TRIBUTE TO LONG SERVICE FOR RENFREWSHIRE BY DONNA JACKSON
Donna Jackson and Renfrewshire LCGA captain Maureen Woodhead
FROM CAROL FELL
Tribute given by RLCGA Captain at the West of Scotland County dinner at Bothwell Castle this week to Donna Jackson
At the end of he dinner Donna, Eileen and Carol were presented with beautiful table presentations kindly given by Lanarkshire captain Fiona Scott. The floral presentations were beautifully made by Lanarkshire's Joanna Harvey
Photos attached -- Donna with Card , Donna with presentation from Maureen Woodhead.
Link to Video of the presentation --- http://youtu.be/BvXEPlkdRaY
The County Jamboree dinner was held on Monday evening at Bothwell Castle GC at which all the (West Division) county teams attended.
At the end of the dinner county captain Maureen gave a short speech in honour of Donna's service.
Here is what she said ---
"Ladies
It is unusual for another captain to speak at our Dinner but I have special permission for this special occasion.
I invite you all to join with Renfrewshire in celebration of the contribution by one of our team members to County and Scottish Golf over the last three decades.
Donna Jackson has been a part of the Renfrewshire County team for 30 years, this year.
To
put that in perspective for some of our younger golfing friends here
tonight - and apologies to Donna for this – Donna was playing for her county when your parents were in Primary School!!
I think that it is an achievement which should be recognised and I am sure you will agree.
I would like to thank our Guest Carol Fell for
the basis of my synopsis of Donna’s golfing career. This is adapted
from the wonderful book Carol published for our Centenary in 2009.
Donna
started playing golf when she was eight years old - at the time her Mum and
Dad moved to Bellshill Golf Club to work as the Club Steward and
Stewardess.
After six years at Bellshill, they moved to Cochrane Castle to work and this is where Donna’s golf has been based ever since – winning their Ladies Championship 21 times. At the age of 17, she was invited to join Renfrewshire Ladies' County.
In 1984 she played in the team for the first time. On
her way to her first match at Gourock (my own home club), she was
involved in a car accident and so she missed the morning foursomes. She arrived in time to play her singles match in the afternoon and won against Isobel Harvey of D and A – who remains a good friend to Donna to this day.
That
same year Donna won the West of Scotland Girls' Championship; was
beaten in the final of the Scottish Girls' under 18s and was in the
winning team in the Girls' Home Internationals in Wales.
In 1990 she played in Scotland’s winning team in the Ladies’ Home Internationals at Hunstanton. Her
tenacity on the golf course is illustrated when Donna was four down
with four to play and managed to win the last four holes for a
magnificent half – which surely must have felt like her own personal
victory.
Closer to home, Donna played in the Scottish Inter-County Finals at St. Andrews when Renfrewshire won in 1987 (under the captaincy of our President Eileen Gibb who is here this evening) and again in 2010 when we won here at Bothwell Castle. On that occasion I was honoured to be Vice Captain under the Captaincy of Trish Brown.
In 2005 Donna won the Renfrewshire County Championship for a record-breaking tenth time and this year (2013) by again winning, she increased that record to eleven.
A pretty remarkable achievement all round, I think you will agree. A golfer who goes about her business without any fuss and as I have said before, she lets her clubs do the talking.
Apart
from being pretty handy with a golf club, Donna’s greatest quality is
that she is friendly, approachable and an all-round decent person.
In conclusion can I ask you all to charge your glasses and join with me in a toast to Donna Jackson, Golfer and friend. Donna
Can I ask Donna to come up now and receive this small token of our appreciation.
At the end of he dinner Donna, Eileen and Carol were presented with beautiful table presentations kindly given by Lanarkshire captain Fiona Scott. The floral presentations were beautifully made by Lanarkshire's Joanna Harvey
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