Jamboree Report
From Left to Right
Jo Free, Carys Irvine, Kirsten Ireland, Jenny Sewell, Jill McNicoll (cpt) Abby Nisbet, Jade Potter
First of all, I would like to say it was a real privilege to be involved with this team. They were fantastic and went from strength to strength as the tournament progressed. Their support for each other was evident at all times and their sportsmanship on course was exemplary.
ELLCGA narrowly lost to a very experienced Midlothian team 3.5 to 5.5 on the first match day in warm but fairly windy conditions. Some of our players had only played Bruntsfield once, on the practice day, despite this four of the games went to the 18th hole. It only needed a couple of putts to go in to get a different result.
The second match day was against Fife, very similar conditions to the day before with a little less wind. The match was won by ELLCGA by 5.5 to 3.5, our strong foursomes combinations giving us a 2 point lead at lunchtime. Again four of the games went to the 18th hole, the standard of golf was incredible.
Very different conditions on the 1st of July, it had rained overnight and when everyone else in Britain seemed to be worried about heatstroke we had a bitingly cold easterly wind. To add to that the pin positions had been changed, the team said it was like playing a different course. However they took on this challenge in amazing style, winning 7.5 to 1.5 against Stirling and Clackmannanshire.
There were so many highlights during the competition and I don’t really want to single anyone out as this was a team effort but I must mention a few. Jill and Abby were unbeaten in all their matches. Jade’s drive which ended up near the green of the first hole (352yards) was a talking point among all the golfers who saw it. Kirsten’s long putt on the 18th on match day 2, to clinch the match. Carys taking her caddy, Jenni Ray to the 18thnearly every match. Jenny’s putting on the last day’s singles was phenomenal. Jo who stepped in at the last moment played some fabulous iron shots. The most heartwarming story was Anna’s friends from Musselburgh Grammar School who took three buses from Musselburgh to support her. When anyone who asked about the girls (and there were many who did) they were really touched by it.
I would like to thank the team captain Jill for her support, team selection was incredibly hard when we had so many players playing well, her advice was invaluable.
The caddies really put in a shift, it’s over 5 miles walking around Bruntsfield and a number of them were doing two rounds a day. Thanks to Sue Penman, Annie Laird, Ann Sewell, Elaine Dick, Jenni Ray, Gail McKill, Una Cooper, Shona Paton, Rosy Jones Tetiana Luchenko the team couldn’t have done it without you. I am sure they will tell you about what a great experience this was and encourage you to come along next year.
Finally I would like to thank Corrine for all her support in the run up to and during the tournament. She very patiently drove me round the course every day and was a great help when there were unexpected events e.g. trollies breaking down mid round.
Just a reminder that full results of each day’s play are available at the following link:
https://www.mclga.com/jamboree-2025?ComeFromCat=1565
Lesley Wood
