A Great Day... for a Great Man.

Two years and a day since our dear friend Kieth Howie passed away, 60 players in 15 teams took to the course to play in the second annual Texas Scramble in his memory.

As for last year's competition the weather was akin to a balmy winters day on the west coast of Scotland... the big man was still having his say!

As the teams gallantly fought the chilly and rather 'blustery' conditions, they were able to give themselves a bit of a 'pick me up' on the 5th tee with a wee dram of whisky. This was Keith's favourite watering hole, often celebrated with the customary whisky or a glass of his somewhat secret and rather unusual potion... 'tutti frutti'.

Always a couple of big smiles at the halfway house!

As the warming effects of the 5th started to wain, the players were greeted by the beaming smiles of Jan Forbes and Louise Haigh at the halfway house. Once again, the ladies went 'above and beyond' to offer the players a fantastic selection of sandwiches, cakes, sweets and refreshments... thank you both!

After battling the course for over four hours the teams retired to the Club House for the competition presentation.

We were delighted that Keith's son Kieran and his close friend Stevie Durnin had been able to fly over from the UK to play in the competition. No doubt looking for a wee bit of winter sun... the lads were going to be sadly disappointed with the weather - but would the day finish on a slightly brighter note for the two 'soft lads' from Scotland?

It was a cold start for the Men's Category winners!

In the Men's Category the winners were Andrew Haigh, Gareth Woolnough, Steve Forbes and Tam Henderson with a fine score of 9 under.

The runners-up... looking happy on the first tee!

Ian Burrows and Penny Burrows, Tore Krog and Michel Klaris posted an impressive score of 11 under to take the runners-up spot in the Mixed and Ladies Category...

Winners - Ian Shrimpton, Kieran Howie, Dee Amend and Stevie Durnin.

But, rather in fitting with the occasion, the winners of the Texas Scramble in Memory of Keith Howie, with a fantastic score of 12 under, were Ian Shrimpton, Dee Amend and the two Scottish boys Stevie Durnin and Kieran Howie!!!

They received the winners quaich, a dozen golf balls marked with the distinctive Keith Howie red, green and blue dots and a bottle of single malt Jura Scotch Whisky. In the true spirit of the day the Whisky didn't leave the bar... and was shared in Keith's memory.

Two 'happy boys' enjoying a wee dram from the winners quaich.

This truly was a 'great' day for a 'great' man.

Thank you to everyone who took part... Keith he would have loved it.

Kieran... 'thank you' for being our guest of honour. Assuming that this year you have managed to make it back to the UK (!!??)... we would love to see you, Stevie and maybe Cameron back here next year - we can guarantee that the weather will be warmer. Honestly!

Finally, a big 'thank you' to Simon Parks for his photography - once again his photographs are a great reminder of a great day. There are some super shots... to view and download the photographs please CLICK HERE