You may have read reports about the unusually lengthy cold spell we have had in Scotland since before Christmas. While we do get some snow each year, it is generally fairly insignificant aside of parts of the Highlands. The lowest temperature so far has been recorded at -23, the record is -27 in Braemar. The ski resorts in Scotland – Glen Coe, Annoch Moor, Cairngorms and Glenshee have had an outstanding season, lots of fresh snow and lovely sunny days to ski. The last time we had this volume of snow and such low temperatures was in 1947, and my mother, whose family farm was between two golf courses, remembers great sledging, with the occasional sudden dive into a bunker filled with snow!
My biggest excitement was the prospect of the Grand Match being played; a Curling Bonspiel to be held at the Lake of Menteith (the only lake in Scotland, the rest being Lochs) which is west of Stirling, in the Central Belt. This outdoor match was last played in 1979 in which my father played, so I very definitely wanted the chance to play. Having been a member of our local club since the early 1980’s, I managed to pull rank and get a place in the team; I found some hip flasks, my fathers Tam O’ Shanter (tartan beret), procured a ‘crampit’, (basically a piece of metal with prongs into the ice to give you a solid surface to throw your stone from) and had my curling stones polished. Everything was in place and the ice was the requisite 8 inches deep – then bureaucracy kicked in, the emergency services got nervous at 2500 curlers on the ice and pulled the plug on it. So disappointing…I would have taken my chances just to take part in this historic event, but sadly it seems it may never be allowed to happen. Are there still a lot of outdoor bonspiels held in USA? Maybe we need some tips on how to appease the authorities.
By Anne Filshie. Anne is the Group Director of Operations at PerryGolf.
