​The party of 17 set off on Thursday 25th May to spend the Bank Holiday weekend on the links at St Andrews with scant hope of Scotland’s weather holding out for them. As it happened, not a drop of rain was seen except for a thunderstorm on the Saturday as the players were finishing at Crail. The format of the tour is that everyone plays five rounds for the Foster Plate with the four best rounds counting towards the trophy. Each day’s winner is cut two shots and the runner up one shot with the lowest score receiving two shots and the next lowest one shot. The effect is to narrow the field and make for an exciting “Open” style finish.
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              ​Elie GC                                                         Allan Kerr and Brian Woodbridge at
                                                                                  ​breakfast in the Old Course Hotel

​The submarine periscope

​The second round was played over the New Course at St Andrews (https://www.standrews.com/play/courses/new-course), which was designed by Tom Morris in 1895. With President Obama playing alongside on the Old Course, this may have fooled several of the party who wondered why the crowds had gathered to watch the LMEGA teeing off. The wind got up and the greens were quicker, making scoring a trickier proposition than at Elie. The day’s winner was the Captain, Ms Yang with 37 points, who was cut two shots, from David Hardy with 33, who was cut one shot. The next highest scores were 30 which shows the Captain’s round as exceptional. The average score was 28.29. Martin Abbott, David Ratcliffe and Edward Sawbridge carded their lowest round on the New.

​Moving on to Crail Balcomie (http://www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk/Balcomie+Links/) on the Saturday, the weather was threatening but not until the late afternoon did the last two groups get caught in a sudden thunderstorm, which drove them in just before finishing. The club dates from 1786 and the course, laid out by Tom Morris in 1895 was tricky, with carries over rocky bays and a number of blind shots to some greens and particularly to some par threes sitting atop cliffs. Crail maintains that the greens are maintained at a speed of 7 to 9 as they would become unplayable if they were any faster due to the high winds. The runaway winner on the day was Martin Abbott with 41 points, who was duly cut two shots, from Derek Raphael with 39 – cut one shot - and Steven Spencer with 38. The average score at Crail was 32.58 and no-one carded their lowest round.

Alex Heath shows the line to Derek Raphael

​Sunday saw the group out on the Eden Course at St Andrews (https://www.standrews.com/Play/Courses/Eden-Course) . This beautiful addition to the St Andrews Links dates from 1914 and was designed by Harry Colt. It fits perfectly into the links alongside the Old and the New, if a little away from the sea shore. The wind got up a little and the fairways and greens were hard but the scoring was good with the average score 32.05. Brian Woodbridge trounced that with a splendid 40 points, taking a two shot cut for the final day, with David Hardy right behind him on 39. The final pairings were now clear and going to dinner that night the leading scores with the worst round to date dropped were David Hardy on 141 playing off 13, Steven Spencer on 140 playing off 21, Martin Abbott on 139 playing off 15 and Brian Woodbridge on 135 playing off 20. Only Jan Rommer carded a lowest round.

​Bank Holiday Monday and the final round was played over Lundin Links – a stunning course laid out along the Firth with WW2 defences along the beach and wonderful views across the Firth and the bay. Laid out by Tom Morris in 1868 it was redesigned by James Braid in 1909 and is a regular Open Championship links qualifying course. Several players carded their worst rounds on the final day as the wind got up and the hidden burns, tight fairways and blind shots to the fast greens took their toll. The average score was 28.37. David Hardy, Steven Spencer and Brian Woodbridge all carded their lowest scores on the final day, dashing their hopes of victory but Martin Abbott surged in with 36 points to take the Foster Plate by two points from David Hardy, with Steven Spencer coming in third.

Vice President David Hardy with President Martin Prevezer

A special mention should go to Joanna Cheung who came on the tour straight from China as a guest of the Captain. Joanna played splendid golf throughout and had she been a LMEGA member would have come in second on tour.
 
Next year’s tour venue will be proposed by the Captain for 2018 and his choice plus one or two alternatives will be put to a vote for which anyone intending to tour will be eligible. The cost will be limited to about £800 for golf, accommodation and transfers but excluding flights and incidentals.
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Our first outing of the year was Captain's Day and the Spring Meeting, held at Kingswood Golf and Country Club on Thursday 4 May.

The continuing cloudy weather and brisk northerly winds made for a chilly day and numb fingers as well as seeing the greens suffering a little from the conditions, although the course generally played very well. Kingswood excelled itself with an excellent three course lunch, served in the ballroom, at which the assembly paid tribute to the late, great Manfred Kopelman, who died the previous weekend.

The cold and breezy weather did not prevent Alex Heath from storming away from the pack and earning himself an automatic two shot cut for the Autumn Meeting. Against an average score of 28.5 for the day, Alex shot 38 points, winning by three from Neal Avent (on countback) and Rob Draisey. Alex thus also took the Captains' Cup, the Directors' Cup and the Carr Sargant for which he represented Mocatta. The Scratch Prize went to Chris Jones with a gross 80 off 6 handicap and the King Cup for 24 handicap went to David Farrar. John Ambery took the Guest prize along with the nearest the pin and longest drives and having now joined the LMEGA will be a useful addition to the match managers' arsenal.

The afternoon saw the Charles Davis Foursomes Salver won by Jan Rommer and Brian Woodbridge for Rudolf Wolff. For those of you who are too young to remember Rudolf Wolff and many other firms, the Ring was once 36 trading companies, many of which have now vanished but all of whom live on as long as there are still ex-employees to sustain them. The competition rules now refer to Category One and Two Members for the Carr Sargant and Charles Davis to reflect changing times.

In the other afternoon competition, the Greensomes was won by a threeball, forced on the day by the late withdrawal of one player, which was won by Chris Jones, Bill Green and Jake Doran.

The Captain's generosity extended to pre-luncheon drinks and she presented some generous prizes for all winners.

All players at the Spring Meeting are eligible for the Aggregate Cup, which is awarded to the highest combined scores for the spring and Autumn meetings, so please do mark the date in your diaries, especially if you played well - Thursday 7th September at Sandy Lodge GC.

The Summer tour takes place at St Andrews from 25-29 May, where 18 compete for the Foster Plate and on 2nd June the LMEGA takes on the London Iron and Steel GS at Berkhamsted.