Jane reaches quarter-finals of Orange Blossom Tournament

Having finished joint 38th in last week's Sally tournament, Jane Turner moved her attention to to this week's competition on the US Orange Blossom Tour, the 78th Jones/Doherty Amateur Championship Match Play Tournament at Fort Lauderdale in Florida. Having finished 9th equal in the qualifying round, Jane made the Championship flight of the match play stage, where her first round opponent was Rebecca Wilson from Stirling University. Having won that match by a 3&2 margin, she progressed through the next round against Laura Mackin from Ranfurly Castle, the number 5 seed, by 5&4. This put her into the quarter finals where she met Martha Leach, holder of the 2009 US Women's Mid-Amateur Title. Sadly Martha was to prove too strong and her tremendous run was to come to an end as she went down 3&2. A fantastic effort by Jane and many congratulations.

Calling all Juniors!

The Junior monthly 12 holes will go ahead this Sunday (24th January) as originally planned. A correspondent from the Hermitage Golf Club confirmed that the course is open and, providing there is no snow between now and Sunday, will remain open and playable. It is playing to its full greens although, apparently, conditions are a wee bit on the damp side!

So MCLGA's 2010 season is finally getting under way. So, all juniors, come along to the first monthly 12 holes of the year and give it a try! The 4th hole comes back to the clubhouse, so even if you don't feel up to 12 holes, why not try 4?

The first tee time is 10.30 am, so turn up around 10.15-10.20 am and have a game!

Entry Forms 2010

Entry forms for 2010 comptitions are now available to download from the website. Click on ENTRY FORMS on the left hand side.

Forms for junior girls, including booking for coaching and competitions are also available. Click on JUNIOR ENTRY FORMS on the left hand side under Junior Girls.

Junior Training Squad

We are delighted to announce that the Junior Training Squad for 2010 is:

Hannah Scott (Broomieknowe), Kirsty Simpson (Murrayfield), Heather Tumblety (Liberton), Katherine Fisher (Baberton), Heather Laing (Glencorse), Jane Finlay (New Swanston) and Rebecca Trimble (Murrayfield).

We have a very different Squad this year with Kate McIntosh (Broomieknowe) having moved into the main squad, Natasha Shivji (Ratho Park) having moved out of the Junior section, Samantha Lamb (Glencorse) having been forced to give up golf due to an injury and both Isobel Hinds (Liberton) and Sally Naysmith (Dalmahoy) having decided to concentrate on their school studies. However, we are delighted to welcome four newcomers into the Squad, namely Katherine, Heather Laing, Jane and Rebecca. We hope that they enjoy all that is on offer and look forward to their participation.

This year the Squad has been offered coaching with Mark Berrie at the Braids Driving Range in January, February and March, as well as 9 holes with Mark giving some on course advice. Practice matches have been arranged with juniors from the Borders and Lanarkshire Counties and the squad will also take part in a Rules evening with the main squad organised by our rules' gurus, Vice-Captain Mary Richardson and Selector Linda Caine.

Karen Marshall has again agreed to oversee the Junior Training Squad and we hope that the girls will benefit from her vast experience in the golfing world.

Good luck to you all in 2010 and we hope that you enjoy your year in the Junior Training Squad.

Jane Turner starts 2010 in US

While the rest of us are still chittering in Scotland and hoping the snow will melt some time soon, Jane Turner took off this weekend to play in the second event of the Orange Blossom Tour in Florida, the South Atlantic Ladies Amateur (the Sally). This 72-hole stroke play event tees off on Wednesday and we wish Jane well.

Gabrielle Macdonald helps Craigielaw win in Spain

Many congratulations to Gabrielle Macdonald and her Craigielaw Team mates who won the Junior Team Golf Home Nations Inter-Club Championship last week on a better match point score. Having won through to the Grand Final to represent Scotland at Westerwood Golf Club in Cumbernauld in the Autumn, the team faced Maylands Golf Club from England, Rosslare from Ireland and Morriston from Wales at the Polaris La Torre Resort near Murcia in Spain. A great start to 2010 for Gabrielle!

Junior Coaching - Sunday 10th January - CANCELLED

Please note that the Junior Coaching at the Braids Driving Range scheduled for Sunday 10th January 2010 has been cancelled due to the weather.

We are sorry to have to cancel this and look forward to seeing you all on 7th February.

Winter Foursomes

Following the posting on the 23rd December regarding the Winter Foursomes, there does not seem to be any let up in the freezing, snowy conditions and I very much doubt that courses will be open, let alone playable, by 17th January. With this in mind, the 3rd round "play by" date has again been extended (hopefully, but probably not, for the last time!) to the 31st January.

If no further extensions are required, the fourth round is extended to the 28th February, the semi-final to the 28th March and the final to 2nd May.

If further extensions are required, we will turn it into our Summer Foursomes!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of the members of Midlothian County Ladies Golf Association.

Your Committee hopes that you have had a good festive season and the snow will soon disappear so that you can take to the courses once more. We wish you all the very best for 2010 and hope you all have a very good golfing season.

Squad for 2010

We are delighted to announce that the MCLGA Squad for 2010 is:

Kirsten Blackwood (Craigmillar Park), Fiona de Vries (St Rule), Amanda Edwards (Liberton), Noreen Fenton (Dunbar), Louise Fraser (Kingsknowe), Claire Hargan (Mortonhall), Fiona Hunter (Baberton), Lindsey Hunter (Dalmahoy), Hilary Laughland (Mortonhall), Claire MacDonald (Gullane Ladies), Gabrielle Macdonald (Craigielaw), Karen Marshall (Baberton), Arlene McGarty (Harburn), Kate McIntosh (Broomieknowe), Wendy Nicholson (Broomieknowe), Sal Shepherd (Craigmillar Park), Gillian Simpson (Murrayfield), Jane Turner (Craigielaw) and Rachael Watton (Mortonhall).

We welcome Lindsey Hunter and Sal Shepherd back into the squad, Kate McIntosh who has moved up from the Junior Training Squad and Arlene McGarty who moves into the main squad after a year away from the Junior Training Squad. As with previous years, we have practice games arranged amongst the squad members themselves as well as against the Borders and Lanarkshire Ladies' Counties, Duddingston Men and SUGS. We have also organised some coaching sessions for the squad members with Jane Connachan at Kingsfield Golf and Driving Range.

We have a great squad of golfers who are all keen to play and do well, and are proud to represent Midlothian. We know it is going to be a hard task to decide on the final 8 for the Team to take part in this year's Inter-County Matches at Royal Musselburgh Golf Club from Monday 28th -Wednesday 30th June. But we relish that situation and know the girls will all be doing their best to win the Divisional Inter-County Matches.