Juniors News ~ 10th December 2011 Juniors show Course Architect Promise The second Winter Club Night was held 9th December in the clubhouse with a good attendance. Guest of honour was the new Club Captain Scott Maxwell who came with his wife Roberta to judge the Golf Hole Design Contest between 4 teams. But first, and after orders taken by Nicole for hot dogs and pies, John Young got the golf brain ticking with the second round of his video golf quiz. This time questions were mostly on basic rules on the greens and on the tee. The team contestants showed first-rate knowledge or maybe guessing skills but certainly ended the session much wiser; for instance, whether knocking the ball off the tee or an air shot that picked up the penalty stroke. There wasn’t much time for the pool table this time as a quick round of Christmas cracker pulling and lucky dip prizes for the quiz led into the Golf Hole Design Contest. The aim of the contest was to design a relief model of a golf hole using available fabric (thank you Alison Ross for providing the goods), scissors, bit of glue and lots of imagination. Ready for the judge – note the clubhouse alongside the 1st tee. Scott tests the water hazard at Team 3’s hole – note the quality of mowing on the green. Hard sell from the all-girls Team 4 which definitely had Scott impressed. The major difference at Team 4 was the flock of sheep that had invaded the entire hole ~ could only happen at Dollar! And the winner is ........... Team 1 for all round excellence and selection of features - rewarded with more lucky dip and extra crackers Our thanks to the Club Captain for taking on yet another tough job.

Juniors News ~ 15th November 2011 Lots of questions as Winter Club Nights start The first Winter Club Night was held on 11th November in the clubhouse with a good attendance including some welcome friends of members as quests. Our thanks to the parents who came along to help. After orders for hotdogs, etc, had been taken by Nicole, John Young presented a superb golfing quiz using a DVD produced by Nairn Dunbar GC. In teams, the young members were shown a number of amusing scenarios and given chance to consider the right answer. After an interlude in the pool table room, the teams were then invited to invent a putting game which was tried out on the other teams. The evening was undoubtedly a success thanks to Nicole’s good food, John’s efforts and the irrepressible enthusiasm of our members. Club nights are to be repeated every 2nd Friday each month through to March 2012 - i.e. next club night is 9 December from 6-8pm. Club captain joins Team 1 during the golfing quiz organised by John Young. John Carty helps Team 2 in their deliberations. Early start to misspent youth. With Barbara’s help Team 3 use the lie of the land to devise a putting game. Junior Section Committee As part of the continuing process to build structures a new committee has been formed. The initial office bearers are: Donald Malcolm, Convenor John Young, Secretary Janette McMillan, Treasurer Volunteers to join the committee are sought - especially parents and guardians who wish to help us build a strong junior section in Dollar with new ideas and feedback. Season 2012 planning already in progress Resulting from the end of season review we have decided to introduce a new dimension to our coaching structure – the Dollar Micro Course. The idea is to have a golf course suitable for the very young golfing enthusiasts aged between 7-9 years. Planning has already started and on Thursday 17th November we called in the experts – Greens Convenor Charlie Murray and Lead Greenkeeper Tony Leach. The result has been a set-up that includes practice areas at the 1st and 2nd holes, a Micro Course superimposed on the 8th fairway and green as well as extending the previous Mini Course involving two target greens on the 5th fairway and a splendid challenge on to the 6th green. Click here for an overview. John Young explains the requirements to Tony Leach and Charlie Murray. Tony and Charlie look happy that they have set up a real challenge for the juniors on what will be the Mini Course 7th hole.

Juniors News ~ 10th October 2011 Session ends with clubgolf Certificate awards Match Secretary Scott Maxwell did the honours during the award ceremony and thanked all the coaches for their efforts. As the 2011 season ended the entire coaching squad received recognition for their efforts over the year. Each player was awarded a certificate according to their clubgolf stage. Alistair bows out After two years of consistent attendance with more than 40 appearances at various activities, Alistair has decided to bow out and we marked the occasion with the presentation of a tankard inscribed “Committed Coach”....... which says it all! This time Phoebe presented Alistair with his tankard Last session for Alistair and he’s still smiling. The Last Blast Barbara’s group is a happy ship. The Second green has grown some cones during Pauline’s putting lesson. Vic’s group of older players has a young visitor. Bill checks out the straight left arm. John fills in the scores on the new coaching tool.

Juniors News ~ 21st September 2011 clubgolf Manager pays a visit Mandy Martin clubgolf Regional Manager took time off SGU meetings and clubgolf administration to pay Dollar a visit on 26th September and saw for herself our young starter initiative at work. She said afterwards, "I really enjoyed it. Christine seemed to appreciate the help too. It nice for me to get involved in the coaching as it gives me a nice wee change". Mandy joins Christine as a helper. Meanwhile nearly 20 young players were out on the course enjoying autumn colours on a sunny warm evening with blue sky – where did the summer go? We Never Stop Learning For four sessions the coaches have been assessing a scoring method for our Mini Course and on 19th September we were re-visited by Allan Martin clubgolf mentor and PGA Pro at Callander to discuss results. The outcome has been an innovative score card which will be tested as a coaching tool in the final sessions this season. Our thanks to John McMillan who rapidly turned the John Young prototype into a quality article. In addition Allan was able to pass on more words of wisdom to boost confidence and knowledge ................ we never stop learning. Meanwhile here are some views from recent sessions. Christine seen marking up scores for her team on the 4th hole of the Mini Course, one of four target greens where getting your ball into the inner circle counts as one putt and two putts are awarded for the outer circle. We welcomed Bill MacFarlane as a new helper. At the 7th he could not resist showing off his chipping skills and holed out his demonstration chip, carefully disguising his amazement of course. Pauline took our youngest players for chipping and putting including a taster on the Mini Course. Barbara’s group got some of the best scores of the evening. Our youngest player gives his approval. Congratulations Congratulations to John Young who passed his PGA Level 1 weekend course and joins the other seven qualified coaches at Dollar.

Juniors News ~ 9th August 2011 New Sessions and New Ideas The second block of ten sessions started last week, 1st August, with everyone on the course. In spite of the holidays we had 12 players including three new members. Welcome to Sean, Cameron and Jackson. Last week we also had a visit from the clubgolf mentor Allan Martin, PGA Pro at Callander. His visit gave the coaches an opportunity to review our structures and discuss teaching skills. It was decided to try out a category method of helping individuals recognise their progress along the clubgolf Player Pathway. This initially means creating a new score card for the Mini Course. Another new idea is the introduction of brightly coloured lightweight, big headed, chippers for the youngest players. These are accompanied by equally brightly coloured balls. These clubs are in a trial stage and we will see the results in a few weeks. Session 2 – Monday 8th August Still holiday period but numbers have grown to 14. Once more everyone was on the course playing Mini Course holes but this time individual scores were kept. John Young takes the scores and will be compiling results that will enable us to create a new mini course card, with par scores at different categories. More later. Christine Malcolm is in charge of the early starters and her group this week were using putters and chippers. Note the use of a new lightweight big headed chipper by two of the early starters. The older players are included in the new categories and we hope that they are not far off gaining their full handicaps. Congratulations Congratulations to Drew on coming second in the Calander Flag Event Drew shows of his short game skills. He had just holed out the previous attempt! New Coach We are delighted to announce that Bill MacFarlane will be joining the coaching team at the end of August

Juniors News ~ 24th June 2011 Young Starters get their Just Rewards In recognition of their enthusiastic attendance during the first block of coaching sessions, Gregor Able our PGA Pro did the honours of awarding each Stage 1 player with a certificate from clubgolf. Just rewards for our young starters at the certificate award ceremony 20th June. In the clubhouse some healthy appetites kept Nicole busy. We were delighted to be joined by Mandy Martin from clubgolf who rolled up her sleeves and became ace coach for the afternoon. Coaching stalwart Alistair (who deserves more than a certificate for his unstinting efforts) had a strong team Barbara guided this team round a short version of the Dollar Mini Course. Junior Captain in Club Championships The Club Chamionships saw the Junior Captain Jamie Smith up against a previous junior member Stephen MacPherson. Jamie only started playing in the adult competitions last year with a handicap of 15. He is now down to 6 and, with his exams over, can expect to reduce further. He was a worthy runner up. Jamie is congratulated by the Club Captain for a superb performance during the two qualifying rounds and 3 knock out matches to reach the 36 hole final of the competition

Juniors News ~ 7th June 2011 High Turnout for Dollar Open As part of the Forth Valley and West Lothian Junior Flag Golf Series we were keen not to suffer the fate of the two previous events in May which had to be cancelled due to lack of support. Whether it was timing, better weather or the efforts to drum up entries from Dollar and Muckhart the DGC day was a resounding success with 27 individual entries and 5 teams playing the special Family Texas Scramble. Winners of the Handicap and three Flag competitions with Ashley Leitch who donated Craig’s Trophy. The handicap section played the first nine off the yellow tees. The three Flag events were staged on the new par 3 Mini Course with its 4 special target holes marked out by the greens staff (thanks to Tony Leach and Willie Glass). Flag competitions are non handicap. Instead players are divided into suitable categories for their age and experience. Each player carries a flag which is planted at the spot where the 45th shot landed. All players are allocated a course marshal who applies simple rules that assist flow of play and keeps a record of scores. Huge praise must go to the coaching team who became event organisers with Barbara and Pauline doing much of the advance preparation in liaison with Mandy Martin of clubgolf. Christine, Carol, Matt, Alastair and Ian oiled the cogs and wheels of the complex machine during the day. Thanks to Carol Caren, Barbara Pratt and Di Dunning who acted as course marshals. Club Captain Dug Bradley and Ashley Leitch gave the multiple prize-giving a sense of occasion. Our gratitude to Peter Muss who sponsored the voucher prizes in the four competition categories and bucketfulls of encouragement to our organising team. Winners were: Watson Cup (9 hole Handicap maximum age 14) 1st Connor Carty (Dollar) 2nd Duncan Fraser (Dollar) 3rd Calum Erskine (Grangemouth) Craig’s Trophy (Flag Stage 2 – experienced players approaching handicaps) 1st Daniel Roe (Stirling) 2nd Fraser Candlish (Harburn) 3rd Lewis Willaimson (Dollar) Brian Devlin Cup (Flag Stage 1, year 2 – improved beginners) 1st Ben King (Muckhart) 2nd Finlay Hamilton (Muckhart) 3rd Glen Wilson (No home club listed) Williamson Cup (Flag Stage 1 year1 – beginners) 1st Phoebe Carty (Dollar) 2nd Fraser Leighton (Dollar) 3rd Josh Downie (Dollar) Flag competitors with parents and course marshals Carol Caren, Barbara Pratt and Di Dunning. It was good to see lots of help and support from parents. Traditional last hole etiquette upheld by two handicap players. Thanks to Pauline Kirkwood a well polished array of winners’ prizes: Craig’s Trophy (Flag Stage 1 Year 2), Watson Cup (9 hole handicap), Brian Devlin Cup (Flag Stage 2) and Williamson Cup (Flag Stage 1 Year 1) Club Captain Dug Bradley with winners in the Handicap section. A Dollar special for its Open Flag event is the Family Texas Scramble which provided mirth and entertainment for 5 groups of adults and children. This team was enjoying itself so much that they played an extra hole by mistake!

Juniors News ~ 22nd May 2011 Where Champions are Made The members’ outing to Gleneagles on Sunday 22nd May was a chance to stand where past champions have been made. Gleneagles is also where the 2014 Ryder Cup will be staged and the facilities used by the Dollar GC juniors is part of the Scottish National Golf Academy set up. The staff at the pro shop took pity on the team as the rain came down and our eleven players were treated to a basket of balls and the superb indoor coaching facilities The equipment and set up of the National Academy are top class and our up and future champs took full advantage practising full swing, putting and short game routines for about an hour – time well spent and thoroughly enjoyed thanks to the shelter from the weather. Then it was time to put all into place on the famous Wee Course or as it known now the Academy Course. Neil McFadyean from Tait/McNabb and Mhairi Clarke accompanied the first group playing a texas scamble format. Barbara Malcolm, and George Johnston led the second group which achieved the target score of a bogey average. Considering the blustery, wet conditions this was a credible effort especially the two pars on the way. John Carty, Ian Meikle and Ray Williamson helped the third group equal that score with some competitive teamwork and well thought out tactics from the team captain seen here teeing off. The day finished as it had begun – in pouring rain. However there was general agreement that it had been a great experience for all.

Juniors News ~ 17th May 2011 Dollar Juniors in the Picture Coaching on the evening of 2nd May was a little different with lots of action in different parts of the course. Vic Allan led two Stage 2ers, Drew and Lewis, over some tasty holes as part of the drive for a handicap. The afternoon ended with Gregor running a special clinic for the Tait/McNabb boarders. Moragh Dunning kindly offered to be a coach for the evening and in the face of a strong westerly held lessons in putting on the 2nd green........... ........ whilst Alistair looked after some other young Stage 1ers on the 1st green. Meanwhile Gregor Able was down at Newfield holding a full swing session for the Stage 1ers. He used the junior Explanar coaching aid which has been kindly lent to the Juniors by Dollar member Bobby Watson. Robert Watson made a guest appearance as the original user of the Explanar when he was 8 years old – Robert has a handicap of 7 and is a member of the Scottish Golf Academy so he was the perfect role model for our young prospects. Then along came the club Captain, Mandy Martin the Regional 'clubgolf' manager and Rob Eyton-Jones, 'clubgolf' Media Manager to take the pictures and interview Gregor and Robert for an article about the Dollar coaching innovations.

Juniors News ~ 2nd May 2011 Ubique – all over the place Coaching on the evening of 2nd May was truly everywhere – 30 young players (half who are beginners) took part in 4 different forms of coaching between 4.30 and 7pm. All the coaches, including our guest PGA Pro Gregor Able, deserve warm praise. Christine, Barbara and Pauline carried out sessions for 14 Stage1ers at Newfield. We now have 17 signed up for this level of coaching. Both veterans of coaching from last year, two Stage 1ers have been promoted to playing on the course. This honour is well deserved. Alastair accompanied four Stage 2ers round some holes including these two excellent prospects for the season. PGA Pro Gregor Able helps the group from Tait/McNabb make some dramatic improvements and, it appears, have fun as well.

Juniors News ~ 28th March 2011 Satisfying First Tastes Junior coaching got off to a good start on Monday 28th March with seven new players trying out some basic golf strokes - chipping and putting:- First Coaching Taster gets the thumbs up. The session was attended by 8 of the coaching team including Barbara, Matt and Pauline. How about this for a steady head. What a grip.

Juniors News ~ 20th March 2011 COACHES WARM UP FOR THE SEASON Alastair Simpson (front left) sees a putting lesson from the pupil’s viewpoint. New Dollar coach Pauline Kirkwood (far right) hears wise words from PGA Pro Alan Martin during the regional workshop at Dollar.

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