The Ayrshire Golf Association held their 39th Annual Dinner & Presentation of Prizes at Loudoun Gowf Club on Friday the 25th of February 2022, where the successful players and teams from the 2021 season were honoured for their achievements.
President Scott Gilchrist (Loudoun) chaired the dinner with top table guests including the Presidents and senior officials of the six West of Scotland Area Associations and Scottish Golf President David Fleming.
After an excellent meal the company were entertained by former European Tour golfer Alastair Forsyth who gave an excellent after dinner speech which concluded with a toast to The Ayrshire Golf Association.
The evening culminated in President Gilchrist presenting trophies and awards to the successful players and teams from the 2021 competitions.
In 2022 several Ayrshire players gained international recognition, being selected for Scotland and Great Britain & Ireland teams at various levels, and their achievements were marked with a small memento from The Association.
In Woman’s golf, pride of place went to Louise Duncan of West Kilbride who won the Woman’s Amateur Championship at Kilmarnock Barassie in June, the first Ayrshire player to do so in 83 years, with a record 9 & 8 win in the final.
Louise had several invites to play in professional and amateur tournaments following her win, and in the Scottish Open at Carnoustie finished in the top 10, winning the Smyth Salver as leading amateur.
After representing Scotland in the European Woman’s Team Championship and Home Internationals, Louise’s season culminated in selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team for the biannual Curtis Cup match against the USA.
Ayrshire Golf Association Executive member Liz Keohone accepted the award on Louise's behalf.
Also in Woman’s golf, Hazel MacGarvie of Royal Troon represented Scotland in the Home Internationals and the European Wonman;s Team Championship and concluded her amateur career as travelling reserve for the Curtis Cup match against the USA.
Shortly afterwards, in December 2021, Hazel became one of only two Scots to secure her Ladies European Tour Card for 2022 at the tour school in La Manga in Spain.
With Hazel unable to attend, Ayrshire Golf Association Past President John Rushbury accepted the award on her behalf.
In Men’s golf, Ruben Lindsay of Turnberry and Ayr Belleisle represented Scotland in the Home Internationals at both boys' and men's levels and his performances during the season saw him gain a place in the Great Britain & Ireland boys team that contested the Jaques Leglise Trophy match against the Continent of Europe. With Ruben presently at university in the USA, his award was accepted on his behalf by Sandy Walker of The Ayrshire Golf Association
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| Paul Moultrie |
Stuart Easton of Irvine again represented Scotland at the Home Internationals in 2021 and at the end of the season turned professional, gaining a place on the Alps Tour for the forthcoming season.
With Stuart presently on tour, his award was accepted by his club mate Gareth Lamb
A regular in the Scottish Senor Men’s team in recent seasons, 2021 was another fine season for Paul Moultrie of Royal Troon, who was in attendance to accept his award personally.
Paul was a joint runner up spot in the Scottish Senior Men’s Open Strokeplay and finished in the top four of the British Seniors Championship at Ganton, as well as representing Scotland at the European Senior Mens team Championship in Slovakia and the Senior Home Internationals at Woodhall Spa.
Two additional trophies were on display and presented during the event this year.
In September 2021 at Dullatur Golf Club the Ayrshire Boy’s team won the Scottish Boys Area Team Championship trophy for only the third time in the history of the event, following previous successes in 1998 and 2007.
The Ayrshire team were joint leaders after the morning foursomes but a great team performance in the afternoon singles saw the Ayrshire boys establish a full six shot victory over the runners up.
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| Scott Gilchrist, Jack Allan, Harvey Broadfoot, Max Barclay, Sandy Walker |
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| Daniel Forbes |
Three of the four members of the winning team, Harvey Broadfoot, Max Barclay and Jack Allan, were present on the night, with only Connor Wills unable to attend.
The West of Scotland Strokeplay Championship took place at Gleddoch in May, and was won by Daniel Forbes (Irvine) with a one under par score of 71.
The winners of the annual Ayrshire Golf Association trophies were also announced and presented with their awards.
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| Fourball winner John Tanner |
55 pairs contested the 2021 Ayrshire Fourball Championship. The final was between the Prestwick Centre Golf Club and Stewarton Golf Club and was played during Finals day at Kilmarnock Barassie in early September. The winners of a close and entertaining final at the second extra hole, were
John Tanner and
Aidan Long of the Prestwick Centre Golf Club
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| Club Champions - Prestwick St Cuthbert |
16 clubs took part in the Ayrshire Club Championship at Troon Lochgreen in July. With a final team total of 142, winning the title by a single shot, and following the clubs only previous win in 2016, the 2021 winners, represented by Craig Telfer, Adam Sweeney and Scott Brown, were
Prestwick St Cuthbert Golf Club.
19 clubs entered the scratch club team knockout competition for the Gary Bryden Memorial Salver in 2021 with defending champions Royal Troon and Prestwick St Cuthbert meeting in the final on Finals Day at Kilmarnock Barassie in September, which was won 2 - 1 by Prestwick St Cuthbert.
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| Gary Bryden Memorial Salver - Prestwick St Cuthbert |
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| President's Putter - Auchenharvie 88 |
The handicap club team knockout competition for The President’s Putter attracted entries from 31 member clubs in 2021 with local rivals Auchenharvie 88 and Moorpark winning through to the final, which was played in mid September at Rowallan Castle. Auchenharvie 88 won their first ever county title with a 2 - 1 match win.
The popular Ayrshire Handicap League Championship competition saw 29 member clubs contest the qualifying sections, with Moorpark and Rowallan Castle winning through to play for the trophy and title on Finals Day at Kilmarnock Barassie, which Moorpark won 5 - 1
With a total of 20 clubs entering the 2021 competition two top divisions were contested, with the third
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| Scratch league Div. 3 - Rowallan Castle |
division being played in two qualifying sections, with the winners both gaining promotion and playing off for the title.
The division 3 final was contested by West Kilbride and Rowallan Castle and after losing the first leg 5 – 1, Rowallan Castle overturned the deficit in the second leg at home, winning 6 – 0 to triumph 6 – 5 overall.
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| Division 2 - Royal Troon |
Royal Troon won Division 2, recording their third successive divisional title win, and gaining promotion to the first division for the first time.
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| Division 1 - Irvine |
Division 1 was keenly contested once again, with
Irvine winning the title for the first time since 2015.
The Seniors Championship was held in July 2021 at Rowallan Castle Golf Club and Alistair Travers of Irvine Ravenspark won the trophy with a score of 70, by virtue of the better inward half.
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| Matchplay Champion Craig Telfer |
The 2021 Ayrshire Matchplay Championship was played in July at Prestwick St Cuthbert Golf Club where the final was contested by host club members Graeme Gimson and Craig Telfer.
In an outstanding, low scoring, Craig Telfer won the trophy at the second extra hole.
The Ayrshire Strokeplay Championship was played at Loudoun Gowf Club in June and the destination of the title was decided by a play off after Jack Broun of Turnberry and Daniel Forbes of Irvine tied on 135 after two rounds.
The play off was not decided until the fourth play off hole, where a birdie three was enough to secure the 2021 title for Jack Broun of Turnberry Golf Club, who was not present as he was in South Africa with a Scotland training squad.
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| Champion of Champions Steven McEwan |
66 players started out in the quest for the 2021 Ayrshire Champion Of Champions title and it was two time winner Steven McEwan of Caprington GC and 2018 winner Paul Denim of Loudoun who won through to the final at Royal Troon in August.
With some outstanding golf in difficult conditions, Steven McEwan completed a hat trick of wins in the event, following his previous successes in 2012 and 2013, with a 7 & 6 win in the final.
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| Doc Thom Salver Winner Michael Smyth |
The Order Of Merit, for the Doc Thom Salver, had 20 counting events in 2021 including club, county and national competitions.
In third place, with a total of 236.67 points, was Blair Morton of Royal Troon, runner up with 237.50 points was Craig Telfer of Prestwick St Cuthbert, and the winner of the Doc Thom Salver for 2021, with a total of 445 points, was Michael Smyth of Royal Troon GC
The evening concluded with a vote of thanks by Ayrshire Golf Association Vice President Andrew Gilligan.
