The EuroDov Tour took a break from the Order of Merit as we entered August with the playing of the second Anstruther Medal.

First held in 2021, at Anstruther Golf Course and won by Greig Baxter – playing solo due to Covid-19 protocols – the Medal plays a rotation of courses and in year two the Tour arrived at Milnathort, just a short distance from the spiritual home of the Tour, Kinross.

2022 saw 16 players fill the roster and all 8 teams raring to go. As was the case in 2021, round 1 was a qualifier, with the winners progressing to the Medal draw and the losers into the Plate.

The first match on the course was Graeme Connor and Sam Goldie who were ranked favourites for the event, against Stuart Anderson – making his Tour debut – and Kieran Lynch. The latter pairing took the advantage out the gates by winning the first but back-to-back wins for Connor/Goldie saw them go 1Up after four.

Anderson/Lynch squared the match thru 5 and the teams halved their way to the ninth where a par was good enough for Connor/Goldie to win the qualifier and head to the semi-finals.

In match two McColgan/Sutherland took on Love/McCran. A par on the 1st was enough for Love/McCran to take a 1-hole lead, but they were clawed back to All Square after 3. Back-to-back 2’s from Love/McCran gave them a 2-hole lead, that was subsequently halved on 7th but a 2 on the par 3 8th was enough for Love McCran to advance to the semi-finals of the Medal.

Kinnear/Robertson faced off against defending champion Greig Baxter and his partner Kevin Brannan.

The former won the first with a par, only for the match to be tied thru 3. The teams were neck and neck through to the 8th where Kinnear/Robertson carded a bridie to put them 1Up and 1 to play. However, a fantastic birdie by Baxter/Brannan tied the match on the 9th giving them the win via countback.

The final qualifying match saw Barry Cunningham, make it a family affair partnering his dad, Harry play Stuart Harwood – making his Tour debut – and Stevie Orr. It was a rather placid match in comparison to some of the earlier ones with Harwood/Orr winning 1, 3 and 7 to win 3&2 with all other holes halved.

After the qualifying round it seemed like Love/McCran were team to beat. They averaged over three-quarters of a shot better than Harwood/Orr & Baxter/Brannan and nearly 1.5 shots better than Connor/Goldie.

McColgan/Sutherland would have every right to feel hard done by averaging 3.5 shots per hole and would have beaten every other team comfortably – but they came up against a side in Love/McCran, that were firing on all cylinders in the morning.

The results of the qualifiers set up Medal semi-finals that saw Connor/Goldie v Love/McCran and Baxter/Brannan v Harwood/Orr.

The first semi-final did not go the way of the stats. Love/McCran were 2-over thru 3 holes and 3 down. A fight back ensued as they won holes 4 and 5 but Connor/Goldie struck back winning 6 to establish a 2-hole lead and a 2&1 victory that was confirmed on the 8th green.

The second semi-final was again a little quieter than its counterpart. Baxter/Brannan took the 2nd hole with a birdie to go out in the lead, but back-to-back 3’s for Harwood/Orr on 4 and 5 flipped that. A par on the challenging par 4 7th and a half on the par 3 8th was enough to send Harwood/Orr off to the final.

In the semi-finals for the Plate McColgan/Sutherland played Anderson/Lynch and back-to-back pars on the first two holes opened a 2-hole lead. The third was halved in birdies and Anderson/Lynch clawed a hole back on the par 3 4th. Sutherland sent a delightful hybrid to 8 feet on 5 to win the hole with a birdie, and a par-combo on 6 & 7 was enough to seal the win 4&2.

Cunningham/Cunningham reeling from their qualifying result went out against Kinnear/Robertson. The latter grabbed a hole on the first but were pegged back instantly as the father and son duo went 1 Up thru 3. However, Kinnear/Robertson hit back with a birdie-birdie-birdie streak to go 2 Up. However, the Cunningham’s weren’t broken winning the next hole to sit 1 behind. The valiant fight back wasn’t too be however as Kinnear/Robertson hung on halving 8th and 9th to win the match 1UP.

Love/McCran couldn’t replicate their performance from the morning round averaging a whole shot worse than their qualifying round. Connor/Goldie on the other hand found 0.5 of shot on their morning score to overcome the rampant Love/McCran.

McColgan/Sutherland were the only team to average better than 4 shots a hole in the semi-finals as they scored 3.71.

The finals were finally poised Kinnear/Robertson v McColgan/Sutherland and Connor/Goldie v Harwood/Orr.

The Plate final was out in front and McColgan got the match underway. It featured the best (McColgan/Sutherland) and 3rd best (Kinnear/Robertson) scoring teams in the competition and was set to be an explosive battle.

Kinnear/Robertson drew first blood winning the 1st hole with a par. After driving to 7 feet on the 2nd hole, McColgan would face the double heartbreak of lipping out for an eagle and then watching Kinnear sink a 6-footer for the half.

The third would also be halved in birdies. McColgan faced the agony again of watching Kinnear sink a putt only for his effort to lip out, this time to lose the hole. Kinnear/Robertson 2Up thru 4.

Much like the semi-final Sutherland sent a hybrid to the 5th green to find it inside 6 feet this time. He’d sink it and claw a hole back. McColgan – opting for a 2 iron off 6 for the first time that day – got down for a birdie and the hole to square the match.

Kinnear would win 7 to put Kinnear/Robertson back to 1Up with 2 to play. After some bunker trouble on 8, Kinnear left it to Robertson to get the half on 8 and send the match up the final hole.

Sutherland – after a wayward drive was down for a birdie. Kinnear and Robertson knew that anyone of their putts was to win the Plate. Robertson’s sent his putt at the hole first, only for it to hang on the lip an inch from victory.

Kinnear, from about 7 feet had a putt to win the match – and just like 2 and 4 he sunk it, and McColgan/Sutherland’s hopes of a comeback.

The match produced the two lowest 9-hole scores of the day with Kinnear/Sutherland carding 32 and McColgan/Sutherland 31.

The final match actually produced the 2nd and 3rd worst scoring averages of the whole day – with nerves clearly getting the better of the players.

Harwood/Orr struck out first carding a par and going 1Up. A good sign given the team that won the 1st hole on the day had an 89% chance of winning.

However back-to-back pars by Connor/Goldie were enough to flip the lead. The teams went blow for blow, halving holes 4 thru 6 with Harwood/Orr halving the match with a par on 7. A half on 8 set-up a dramatic final hole finish.

Harwood/Orr only needed a half to win on countback and Connor/Goldie requiring the hole to win the Medal. As the crowd gathered at 9, Harwood’s drive found the middle of the fairway 30 yards short of the green, Orr sent his driveway left on to the 3rd tee. Goldie found the trees left and Connor the middle of the fairway down the hill and out of vie of the galleries.

First to play, Connor sent a wedge touring into the sky that came to rest back right of the green, 20 or so feet from the pin. From the trees Goldie managed to match his partner and finish within a few feet of him.

In prime position Harwood, chunked his wedge and failed to clear the bank in front of the green, with his second chip poorly executed leaving around 20 feet to the pin. Orr, with trees to negotiate carried his ball to the front edge of the green only for it to take a soft landing and stop.

Orr was first to putt and ran his ball some 9 feet by. Harwood, failed to reach the hole and lifted his ball for a 5. Next was Goldie, who with a delightful chip left his ball inside 4 feet. Connor rolled his ball down to the hole side and the 4’s were conceded.

All that lay between Harwood/Orr was a 9-foot putt and their name would be forever etched in Tour history. Orr steadied himself over the putt, and as shouts of “Get in the Hole” rung out from the gallery, he watched it agonizingly slide by the hole and with it his chances of winning the 2022 Anstruther Medal.

Connor/Goldie – with the weight of expectation – managed to fulfil the bookies predictions and lift the Anstruther Medal. It wasn’t pretty at times – they recorded the 3rd worst scoring average in the tournament – but it was effective, and they will look proudly on their achievement.

Check out the rest of the round-up over at EuroDov Tour.com including the winner’s interview and players’ reactions.