SHORT GAME LET SENIOR SCOTS DOWN, SAYS CAROL

FROM CAROL FELL
With regards your question (scroll down to report on last day of Senior Women's Home Internationals at Elie) about Scottish Golf --- POOR PERFORMANCE

Having watched all week the Seniors Golf at Elie, basically the Irish Golf was superior to all the other teams. 
The Irish have rolled out over the last few years an order of merit award for the seniors which they use to select their senior team. 
They run a lot of competitions for senior golfers while in Scotland we only have one event --  the Scottish Seniors Championship
While tee to green the players were similar, our short game was woefully lacking and we seemed unable to get the ball into the hole, especially in the few last holes.
In Glasgow we now have an new indoor facility - the Glasgow Indoor Academy, with Karyn Burns as its resident pro. 
I would love to see more use of these types of facilities for short game practice over the winter. We can all hit drives at the driving range but it all boils down to the short game.

CAROL FELL 

Editor's Note: While writing Phil Wylie's obituary late last night, I came across a quote from her which still holds good today, whatever your age as a golfer:

“Practise, practise and then practise even more, so that when it comes to the crunch, it is almost natural to play good shots.”

Scotland players lack self-confidence
 
FROM AILEEN HUNTER
I think at every level Scotland has the talent to put together winning teams. Whilst I agree with Carol that short game is often the deciding factor I don't think you could say we are technically inferior in the short game department - it's more a lack of confidence and belief. 
Never has that been more evident in the Ryder Cup last week. Missing everything for two days and holing everything the last.  
I do think our (Scottish) players lack belief, but that may come down, in my opinion, to the level and quality of support they receive as team players.
I think we need to look at every part of that support system. From club, to county, to national squads, to training, to selection, to team building and management.

Other questions also spring to mind such as:
Are we really nurturing the talent with the most potential? 
Do we play it too safe with selection? Do we create the ideal environment to allow teams to flourish? 
Do we truly build and develop teams or just throw a bunch of individuals together, who may not know each other very well, and hope for the best? 
Is our team management set-up as good as it could be? The LGU took a pasting for having a Curtis Cup squad get-together last spring, but I bet most players and management would say their performance in June was the stronger for it.
We do have the talent, we do have committed volunteers at every level from SLGA down, we have great coaches and we have the desire to succeed - we just have to find a way to make it all click into place.
 

AILEEN HUNTER