Double DP World Tour winner was star in making in East Lothian event
Martin Dempster’s weekly round up of golf matters in the Edinburgh area
How Casey Jarvis underlined potential in East Lothian
East Lothian will host the U.S. Kids Golf European Championship for the 17th time in May and it’s likely that at least one future star will be competing.
Take Casey Jarvis, for example. The South African underlined his potential when winning one of the categories as a nine-year-old back in 2013.
Three years on, he’s just become a two-time DP World Tour winner and will be back in East Lothian this summer but this time to play in the Genesis Scottish Open.
“I first met Casey and his family at the U.S. Kids Golf event in 2010,” recalled Mike Robson, a well-kent face in Lothians golf who has helped out with the U.S. Kids Golf event since then and will be at the Glen this year.
“Casey was playing in the Boys’ 7 and Under category where he tied for fourth place. He returned in 2013 for the Boys’ 9 category which he won, again on Gullane No 3, and that was the same year I met Tom McKibbin and his family.”
This year’s event opens with a parent/child tournament at Winterfield on May 24 before the main competition takes place at Craigielaw, Glen, Longniddry, Royal Musselburgh and Musselburgh on 26-28 May.
The Van Horn Cup, a team match, will then bring the week to a conclusion at North Berwick on 29 May.
Last year’s event featured 500 of the world’s best young golfers from no less than 50 countries around the world.
East Lothian make it four Winter League wins in a row
Bragging rights belong to East Lothian for the fourth year in a row in the ever-competitive Lothians & Fife Golf Associations Winter League.
The title was retained in style once again, with East now having gone unbeaten in 12 games against West, Mid and Fife over the past four years.
The latest campaign was opened with a 2.5-2.5 draw against Fife at Bathgate before following a 4-1 win over Mid at Kirkcaldy by beating West 3.5-1.5 in the concluding round of matches at Burntisland.
Fife also finished the campaign with five points, but, with a better ‘goal’ difference, it was job done again for East.
“Myself and Benn McLeod from Musselburgh have selected/managed/co-captained the team now for all four years,” said Craigielaw’s Kenny Glen.
“Ross Colquhoun (Kingsfield) and Scott McCandless (Bathgate) are the co- captains for West Lothian while Kingsknowe’s Craig Surgeon is the Midlothian captain. We are all good friends, so it's always good to have the bragging rights over them (laughing).”
Three-time Scottish PGA champion Chris Kelly and 2021 Scottish Amateur Championship winner Angus Carrick were among the players to compete in this year’s campaign.
Lothians AGM proves short affair
The Lothians Golf Association used to be a lively and lengthy affair at times - but certainly not on this occasion at Newbattle Golf Club.
“Everything went through without any questions from the floor,” reported secretary David Doig. “In fact, we appear to be getting faster with this meeting as it only took 21 minutes to complete.”
Just 24 delegates from 17 clubs were represented as John Hall (Royal Musselburgh) and Sharon Macpherson (Baberton) were elected for a second year as president and vice president respectively.
Two Executive members - Colin Ramsay (Kilspindie) and Joe McManus (Uphall) - were also re-elected for three year spells.
The LGA, in conjunction with My Golf Ranking, present medals at the AGM for the best individual Lothians player and also the best Lothians club.
Mark Walker (Bathgate) was the best individual Lothians player and Bathgate the best club, but, unfortunately neither the player nor the club could attend the meeting.
Edinburgh Leisure tees up coaching for capital kids
A new junior golf instruction programme has been teed up by Edinburgh Leisure as part of a bid to “strengthen access to multi‑sport opportunities for young people across the capital”.
Designed for children aged between 7 and 12 and comprising two six-week courses, the programme is being delivered at Meadowbank Sports Centre by community golf instructors.
Golf Minis, for ages 7-9, is a “playful introduction” focusing on confidence, coordination and fundamental movement skills.
Meanwhile, Fairway Flyers is aimed at helping older children - ages 10-12 - develop technique, coordination and an early understanding of the game.
Angela McCowan, sports development manager at Edinburgh Leisure, said:“The introduction of junior golf at Meadowbank strengthens our multi‑sport offer and helps ensure children across Edinburgh can access high‑quality coaching in a welcoming and inclusive environment.”
Craigielaw claim another crown
Craigielaw’s collection of crowns in recent years also now includes this season’s East Lothian Winter League Stroke-Play title.
Making the most of home advantage, it was a successful title defence for a side comprising Marc Reid, Kenny Glen, Guy Dalziel, Cameron Mukherjee, Scott Cunningham and Sean McGarvey.
Cunningham and McGarvey led the way with a 68 while the Reid/Glen and Dalziel/Mukherjee pairings both signed for 73s.
It added up to a nine-shot success for the hosts as Longniddry and Gullane both finished with 223 totals.
Craigielaw have been East Lothian Winter League champions in recent years and also won the Edinburgh Summer League for the first time in 2023.
They also won the County Cup three years in a row and lifted the East Lothian Winter League Cup as well last year.
Course/club of the week
Clubs can often be guilty of not being good when it comes to communicating, but that’s certainly not the case with North Berwick at the moment.
Coastal erosion protection work is now underway on the historic West Links and kudos to Stuart Bayne, the general manager, for getting that good news out there in a press release that was full of the relevant information.
If you’ve got something you’d like to be included in ‘The Lothians Lowdown’, drop me an email at [email protected]