gala organiser-in-chief, and Pat Lambie, who supports the Juniors through all their competitions and matches.  

In second place were Bradley Kelly's team, Kelly's Heroes, seen here on the left, comprising Ryan Clougherty, Robbie Fisher-Gibb and Reece Donnelly, also with gross 30 but with a net score of 26.7.

Third were Holt's Colts, with a gross 32 and net 28.05, the team of Liam Clougherty, Greg Young and Adam Young led by Stuart Holt.

Finally, the Junior Girl champions were the Charlie's Angels team of Abigail Conlon, Eilidh Ferguson, Daria Ward and Jillian Farrell, pictured here on the left prior to their round. You can see from their picture on the right, receiving their medals and prizes how pleased they were having shown their skills on the course with Isaac Martin and completed their mission!

At the end of the presentations, Pat was presented with a lovely bouquet by Liam Taylor and Isaac Martin in recognition of her sterling support and work with BGC Juniors. See more about Pat in our Sunday Gala report! 

You can see all the Junior results by clicking here.

The 2011 Gala Gents/Guests Texas Scramble - Saturday

An exciting - and very long - day of Gent's/Guests Texas Scramble golf was eventually won by Iain Russell's team of David Brown, Bryan Mclaren and Gary Henderson. Here we see them receiving their prizes from Gala organiser-in-chief, Vice-Captain Mark Ferguson.

Their gross score of 60 with their team handicap of 6.1 was enough to give them the win over the second placed team of Skyform, Mick McHugh (seen here on the left) Eric McKellar, Alan Pirie (Milngavie's Club Champion) and Robert Colligan, whose handicap at 5.1 placed them one behind.

Third on a net 56.8 were the team of Alfie's Pets - Walter Dobbin, George Montgomery, Mark Buchanan and Stuart Aitken. The eponymous Alfie can be seen in the team photo by clicking here. Alfie is the good looking one. We don't know who the other guy is, we just call him Walter. Walter is well house-trained and sits to command, as you can see.

There were several spot prizes; George Montgomery from Alfie's Pets was nearest the pin on the 16th; Alan Munro from Anderson-McCabe on the 14th; Stevie Cairns on the 7th; and Colin McVicar on the 5th. Longest drives were by James Conlon on the 12th and Grant Macbean on the 9th.

Altogether the Gala Saturday was a fantastic day, with the best weather of the weekend. By mid afternoon, we had the usual Mediterranean atmosphere at Bearsden, with many members sitting outside to watch the play in the evening sunshine. The players clearly enjoyed the weather too, taking their time as play didn't finish until around 8pm. You can see all the results by clicking here.

This meant we all had to wait even longer for the prizegiving and evening entertainment. It was worth it, in a very busy clubhouse! 

The 2011 Gala Mixed Texas Scramble - Sunday

Head Greenkeeper John Brown managed to put the pins where his team were playing the shots on Sunday's Gala Texas Scramble event, winning the competition convincingly with an amazing gross score of 56, a net 51! Aided and abetted by son and Junior Captain Bryan Brown, good friend Ian G. Brown and new member Kyle McGovern, John's team won the event by a clear 3 shots.

Second, with a net score of 54.4 that was just .2 behind last year's winning score, when they also came second were the Vilasol team of Andy Robertson (newly joined Bearsden this year), Ben Robertson, Neil Martin and James Martin (who recently won the Cardross Open Junior event).

In third place were the very popular Pat's Pets team of Pat Lambie, Helen Kinsella, Paul Semple and Bradley Kelly. Pat does enormous amounts of work for our Junior section, and she was delighted to be receiving a prize this time after handing them out to our juniors on Friday evening, and at many other BGC events!

There were two nearest the pin prizes, for the 14th, won by Ben Robertson and for the 16th, won by Liam Taylor. Here they are having received their medals from Mark Ferguson.
 
Sunday's weather improved steadily through the day, and overall the weekend as a whole was well treated by the weather gods. The same number of Mixed teams as last year (19) managed to complete the event within 20 minutes of the planned time, helped by some high quality play with 14 net scores under 60.

You can see all the Mixed Texas Scramble results by clicking here. After the event prizegiving itself, the daily raffle was drawn, and finally the Gala 500 Board was completed and drawn. Click here to see the 500 Board page with prizes and results.

Following his own thanks to Greens staff, Clubhouse staff, his Gala Committee, our Sponsors and many other helpers such as Margaret MacPherson ("Mrs Flowers"!), Bill Pollock (prize donations) and many others, a well-deserved vote of thanks was offered to Vice-Captain Mark Ferguson, Gala organiser-in-chief, for his unremitting and detailed work, and his leadership of the Gala Committee over the last several weeks which resulted in such a successful weekend socially, competitively and financially. With the great weather we had for much of the weekend, what more could we have asked!

Club Champion Richard Docherty wins the Dunbartonshire Matchplay

After winning the Club Championship last weekend, Richard Docherty completed a good week's work by winning the Dumbartonshire Matchplay Championship tonight at Dullatur. In a very good match, Richard came from two down at the turn to beat former Lindenwood University teammate, David Curtis by one hole. Richard's impressive golf in the closing holes allowed him to regain the Championship which he won for the first time in 2009 and, as he prepares to return to the US next weekend, he can look back on a successful summer at home.

PS You can see the report on Finals Day, when Richard won the Scott Hardie Cup, and seven other championships were decided, in the next article on this page. You can click here to see all the Finals Day results.

PPS Gala entries are flowing in, so please get your forms in over the bar so that we can get you into the draws. It's all up there on the website, click on Gala Home page to see it.

The sun shines on Bearsden's Finals Day

Bearsden Golf Club Champions for 2011 were decided this weekend during an exciting day of competition for eight trophies. Many members came along to support the players who in some cases had played qualifying medal competitons and several matchplay rounds to reach the culmination of the season's main individual competitions. Here we see all the Champions out on the first tee with their trophies.

The Junior championship and the Norrie Dall Trophy went to Cameron Smith, with runner-up Adam Young receiving the Norrie Dall Plate from Club Captain Brian Howat. This was a very even match all day, over 36 holes, with Cameron winning three holes in the middle of the second round and holding on to win 3&2 despite a late recovery by Adam.

The Ladies Bronze Trophy was won by Sheila Mumford 4&3 over Gill Hamblen (seen here with caddies Anne Nicol and Paula Crichton).

With the same finalists in the Ladies final as last year, Helen Faulds won back the Championship from Lynn McColl this year to win the Ladies Championship - for the nineteenth time! Lady Captain Christine Morrison presented the Ladies trophies and is seen here presenting Helen with the Trophy.

The new Seniors Trophy went to Gordon Thomson, winning 4&3 in his final against Jim O'Brien. Gordon and Jim are both past Captains of the Club and this trophy will continue to be keenly competed for by many long-serving members and other past Captains of the Club.
 
Three divisional finals were contested by Gentlemen players. The Division 1 Chalmers Cup was won by young Brian McCabe, beating Jim Hunter only after a strong fightback by Jim in the second round. Brian's putting in the first round had given him a 5 hole lead after 18 holes, and despite Jim getting it back to within two holes, Brian went on to win 5&4. This win for Brian follows some strong performances in Medal competitions this year, and is most deserved for very consistent and improving play this year.

The Division 2 Cassels Cup was won by Kenny Allan, beating David McBride 4&2. This was another match that was very even for much of the time, level after 18 and decided by just a few shots here and there. Kenny is one of our new members this year, several of whom have done well in medal competitions this year.

The Division 3 Turner Trophy was won by Allan Sliman, defeating Barry Lavery by one hole. This was the only match to go down the 36th hole, and was another close win, again for one of this year's new members.

Finally, the Gentlemen's Championship and the Scott Hardie Trophy went again to Richard Docherty, winning 5&4 over Ewen Ferguson. Richard is currently studying on a golf scholarship in the USA, and is a previous winner of our Championship. Ewen, just 15, was last year's Dunbartonshire Junior matchplay champion, is in the Scottish Junior squad and has had much success in the Club, and so this was a keenly awaited contest between two stars of our Club. It will be fascinating to watch their progress over the next few years. Just as with the Juniors, both have played in Johnstone Cup qualifying rounds and several matchplay rounds during the previous week, and so reaching Finals Day is an achievement in itself.

Well done to all our finalists; thanks are due to Clubhouse staff led by Madeleine, head chef, who kept us all fed and watered all day; the Greens staff led by John Brown who presented the course in great condition; and the weather gods who provided just about perfect weather for 36 holes of golf! All were thanked by Richard in his gracious victory speech.

You can see all the results by clicking here, where you also find links to the "road to the Finals" for each competition. Cameron Kirkwood's  success in the Johnstone Cups is reported below and you can see all Johnstone Cup results by clicking here, and Junior Johnstone Cup results by clicking here.

Don't forget our next big event, the 2011 Gala on the weekend of 19th/20th/21st August. If you haven't entered yet, forms are available at the bar and downloadable here. Read more about the Gala below and by clicking here.

Bearsden's busy summer starts with Johnstone Cup wins for Cameron Kirkwood

This weekend marked the start of a busy period of competition for Bearsden Golf Club; Johnstone Cup weekend, Finals Day and later in August, our renowned Gala weekend.

This weekend, on Saturday and Sunday we held the Johnstone Cup, the Gents' scratch qualifying competition for the Club Championship. Having already won the Junior Johnstone Cup (click here to see the report), Cameron Kirkwood won this important Club event with an exciting 37th hole playoff win against his close friend Ewen Ferguson. Click here to see a report on the weekend.

The following weekend, on 6th August, we hold the eight Club Championship matches themselves - in addition to the Gents' Championship for the Scott Hardie Cup, we hold three Gents' divisonal finals - the Chalmers Cup, the Cassels Cup and the Turner Trophy - the two divisional Ladies Championships, the Junior Championship for the Norrie Dall Trophy, and the Senior Championships.

On the weekend of 19th-21st August is our Gala weekend. Old Bearsden Golf Club hands will know all about the Gala, our Club Festival weekend. Three days of competition with opportunities for all members to enjoy a major social golfing weekend. The competitions are all in Texas Scramble format, enabling all golfers to contribute.

If you are a member - enter NOW for the Gala! If you haven't yet joined Bearsden, it isn't too late to take advantage of our mid-year membership deals. Use our contact page to email or call us to enquire.

We have now published the entry forms for the three days of the 2011 Gala. These are:

1. The Junior Shotgun Texas Scramble on Friday 19th August at 6pm sharp


2. The Gents-Guests Texas Scramble  on Saturday 20th August at 7.30am


3. The Mixed Texas Scramble on Sunday 21st August at 11am

The entry forms are available as usual at the clubhouse, but this year they can also be downloaded from the website by clicking here.

You can see the latest Gala news and links to specific pages for the draws, tee-times and results by clicking here.

This is a fun weekend and Bearsden Golf Club's premier social golfing occasion, to be enjoyed by all members. Support from our generous sponsors enables us to provide excellent value hospitality, great prizes and raffle draws. Don't miss it!

Bearsden win the Donald Cameron league Campsie Trophy

Bearsden's unbeaten record in this season's Donald Cameron league matches has led us to winning the Campsie Trophy for the Division B of the DCL league. Congratulations to Alan Colsh, the Captain of our team, on leading us to this success!

The League is run over six matches and we have not lost a single match. We have defeated Hilton Park, Milngavie, Dullatur and Douglas Park, and drawn with Glasgow and Kirkintilloch. The is an excellent achievement by the team and is the first time the club have ever won the Donald Cameron League.

We defeated Dullatur 5-3 in our last match on Wednesday night to pip Douglas park to the title. This follows our excellent performance in the Foursomes last week where we were unlucky to lose on the last green in the Final.

The following players have all appeared for the team this year providing vital points to help us gain success. Chris Prior, Richard Docherty, Mark Ferguson, Paul Semple, Craig Hughes, Ewen Ferguson, Cameron Kirkwood, Alan Colsh, Peter Prior, Gavin Gough, Ross Colsh, Jon MacLean, Andrew Docherty, Cameron Farrell and Craig Littlejohn. The league is run over a 2 year promotion cycle and our club is now in a very strong position to gain promotion to Division A next year whilst looking to retain the League trophy.

While this has been a whole squad effort, Cameron Kirkwood deserves a special mention for playing his 6 matches unbeaten, winning 5 and drawing 1 which is a remarkable achievement for a Junior  - just 15 at that - playing in the Gents team.

Well done to Cameron and the whole squad!

Sponsors' day at Bearsden Golf Club

Bearsden Golf Club is lucky to have many sponsors who help the Club in various ways, particularly in their support of our Annual Gala weekend, held in August every year. The success of last year's Gala was thanks in great part to our sponsors, and so this week we held our Sponsors' Day Texas Scramble event as a "thank you" to them.

Bearsden's sponsors enjoy the opportunity to play several rounds with their guests through the year, but this day was a chance for all sponsors to get together with the Club and their hosts to enjoy Bearsden's famous hospitality courtesy of the Club.

Apart from the hospitality, there was the small matter of the Texas Scramble competition, with associated prizes, which were keenly competed for. The winners of the event, picture left (and also seen by clicking the names), were the Calbarrie-Simpson Team of Iain Simpson, David Beaton, Michael Duff and Danny Lauder  with a net score of 58.5; they won a bottle each of the Bearsden commemorative Sponsors Day Famous Grouse malt whisky.

Second up were the Roof Repair Glasgow Team (above right) of David Graham, Nicky Clark, John Brown and Mark Taylor with the equal best gross score of the day of 64 and a net of 58.8. Third were the PRW Properties Team (left) of Jim O'Brien, Gareth Rogers, David Halliday and Christine Siebelt also with the joint best gross of 66, and a net score of 59.

Nearest the 14th pin prize was won by Megan McColl, pictured at right with Club Captain Brian Howat, playing for the Foxcare Care Homes Team, and nearest the 18th pin in two shots was Danny Lauder from the winning Calbarrie-Simpson team.

A special award was presented to Jim Campbell of Skyform (pictured right) by our own Dunbartonshire Junior matchplay champion, Ewen Ferguson, on behalf of the junior team, in recognition of all the support given to the team by Skyform, especially for team transport.

The raffle for a bottle of Glenrothes whisky was won by David Beaton (seen left) from Team Calbarrie Simpson.

You can see all the results by clicking here.

Gents' Prizegiving Dinner

The very successful Gents' Prizegiving dinner was held recently, at which all prizewinners from the 2010 season received their awards, trophies and other prizes. 70 or more members were there to see over 30 winners of the various competitions. The array of cups and trophies on offer can be seen here, at the evening's top table.

Len Murray, the renowned after dinner speaker, delivered a highly entertaining speech afterwards, and the evening was a great success for the Club.

Click here to see pictures from the event.