Dumfries Sports Club

The November edition of the Squash Club e-newsletter has news about:

• Dumfries Squash Club AGM
• South of Scotland Masters 2011
• D&G Closed
• Jim Thorburn Handicap Trophy
• Court Maintenance
• Club Nights
• Scottish Squash & Racketball update
• Sports Club Tote
• Boxing Day Handicap & Quiz

The newsletter can be downloaded here.

The squash club Masters tournament is being held this weekend. There is a strong entry of 80 players and matches will be held from 9.30 until 6pm on Saturday and from 9.45am until approx. 5pm on Sunday. We have the World Masters O50 Runner-up and the European Masters O45 Runner-up competing as well as over 30 Scottish Masters internationalists. Catering is being provided by the Doonhamer Bistro and the bar will be open all-day from 11am, so come along and support your local players and watch some great squash!

The draws for the various age groups can be viewed on the Squash Club Website.

Over the weekend of Friday 18th to Sunday 20th of November Dumfries Squash Club is hosting the third South of Scotland Masters Open Squash Championships. This is a Scottish Squash Masters Circuit ranking tournament and provides age-group competitions from the over-35s right up to the over-70s for men and over-45s and over-55s for ladies. Participants in ranking tournaments gain points which decide team selection for the Scottish Teams participating in the Home Internationals held annually in May.

According to Tournament Director, Keith Gristwood, “this is a prestigious tournament to attract to Dumfries and we are proud to be hosting it once again. We are expecting a larger entry than last year with nearly 80 players, the majority of whom will be Scottish from as far away as Inverness and Aberdeen, but also from London, Bristol, Cumbria and the Durham areas due to our club’s connections in these areas”.

He added “Even in the current economic climate our numerous tournament sponsors, in particular our main sponsor, Pathfinder Park Homes Ltd, have continued to support this tournament and without their financial assistance we would be hard pushed to put on such a quality tournament. Masters’ squash tournaments are very social events and many players are accompanied by their partners and some with their children so the town will benefit from an influx of 120+ people during the weekend seeking accommodation, food and drinks, and entertainment.”

Dumfries Squash Club’s players historically have strongly-supported the Scottish Squash Masters circuit tournaments around the country and last year six Dumfries players (Jimmy Wells, Russell Hunter, Davy Rogan, Abbie Robertson, Sue Strachan and Faith Sinclair) were selected for Scottish Masters teams. Lockerbie’s Ronnie Carter was also selected.

Spectators are welcome throughout the weekend at Dumfries Squash Club at Nunholm. In the event of a large entry, matches will be played on Friday commencing around 6pm until around 9pm. Saturday’s matches commence at 9.00am until around 6.30pm and Sunday’s (semi-finals and finals day) matches commence around 9.30am until around 5pm. Refreshments will be available from the club’s fully-licensed bar and food is being catered by The Doonhamer Bistro.

Entrance is free to all spectators. So come on down and see some of Scotland’s top Masters’ squash players and support our local participants.

Further information on the tournament, and on Dumfries Squash Club’s facilities and services, can be obtained from the club’s website www.dumfriessquashclub.co.uk. Dumfries Squash Club is Sports Club Accredited by D&G Council and in addition to holding junior squash nights on Saturdays, the Club is regularly used by three of Dumfries’ secondary schools for squash and racketball.