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Bearsden's 2010 Gala ends in sunny weather!
The wind early on Sunday might have blown away one of our gazebos, but it blew in success for the MacLean family, winners of the Sunday Mixed Texas Scramble, the third and final event of our Gala weekend.
Paul, Connor and Jon, pictured here, and their Guest Ian Todd (see them all pictured by clicking here) won the event by two strokes from a field of 18 other teams.
The Vilasol team of the Robertson and Martin families (click here) were second, and the Conlon family were third.
This was a lovely day, windy to start with, but warming up with blue skies throughout the day, with members sitting outside watching the 18th green from the Clubhouse as if at a Mediterranean cafe/bar.
There were special prizes for nearest the pin and longest drive, and several other awards to be reported shortly. You can see all the results by clicking here, and a fuller report later on, including the Gala Prize Draw results by clicking here. 
Typical of the spirit in which the weekend's competitions were played were the Donnelly family on the left, kitted out in team uniforms! Those dark shades might have influenced their score (even if they didn't win they were the sartorial winners!) but it seems not - the family were 5th overall, and Reece was the winner of the nearest the pin prize.
The winning MacLean team's young Connor was in second place, having led for most of the day until Reece's tee shot finished inches from the pin.
This was a totally successul weekend, when the weather was very kind, from Friday evening right up until Sunday evening. We had lots of entries for the three competitions, with over 250 competitors over the three days, and many sponsors kindly helping the weekend's success with their support.
Friday at 6PM (with fun activities from 4PM) was the Junior Texas Scramble over 9 holes, won by Bryan Brown's team - click here for the full results; the Gent/Guests Texas Scramble was won on Saturday by Cameron Finlay and Colin MacPherson's team (click here for those results).
Please click here for all the news, where you will see details of sponsors, entries and the draws and results during the weekend of 27th-29th August.
Thanks are due to our incredibly generous Sponsors (please buy your next car from Arnold Clark, or your commercial scaffolding structure from Skyform, and so on - just click on those logos on the Gala pages!); to Madeleine Valente, our very own Caddyshack restaurant chef who provided all the meals throughout the weekend and sponsored the Junior event on Friday; to our Greens staff under John Brown who prepared such a good course that the winners on Saturday (Macpherson/Finlay team) and the O'Neill team said they didn't miss a single putt (between their four Texas Scamble players) all day on Saturday, a tribute to the trueness of the greens; and to our bar staff under Danny Lauder who were on duty 15 hours a day, it seemed, keeping everyone sustained and providing the Clubhouse environment to support a very busy and entertaining weekend.
We can say that the weekend was a credit to the Club and its members and staff; with so many social and golfing visitors, many from other clubs in the area, this has been a fine advertisement for our Club and its sponsors; so final thanks are due to our members who came along and made the weekend a success and the Clubhouse atmosphere so vibrant. We have begun to add more pictures of the weekend to our gallery pages - click here to see them!
The Gala Committee are having a rest just now, relieved that everything went well, and wondering just how they might improve things even more for next time!
Finals Day results
Many Club members, and the finalists themselves, of course, enjoyed a wonderful day at Bearsden Golf Club's Finals Day this weekend, helped by very kind weather throughout.
After the event, all the winners of the Final matches, together with Paul Semple, winner of the Gents Johnstone Cup, posed for this celebratory picture. You can see all the Final results by clicking here.
Our winners had just earlier received their cups and trophies from Club Captain Michael Duff, Ladies Captain Karen Forbes and Vice-Captain Brian Howat.
First up was Maureen Cochrane, winner over Carol Arthur for the Ladies Bronze Trophy, followed by the Ladies Championship Trophy winner, a delighted Lynn McColl who had defeated 16 time winner Helen Faulds for her second win of this trophy.
Then it was the turn of Joe McDonald for the Turner Trophy (all the results here), having beaten Aftab Ahmad in the Final, and then James Conlon, winner of the Cassels Cup by just 2&1 over Ian McFarlane over 36 holes (and all these results can be seen here).
Alan Colsh was the winner of the Chalmers Cup (for Class 1 players) over John Brown. 
No doubt Alan will have found time during the round to pass on his thanks to John (our Head Greenkeeper) for the fine condition of the course which was remarked upon by all players! The full Chalmers Cup results can be seen here.
There is a new name on the Norrie Dall Trophy, awarded for the Club Junior Championship, and that is Ryan Clougherty who won against Kane Forrester in a very close match over 36 holes. Ryan was never headed, though, in any of his matchplay rounds (click here to see them all). A very consistent performance overall, and he can be seen here a very proud winner of the Junior Championship for the first time.
Finally, the winner of the Scott Hardie Cup for the Gents Club Championship was Chris Prior, winning his final against Craig Hughes with excellent play which Club Captain and match referee Michael Duff said was a privilege to watch. In Michael's assessment, Chris was 2 under at the point the match finished, the fantastic quality of the play from both players worthy of the event and the interest shown by many spectators. A word for Craig Hughes - he managed to beat multiple past champion Paul Semple in the semi-final with an 18th green putt for an emotional win (all the Scott Hardie Cup results can be seen here). It was typical of the sporting spirit shown by all players in the Club's competitions that Paul caddied for Craig in the final!
So - congratualtions to all our winners, finalists and competitors, and as Chris said in his eloquent victory speech - thanks as well to Club Secretary Alan Harris, chef Madeleine, bar steward Danny Lauder & his bar staff and Greenkeeper John Brown and all others at and around the course for making 2010 Finals day a day to remember.
Paul Semple wins the Johnstone Cup
On one of Bearsden Golf Club's big weekends of the year, the Annual two-day Johnstone Cup competition has completed.
Paul Semple won a very close Johnstone Cup competition with a gross score of 1 over par over the two rounds, with Craig Hughes the runner-up on 4 over par. Mark Conlon (after his first round gross 69 beating his handicap by 4 strokes!), Gavin Gough and Peter Prior tied for third place on 8 over par.
A number of our best juniors qualified for the competition, and leading them were Junior Vice-Captain Bryan Brown, and Ewen Ferguson, both on 12 over par, with Cameron Kirkwood close behind on 13 over.
This is the qualifying competition for the Gents Club Championship, the Scott Hardie Trophy, the Final to be played next weekend on Club Finals Day. The top 15 players in the Johnstone Cup, plus last year's champion, Richard Docherty enter the draw, to be played through this week, starting Monday evening.
See all the scores by clicking here, and the draw for the Scott Hardie Trophy clicking here.
You can track the progress of the matches on Finals day by clicking here. We will be running a live results service.
Ewen Ferguson the Dunbartonshire Junior Matchplay Champion
Following an excellent third place in last week’s Scottish Boys Under 14 Championship at Auchterarder, Ewen Ferguson won the Dumbartonshire Boys Matchplay Championship at Windyhill today, Friday 16th July.
Having played impressively throughout the week Ewen beat Windyhill’s George Duncan by 3 and 2 in a high quality match. Having only just turned 14, Ewen is believed to be the youngest ever winner of this event which marks another impressive advance in his golfing career.
Following Richard Docherty’s recent win in the Dumbartonshire match play championship, Bearsden members now hold the senior and junior county match play titles.
Congratulations to Ewen on two very fine performances. Congratulations also to Kane Forrester and Bradley Kelly who qualified for the match play stages at Windyhill.
Scottish Amateur Championships
Craig Hughes and Richard played in the Scottish Amateur Championship at Gullane this week.
This has been a great experience for both of them, and although both went out 4&3 earlier this week, it is a tough competition and it's only by competing with the best that they'll improve for the future, so we wish them well for that bright future.
Richard Docherty wins the County Championship
Club champion Richard Docherty became the Dumbartonshire Match-Play Champion tonight at Windyhill beating Richard Graham of Hayston Golf Club by 3 and 2 in the final.
The final was originally scheduled for last August but had to be postponed because of bad weather and the subsequent return of the finalists to their universities in the United States.
In a keenly contested match, Richard won the first two holes with birdies and was always in command against his highly rated opponent.
Well done Richard on securing your most important win to date.
BGC's Junior Team at the DGU Team Final
At the end of a very exciting home match against Windyhill, towards the end of last season, our Junior Team managed to win 4-2 to get through to the Final of the Dumbartonshire Junior Team Championships.
The final itself was postponed owing to bad weather, and was played on 23rd May at 8.30AM.
Pictured here are the team and team management (top) and some individual members of our team in their new team kit, kindly sponsored by Nexus Packaging and Merkland Tank. In the match, Ewen Ferguson and Cameron Kirkwood (both at left) won their singles matches, and Kane Forrester / Bryan Brown halved their foursome match, unlucky not to win it on the 18th.
So after a very spirited performance, our team narrowly lost 2½ - 3½ to Douglas Park.
We welcome our New Members!
Many new members were at the Clubhouse recently to be welcomed to the Club by Captain Michael Duff and his Club colleagues, and to enjoy the excellent buffet and drinks laid on by our chef, Madeleine Valente, and Danny Lauder, Bar Manager.
In his address, Michael highlighted the success of Bearsden's recruitment efforts this year - over 100 new members since the beginning of the year, with over 50 on our Open Day at the end of March, including all classes of players with many families.
Juniors will benefit from our Coaching programme, hosted by Bob Collinson, through the season, continuing Bearsden's investment in our players of the future.
We are always looking to bring new blood into the club, and a big welcome awaits anyone who would like to join us - use our contact page, or download an application form here to get started!
Opening Day Texas Scramble won by team Bryson!
David Bryson, Jim O'Brien, Gordon Gibson and Bradley Kelly were the winners of the Opening Day Texas Scramble with a net score of 53.1.
Their confidence returning from the course was well justified!
With all the team handicaps lying between 3.9 and 9.9, a good gross score was always going to be necessary, and indeed the first 7 teams all had gross scores of 65 or under. 
Second in the competition was Team Pollock, comprising Bill Pollock, Jon MacLean, Donnie Maclaren and Cameron Kirkwood on net 54, and third place went to team Davidson - Adam Davidson, Craig Littlejohn, Dougie McBride and Megan McColl with a net score of 54.4. A very close competition!
The best gross score of the day also went to team Bryson with their 57. There were two Nearest the Pin competitions, the Team prize going to Team Hughes with Graham Manuel's shot on the 14th, and the individual prize going to Marc McDonald for his shot on the 16th; this on his birthday too!
The top twelve teams all had net scores under 60, the competition completing a highly successful and competitive Opening Day weekend when the weather was as kind as it was on our Open day the weekend before (see below).
Click here to see all the Texas Scramble results, and here for the photo gallery where you can see more pictures.
Scott Conlon, Junior Captain
I am delighted to announce that Scott Conlon is the New Junior Captain for season 2010/2011.
Junior Convenor Douglas McBride is delighted that Scott has taken up the position and knows that he will be an asset to the junior section.
The club wishes him a successful year in his role as Captain. Scott will be supported in his role by his vice captain Bryan Brown.