The EuroDov Tour takes a break in May for the annual match against the SanWedge Tour. The Carnegie Cup is in its third year in 2025, and the first two iterations have seen the EuroDov Tour win 13.5-10.5 both years.

The Carnegie Cup is unique on the EuroDov Tour schedule for two reasons, it is the only co-sanctioned event with the SanWedge Tour, and it is the only event that pits the Tour members against another Tour.

It has very quickly established itself as a premium tournament that the EuroDov Tour members clamber to play in, but team selection is tough with so many players deserving of a spot, but just 12 players earn that privilege of representing the EuroDov Tour.

The match has become famous for its Ying and Yang participants, the EuroDov Tour – the traditional Tour, valuing solid golf, and great strategy, coupled with a strong team ethos; and the SanWedge Tour – with its cavalier, devil may care approach to golf, swinging hard and playing harder and an everyman for himself approach on the course.

Andy Love – 2-time Major winner – captained the EuroDov Tour in 2025 and his opposite was Ally Greenshields, a co-sanctioned player since 2023 and the leader of the swing hard and play harder group.

The canvas for the 2025 Carnegie Cup was Canmore Golf Club, home of the King’s Cup on the EuroDov Tour’s Order of Merit, and a course that was present firm, fast and with some devilish pins. The firmness of the course was only intensified with a strong westerly wind that helped and hindered depending on what way the hole was pointing.

The two 12-man teams readied themselves in the morning for singles battle, mano-e-mano, 12 points on the table and individual and team pride at stake.

Leading out his team Ally Greenshields sent himself out first and representing the EuroDov Tour was David McColgan, the number one ranked player in the Official Tour Rankings.

Match 1 was characterized by Greenshields flamboyant golf and mind games, with an emphasis on the latter.

McColgan had to concede the first hole after an errant tee shot, before the players traded a few holes and halved a few more. Greenshields found himself 2Up after 8 and on the 9th hole after he audibly laughed – much to McColgan’s chagrin – when McColgan lipped out for par, he was left a 2-foot putt which he eventual missed halving the hole, reaching the turn 2Up.

The pair would halve 10 – despite Greenshields finding OB from the tee and then McColgan would win 11 but a moment of brilliance from Greenshields saw him hit the most delicate of chips from the edge of the green to gimmie range on 12 and win the hole, the shot appeared to knock the wind out McColgan’s fight and he’d win three straight holes to win the match 5&3 and deliver the first points of the day giving the SanWedge Tour a 1-0 lead.

The next points on the board came in Match 8 where Niall Seaton for the SanWedge Tour was playing Stuart Anderson, for the EuroDov Tour. Early signs were positive for Anderson, making his debut in the grey and navy colours of the EuroDov Tour when he won the first hole, however, he’d lose the next 5 holes and find himself 4 Down after 5 holes, he’d be 5 Down at the turn and it was early bath time for the EuroDov Tour player when Niall Seaton won the match 6&5 for the SanWedge Tour to make it 2-0 to the challenging team.

Things were starting to look bleak for the EuroDov Tour team led by Andy Love, but Ally Greenshields calculations seemed to be paying off as his team were 2-0 up early on. However, just after Seaton’s win over Anderson the “blue wave was coming” in quick succession Match 2, 3, 4 and 11 were concluding and all in the favour of the EuroDov Tour.

Captain Andy love, who had raced to 5Up through 6 holes in match 2 versus Callum McNeill seemed to be dominating in his match, that was until he the 7th hole where he lost the hole and then the next two to slide back to 2Up after 9. Love and McNeill traded blows over the next few holes but Love’s win on 14th put him at 4Up with 4 to play, just a half would be enough to seal the points…but the half never came, until the 18th hole. Love stumbled to loses on 15, 16 and 17 as the collective nerves kicked in, but after a brilliant drive and approach from Love a putt to gimmie distance was enough to seal the points.

And just behind Love, the Duncan brothers, Alan and Denis were wrapping their matches up on the 17th Green. Denis Duncan, in match 2, was dominant in his match, never really building a huge lead but comfortable leading Davie Cooper from the SanWedge Tour. Denis Duncan won 3 out of the last 4 holes to win his match 3&1 on 17.

Playing just behind him, his brother Alan Duncan raced out to a 5Up lead through 5 holes over Callum McAndrew of the SanWedge Tour in what seemed like a rout. However, McAndrew won 5 out of 6 holes around the turn to get the match back to square, but Alan Duncan dug deep and winning 16 and 17 sealed the win for the EuroDov Tour 2&1.

Much further back, and much predicted, Paul Gowens, two-time Tour winner in May already, was putting SanWedge Tour’s, Adam Blyth, to the sword with a comprehensive 6&5 victory. Gowens led the match from the first hole and was never behind, or even square in the match showing utter dominance.

After such a bleak start for the EuroDov Tour they had completely overhauled the 2-0 deficit to be leading 4-2. Scott Gowens followed his father’s points just moments later with a brilliant 3&1 win over Rowan Carscadden.

The EuroDov player, Gowens, was widely tipped to be defeated by the SanWedge following, and opened his match with three straight halved holes. Carscadden drew first blood winning the fourth hole, but Gowens pinned him back straight away, then run off four straight wins to take his match to 4Up at the turn. It appeared the Scott Gowens started to play a bit defensively and lost his rhythm losing 10 and 11 but he steadied the ship before sealing a 3&1 victory on 17 and taking the EuroDov Tour to a 5-2 lead.

It was good news for both teams next as Greig Baxter, for EuroDov Tour, had led Ritchie Hunter, SanWedge, since the 7th hole, getting to 3Up at the turn, only to watch his lead falter coming down the stretch, he was dormie 2 but lost 17 so the match went up 18 and after a lost tee shot from Hunter, the match was effectively over and Baxter won another point for the EuroDov Tour.

However, the 6-2 lead for the EuroDov Tour was only in place for mere seconds, because back down on the 17th hole Daniel Peck – SanWedge Tour - was closing out a thrilling match against the EuroDov Tour’s Stuart Sutherland. The match was cagey to begin with, both players trading holes, but Sutherland took the initiative racing off to a 3Up lead after 8 holes. However, Peck’s never say never attitude saw him drag the match back to square after 13 then go on to win 14 and 15 to lead 2Up before closing the match out 2&1 and getting the SanWedge Tours first point since earlier in the day.

The match was poised at 6-3 with 3 matches still on the course.

Match 12, the last match on the course was the next to conclude, Dean Black for the SanWedge Tour had clawed back a fast start from EuroDov Tour’s Rory Malloch leading the match 1Up at the turn. However, Malloch wasn’t done he’d win the next 5 holes straight to seal the match 5&3 in a dominant back 9 performances to seal another vital point for the EuroDov Tour.

With the match poised at 7-3, matches 9 and 10 finished simultaneously with each Tour taking a point each.
Match 9 saw EuroDov Tour’s Stuart Allan take on SanWedge Tour’s Callum Seaton. Allan won the first three holes, and never really looked back. The dominant, powerful play of Allan kept the lead through to the 17th where he sealed a 3&1 win and the EuroDov Tour’s final point in the morning.

In match 10, SanWedge player Dan Forrest, faced off against former EuroDov Tour Carnegie Cup captain Kevin Brannan. The early exchanges set the tone with a series of halved holes, and traded holes leaving the match at 2Up at the turn in favour of the SanWedge Tour. However, Brannan wasn’t about to give up and pegged Forrest back to all square after 13. The match stayed that way until Forrest won the 15th and 16 and a half on 17 was enough to give the SanWedge Tour the final point of the morning.

The morning singles had been a real battle with shifting momentum early on, the “blue wave” of matches 2, 3, 4 and 11 really changed the tone of the morning in favour of the EuroDov Tour who had the luxury of sitting down to lunch with an 8-4 lead.

With the morning singles concluded, the mathematicians started working out what was needed for each team to claim the coveted trophy. For the EuroDov Tour they needed just 4 points to retain – just two wins in the afternoon greensomes – or 2.5 points to win – 2 wins and a halve in the afternoon greensomes. For the SanWedge Tour a much greater challenge they needed 8.5 points – 4 wins and a halve out of the 6 matches in the afternoon greensomes.

The clubhouse is a weird place at lunch in these events, players starting to turn their minds away from the individual game and focus on the partnership they have coming up. Eyeing up their opponents and jostling for some advantage over them before a shot has even been hit.

In 2025 the leaders of this were Ally Greenshields and Callum McNeill on the SanWedge Tour, vocally “noising up” their opponents Alan and Denis Duncan. The brother duo, leading the EuroDov Tour team out in the afternoon were largely unfazed by the barbs coming from the SanWedge Tour and after winning the first two holes in the match were comfortably 2Up through 2 holes. They’d hold that lead till the 7th hole where they lost to a birdie 2, but managed to get to the turn 1Up in their match.

Having steadied their match at 1Up through 10 holes the EuroDov Tour duo ran off wins on the tough 12th and 13th holes to hold a 3-hole lead and with a win on 14 and a win on 15 were in the clubhouse points in hand and helping the EuroDov Tour move to 10-4, just 2 points short of the retain total of 12.

Match 2 was the next match to conclude, and it went the whole way up 18. Blyth and Peck for the SanWedge Tour were taking on Scott Gowens and Greig Baxter of the EuroDov Tour. The EuroDov Tour pairing lost the first but won the second, then the match remained square until the 6th where the SanWedge Tour took the lead again. However, like the start of the round Gowens & Baxter bounced back and squared the match straight away, keep the match square through 10 before winning 11 and 12. At 2 Up through 12 the EuroDov Tour pair seemed in command of the match, but Blyth and Peck weren’t done and won 13 and 14 to get the match back to square with just 4 holes to play. Enter the EuroDov Tour pairing again who won 15 and 16 to get their match to Dormie 2. Blyth and Peck – knowing that if the match finished with blue points on the leader board it’d be all over after 2 matches in the morning – dug in and managed to win 17 and 18 in dramatic fashion leaving the match halved and the score for the afternoon at 11-5.

After 2 matches the EuroDov Tour were on the cusp of victory, just 1 point away from the mark to retain the trophy and just 1.5 points away from the 12.5 points needed to win.

Enter the red wave…much like the morning blue wave, the SanWedge Tour weren’t about to let the trophy just drift over to the EuroDov Tour without some drama. Matches 3 & 4 all made it to the 17th green but both times the EuroDov Tour players had to shake on 2&1 defeats.

Stuart Allan and Captain Andy Love in match 3 made a real go of getting to 1Up through 6 holes, however after hitting the turn at square they’d lose holes 11 and 12 and never really reel in Callum Seaton and Davie Cooper who held their 2Up lead till the players shook on 17 and the points went to the SanWedge Tour.

A similar story was in match 4 where Dean Black and Rowan Carscadden took on David McColgan and Stuart Sutherland. The EuroDov pair of McColgan/Sutherland won the first after a fantastic chip from Sutherland, but were back to square after 2 when the SanWedge Tour won back. The match bounced around square for the next 7 holes when the SanWedge Tour players won holes, 8, 9 and 10 to go 3Up. The match remained at 3 until the downhill 14th where the EuroDov Tour team pulled a shot back. A crushing drive to 10 feet of the pin on the par 4 16th by McColgan allowed Sutherland to roll in a brilliant eagle putt to pull the EuroDov Tour pair back to 1Dn with 2 to play, but it was all too late and when Black/Carscadden holed out on 17 it was a 2&1 win for the SanWedge pair.

The score now sat at 11-9 in favour of the EuroDov Tour but the momentum was with the SanWedge Tour for sure.

At this point, with two matches still on the course, the SanWedge Tour were up in 1 match by a hole and down in the other by a hole.

When both these matches reached the turn the scores were very different. In match 5 the EuroDov Tour pairing of Brannan and Anderson were 1Up in what had been a very tight match indeed that saw 4 of the 9 holes halved. However, the SanWedge pairing of Forrest/Seaton weren’t finished and squared the match at 11, then squared again on 14. They won the 16th hole to take a 1Up lead – the first time they led since the 6th hole and managed to secure a half on 17 to send the match up 18.

Just behind them Match 6 featured Paul Gowens and Rory Malloch for the EuroDov Tour against Ritchie Hunter and Callum McAndrew for the SanWedge. When this match hit the turn the SanWedge pairing were 2Up however the EuroDov Tour pair were just getting started. Wins on 10, 11, 12 and 13 propelled them from 2 down to 2Up and Gowens and Malloch were on a roll. A hiccup on 15 saw them lose a hole but when they won on 16 they were 2Up with 2 to play and as Brannan and Anderson were battling to win the 18th hole and rescue a point for the EuroDov Tour team, Gowens and Malloch were winning 3&1 back on the 17th and with their win securing the 2 points to take the EuroDov Tour to 13 points and the guaranteed win.

The final match to conclude was match 5, which saw Brannan and Anderson halve the last hole to give the SanWedge Tour pairing of Forrest and Seaton the win 1Up and leave the final score of the Carnegie Cup 13-11 in favour of the EuroDov Tour.

There is no denying it was a nervy afternoon for the EuroDov Tour locker room, but in the end the team, the pairings, the players stuck to their game plan and delivered the third straight win for the Tour in the Carnegie Cup, once again asserting their dominance over the SanWedge Tour.