Wednesday 1st February 2023

Want to know more about Golf before joining a society? Here’s a quick overview of the sport and what SSS has to offer.

Golf Image

One of the world’s most beloved sports, Golf has become popular as a calming game which is suitable for all ages. The game is believed to have been invented in 15th Century Scotland, with St. Andrews hosting the world’s oldest Golf course. Since then, the game has become a worldwide phenomenon, being enjoyed by amateurs and professionals alike across the globe.

While there are many variations, the traditional rules of golf see a player attempting to hit their golf ball (known as strokes) into a designated hole. A course will consist of eighteen holes, each of which is played separately with players occupying different holes simultaneously. Each hole will have a Par number. This is the number of strokes a player is allowed without penalty. For example, if a hole is a Par 4 and a player takes five strokes, their score for that hole will be +1 as they took one more stroke than allowed. However, if a player uses fewer strokes, they will get a minus score. In this example, if a player manages to sink the ball into the hole within three strokes, they will get a -1 score. Different scores in golf are allocated different names, such as:

One Shot – Hole in One

-4 – Condor

-3 – Albatross/Double Eagle

-2 – Eagle

-1 – Birdie

0 – Par

+1 – Bogey

+2 – Double Bogey

+3 – Triple Bogey

+4 – Quadruple Bogey

 

The winner is determined by the player with the lowest aggregate score across all holes. There are many terrains that can make up a Golf course. There’s the Green, Rough, Out of Bounds, Bunker and Water. The Green contains short grass and is the most optimal surface to play on. The Rough is, as the name implies, a rougher area of the course with longer grass. The Bunker is a pit of sand which is the most difficult surface to hit the ball out of. If a player hits a Golf ball into water that’s too deep to play out of, they will receive a penalty and will continue play from where they took their initial shot. Out of Bounds is the area beyond the course. If a player hits the ball outside of the course, they will receive a penalty and will continue play from where they took their initial shot, much like hitting a ball into water.

Scottish Student Sport hosts the Scottish Student Golf Championship and the West of Scotland Golf Trophy. This year marks the 99th Scottish Student Golf Championship and will take place in Lossie. These events are available to applicants, with further information found here: https://www.scottishstudentsport.com/sports/golf/

If you are interested in joining a golf club/society, click the links below:

 

Abertay University: https://www.abertay.ac.uk/life/abertay-sport/university-sports-union/golf/

Edinburgh College: https://twitter.com/ecsportsunion?lang=en

Heriot Watt University: https://sportsunion.site.hw.ac.uk/golf/

RGU: https://www.rguunion.co.uk/getinvolved/societies/golf/

UHI: https://www.hisa.uhi.ac.uk/groups/uhi-golf-club

University of Aberdeen: https://www.ausa.org.uk/sports/club/augc/

University of Dundee: https://sportsunion.dundee.ac.uk/clubs/golf/

University of Edinburgh: https://www.eusu.ed.ac.uk/organisation/golf/

University of Glasgow: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/sport/whatson/club/golf/

University of St. Andrews: https://golf.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/

University of Stirling: https://www.stirlingstudentsunion.com/sportsunion/clubs/golf/

University of Strathclyde:  https://www.strathunion.com/sports-union/club-sport/club/6640/

 

Sports Chair: Vacant – chris@scottishstudentsport.com

Governing Body: Scottish Golf – https://www.scottishgolf.org/

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Monday 26th September 2022

University of Stirling’s own Lorna McClymont and George Cannon triumphed in an incredible display of golf at the ‘Stirling International 2022′!

University of Stirling’s own Lorna McClymont and George Cannon triumphed in an incredible display of golf at the ‘Stirling International 2022′!

The Montrose Golf Links ‘1652 Course’ hosted the 11th annual tournament and the first event of the 2022-23 student season.

The opening day had a standout performance with University of Stirling’s Lorna McClymont finishing thirteen-under-par, leading the ladies table by eight strokes and taking the women’s course record in what Dean Robertson (University of Stirling Head Performance Golf coach) described as:

“One of the best rounds of golf I have ever witnessed by any amateur or professional in my career!”

Despite Elice Fredriksson (Halmstad), Megan Ashley (University of St Andrews), Lucy Jamieson (University of St Andrews) and Hannah Ounap (Edge College) all finishing under par, catching McClymont’s first day feat looked to take something special. The Men’s standings stood slightly closer, with the top thirteen split by just three strokes. Dundalk’s Eoin Murray led the tight race after day one.

Lucy Jamieson (St Andrews) displayed great consistency on Day 2, matching her first day result of three-under-par. Jamieson narrowly missed first, but comfortably finished second in the standings with six-under-par. McClymont was not able to match her first day success on the second stint, shooting 6-over-par, but finished with an impressive seven-under-par for the overall tournament. Despite not matching her day one performance, McClymont should be pleased returning to Stirling with another series title and now holding the Women’s course record at Montrose!

An exciting playoff was required to split George Cannon (Stirling), Will Coxon (Stirling), and Ben Willis (Edge College) who all finished with two-under-par at the close of the second day. After the first trip to hole 2 Coxon lost out by shooting a bogey, which narrowed the contenders to Willis and Cannon.

After another two outings, Cannon managed to best Willis and celebrated the title won for the University of Stirling golf team.

Cannon’s confidence will be sky high with a title under his belt and now starting the season top of the BUCS Men’s Order of Merit. He looks to continue his good form at the next event in the Scottish Student Golf series, the Autumn Trophy.

Full results can be found here and the full album of photographs can be found here.

Thank you to Montrose for hosting the event, to R&A & BUCS for their support and to the officials who helped make the event happen.

Lastly, well done and thank you to all competitors for kicking off the 2022-23 competition season in style! Please take a moment to complete this Event Feedback Survey to tell us how you found it.

 

Written by Dillon Hutchison

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Monday 6th June 2022

The final SSS Medal Table of the 2021/22 season is here!

The SSS Medal Table is a method for institutions to see how successful their student-athletes have been over the course of the SSS season.

The table includes all events in which medals have been awarded during the 2021/22 season.

All semester 1 and 2 events which took place have been added.

The table defaults to alphabetical but can be sorted by any of the column headings.

 

SSS Medal Table 2021/22

InstitutionGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Abertay University43
411
Ayrshire College112
Borders College11
City of Glasgow College4217
Edinburgh College224
Edinburgh Napier University4217
Fife College1427
Glasgow Caledonian University96318
Heriot Watt University10111334
Queen Margaret University123
Robert Gordon University510722
Scotland's Rural College112
UHI51410
University of Aberdeen23361978
University of Dundee34212075
University of Edinburgh876652205
University of Glasgow466245153
University of St Andrews714138150
University of Stirling433731111
University of Strathclyde32333398
University of the West of Scotland116623
Z-Guest Entries12111538

 

Total Events: 73 (88% of planned activity)

Last Updated: June 2022

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Thursday 28th April 2022

It’s Awards Season again!! We are now accepting nominations for the 2021/22 SSS Awards! Read on for more information on the different award categories, the nomination process and where the winners will be crowned.

We are delighted to announce that the SSS 2021/22 Awards are officially open!

With a return to activity, this year the Executive Committee have decided that we should revert back to our usual set of awards. We are really looking forward to receiving all the fantastic nominations.

The Awards 

We are accepting individual nominations in the following five categories:

  • Female Athlete of the Year- Aimed at high performance female student athletes, whether or not they compete for their college or university. This will be awarded to a female individual for outstanding sporting achievement at the highest level during the 2021-22 season (April 2021 – April 2022) while making a tangible contribution to the institution.
  • Male Athlete of the Year- Aimed at high performance male student athletes, whether or not they compete for their college or university. This will be awarded to a male individual for outstanding sporting achievement at the highest level during the 2021-22 season (April 2021- April 2022) while making a tangible contribution to the institution.
  • Volunteer of the Year- Aimed at students and non-students who volunteer at a local level. This is not aimed at volunteers primarily in a SSS role (please see Dr Rob Macpherson Award); coaches (see Coach of the Year); paid staff going the extra mile (see Honorary President’s Medal). This will be awarded to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to student sport at a local level during the 2021-22 year. The contribution may be in many forms such as exceptional active or administrative services to a club, college, or university; as a faithful club servant, committee member, leader; official; or purely down to their love of sport. Volunteers purely in a coaching capacity should be nominated for the Coach of the Year award.
  • Coach of the Year- Aimed at those who coach student sport/ student athletes at any level of performance. They may be either volunteer coaches or paid coaches. Not aimed at professional coaches based in Higher Education for whom student athletes are not the main focus. This award will be given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to student sport by coaching during the 2021-22 season. Good quality coaching; innovative ideas; dedication to the sport; and a drive to continually improve their own skills are features of an outstanding coach.
  • Honorary Presidents Medal- Aimed at any individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to/lasting impact on student sport at a local, regional or national level. Nominees should be regarded as wonderful examples/ advocates of student sport and their behaviour should resonate with the above SSS values.

We are accepting group nominations in the following two categories:

  • Club of the Year- Aimed at the all-round best performing Club, on and off the field of play. Not aimed at clubs that have had a successful competition year only. This will be awarded to a club that can demonstrate impact in the 2021-22 season. Increasing memberships, upping participation, innovative projects, developing volunteers, promoting the role of officials; fundraising, community links and involvement in institution activity are just certain elements that would demonstrate excellence.
  • Team of the Year- Aimed at the most successful, high performing student teams in the country, whether within SSS/BUCS competition or further afield. Not aimed at a team that performs to the fullest of its potential in the lower levels of competition e.g. a third team that has a 100% season is still unlikely to win this award. This will be awarded to a team for outstanding sporting achievement at the highest level during the 2021-22 season (April 2021-April 2022). This can include international performances.
  • The final award is the Dr Rob Macpherson Award. This award differs slightly from the rest of our awards – there are no nominations, instead, the winner is selected by the SSS staff team as opposed to the Executive Committee. The award is aimed at any individual who has made an outstanding contribution to volunteering with Scottish Student Sport.

Check out our 2020/21 award winners here! 🏆

The Details

  • Nominations for each category should be a maximum of 500 words.
  • Institutions can nominate in as many categories as they wish, but may only put forward one entry per category.
  • Past winners can receive the same award again.
  • Only member institutions can nominate. All member institutions have been sent login details to the online portal where nominations should be submitted.
  • Nominations close on THURSDAY 12th MAY at 18:00 and the Executive Council will then decide on the winners.
  • Winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on Wednesday 8th June, as part of the SSS Conference.
  • Please contact Totty with any queries.
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Tuesday 5th April 2022

Student Golf is back at the 98th Scottish Student Golf Championship! With both Strokeplay and Matchplay events and more than one hundred students partaking, it’s certainly one to read about.

UHI Men's golf team

Student Golf is back at the 98th Scottish Student Golf Championship! With both Strokeplay and Matchplay events and more than one hundred students taking part, it’s certainly one to read about.

One hundred and seventeen golfers of both genders partook in the stroke play event, representing institutions from across Scotland and showcasing what student golf is all about. After a strong series of performances and a superb total of 280, Ben Fuller from the University of St Andrews proved victorious in the Men’s Individual, closely followed by fellow St Andrews student Connor Rochon. The University of Stirling’s Nicola Slater won the Female Individual, putting on a storming performance and coming in five under par!  It was yet another dominant performance from the University of St Andrews, winning both Male and Female Strokeplay Team events with teams consisting of; Elise Bishop, Josie Baker and Lucy Jamieson, and Roddy McAuley, Connor Rochon, Otto Voettiner and Ben Fuller. A great atmosphere was felt by all, as students from each institution crowded around the eighteenth green to cheer on their fellow competitors throughout the day.

The Matchplay event was every bit as successful as the Strokeplay, with eight teams of eight taking to the course to battle it out for victory in a series of close-fought rounds. University of Stirling 1s, 2s and 3s, University of Edinburgh 1s and 2s, UHI 1s, University of Glasgow 1s and University of Strathclyde 1s all put on a phenomenal display of determination, teamwork and golfing skill. After a testing semi-final between the University of Stirling 2s and UHI 1s, UHI secured their place in the final against the strong Stirling 1s, who had taken victory against the Edinburgh 1s.

After a close title run, consisting of morning foursomes and afternoon singles, UHI denied the University of Stirling ten wins in a row, taking their inaugural victory 7-5 in the 98th Student Golf Championship! An incredible, well-fought victory was celebrated with vigor as the UHI boys received the trophy. The winning UHI team consisted of; Declan Gray, John Oster, Ewan Cuthbert, Lewis Johnson, Giovanni Sianni, Chris Turner, Taylor Kerr, Alan Murphy and Finlay Wallace.

We’d like to extend a huge thanks to Moray Golf Club for hosting and Eliz Munro and Alan Cowie who refereed. Without your invaluable support events like this could not take place.

A full album of photographs can be found here.

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Tuesday 22nd March 2022

Monday 14th March marked the start of the 16th West of Scotland Golf Trophy, held at the excellent Western Gailes Golf Club.

image of golfer mid-swing

Monday 14th March marked the start of the 16th West of Scotland Golf Trophy, held at Western Gailes Golf Club.

Day one of the event was dominated by stormy weather, with the participants battling against strong winds and driving rain. As a result, no one came close to par during the first round but the students were not dismayed, heading home with big smiles and soggy shoes to prepare for the next day.

Day two saw a mild improvement in the weather, however, the wind persisted throughout the whole day. The golfers were especially challenged on holes five to nine, as the wind was blowing in their faces. Jamie Van Wyk, representing the University of Central Lancashire, brought his A-game and was the first competitor to meet level par thanks to a strong performance on the second day.

 

 

 

On the final day the wind changed completely, adding a testing new dimension to the course and forcing players to relearn the first five and last four holes. The student golfers relished the new challenge brought about by the change in weather and the nail-biting competition got even narrower as the field was cut down to 36 men and 12 women for the final round.

image of saint andrews womens team

In the end it was an ace performance from the University of St. Andrews, with both of their teams heading home victorious in the Men’s and Women’s Team categories. In the Women’s individual category the winner was Penelope Brown, followed closely by Josie Baker, and Lucy Jamieson. The Men’s individual category finished with Jamie Van Wyk in the lead, followed by Ross Nelson from the University of Stirling and Roddy McAuley of the University of St. Andrews taking silver and bronze respectively.

We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Western Gailes Golf Club for hosting the event, to the volunteer starters and officials, and to the R&A for supporting a fantastic weekend of golf for all participants!

Photographs from the event can be viewed here.

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Wednesday 26th May 2021

We are now accepting nominations for the 2020/21 SSS Awards! This year we have revamped our awards line-up with six brand new awards up for grabs! Find out more here.

We are delighted to announce that the SSS 2020/21 Awards are officially open!

This year we are doing things a little bit differently. As opposed to our usual individual and club awards, this year our awards will be based on the SSS values! Given the unusual and challenging year that everyone has faced, we wanted to recognise the incredible work and many success stories across our sector and celebrate the amazing people involved in student sport in Scotland.

The awards will therefore be based on the SSS values and we are looking for nominations for the following categories: Ambitious, Collaborative, Inclusive, Innovative, Responsive, Sustainable, Honorary President’s Medal. An additional eight award, the Dr Rob Macpherson SSS Volunteer of the year award, will be selected by the SSS staff.

The Awards 

We are accepting nominations in the following categories:

  • Ambitious – Who is this aimed at? Unsung heroes – juggling multiple projects/things at once.
  • Collaborative – Who is this aimed at? Best online learning resource/best practice sharing, coaching and officiating,  Zoom webinars.
  • Inclusive – Who is it aimed at? An inclusion champion – someone who has made their sport more accessible and available to all.
  • Innovative – Who is it aimed at? Those who have been exceptionally innovative and creative – i.e using Zoom workouts, creating new podcasts, performance athlete finding new ways to train.
  • Responsive – Who is it aimed at? Examples of best practice in adapting to COVID, new ways of working and flexibility.
  • Sustainable – Who is it aimed at? Sustainability champions – people/groups that have incorporated sustainability into their clubs/work.

The above awards can be won by individuals or groups, so please feel free to submit nominations for both outstanding individuals and student sports clubs!

  • Honorary Presidents Medal – This award is for any individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to/lasting impact on student sport at a local, regional or national level. Nominees should be regarded as wonderful examples/ advocates of student sport and their behaviour should resonate with the above SSS values.
  • The final award is the Dr Rob Macpherson Award. This award differs slightly from the rest of our awards – there are no nominations, instead, the winner is selected by the SSS staff team as opposed to the Executive Committee. The award is aimed at any individual who has made an outstanding contribution to volunteering with Scottish Student Sport.

Check out our 2019/20 award winners here! 🏆

The Details

  • Nominations for each category should be a maximum of 500 words.
  • Institutions can nominate as many groups or individuals in any category as they like.
  • Only member institutions can nominate. All member institutions have been sent login details to the online portal where nominations should be submitted.
  • Nominations close on MONDAY 7th JUNE at 18:00 and winners will be announced in July as part of the SSS Month of Celebration.
  • Please contact Totty with any queries.
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Wednesday 16th December 2020

Inspiration, innovation and collaboration at every corner. These were some of the key themes that emerged from the SSS 2020 Festive Gathering. Over 70 members tuned into the virtual gathering and were treated to thought-provoking discussion, high-quality guest speakers and plenty of Festive Fun! Read all about it here!

In a change to tradition and a fitting tribute to 2020, the SSS Festive Gathering was delivered virtually this year with over 70  members across the tribe tuning in to hear from a panel of world-class athletes and leaders in sport.

Whilst the virtual gathering was a first of its kind, the longstanding tradition of participants wearing festive jumpers remained true – with some fantastic outfits on show throughout the afternoon. None more so than panelist Robyn Love (pictured below) in what is undoubtedly a candidate for the most festive photo of the year.

After an energising welcome from SSS Chair Pete Burgon, a brief review of the year gone by and finances approved – our attendees were met by two equally inspiring and thought-provoking discussions from our special guests.

First up, the Road to Tokyo panel, where SSS Head of Competitions Chris Purdie, was joined by three athletes whose experiences through student sport had helped shape their career path and their journey to next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Neah Evans (Cycling), Megan Gaffney (Rugby) and Robyn Love (Wheelchair Basketball) discussed how their positive student sport experiences helped them reach where they are today. From balancing the workload of their studies with the pressure of performing in their sport and also trying to keep up a social life in the process, the panelists spoke honestly and fondly of their student days.

All three touched upon the huge sacrifices required to make it at the top level and acknowledged the vital support they received from their institutions and staff during their time at University. This support has been vital to them and many other young athletes looking to achieve their potential while also studying and preparing for their future.

The panel discussed the importance of resilience and “bounce-back ability” that the challenges of Coronavirus and lockdown caused before previewing what promises to be a jam-packed and exciting year of sport in 2021.

All three have very real and promising hopes of competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games and everyone at SSS wishes Megan, Robyn and Neah every success for 2021 and beyond.

Following this inspirational panel, the next section was packed full of ambition, innovation and collaboration at every corner: An Audience with Jan Paterson.

Jan is currently Managing Director Sport for Neom, delivering a bold new vision of future living. Neom is being designed as a global city for global citizens and Jan’s role is to engrain sport and physical activity in the lives of residents. In the future city, citizens will never be more than 8 minutes from a sports facility and physical activity will be an integral part of the curriculum.

Jan herself is a pioneer and her experiences in leadership roles were a great learning opportunity for our audience. She spoke of the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people, and the significance of bottom-up team building. We also heard some great stories of her times at the World University Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.

To round off the day and in true 2020 style, the SSS Tribe were treated to a Zoom Quiz of the Year courtesy of Pete Burgon. This gave everyone a chance to show off their best Christmas jumpers, share some “funny” Christmas jokes and engage in some much needed festive cheer.

We would like to wish everyone a restful festive break and we look forward to seeing you all in 2021.

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Wednesday 30th September 2020

After 193 long days, we are delighted to say – Student Sport is BACK! The Golf Autumn Trophy took place at Alyth Golf Club – read our full report here!

After 193 long days, we are delighted to say – Student Sport is BACK! Naturally, we restarted where we left off all those days ago – golf.

On Tuesday 29th of September, student sport returned, with Alyth Golf Club playing host to the 15th Autumn Trophy. Across the day 82 golfers from 16 different institutions, teed-off in the shortened, one-day event.

Registration and sign-in had a slightly different feel to normal, with temperature checks, hand sanitising stations and COVID-19 questionnaires and disclaimers in place to ensure the safety of all students participating. After waiting over six months to return to student sport, the golfers were delayed a further 30 minutes due to frost. But the sun soon emerged and the deadlock was finally broken with the University of Stirling’s Nicola Slater getting us up and running for the 2020-21 season.

13 women were battling out this year for the title and it was Nicola Slater who led the way. Having teed off first, Slater set the standard with a score of 68 to beat. Two participants matched Slaters score with both Megan Ashley (University of St Andrews) and Hazel MacGarvie (University of Stirling) equalling the score after 18 holes. With a playoff not appropriate due to the new COVID guidelines, the winner would be decided through scoring of the last nine holes. With all three players scoring 33 on the last nine, it went down to the last six as per BUCS regulations with Hazel MacGarvie (pictured below) taking the title.

In the afternoon, the men’s tournament teed off in the September sunshine. The great conditions were equally matched by the standard of golf on show. The “thinkers course” as the members of Alyth Golf Club like to call it, brought out some flamboyant shots from competitors throughout.  Naturally, with the shortened – winner-takes-all – one-day competition format, the competitors were forced to go for it from the start and play attacking golf.

The Men’s competition also provided a dramatic finish with the University of Stirling’s Andrew Borg (pictured below) winning his first-ever BUCS/SSS Tour series event. A score of 68 was the winning score in both the Men’s and Women’s events. Borg came to life in the back nine, going birdie-eagle-birdie on holes 10,11 and 12 putting him in with a real shot at glory in the final few holes. On the 18th he held his nerve and holed a pressure par put, to finish on 68 overall and two under par. Borg was closely followed by Conor Rochon (University of St Andrews), Greg Hurley (University of Stirling), and Harry Bathurst (University of Edinburgh) who all finished on 69 – just one stroke behind Borg.

While MacGarvie and Borg are formally recognised as the winners of the tournament, it was a great day for all staff, volunteers, and students. Special thanks to Alyth Golf, Club, The R&A and BUCS for their on-going support of the programme. We look forward to seeing familiar faces at the new Golf Events at Western Gailes on the 16th of October.

Speaking after the event, Scottish Student Sport Head of Competitions, Chris Purdie, was delighted to get competitive student sport back up and running. He said:

“It was fantastic to get so many students back participating in sport which is what SSS are all about. From our perspective, first and foremost it was about making sure the students were safe and getting students back playing sport.

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank Alyth Golf Club for their hospitality, BUCS and the R&A. Without all their support this event wouldn’t have been possible. It was really good to see the smiles back on everyone’s face.”

📝Full results and scorecards are available to view here!

📸Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook channels where we will be releasing the full photo album and tournament video soon!

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Wednesday 9th September 2020

Check out the highlights from our first-ever virtual Chair Development Day and meet your new and returning SSS Sports Chairs!

Last Sunday (6th September 2020) Scottish Student Sport hosted the first-ever virtual Chair Development Day! A total of 35 volunteers across 28 of our sports engaged in a zoom-based training day designed to equip them with all the necessary tools to tackle the upcoming 2020/21 season.

Throughout the day, the eager volunteers were treated to a series of different workshops delivered by the SSS staff touching upon a little bit of everything and anything. Including; introductions to the staff team, planning the return to play for student sport, how to encourage growth and participation levels within their sport, student mental health, all things social media and communications,  and engaging discussion surrounding where student sport fits in the wider student landscape.

In another first, the workshop was opened up to include not only sports chairs themselves but also other members of each sports development committees. This enabled vice-chairs and other officers to learn, engage and contribute to the conversation around planning for the next 12 months and beyond!

Despite not being able to meet in person, in true SSS fashion, everyone on the call grasped the opportunity to get to know each other, collaborate with one another and share best practice. We can’t wait to see some of your fantastic ideas in action. We hope all our volunteers found the day beneficial and are feel better prepared to grasp their unique opportunity and tackle season 2020/21!

Meet your sports chairs and find out what they made of the day!  🎥👇

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