The Challenge 2015

It was the 12th year of the Challenge today - and what a glorious day it was. We've been very lucky with the weather for this event over the years, but today was exceptional, with wall to wall sunshine.

The usual gathering of the clans in the clubhouse for team colours and some pre-match banter was a little more stressful for the organiser this year. Eileen Cook had to pull out a couple of days beforehand, but she found an able deputy in Pat Nile. The text and e-mail traffic was busy on the morning - Ian McRae sent a message to say he was on his way, but was walking - from Culter!

Chris Dickinson also sent a message to say he was running late but would be there in time for the golf. We had planned to have the latter 3 groups tee off at the Doo'cot to try to save a bit of time, but this message apparently didn't reach some of the Ladies - Alison Sharp planned to be there at 9:30 am - half an hour after the start.

In the end, Ian McRae made it in time for the golf, courtesy of a lift in a Range Rover, but Chris Dickinson didn't - he thought it was a 9:56 start, instead of 8:56! As a result, Ken Page jumped up one group, leaving Rob Pollard on his own to face Dan Corbett and Ian McRae.

There was a late change of plan with the 5th group teeing off at the 17th instead of the Doo'cot. The 2 Ladies groups - including Alison - followed on - eventually, but the time they took to get back to the first tee was so long that they were well past the last of our pre-booked times, causing some consternation with the "civilians" waiting there. Rob did his diplomatic best to smooth things over, but complaints were lodged and I was approached by the Club Captain afterwards about it.

All of that apart, it was a wonderful day and here's the photographic evidence:

1st team - Syd Freeman, Ian Dring, Ian Sharp & Malcolm Grigor

2nd team - Archie Cook, Dick Taylor, Ian Stewart & Harry Salter

A gathering of Ladies - Linda Bhagrath, Julie Dring, Lynda Moir, Joan McWhinnie & Theresa Taylot

3rd team waiting for Chris Dickinson - Gordon Moir, John McWhinnie & Les Gray

3rd team re-adjusted: Les Gray, Ken Page, John McWhinnie & Gordon Moir

6th team (1st Ladies): Linda Bhagrath, Angela Gray, Alison Sharp & Pat Nile

5th team: Jas Bhagrath, Jack Simpson, Keith Gray & Hugh Riches

It was 2 days after Dick Taylor's 70th birthday and he kindly offered to sponsor the day out. There was cake of course:

Harry and Jas won the Nearest the Pin prizes and Ian D and Alison won the Longest Drives, but the main event was the Challenge and R.o.W., with a handful of Scots beefing up their team, went in to an early lead, winning the first 3 matches to establish an 8-hole lead. Scotland's 2-man team in the 4th match ran up a 6 hole win over solo Rob, but controversially - and crucially as it turned out - they didn't play the last 3 holes.

R.o.W. bounced back to win the 5th match by 4 holes, but Scotland took the 2 Ladies matches, each by 3 holes, to bring the overall position to 12 - 12.

There hadn't been a draw in the Challenge since the first year back in 2004, but, on that occasion, there were only 4 matches played, ending 2-2, so it wasn't possible to separate the teams. This time, there were 7 matches played, so a countback was possible and R.o.W. won this by 4 matches to 3. Rob was presented with the gauntlet - R.o.W.'s 3rd win in 12 years:

Most of the winning team posed with the trophy afterwards:

The defeated Scotland team did likewise:

Great day out - and many thanks and happy birthday again to Dick.