Terry Edmonds' Memorial Outing 2026

In the week of what would/should have been Terry's 80th birthday we again gathered at Aboyne for what could have been the 25th time, were it not for rain (twice) and Covid. Three of the Edmonds family again travelled up from Wales for the event - Paul, Samia and younger son Eli - together with the magnificent trophy donated by Linda back in 2002.

Earlier in the week it looked like we were going to have a nice round 12 playing but the attrition began the day before. For various reasons, Gary, Nigel and Dick had to pull out so just 9 of us lined up for the team photo:

l-r: me, Paul, Eli, Keith, Malcolm, Rob (at back), Ken P, Jack (at back) and Syd.

The weather in Aboyne at the start was considerably better than we'd left behind further east, but we sensed there may be trouble later - and so it turned out. We managed 6 or 7 holes dry but then the rain arrived and for a few holes it was pretty miserable before drying up again - but there were casualties - Ken P stopped playing and just walked round for a while, longing for the sunshine back home in Spain; 87 year old Syd walked in from the 9th and Eli limped off after the 10th.

So the scoring wasn't great, particularly for those unable to complete 18 holes:

So the trophy heads back to Wales again. It's Paul's 4th win, moving him up one place in the all-time winners list:

I changed the usual NP's etc this year. Nearest the Pin in two at the 6th was Syd and Paul got the NP at the 8th and Malcolm at the 12th (although not actually on the green).

The team prize obviously went to the first three out - Paul, Eli and Malcolm with 69 points. The other 2 teams were well adrift with 52 & 51 points respectively.

After the meal, Linda presented the trophy to Paul:

That was pretty much that, but there was one other (unrelated) presentation to Keith:

Malcolm had recently been having a bit of a clear-out at home and had come across our former Senior Moments trophy, so we thought Keith's recent exploits at St Andrews deserved to be acknowledged as the greatst cock-up of all time - at least for the time being.

Incidentally, this particular trophy only has 3 names on it, the last being in 2005, whereas my records show the following "winners":

The trophy then suspiciously went missing - possibly the prospect of a hat-trick for Les may have been the reason.

(Partial) Summer Tour History

The Summer Tour to Seahorses this week was the 25^th. The event started in 1999 when 10 of us left Banchory to hook up again with fellow squash club member Dan Corbett who was working in Ayr at the time. We played Ayr Belleisle, one of the Troon courses (Darley?) and one other I can’t remember. It was an absolute scorcher of a weekend – we were staying at the Chestnuts Hotel which had a fine choice of real ales available.

We decided to make this an annual event and the following year 7 of us headed north and again played 3 courses, including Tain and Golspie. Here we are at the latter course - Syd either not present or taking the photo:

l-r: Peter Street, John Anderson, Bill Miller, Terry Edmonds, Ian Stewart & Jas Bhagrath

It was a very damp trip but our hotel had agreed to put a Pin of ale (organised by Jas) on the bar for us. We must have had a few, because, after dinner, we went out to the hotel’s putting green and had a mini competition in the rain. This was the infamous occasion when Syd stumbled, landing flat on his back in what, in his own words, was the “blower fled”!

The winners of these first two events are, regrettably, unknown - I'm not even sure we had yet decided to have an overall winner.

By 2001, however, it had definitely become an overall competitive event as 7 of us again travelled to see Dan, who had now moved to Linlithgow, where we stayed. We played there and also at Pitreavie in Dunfermline plus one other.  Drinks at the Four Marys:

The following year just 4 of us flew over to Dublin to play Portmarnock's relatively new 2nd course plus Corrstown and one other. Again, it was a wet weekend but we all enjoyed the Oyster Stout at the Porterhouse. Here we are at lunch at Corrstown with the sun shining for a change:

In 2003, for the 2nd year in a row, there was a disappointing turnout of just 4 heading to East Kilbride. Would the Summer Tour remain viable with such low numbers? The response came the following year with a long distance trip to the West Country where two former Banchory Squash Club members - Bob Cooper and John Davies - now resided - in Ledbury and Malvern respectively. This was when the Summer Tour really took off - Bob Cooper even donated a trophy which helped the event to eventually be elevated to BSV "Majors" status.

A total of 11 played Bob's home course of Ross-on-Wye and John's Worcester course plus a trip over the border in to Wales to play Rolls of Monmouth (Rolls as in Rolls Royce):

l-r: Syd Freeman, Archie Cook, Dave Edwards, Dan Corbett, John Davies, Peter Street, George Cox, Bill Miller, Jas Bhagrath, Ian Stewart & Bob Cooper

We continued our travels in 2005 with the slightly shorter trip to Cockermouth, but in 2006 we made an even longer journey - by plane this time - to play at another former Squash Club member, George Cox's home course of Seaford in East Sussex - a jacket and tie job:

l-r: George Cox, Ian Stewart, Dan Corbett, Peter Street, Syd Freeman, Dave Edwards, Archie Cook, Bob Cooper, Jas Bhagrath, Bill Miller & John Davies

We made the first of 7 visits to Slaley Hall in 2007, but, in 2008 it was another plane journey - to Cornwall this time. Trevose Golf and Country Club was where we stayed and played but it was our wettest Tour ever - we only managed one full round at St Enodoc. On the final day it was so wet and windy that only one of our group of 10 wanted to play - Peter Street was the likely overall winner but he needed a few more points to seal the deal - and I, reluctantly, agreed to play a few holes with him and mark his card.

We missed out on 2020 due to Covid but otherwise the event has gone from strength to strength since then. This year at Seahouses brought the highest ever attendance of 16 - here's the full list in order of attendees:

(Note the obvious error/omission for the 2 Aberlady trips that I don't have the full information for).

As mentioned above, Slaley Hall has been visited most (7 times) with Aberlady and East Kilbride 2 each. All others were single visits.

A total of 40 have now taken part in the Summer Tour - Jim Fowler being the latest to make his debut this year. Here are those names with the numbers of appearances to date:

Harry's win yesterday was his 2nd in just 6 appearances. Ian Dring has 3 wins from 8 appearances. These two are also the only ones with single figure handicaps and, at the ages of 67 and 68 respectively have to be amongst the favourites to add to their number of wins. Here's the full list of recorded winners to date:

Balmoral 2026

It's 25 years since this outing started back in 2001. There was no outing in the Covid year of 2020 but otherwise we've played every year.

In recent years we've hired a minibus to take us out to Balmoral but we decided to call for volunteer drivers this year instead - and Nigel, Ian D, Brian D and myself were quick to offer. We had 9 golfers plus a still not quite ready Jas making the trip. Nigel did a Costco shop for sandwiches and accessories and I bought the drink (including low/no alcohol beers).

We kept the tradition going of a team photo at the start:

It was pleasing to note the improved maintenance on the Balmoral course - the fairways and the first cut of rough were well  defined, tidy - and fair - although if you did stray you could find yourself in jungle - as Ian D did on this rare occasion behind the green at the 3rd/10th:

Scoring was average at best, with the notable exception of serial winner Brian Lees who had 42 points (playing off 10) - a full 10 points ahead of 2nd placed Harry who pipped Malcolm on countback. Here's the full list of scores and prize-winners:

Gary, as usual, poured the (large) drams for the non-drivers. We had planned a much earlier exit than usual and, although we stretched it a little, we left Balmoral at 10:30 am - way earlier than some of our previous boozy outings.

It was good to see Gary back playing again after a couple of years out injured, and Malcolm, hot-foot from his World Cup adventure, made his first appearance since 2017. We also welcomed debutants Syd and Brian D, taking the total number of "Banchorians" having participated to 23 in all.

Over the years, we have been hosted by a total of 13 Balmoral members. Brian Lees has now taken part 11 times and this year saw him win for a record 5th time. Other Balmoral winners have been Gary (3), Norrie Thain (3), Duncan Stewart (2) and Michael Muir (1) - who went from hero to zero this time.

Banchory winners have been me (3), Malcolm (2), Jas (2) and solo wins for Ian D, Les, Dick and Ken B. Balmoral members have now won 14 times, with Banchorians behind with 11.

Remember the date - the last Monday in June.

Terry Edmonds' Memorial Outing 2025

The last Friday in August brought 12 of us to Aboyne for one of our most social outings of the year. We again welcomed our visitors from Wales – Terry’s son Paul and his wife Samia plus their younger son Eli. Linda had a far shorter journey and again provided the prize balls, which this year were sponsored by her financial advisers.

As last year’s winner I was tasked with organising the event but denied the opportunity to defend the trophy due to my recent surgery. I was shuttled back and forth between Banchory and Aboyne by Nigel, my son Ross and Rob.

I got the group to gather for a team photo at the start:

l-r: Syd, Eli, Samia, Paul, Dick, Nigel, Linda, Rob, Harry, Harry Jnr, Malcolm

The afternoon’s golf seemed to go well and thankfully the threatening clouds drifted by and there was no need for umbrellas or waterproofs. I did the prizegiving just prior to our meal. Appropriately, the individual winner on the day was Paul Edmonds who was presented with the lovely silver trophy by Linda:

Paul’s team-mate, Rob, ran him a very close second and Nigel came in 3^rd a few points behind. Nearest the pins were Paul, just edging his son Eli out by a matter of inches, and Nigel. Nearest the pin in 2 at the 17^th was won by Harry Jnr. Here's the individual scores in order of play:

With Paul and Rob in the same team it was inevitable that the team winners were the 2^nd team out – Paul and Rob plus Eli:

 Terry passed late 2001 and the inaugural event was scheduled for the following year but we were rained off then, as we were again in 2009. Covid meant cancellation in 2020 so this year could/should have been the 24^th event but was actually only the 21^st time we had managed to play. There are 11 separate names on the trophy and the all-time leader board now looks like:

 

Paul’s win this year was his 3^rd, taking him up level with me but we both still trail home favourite Malcolm who has 5 wins to his name, the last of which was in 2019. Scanning the names above and those on the trophy reminds us all of other missing friends – Les and Dave both feature.

Balmoral XXIV

Our annual trip to Balmoral on Monday would have been our 25th had Covid not intervened in 2020. Just 7 of us travelled from Banchory this year, including one non-player - Jas - who was unable to play due to his long-term shoulder injury but wanted to walk the course with us and, of course, take part in the social side afterwards.

This outing is our only "invitation" event. Until very recently Balmoral Golf Club remained fairly exclusive, restricted largely to estate employees, each of whom were allowed to invite 3 guests to make up a fourball. Our contact there is former Banchory Squash club champion and now Head Stalker on the Royal estate, Gary Coutts, RVM. He arranges for fellow members to sign us on as guests for a modest fee of £15 per head. These days the club is more open but the standard fee is much higher - £200 for a fourball.

It's always been a pretty boozy outing so we have favoured hiring a minibus to take us there and back which works OK when Gary can get 3 members to play so that we can have 3 fourballs. In fact, he once - in 2023 - managed to get 4 members to sign us on - our largest ever attendance.

Gary Coutts has had knee problems and had to miss out last year - and this year. In fact, he has only played twice since 2018. He did, however, manage to get regular Brian Lees to play with us and he was joined by Michael Muir so we had just 2 fourballs this year. This, however, made hiring a minibus unrealistic financially. Fortunately we had 2 willing volunteers to drive - Keith and Ken.

Here's the team photo in front of the clubhouse on a warm but overcast evening:

Back row - Gary Coutts, Ian Dring & Michael Muir.
Middle - Nigel Meany, Ken Black & Brian Lees.
Front - Keith Gray, Hugh Riches, Ian Stewart & Jas Bhagrath.

Unlike last year we did manage to find the handicap adjustment chart - and what a shock we all got - reductions in handicap of 4 strokes each, which meant that Ian D was playing off one!

Individual and team scores were:

Michael's 36 points off 14 of a handicap was good enough on the day and he became the 12th person to win this event. Not content with that he also got one of the Nearest the Pin prizes (at the 14th), the Longest Drive and naturally he was a member of the winning team too.

Ian Dring got 2nd place with a commendable 34 points and I took the other Nearest the Pin prize at the 11th hole.

The course was looking pretty smart - tidy, well-tended fairways and rough that wasn't as horrendous as we've seen it in the past - but oh, those greens - like putting on Velcro (or through treacle).

As ever, the post-match social went down well. Keith had organised the food and Nigel the drinks. Gary, in accordance with tradition, brought a bottle of malt - Isle of Jura - and very nice it was too. We had thought that, as we didn't have to wait for a minibus, and, with 2 cars outside it might be an earlier than normal night - but it wasn't really. Not as bad as the very early days but in line with more recent years, arriving back in Banchory about midnight. 

Michael's winning score was the lowest in a decade. He's the 5th Balmoral member to win - Banchory has 7 winners so far and the pecking order now reads:

13 Balmoral members have taken part in the outing over the years, and 21 from Banchory. Incidentally, the club has now officially changed its name to Royal Balmoral.

Balmoral XXIII

What a scorcher of a day for our 23rd annual outing to Balmoral. We gathered at Banchory Golf Club car park and boarded our coach at 4 pm prompt, heading westwards through Deeside. Our host, Gary Coutts was waiting at the Balmoral gates to greet us and escort us in to the estate.

Due to further knee injuries, Gary was unable to take part in the golf this year, but he had recruited regular Brian Lees plus Michael Muir and Richard Tait - the latter a low handicapper (4.5) from Braemar. We had been coming to Balmoral since 2001 and the guest green fee had stuck rigidly at just £10 throughout this period, but this year saw an increase of 50% to £15.

The King has already made a number of changes at Balmoral, not least at the golf club, which is now run by the members, independently of the estate, which now supplies - at a cost - various services to the club, including greenkeeping. The course was definitely looking much better than last year and the fairways and rough were much more playable. They still have issues with the greens to sort, however.

First of all, the team photo on the first tee:

Brian Lees was a little too late and missed out but the rest of the line-up, from l-r:
Richard Tait, Ian Stewart, Nigel Meany, Jas Bhagrath, Michael Muir, Dick Taylor, Ken Black, Hugh Riches, Keith Gray, Ian Dring & John Waddell.
Photo taken by Gary Coutts.

A few other photos taken by me on the way round:

Prince Albert on the right of the 1st fairway, looking across at Queen Victoria on the other side

Crathie Kirk from the 2nd tee

Estate house on the left of the 18th fairway, famously once clattered by the much-missed Les Gray

Three fourballs started but Jas, not having played for the last year, had to retire at the turn after 9 holes. We could not initially find the course scoring adjustment chart so decided to just play off full handicaps. We later found out that we should, on average, have reduced our handicaps by 3 strokes, so the following individual stableford scores should be taken with a little pinch of salt:

Richard and Hugh got the NP's at 5th & 11th and John W the LD at the 16th. The team competition, based on the best 2 stableford scores at each hole, was declared null and void by me. The first team out - Richard, Nigel, Keith and Ken - were mortally offended by this decision as their score of 89 points was 6 points better than that of the last team out - me, Brian, Ian D and Jas. However, as earlier stated, this wasn't a level playing field as Jas could only play half a round. The team scores for those first 9 holes was level at 44 each.

Precedent has it that an appropriate adjustment is made to a 3 man team's score when playing against a 4 man team. On a pro-rata basis this would have made my team the winners but I felt this would have been totally unfair so the only - and easiest - way out was for me to scrap the team prizes. No doubt this decision will not be forgotten by some. Have pity on the poor organiser who picked the teams.

Anyway, we had a good laugh in the clubhouse afterwards, as witnessed by this selfie:

This was only the 9th time that Brian had taken part in the event but he became the first player to have won 4 times. There have been 11 separate winners so far:

 A total of 34 players have taken part in the 23 events played to date - 21 from Banchory and 13 from our hosts. Nobody has played in every event but Dick, Jas and myself have each only missed one. Our host Gary has taken part 20 times.

We departed Balmoral just after 11 pm and all were safely home shortly after midnight.

Boat of Garten LXXV

Many thanks to Rob for his excellent organisation and congrats to Ian D on his win at this week's Boat of Garten outing. Rob has already circulated details of the event but I'll include his team selfie at Boat of Garten on Monday here for the blog record:

Here's the presentation of the trophy to Ian:

The full pecking order from the event shows:

Malcolm and John M, of course, only played the one round at Boat of Garten.

A few more photos I took:

Rob and I on the 14th tee at Boat of Garten, backdropped by the Cairngorms

Another selfie at the 15th green. Harry putts, Nigel bends and Rob watches while I waited patiently after recording yet another blob!

Hugh and Rob pose as Twa Auld Mannies at the 7th tee at Grantown yesterday

It's almost 40 years now since our group first went to Boat of Garten in September, 1984. That outing and the subsequent two in 1985 don't appear in the official stats which go back to the first time the trophy was awarded in May, 1986, but, for the record, the first 3 pre-trophy winners were Dick Taylor, Bill Miller and Bill Craven.

So officially this was our 75th outing in the 39th year since the trophy started. It could have been 77 had Covid not intervened in May, 2020 and had we not been rained off in September, 1992 - amazingly, the only time this has ever happened (to date!)

My records of the winning scores only go back to 2004, by which time we had decided that 36 holes at Boat of Garten on the Monday, after golf and a boozy evening on the Sunday, was becoming too much for us and we reverted to the current format of just 2 scoring rounds - one each day.

We only played one round in May 2021 when Ken B won with a very respectable 36 points, but the lowest 36 hole winning total since 2004 was Dan's 62 points in May, 2007. Syd won in May, 2023 with 63 points and this year's total of 64 was the 3rd lowest - shared now by Ian D, Jas (May, 2012) and Harry (Sep, 2017). Conversely, the highest points total (79) also came from Ian D in September, 2015.

Ian D now joins the ranks of multiple winners. Our now 85 year old elder statesman remains amazingly competitive and it will be some time - if ever - before anyone overtakes him at the top of the all-time leader board:

Current regulars yet to get their name on the esteemed trophy include Hugh, Nigel and John M.