2009-2010 Season
23 May
Students vs Staff
Report by Mr McNeill
The students took on the staff on Sunday and won 2 1/2 – 1 1/2. Mr Cox and Mr Watkins managed a very creditable half in their match against big-hitting Tim H and Frederik V, with Mr Cox playing a superb round and holing a tricky 4-footer at the last to deny the German boys victory. In the other matches, Mr Devey and Mr Wimberley were given a sound beating from an in-form Robert H and Hector C, despite Mr Wimberley’s heroic eagle at the 1st hole, where he drilled his 3-wood 300 yards onto the edge of the green and holed his putt. Robert and Hector played some magnificent golf on the way to victory. Mr Morton and Mr Broad were seen off by a very solid performance from Stan E and Paddy S.
11 May
Golf vs Nairn West Juniors
Report by Mr McNeill
Nairn Golf Club hosted the Gordonstoun team superbly on Tuesday and the course was in very good condition. The game started in wintery conditions, with a mixture of hail, sleet, and rain being driven across the first fairway by a bitter Northerly wind. Luckily, the skies cleared and the sun shone for most of the remainder of the round. The home team proved too strong for our side - even Tim H’s outstanding recent form could not match his opponents’ as he and Freddie V lost their match. Hamish H and his partner (‘loaned’ from the Nairn side) had a good match, but also lost narrowly. Robert H and Hector C secured Gordonstoun’s only victory, playing some excellent golf on their way to a comfortable win. With the score at 1-2, Stan E and Jamie W were the only remaining pair on the course. At all-square, they both had putts to secure a win at the 17th; however, their putts slipped by, leaving the door open for their opponents, who holed a solid 8-foot putt on the last to secure a 1-hole victory and to take the final match score to 3-1 in favour of the home side.
9 May
Golf vs Elgin Juniors
Report by Mr McNeill
Gordonstoun’s unbeaten record this season came to an end when the team lost narrowly to Elgin Golf Club Juniors at Elgin Golf Course on Sunday. A cold and blustery wind made conditions on the course very challenging and Elgin’s home advantage paid off. The final result was in the balance until the last pairing; with the score at 4.5 to 3.5. Having been 4 down earlier in his match, Robert H clawed the game back to 1 up at the last, but failed to capitalise on the comeback down the difficult par 4 18th Hole. He could only manage a halved match, leaving the final result 5-3 to Elgin. There was a mixed bag of fortunes on the course for the other Gordonstoun players. For some, the conditions and strength of opposition proved too much; however, there were superb victories for the in-form Tim H (8 and 7) and Hector C (4 and 3) in particular.
1 & 2 May
Golf vs Loretto
Report by Mr McNeill
Mr Cox and I travelled with Freddie V, Tim H, Paddy S, Robert H and Hector C to Loretto on Saturday morning. The team played 18 holes over the Craigielaw Course on Saturday and managed to secure a narrow victory by 1 point over a strong Loretto side. Performance of the day came from Tim H who shot five birdies on the way to a 1-under par round in tricky wind conditions. On Sunday, the team played another strong Loretto team (they are very rich in talented golfers, with around 45 members of their Golf Academy from which to select a team). Tim and Freddie continued their good form to win their matches; however, Paddy lost narrowly and Hector and Robert, who were playing a 4-ball better ball, lost on the 16th, resulting in a 2-2 drawn match. Therefore, overall, Gordonstoun won the match by just one point.
25 April
Golf vs Old Gordonstounian Golf Society (OGGS)
Report by Mr McNeill
Gordonstoun School played their inaugural match against the newly formed Old Gordonstounians’ Golf Society (OGGS) over the Old Course at Moray Golf Club. The course was in excellent condition; however, the teams had to contend with heavy rain for the first half of the round. Fortunately, the skies cleared and a light breeze carried players in around the back nine. The performance of the day came from the School Team Captain, Patrick S, who finished an impressive 2-over par round with two birdies over the closing two holes to secure his partnership’s 2-up win against strong opposition. It was a closely contested match that ended in a 2-2 draw. Campaign Director, Mr Richard Devey, one of the founders of the OGGS, donated a Quaich to be presented to the winning side and it seemed fitting that, following their first match, the trophy was shared.
20 October
Highland Schools Golf Tournament
Report by Mr Devey
We had an excellent day yesterday at the Highland Schools Golf Tournament in Aviemore. I took three boys - Freddie V, Tim H and Patrick S - and all did their best over the long and challenging Spey Valley Course.
Our results were excellent, with Tim having the round of the day with a gross 77. This won him the overall competition, beating the 60 best junior players from as far afield as Orkney, the Western Isles, Highland, Inverness-shire, Moray and Nairn! This is an exceptional performance on a course he had not seen before, and he won a lovely trophy and various other goodies including a round for two at the course on which the competition was played. Not bad for a guy who was on crutches for most of the summer, and certainly the best individual result during the years I have been connected with golf here!
The other two didn’t play quite as well but battled hard, and returned scores sufficiently good to mean that we also won the Moray Schools’ title for the second time in three years. All-in-all this was an excellent day with three fine young men.
13 October
Golf versus Loretto
Report by Mr Devey
Our golfers battled bravely against a very talented group of Loretto Golf Academy players in the ISGA cup at Lossie yesterday, but eventually came up just short. The game was played off scratch, and so our trio of Freddie V (Captain), Tim H and Stanislas Emsens ( were up against it, with the Loretto players being off 0, 0 and 1 respectively. However, all three performed very well indeed, with all matches going to at least the 16th green. Tim H was our only winner, with a fine victory 2 and 1 against a boy off 0. Freddie lost by the same margin, and Stan lost 3 and 2, although this was a particularly good performance given that Stan has a handicap of 12 against his opponent’s 1.
We also played a friendly game against another five Loretto Academy players, with Kenny B, Dominic H, James B, William M and Hamish H representing the school. These matches were played using handicaps, so the contest was slightly more even, although all five were defeated by their stronger opponents.
Finally, Mr Cox played in the staff match against Loretto's (formerly Gordonstoun's!) Mr Reid (this is also part of the ISGA competition and so was actually an official match). Mr Cox was leading until the 13th when he found an awful lie in the face of a bunker and lost the hole. He then had a bad run of holes, with Mr Reid eventually running out the winner 3 and 2.