Results

Easter Moffat GC - Sunday 6th July 2025
Lanarkshire GU v Glasgow GU Youth/Boys Match
Result: Lanarkshire 5 – Glasgow 3

A game played in 2 very different 9 holes, the first 9 was played in warm, sunny weather, where the players played in short sleeved tee shirts but as we moved into the back 9 the clouds gathered, and waterproofs, umbrella, towels and change of gloves were needed as the rain started, and it got heavier and heavier and never stopped the rest of the afternoon.

The course held up well to the weather and credit must go to all the players for giving their all in very testing conditions. Glasgow had 2 players making their county debuts, Liam McNeill of Pollok GC and Kyle Morrison of Cowglen GC.

Glasgow put up a good, determined display, and if lady luck had looked upon us more favourably the result could have been different, but Lanarkshire are sitting at the top of the table for a reason, they have very good players playing for them from clubs in the Lanarkshire area.

The games were a close contest, with the exception of Liam and Zak’s games for Glasgow, where both ran into two Lanarkshire players playing at top of their games, as golfers, these days happen where some days are diamonds and some days stones, but credit to Liam and Zak for trying hard while watching Jack and Cameron not putting a foot wrong, there were three victories for Glasgow on the day, Kyle Morrison on his debut winning his match on the 18th, at the age of 14, we are all looking forward to watching his progress, Cameron Burns, who is having a good season for club and county winning 3/2, and a good win for Reece Coyle at the 18th,Murray Thomson and Corey Payne, narrowly missed out on victories with both losing at the 18th, and finally Callum Morrison, losing at the 16th.

There will be no one more disappointed than the Glasgow players themselves, but we learn from the games we were involved in and move onto the next game, that’s what matchplay is all about, well done to everyone for competing in difficult conditions.

A Team matches

On a wonderful Autumn day the ‘A' team travelled to Kilmacolm for the first match of the West of Scotland Autumn Series. The course was in good condition and has wonderful vistas over the surrounding countryside. Renfrewshire dominated the tie winning 6.5 to 1.5  Blair Dalgeish playing No.2 won his match and Brendan McKenna playing No.6 halved his game.

The full scorecard is shown below. A disappointing start to this campaign but all still to play for Next match on the 28th of September, at Pollok Golf Club, is against Ayrshire. Pictured below 17th hole at Kilmacolm.

The second round of the 2025 West of Scotland ‘A’ Team matches took place at Pollok Golf Club on Sunday the 28th of September. The course, particularly after the heavy overnight rain, was in great condition and the greens putted well.

The opposition was Ayrshire and the match, as ever, was closely contested ending as a 4-4 tie, a more satisfactory result than the 6.5 to1.5 loss the previous week away to Renfrewshire at Kilmacolm. Ayrshire led 4-3 with the last match coming up the last. The last putt went into the hole and that match was won by Glasgow resulting in the overall tied match.

The GGU team featured players from 6 different clubs, and the games were all conducted in a friendly competitive spirit, great credit to all those involved.

Many thanks to the host club for their hospitality on the day. Next match is a home match vs  Dunbartonshire at Bishopbriggs G.C.

The third round of the West Of Scotland 'A' Team matches was held just after Storm Amy ripped across the country. The course at Bishopbriggs was in really good condition despite the torrential rain. The detritus from the storm had largely been swept away before play again

Match Result - Glasgow Golf Union 1-7 Dunbartonshire

Clearly this was a disappointment, such a heavy defeat for a home tie is unusual. The team had to quickly regroup before the next match and did so.

The fourth round of the West of Scotland 'A' Team matches was held at the golf course of Stirling Golf Club which is situated just below Stirling Castle in the Kings Park. The weather was misty generally with the occasional burst of muted sunshine. The course itself is in excellent condition and a great advert for the course management team.

The match result was Stirlingshire 4-4 Glasgow Golf Union.

Glasgow won the first 4 matches but Stirlingshire rallied strongly and won all the remaining ties for a drawn match The games were played in an excellent spirit with Glasgow team fielding Philip Devine and Paul James. This was Paul’s first match and he acquitted himself well as did Philip.

Stirlingshire are the current County champions so this was a good enough result for the Glasgow team.

West of Scotland Youths League 2025

The first leg of the campaign was a Home Tie, played at Cowglen GC, against Renfrewshire. For the Tie we welcomed back former Boys Team members, Mark Donaldson and Alex O’Neill, both absent from the Youths Team in recent years but now happily once again available for selection. On a very pleasant autumn day, with the course in good condition, everything was set for some close competition. This it proved to be and the first four matches were honours even with two wins for each team. Match number five put Renfrewshire ahead 3-2. A brief five-minute rain shower during the last six holes of play did nothing to disrupt the determination of the Glasgow Side. Max Welsh levelled the tie at 3 matches each on the fifteenth, nervously leaving Reece Coyle and Joe Lynch to secure the victory. This they did, both winning on the 18^th to record a 5-3 win in the Tie, applauded by the assembled players of both sides round the final green. The forthcoming Ryder Cup will have some way to go to beat the excitement and tension of the last hour at Cowglen GC on Sunday!

The second leg of the campaign was played at Irvine Ravenspark GC, against a traditionally strong Ayrshire Side, particularly at Home. The Tie was played in beautiful autumn weather, under blue skies but with preferred lies resulting from some casual water in a few places on the fairways after overnight rain.

The Glasgow side were unable to select some of their regular first team players due to competing events being held elsewhere in the country as the competitive season draws to a close. Several players were also absent, by reason of having to report back to university for the start of the new academic year.

This gave Zac Fullerton and Kyle Morrison from the Boys Squad the opportunity to play their first Youths Matches and both gave a good account of themselves, particularly Kyle recording a victory. Chris McMillan came out of hibernation to register our other victory. In the other matches, Joe Lynch ran Ryan Kennedy close in yet another episode in their continuing rivalry. Calum Morrison lost only on the eighteenth. The Matches concluded 6-2 in favour of our hosts.

Is it too much to ask that the good weather continues for the remainder of the series and is there any possibility that we can field our strongest side before the end of the campaign? 

The third leg - Autumn has arrived and with Storm Amy. Fortunately, the course was open for play, thanks in no small part to the hard work of the Greenkeepers clearing the detritus, that the winds blew over the course.

The result of the Tie was a win for Dunbartonshire, albeit a narrow one 4-1/2 / 3-1/2, with Joe, Bobby, Chris and Max contributing to the Glasgow total.  Charlie only lost on the last green. Perhaps a draw in the Tie would have been a better reflection of the competition on the day. Once again, Kyle made an excellent account of himself, going down by 4 with 2 to play against an opponent who revealed he had been playing golf eight years before Kyle was born!

All credit must go to both teams for playing in some wild weather, including an unwelcome shower towards the end of play. Sadly, the greens were not at their best but as they say – it was the same for both teams.

The remaining Ties, over the next two weeks, in the 2025 Series are a Home Tie against Stirlingshire at Haggs Castle GC with the final Tie of the Series – an Away visit to play Lanarkshire at Carluke GC.

The Penultimate Tie, at Home with visitors Stirlingshire was played at Haggs Castle GC. A pleasant autumn day greeted the combatants, although the matches were far from being hostilities. Instead, both teams were, in many instances, renewing old acquaintances.

Fears that the verti-draining completed at the start of the week might render the Haggs greens difficult, proved to be unfounded. The work beside the burn on the 6^th was also completed on time and the hole played to its usual par 4 length of 321 yards.

Thanks go to young Kyle for stepping in at the last minute, when Josh, one of our original selections, was unavailable to play. The final Tie Score was 2-6 in favour of the visitors. As it is often said, the score wasn’t necessarily reflective of the closeness of the matches and there was some good golf played by both Teams. Honourable mentions go first to Calum delivering a full point, winning one up on the eighteenth. Then to Mark finishing all square for a half point. And to John Hamilton, back home in Glasgow for the weekend, making a welcome appearance from his studies at UHI, delivering a spectacular half point with a birdie on the last.

With only a final Tie Away against Lanarkshire still to come and 32 matches played, we have one more opportunity to improve on our campaign win/loss record of 39% (12.5/19.5). 

The Final Tie of the 2025 Campaign, Away to Lanarkshire was played at Carluke GC. While much of the Central Belt of Scotland was hit with bad weather and unplayable courses, Carluke was presented as an oasis of calm. The course and playing conditions received favourable comments by both teams. With the opportunity of going for “The Treble”, (winning the League Titles for the ‘A’, Youths & Under 18 Titles), our opposition fielded a strong team.

The first two matches were lost by Blair and Jamie and when Chris had to retire unwell in the third match, Lanarkshire were looking confident. When Alex and Charlie lost matches four and five, the win for Lanarkshire was assured and with it the League Title as it transpired. Wins for Reece and Matthew in matches six and seven came too late and with Joe just losing in the final match, this gave the Home side a deserved 6-2 win in the Tie.

Thanks go to Lanarkshire and Carluke who were both gracious hosts. Also, congratulations to Lanarkshire on an excellent series. By winning this Tie, they maintained their unbeaten record and are the 2025 WoS Youths League Champions.

We have now selected a total of 17 different players, who played one or more of the 2025 representative matches. Reece, Joe and Chris contributed 2 wins each.

Overall, the team scored a total of 14.5 points from a possible 40 – 36% success rate, down somewhat on 2024, when we finished in third position.  

The Youths Category. Although our pool of Youths Players numbers 38, in terms of availability it is effectively half that number. The difference is accounted for by the number studying at college or university away from home, out with the area and in this way not really available.

Of our players selected for this campaign, four have also played for the Boys Team this year and will remain eligible for the ‘Boys’ in 2026. Although we believe that if a player is good enough, he is old enough, we also believe that this competition should be reserved for those no longer eligible for Boys category golf but perhaps not quite yet ready for ‘A’ Team golf.

This problem is not exclusive to the GGU and all the teams in the League this year have yet again used the opportunity to give members of their Boys Squads the opportunity to test themselves at Youths Level.

We have long been pressing the West of Scotland Association, thus far without success, to consider that those who play Boys League during the year be ineligible for that year’s subsequent Youths Team Ties and to change the rules accordingly. The problem of fielding full teams would be addressed, we submit, by increasing the age for participation to 30 Years.