Blair golf staff pull out all the stops

May 27 2011 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

IT was all-hands-on-deck this week as Blairgowrie Golf Club staff pulled out all the stops after Monday’s violent storm brought down trees and branches just days in advance of hosting the 72-hole Carrick Neill Scottish Strokeplay Championship.

On the adjacent Rosemount course, 10 trees were blown over around the 17th hole.

But the Blair team’s hard graft has paid off and the 7007-yard par 72 Lansdowne course is in excellent condition for the event which starts today and continues over the weekend. Nearly 150 top amateur golfers from around the world are in action.

Managing secretary Douglas Cleeton said the greenstaff had been “pushed to their limits” as they tackled the clear-up.

“The ferocity of the storm was incredible and totally unexpected at this time of year. The team had to remove branches and debris from the courses and tackle the 40-plus trees that were blown down over our three courses.

“Remarkably, Lansdowne now looks pristine. Rosemount, which suffered the majority of the damage, is also in perfect condition with debris and branches gathered up and made ready for collection.

“At 6am on Tuesday the courses looked devastated, and it took a Herculean response by the greenstaff to clear Lansdowne and almost all of Rosemount. The upshot is that the courses are left with little evidence that a violent storm had passed through.”

Previous winners of the strokeplay title include Colin Montgomerie, Bernard Gallacher, Alastair Forsyth and Richie Ramsay.

This will be the fifth time Blairgowrie GC has hosted the championship. Previous winners at the venue were Ian Hutcheon (1974 and 1979), Charlie Green (1984) and Frenchman Francois Illouz (1989).

It’s a chance for Big County golf fans to assess Walker Cup candidates and potential future professional champions.

Scottish international Glenn Campbell won the Blairgowrie 36-hole scratch Open on Sunday with rounds of 68 over Lansdowne and 72 over Rosemount.

It was the perfect limber-up for the Carrick Neill backed championships.

Whilst many competitors found the blustery conditions challenging, home favourite Glenn missed only one green in regulation out of 36 holes.

His round of 68 over Lansdowne was especially good and opened a gap of three shots on the rest of the field which he held with a level par round of 72 over Rosemount.

As the wind got up in the afternoon, the normally less challenging Rosemount course bared its teeth and returned a CSS of 75 which is three over the par.

Scores from the Scratch Open (Blairgowrie unless stated): Glenn S Campbell 68 + 72 140; Mark Halliday (Royal Aberdeen) 72 + 71 143; Bobby Rushford (Grangemouth) 72 + 71 143; G N Brass 71 + 72 143; Liam Barn (Scotscraig) 71 + 74 145; Ian Bell (Scotscraig) 72 + 74 146.