The sun was shining – the wind making enough of an appearance to matter – and the course in fine condition.

The Dodhead Invitational is always an exciting event, over the years it’s been tightly contested and with some very impressive scores – and 2024 was no disappointment. There were a whole host of leaders in the early stages until Stuart Allan rose above the pack and ran off to an unassailable lead that saw him finish the round just 2 shots off the tournament record.

We caught up with some of the players post round to get their thoughts on the proceedings today.

It was a nice day out there at Burntisland today, how did you find the course?

Kevin Brannan – fresh off his 2024 Carnegie Cup Captaincy – said, “I thought it was perhaps the best I've ever seen it in places.

The greens were perfect as you would expect for the club championship the previous day, and the rough was exceptionally penal. The thick stuff was the juiciest I've ever seen it. Any wayward shots into that were a lost ball. The fairways weren't particularly generous with roll out but probably a factor with the amount of wet weather we've had.”

Paul Gowens said, “I thought the course was in great condition after the club championships, challenging pins and the wind made it tricky at parts too.”

Graeme Connor said, “the course was in great condition, not as fiery as usual, but considering recent weather conditions, Stevie has it in great shape.”

Richard Mair said, “the course was in really good fettle. Greens were good and consistent. I am not the biggest fan of Burntisland though.”

Looking at your own game what were your thoughts on today’s performance?

Stevie Orr said, “I felt like I played quite well. It’s the best I’ve played around Burntisland.

That stretch of holes from 7-10 are not my favourite, but I had a good run of pars there which helped my confidence going into the next few holes.”

David McColgan said, “I thought I was striking the ball pretty well. I felt in control of most of my game throughout, just a few moments were concentration and control might have helped me a bit.”

Kevin Brannan said, “I struggled to get going on the first 2 holes, carving out an 8-8 start. After that, I began to find my rhythm of the course and played well from 3 thru 18.”

Graeme Connor said, “as I’m sure Dave & Paul will agree, my game was pretty good today, especially my short game. Unfortunately, two horror holes back-to-back killed my chances early on.”

Richa Mair said, “driving good. Putting ok. Everything in between woeful. The fact I couldn’t hit an iron for 12 holes was bizarre and crippling for my score.”

It was an exciting day out there with a whole host of players in the lead at one point - how do you go about your game when you know the leaderboard is as active as that?

Kevin Brannan said, “I tried to ignore the leaderboard, I was +6 after 2 holes and holding it up. From there on, I was concentrating on steading the ship and trying to put some decent steady golf together.”

Paul Gowens echoed Brannan saying, “I just ignore the leaderboard until I am in the clubhouse.”

Richard Mair said, “I was battling with demons in my head for the majority of the front 9 so have to confess I wasn’t paying too much attention to the scoreboard. It was good to see a few folks in contention at the start though.”

David McColgan said, “I like to see the leaderboard and know what’s going on around you, however when you are out first the onus is on you to set the early pace, so it is irrelevant until you’re in the clubhouse watching the scores come in.”

We've had our third winner in 4 events this season - is it even possible to predict a tournament right now?

Brannan said, “as always, I think there is a host of players who can win each week. Stuart is in a hot streak right now and was regarded as the favourite for a reason including his previous success there. Into the next few events, any number of players could hit a hot patch.”

Graeme Connor said, “I think I said it earlier in the season, anyone can win any event. A lot of the higher handicapped players are capable of sticking a round together so it’s anyone’s game.”

Stevie Orr said, “not at all. I think it’s brilliant that so many players on their day can go out there and win.”

David McColgan said, “it certainly makes it exciting. The truth is any player who is getting more than half the course in strokes only needs 4 or 5 good holes and they are right in contention. The handicap system is there for a reason, and we see it event after event the ability of a player to be on their game that day and that’s all it takes.”

Stuart Allan won the event with an impressive 4-under par score - how do you rate that score after playing out there today?

David McColgan said, “the course was absolutely gettable today, the winner was always going to be below par.

But when you look at that leaderboard, there is one thing for sure Stuart Allan was playing another level from the rest of us, I was the best of the rest, but none of us were playing the same game as Stuart out there today, it wasn’t even a contest.”

Kevin Brannan said, “anything under par around the Dodhead is always a good score, especially with the number of holes that require good local knowledge to be able to play well.”

Paul Gowens said, “it was a fantastic score, and Stuart seems to be playing the golf of his life at the moment.”

Graeme Connor said, “it was a windy day, but it was still definitely scorable. Irrespective of that, -4 is a very handsome score, so well done to big Hightower.”

Richard Mair said, “delighted to see Stu get the win. It’s been coming for a while. From what I heard he left a few shots out there which is even more impressive. A fantastic score.”

It's the first event that has been won by more than a shot - does that add to the impressive nature of the win?

Stevie Orr said, “he got off to a hot start and just continued that steady golf it seemed. Stuart is capable of a low score on his day.”

Graeme Connor said, “it’s a little disappointing there wasn’t more competition in the end but I guess that says more for how will big Hightower played.”

Kevin Brannan said, “I'll give you the simple answer. Yes!”

Allan's win takes him to second on the Order of Merit - how do you feel about your standing and what do you need to do in the last 3 rounds?

Brannan – who sits 8th in the standings – said, “I've been relatively pleased with my golf and my form over the last few events. I'm sitting in the middle of the pack and find myself looking both above me and below me. The aim will be to continue to stay well away from the relegation spots, but it would be nice to have a serious challenge at one of the last events.”

Gowens – who sits 11th – said, “I am just focussing on improving consistency a little – I am sure there’s a good round in there somewhere.”

Graeme Connor – who is 10th in the standings – said, “I think that’s possibly me finished until Craigielaw now, so much like last year, minimal events but do enough to keep my card for next year.”

Mair – who sits 3rd and has the Q-School exemption after winning the MCM @ Pitffirane – said, “despite a few disappointing events this year I’m still sniffing around the top 3. A lot can happen at the Tour Championship. But I’ll need to be practicing more to have half a chance.”

Stevie Orr – who sitting in 6th – said, “I’m quite happy with my standing so far. Knowing I can’t play at Craigielaw is slightly annoying, but two events to help me hopefully top up my tally with more points.”

McColgan won the Inchkeith Cup at the close of the Dodhead Invitational with a 2-under score. That's his 3rd trophy of the year - can there be more to come in 2024?

Paul Gowens, jumping in ahead of everyone else let out a resigned “I would expect so!” to much hilarity.

Brannan said, “absolutely! With him, he is one of the favourites at every event. The longer the event, the bigger chance he has of winning due to the consistency that's required to be sustained. He's right up there for the OoM and I don't expect that to change.”

Graeme Connor said, “you can guarantee Dave will go round in level par or better, that is often enough to win these events, so I’m sure we’ll see Dave up there again.”

Richard Mair summed it up saying, “finish above McColgan and you win. Simple as that. He’ll always be the most dangerous player.”

Taking a quick look over at Q-School, Scott Gowens won round 4 resulting in the standings closing to just 400 points separating 1st and 3rd - how exciting is it watching the players fight out for a place in the Order of Merit?

Brannan said, “it seems to have been a really intriguing battle all season and I expect it to continue until the last putt.”

Paul Gowens said, “I think it adds another exciting dynamic to proceedings.”

Graeme Connor said, “it will certainly be an interesting finish to the season, better that than a runaway winner.”

Richard Mair said, “it is getting really exciting now. Scott has put the cat amongst the pigeons with his win today. I’m looking forward to seeing the boys battle it out in the final tournaments of the year.”

Stevie Orr echoed everyone else saying, “it’s great to see it so tight there. I’d love to be able to see the scores with our own to see how they’re getting on.”

Well, there we have it folks the words and thoughts straight from the players mouths. The Dodhead Invitational never ceases to entertain and today we might have had a one-horse race, but what a race that was.