The 2025 EuroDov Tour season ended not with a whisper but with a thunderclap. Craigielaw Golf Club, playing benign under blue skies, was the stage for the lowest-scoring Tour Championship in history: Scott Gowens smashed the tournament record with a breathtaking -14, Paul Gowens sealed the James Braid Quaich with a season of steady brilliance, and David McColgan — the Tour’s metronomic benchmark — collapsed to his lowest ever finish.

But what did the players themselves make of a season that broke records and perhaps reshaped the very future of the Tour? Across the field, the voices were varied, but a few themes emerged: resilience, respect, and the sense that EuroDov golf has entered uncharted waters.

Stuart Allan: “Progress, but a reminder to putt”

For Allan, 2025 was a season of tweaks and toil, but his late-year surge gave him reason to believe.

“It’s been a disappointing year, too many bag tweaks and swing changes. I reverted to my natural swing for the Dodhead and was in contention throughout. Craigielaw was a strong finish, I played really well under par, but missed too many putts outside three feet.”

He finished 4th in the Quaich standings, higher than he felt he deserved, but sees it as proof of what’s possible.

“The standards are really improving, and that can be seen in the handicaps. A few players in the field are capable of single figures. My lesson? Play to my strengths, mental resilience — and learn how to putt.”

On Paul Gowens’ triumph, Allan was unequivocal:

“Paul’s game is perfect for this format with his range of scoring among the tightest in the group. Consistency is key.”

Stephen Orr: “It’s not the end of the McColgan era”

Orr’s season carried quiet positives, though missing the Tour Champs dented his final points haul.

“High point was being in the high end of the points more consistently. Two holes at Pitfirrane cost me a possible win. But overall, I’d take it.”

For Orr, the lesson was strategy.

“It’s fine bombing a drive, but thinking about the next shot is just as important. Play for that next shot.”

On Gowens Senior’s Quaich victory:

“Accuracy and knowing your distances is pivotal. Paul keeps himself in play and does the basics very, very well.”

And on McColgan’s fall:

“It’s not the end of the era, that’s rubbish talk. Sometimes it’s just not your day. He’ll be there again next year.”

Ally Greenshields: “Thumbing in a semi”

Greenshields, as ever, brought colour to his assessment:

“My season perhaps best described as thumbing in a semi. I got the job done in surviving, but it was a lot of effort and difficult to watch.”

Mid-table was the story — at Craigielaw and in the Quaich standings. But he paid tribute to Paul Gowens’ calm, clinical run.

“He’s been able to shut out the noise (and shit-talking) and focus on getting the job done. One of only two players on Tour I think can do this. No room for bottle jobs at the top of the tree.”

On McColgan, he was bullish:

“This is a blip. Fitness is temporary, class is permanent. He’ll be back, smacking bottys and getting silverware in no time.”

Callum McNeill: “What could’ve beens”

For McNeill, 2025 was a season of near misses.

“A year of what could’ve beens. Felt like I could’ve made a real push at the start and then was unlucky in the Championship final.”

Craigielaw offered a modest silver lining.

“My first round maybe gave a few bonus points, but overall I’ve felt due a good OoM performance. I think it says more about how the course played than anything else — much more scoreable off the blues with no wind.”

He admired Paul’s steady climb and Peck’s rise, while cheekily noting:

“Rich’s ability to concentrate despite being distracted by low-flying birds… Ally’s ability to throw away a score on 17 or 18.”

On McColgan, his verdict was pointed:

“It certainly raises questions. Does he meekly accept defeat and step back, or fight back and make the Tour a priority again?”

Scott Gowens: “A season-ending thunderbolt”

The rookie stole the show with his record-breaking 62 in the afternoon round at Craigielaw, moving from 9th to 6th in the final Quaich table.

“That final round — I struggle to think of a better standout moment for myself. It allowed me to end on a high. It highlights that on their day anyone in the field can put a top performance together.”

But for Scott, the biggest lesson was internal.

“Stop trying to beat the leaderboard and focus on myself. Block out the noise, play my own game.”

On the future:

“I think it’s early to call a new era. Even the best players have an off day. I have no doubt Dave will be back winning multiple events next year.”

Paul Gowens: “Consistency at last”

For the man holding the Quaich, 2025 was about proving himself over the long haul.

“Winning the Invitational, my first Major, was something I didn’t think could happen. But the Quaich shows the numbers across a season don’t lie.”

Craigielaw was the perfect stage to clinch it.

“Two rounds in one day on a blue-ribbon course — fantastic. You need to shoot under par to win any event now, the competition is getting better and better.”

Paul sees his triumph not as a shift but as an addition:

“Not outlasting the big names, but standing alongside. Everyone had moments of brilliance and madness this year, but the camaraderie outshines the rivalry.”

On McColgan:

“Definitely a one-off. One bad day at the office in a busy season. He’ll be back.”

The McColgan Interview: “A bad day, or the end of an era?”

While most players faced the media together at Craigielaw, David McColgan — usually the Tour’s most measured and unflappable voice — skipped the press room. Instead, he sat down for a one-to-one, offering a strikingly raw reflection on the day, the season, and his future.

“It was very apparent by around the 9th hole in the first round the scores were going to be so unbelievably low that I had no chance of competing. I just gave up really.”

His candour was unflinching. He admitted the 12th hole destroyed both his rounds, and that watching so much red on the leaderboard broke his concentration.

“When you see so much red, it’s hard not to force it. By the afternoon, you start to ask yourself ‘why are you out here?’”

On losing the Quaich after leading all year:

“I am bitterly disappointed. It’s definitely tainted the rest of the season. I knew what I had to do, and I felt it was 100% in my gift. But when scores like today start rolling in you’ve got no chance and you do start to ask yourself "what are you doing out here?"”

On the broader shift in scoring:

“If scores like today are here to stay on Tour, I’m not sure I’ll be hanging around too long. I don’t think my game will be good enough for top 5 finishes let alone top 3. That level of scoring is just lights-out golf.”

He went on to say, “obviously I am in control of my game and my mind, and I didn’t control either particularly well after the front nine in the morning. But if scores like today are here to stay on Tour, I am not sure I’ll be hanging around to long.”

Still, McColgan was magnanimous about Paul Gowens’ breakthrough.

"Paul’s game hasn’t only been steady, but it’s been building towards a moment like this. To lift the Invitational in May was a huge moment for him, and it led on to his win at the MCM the week after. He’s had 3 runner-up finishes and today’s win was just utter dominance in the fiercest of battles."

And on his own legacy, he was honest, even self-doubting:

“I’d like to say it was just a bad week, but with 12 rounds par or better in the Tour Champs today… if that level of golf is where the Tour is going, you won’t be hearing from me in many winners’ interviews any time soon.”

The door, though, is not fully closed:

“It’s a long off-season and we’re just entering it now, but the truth is days like today really knock the motivation out of you. I am acutely aware how uneven a playing field the Order of Merit is, but it’s great to test my sharpness and where my game is against the guys - and I have had success in abundance. But the thought of coming up against a red wall like that each event really doesn’t appeal to me and as I find my feet in some of the off-Tour elite events my eyes are definitely wandering. I’ll take the off-season to think about today, the season and what’s next."

A Season Redrawn

From Stuart Allan’s search for putting touch, to Ally Greenshields’ colourful metaphors, to Scott Gowens’ record-breaking exclamation mark — the 2025 season ended with the sense that the EuroDov Tour is no longer defined by one man.

McColgan remains a titan, but the Quaich now rests with Paul Gowens, the Tour Champs trophy with Scott, and belief spreads wider than ever. As Stephen Orr put it: “Anyone on their day can win.”

The balance of power hasn’t so much shifted as broadened. The bar has been raised, the field has caught up, and 2026 promises to be the most unpredictable season yet.