Carnoustie Country Junior Golfers Compete in New Tournament
Wednesday, 29 August, 2012

Young golfers from across Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perthshire descended upon Lynedoch Golf Course at Murrayshall House Hotel on Sunday, August 26 to compete in the first ever Carnoustie Country Junior Team Challenge.

Erin Cattanach and Sandy Barclay of Kirriemuir Golf Club, winners of the first Carnoustie Country Junior Team Challenge, with David Hutton of runners-up Monifieth Golf Club, and Monifieth Junior Golf Convener Alex McKay.

The tournament, which was also the area round of the National Junior Team Golf Home Nations Inter Club Championship, was open to teams of six junior golfers from Carnoustie Country golf clubs and attracted considerable interest from local junior golfers.

"The members of Kirriemuir Golf Club's team were very excited about competing against other teams," said Sandy Barclay, junior golf convener of Kirriemuir Golf Club. "Team golfing competitions add a whole new element to the game, with every member doing their utmost for their respective teams."

After playing 18-holes on Lynedoch, scores were tallied and Kirriemuir Golf Club was announced as the winner, with Monifieth Golf Club in second place. "The tournament was really good fun," said Erin Cattanach (14) of Kirriemuir Golf Club. "It was really good to be part of a team - especially as we won!"

The top two teams from the tournament go forward to the regional finals of the Junior Team Golf Home Nations Inter Club Championship, which will be held on September 29/30 at two other Carnoustie Country courses - Scotscraig and Downfield. The winners of this round will then compete in the Scottish finals at Panmure in October, with the top Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English teams heading to Spain next March for the British Finals.

"We're very excited about playing in the next round," said Calum McKay (17), from Monifieth Golf Club.

Despite not being in a winning team, Sandy Shackles (15) of Murrayshall Golf Club was highly complimentary about participating in the Carnoustie Country Junior Team Challenge. "It was brilliant!" Sandy said. "I really enjoyed playing against other clubs and meeting other junior golfers. I'd love to do this regularly."

The event's organisers, which included several Carnoustie Country Junior Golf Conveners, revealed that, following the success of the Carnoustie Country Junior Team Challenge, they hope to form a Carnoustie Country Junior Golf League in 2013 which would be open to all junior clubs within the area.

"Junior golfers are the lifeblood of golf," said Angus Council golf spokesperson, Councillor Mairi Evans, who explained that this initiative by Carnoustie Country, the area's golf destination campaign, would help highlight the importance of junior golf to supporting increased membership within clubs.

"We need to encourage and support our local junior golfers in as many ways as possible. Judging by the enthusiasm shown at Sunday's tournament, regular, interclub junior golf tournaments or a Carnoustie Country junior golf league would be a very effective way of doing this."

Caption:

To find out more about Carnoustie Country and its golf courses, visit www.carnoustiecountry.com .

1- There are 30 Carnoustie Country courses in and around the county of Angus. Carnoustie Country hosts golf tournaments, events and works with the golf industry in Angus, East Perthshire and North Fife to promote golf as a visitor activity.

2-Support for Carnoustie Country is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Lowlands and Uplands Scotland Programme 2007 -2013 as part of t he Rural Tourism Business Support project - a partnership of organisations operating within the East of Scotland seeking to improve the region's tourism product through a focus on key sectors.

3-Partners have identified four key niche markets for stimulating local and regional tourism and which will benefit from collaborative business support and investment.

4-The four key niche tourism markets are:

Food & Drink
Golf
Outdoor
Ancestral