It’s been a long cold winter, without much action in the locker room. In fact the EuroDov comms team had to come in and dust us down, and spruce us up, after months of milling around mouldy locker rooms with smelly shoes and drying water proofs.

But what a moment to be woken for. The EuroDov Tour has announced a new exciting partnership that sees the Tour continually evolving for its membership and offering yet another competition option.

The From the Locker Team are delighted to be part of the coverage of the announcement and today we are sitting down with the EuroDov Tour Carnegie Cup team Captain, Kevin Brannan.

Brannan is a founding member of the Tour and boasts 7 RyDov Cup wins out of 7 appearances, his last on in 2022 as team Captain. 2022 also saw Brannan win his first Tour event, lifting the 36 hole Tour Championships at Craigielaw.

Let’s speak to him now, Kev - how does it feel to be chosen as EuroDov Tour's inaugural Carnegie Cup captain?

“As winning Captain of the established and prestigious RyDov Cup, I feel that I'm in a treasured position to be nominated unopposed as the captain of the EuroDov Tour in The Carnegie Cup.

It's an exciting time, branching out and playing a new but fierce rival.”

As you mention you Captained the 2022 winning RyDov Cup team, how will you use that experience ahead of the Carnegie Cup?

“It’ll definitely help.

There's going to be some big egos in the team this year and the best way to get results is to make sure the team is managed effectively, and the men are kept happy. That's a challenge, but we'll be doing plenty of work on that in the off season and be ready to produce a performance of the ages in May.”

The EuroDov Tour haven't announced their selection criteria as yet. Can you share it with us today?

“I'm delighted to say, that after much deliberation, it has been decided that the qualifying criteria are the Top 8 available players on the Tour Rankings as of today plus 4 Captains picks.

This will provide the solid form of the top 8 who perform week after week and 4 flair players. 4 guys who I know will go out, put the other team under pressure with their presence and deliver the points for us.”

What does that mean the team will look like?

“We're going to have our 8 most consistent performers, headed by 9-time major winner, Mr Logo himself, Dave McColgan.

He'll be joined by Stuart Allan, RyDov Cup all-time leading points scorer and major winner Allan Kinnear, Denis Duncan (who I'm currently organising sports psychology sessions for to avoid his bottle crashing) and Graeme Connor the epitome of consistency.

Next up is the only other multiple-major winner on tour Andy Love, followed by the winner of the first ever major in 2013 – Barry Cunningham – and that wraps up the qualifying spots.

And my 4 Captains picks are:

Stuart Sutherland: an ever-present player on the RyDov Cup and founding member of the Tour. Stuart is a tough matchplay contender and on his home course, this was a no brainer.

Jim Robertson: a determined player, who knows Burntisland well. He’ll fight hard right to the 18th ever time.
Greig Baxter: Baxter is another Major winner and knows Burntisland like the back of his hand. His matchplay abilities are unrivalled on Tour.

And finally, Stephen Orr: a newcomer to the Tour in 2022 but someone I've played a lot of golf with off-tour. A straight, consistent and reliable player. As Vice-Captain he knows my every step and thought, he was a must pick.”

You’ve announced a non-playing Captain, tell us about that?

“The #2 ranked player on Tour, Paul Gowens, was an absolute certainty to be in the squad. His golf speaks for itself. In his rookie year he lifted 5 honours – a feat that will likely never be matched.

Paul has been undergoing some significant medical treatment in the early part of this year, and whilst he won’t be ready to play in May, he’ll be there to support the guys and keep team spirits hight.

Having him on the course and in the team room is going to absolutely pivotal and I look forward to him supporting the team come May.”

Who are you most excited seeing in the competition?

“Seeing Callum (SanWedge Tour captain) stand on the first tee, shaking in his boots. Both through fear and his hangover from the Saturday night.

But from my own team...I could pick any of the guys. Each of them have their own strengths and I'm looking forward to seeing them prepare in the off-season where we'll be working hard on our games and our foursomes partnerships.”

Do you have an idea on pairings already?

“I honestly believe I could pair any of my guys with each other and they'd gel together and form a very good team. There are certain pairings I'll need to think about in terms of how there games will complement in the foursomes but that's purely technical and I'll be thinking about that from now and into the start of the EuroDov Tour next season.”

Will you be asking the Tour Committee to partner players together in the early events of the Tour to encourage familiarity?

“I will certainly be putting my stall out to the committee. I know a few folk who are pretty decent at lobbying on their day jobs and made a career out of it. I may just need to ask them to put their skills to good use.”

What will McNeill, Mair and Peck's presence on the EuroDov Tour mean for the event?

“They'll be treated like outcasts. And just as I'll be asking for my guys to be paired together during the opening rounds, I'll be lobbying that they are grouped together and not with us.”

What is a good outcome come end of play?

“Nothing short of a victory for Team Eurodov. Ideally, we'll have it wrapped up early and avoid any nail biting which I have full confidence in delivering.”

Well there we have it, EuroDov Tour's first Carnegie Cup Captain and the team that will represent the Tour come May. Be sure to stay tuned for more From the Locker Room as we get closer to the season.