Golf: Linlithgow Ladies win County Midway League Trophy

Linlithgow Ladies Golf team has won the County Midway League Trophy. Pictured from left to right are five of the team - Jacqui Golding, Eleanor Fyfe, Agnes Martin, Jackie MacFadyen and Lesley Porter.

The ladies finished ahead of teams from Bathgate, Deer Park, Dundas Park, Greenburn, Harburn, Pumpherston, Uphall and West Lothian, after coming second twice during their 15 year wait for the title.

Linlithgow won the tournament, which ran from March to August, with a win in the final game of the tournament, clinching the title by one point, with Pumpherston in second. This success is all the more remarkable due to half of the lady members at Linlithgow recently moving to West Lothian Golf Club.

Agnes Martin, one of the five members in the Linlithgow Ladies team, spoke of her pride at winning the trophy given the lack of players available at the club.

She said: “We lost half of our team as half the female members went to West Lothian. So the team captain only had a squad of about a dozen of us to pick from.

"If you lose half your members it obviously makes it harder to put forward four players and a reserve to compete.

"The fact that Linlithgow have come second and so close to winning it, and we recently lost so many members, to then go and win the trophy for the first time in 15 years is incredible. It’s given us a real morale boost.

"For us, it’s a big thing to lift a trophy that the ladies have fought long and hard for. To get the win with a reduced pool to choose from shows our tenacity.”

Agnes spoke of the “buzz” around the club following the trophy win.

She said: "The clubs that make up the Midway Trophy are all local, so there is a bit of rivalry there. It’s a local trophy that everybody wants to win.

"So to win it when the team has been diluted, and with the pandemic and other things, this has given everybody a boost.

"The buzz in the ladies section just now is great. Everybody is talking about it, it’s given the club a really positive vibe, so it’s a big thing for Linlithgow to win this trophy.”

The trophy will be presented at the County Dinner to be held at Pumpherston Golf Club on October 21.

A spokesperson from Linlithgow Golf Club said: “Congratulations to all those ladies who took part and to the other ladies for their commitment and support of the team.”