As we settled into the warm confines of the locker room at Cowdenbeath Dora golf club we watched the players coming off the course as their matches finished.

There’s a real sense of a clash of cultures in the Carnegie Cup with the established EuroDov Tour team dressed in their traditional grey trousers and navy tops and the SanWedge Tour taking over the clubhouse in their loud shirts and machismo.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve come to know a few of the SanWedge Tour players better as they make their first steps on the EuroDov Tour, and one player we’ve met more than most was their 2024 Captain, Richard Mair.

Mair’s lifted three events on the EuroDov Tour and came within 1 hole of winning a Major this year, so sitting down with him reflecting on what might have been seemed a bit raw and a bit too soon.

Commiserations Richard - what's the reflection after yesterday's loss?

“Thanks for having me, a pleasure as always. First of all, I’d like to congratulate Kev and the EuroDov team on their victory today, it was thoroughly deserved.

It’s a sore one to lose again this year, but a lot of positives to take away from our performance and we go again in 2025.”

The SanWedge Tour hosted the Carnegie Cup for the first time, how do you think the course selection played out?

“No complaints with the course. I felt the greens were in excellent condition and the greens keeper followed out SanWedge instruction to keep the rough punishing. I think the Dora pleasantly surprised some of the boys that hadn’t played it or hadn’t played it in a while.”

The conditions were pretty tough out there - what was the advice to the players and how do you think your team faired in it?

“It was grim at times. It was really tough, but the advice was just to stick in there and hold on.

The EuroDov team has a roster of more experienced players. I think they were better equipped to the conditions overall but I’m proud of the performance my players put in.”

The first points on the board were 7&5 and 8&7 wins for the EuroDov Tour - this had to have you panicking early on?

“It did. Coupled with those early wins was a situation midway into the session where we were down in every match. With the double points on offer the game would have been lost before it started.”

The final match in saw the SanWedge Team win 1 UP after getting to 3 Up with 4 to play - how much of a psychological point was it to salvage those points ahead of the afternoon?

“Really important.

I managed to get a half out of our match which felt like a bit of a stolen point. We had banked on that last match and then it looked uncertain. It was a real boost to get that win going into the afternoon session.”

At 7-5 after the Foursomes what was the advice to the team heading out in the afternoon?

“More of the same really. Try not to let the rain get to you and try and win your point.

We were right in the match.”

The first points in the singles saw Paul Gowens win 8&7 - he won maximum points in the tournament and only played 23 holes - what's your reflections on that?

“Not too surprised. Paul is a very consistent player and very accurate off the tee. Given the playing conditions and course set up, it was tailor made for him.”

EuroDov Tour picked up 3.5 of the next 5 points to sit at 11.5-6.5 - did it feel like the writing was on the wall at that point?

“Not at that point. There wasn’t too much in the remaining matches so even at that point I thought we had a chance.”

The match got closer as SanWedge won the next 3 points to make it 11.5-9.5 - was there a sense the comeback was on?

“This is when we thought we had a chance.

But as I said previously the matches were all close.

A cliche but it really could have gone either way. The vice captains and I were just trying to keep the momentum going.”

Many commentators were surprised to see McColgan in the later groupings and after going 5UP, seemed destined to win but as his match came down 18 All square - EuroDov Tour still hadn't reached the hallowed 12 points mark. As he holed out for the win, it was all over, and many saw his selection later on as a wise move by Brannan - any thoughts?

“Dave was going to be dangerous wherever he was in the order.

I’m sure he was happy to go out when he did as he would have thought there was a chance to secure the winning point. It was a hard-fought match though so credit to Danny for nearly getting there.”

The 2024 result was the same as 2023 - are the teams closer together in reality than on paper?

“I think we got closer this year despite the same points gap. The SanWedge team is still in its infancy, so we’re learning with every tournament. I think had the weather had not been as severe, we may have run the EuroDov even closer.”

As the post-mortem begins on another loss, are there any reflections on where SanWedge under performed?

“It’s always easy to look back in hindsight. Maybe some of my captain’s picks didn’t quite work. The pairings could have been better and that’s on me. But we came close.”

What message do you have to your Team after this year’s event?

“I’m proud of all of you. It was a privilege to lead you as captain and let’s go one better next year.”

As always, a thorough debrief from Mair on the events of the day, it was a battle out there for all 24 players and in a match like this there needs to be a winner and loser.

The SanWedge Tour are now two defeats with two different Captains. Heading in to 2025 they’ll have to play the role of visitor, but I am sure Mair will have laid out a blueprint to follow, and will be quick to advise where divergence would be beneficial.