Hurrah, hurrah and thrice hurrah as a goodly number of boys and girls took advantage of an absolutely splendid weekend of weather to support the ‘competition of the day’, the Monthly Medal.
Nearly twenty men made the effort to play over the two days and although the scoring in general was on the high side it gave quite a few of the competitors their first look of the season at a golf course in good trim.
When one considers that there’s still a wee bit of nippy frost most mornings when our trusty greenkeeper escorts the deer off the course before commencing his daily toil on our behalf that’s a good effort.
Carefully cut greens, fairways and rough made the place sparkle and the new red and white pins with bright red ‘sponsored’ flags flying this season seem to have given the course a freshness and a welcome invitation to come to Sconser and play golf.
Thanks mainly to the efforts of chief steward Jim Cumming the interior of the clubhouse is also looking spic and span. With fresh and bright decor plus a new tv the main social area looks like a comfortable sports lounge which I suppose is rather appropriate considering its situation and it’s purpose?
Indeed greenkeeper John Cunningham and chief steward Jim Cumming were more often than not on their own in preparing the course and the clubhouse respectively for the start of the season so a big shout out and thank you to them.

Thanks also to long-time club member Calum Beaton for climbing aboard and familiarising himself with the intricacies of two new mowers.One to cut the fairways and the other to cut the rough.

He too has played his part in producing our course in optimum condition this early in the year.

COMPETITIONS
Geoff Williams won the Anniversary Quaich on his last visit to the course, albeit in a severely weather-restricted field and he seems to have been swinging nicely again this time as his nett score of 65 comfortably won category one in the Monthly Medal competition.
His two nines were 36 and 38 respectively with nothing worse than bogey on his card and with a nice wee birdie 2 on the fifth hole being a probable highlight.
Jim Cumming got the verdict for second place in a photo finish with Andrew Long both players having signed for scores of 70.
Jim’s two nines were 40 and 39 with a couple of ‘birds’-the second of which was registered on the final hole which would have left him in good spirits.

Andrew’s two laps were both navigated in 38 shots but the rather ‘ridiculous’ 7 on arguably the drivable par four fourth hole was very well balanced by a rare birdie three just two holes later.

I just had to ask and the answer was a thinned aka a dirler approach to the fourth green which whistled at ankle height into the jungle behind the green.
Enough said.

However the rather delicious birdie 3 on the sixth hole was the result of 3-wood,9 iron to three feet and one putt.

Honourable mention too for Ross Cumming who snared two birdies on his second ‘nine’.

In category two the winner was Willie Urquhart whose two laps of 41 and 44 resulted in a nett score of 69 and victory over the runner-up James Colven by two shots.

James’ two nines were 44 and 45 respectively.

So that’s 64 and 69 for Mr Urquhart, 72 and 65 for Mr Williams-but where is Mr Punch, the third member of this regular Sunday morning cohort I hear you ask for there surely can be no show without him?

The Anniversary Quaich is not in fact one of the designated IOSGC@60 events this season as it was first played for ten years ago to mark the 50th anniversary of golf being played at Sconser.

Four ladies came out to enjoy their sunny Sunday afternoon golf but it was to be the two usual suspects in the frame when their games concluded.

Club steward Donalda Johnson won the Ladies Medal competition with a nett score of 70 which was a full eight shots clear of Jill Mackinnon in second place.

Like the men their scores were a wee bit on the high side overall but with a lot of the golf sticks having gathered cobwebs and stoor since last October one expects the overall standard of play to improve as the debris clears and the old joints and muscles begin to gradually loosen off.

MATCH V LOCHCARRON

After a gap of many, many years a ladies/gents friendly challenge match was played between the two neighbouring clubs recently.

Thankfully the weather was decent apart from the ever present chilling wind as the eight-a-side bounce game got underway.

Information from the encounter is sparse but let the record show that Lochcarron scored 193pts while the hosts total was 163pts.
Best score of the day was a meritorious 39pts by the visitors’ Quentin Banting while Geoff Williams’ 35pts was the best return by a member of the home team.
Apparently a good time was had by all as we look forward to the return fixture.

RESULTS
Gents Section

Monthly Medal
Cat. One (0-12)
1) G Williams 74(9) nett 65; 2) J Cumming 79(9) 70bih; 3) A Long 76(6) 70.

Cat. Two (13+)

1) W Urquhart 85(16) nett 69; 2) J Colven 89(18) 71.

Ladies Section
Monthly Medal
1) D Johnson 88(18) nett 70; 2) J Mackinnon 95(17) 78.
FIXTURE

This weekend it’s the RNLI Stableford competition for both the gents and the ladies.

Good luck to all.



JOHN MARSHALL

Club Championship sponsors 2024

Isle of Skye Golf Club are delighted to announce their new Club Championship sponsors as Torabhaig Distillery based at Teangue on Isle of Skye. This will cover the Ladies and Gents Championship for their Anniversary 60th year event marking golf played at Sconser. The game has been played at the Sconser location since 1964 since the origins of Sconser Golf Club and several events are in place to mark the Anniversary year.

At Torabhaig, we are pleased to support the Isle of Skye Golf Club Championship in celebration of the 60th Anniversary events. With the release of our third expression of the Legacy Series, Cnoc na Moine, we continue to explore the elegant side of peat smoke in our whiskies, made at Torabhaig and shaped by Skye.



Torabhaig Distillery is the second ever licensed Single Malt Scotch Whisky distillery on the Isle of Skye. The water, the land, the climate, all play a part in the character of the whisky produced which has been captured by Torabhaig. Isle of Skye Golf Club is proud to be associated with the Skye distillery and to be part of such a local, vibrant produce. Torabhaig Distillery are producing their own distinctive character whiskies which are evolving into a distinct signature style from a flavour profile known from what they call 'Well-Tempered Peat'.

Capt Robert MacAskill said 'It is a great opportunity for the Club to be associated with Torabhaig and to be part of their 'Legacy' portfolio'. We look forward to combining with Torabhaig and thank them for their generosity'