The EuroDov Tour was back in action this week with the Dodhead Invitational at Burntisland Golf House Club.

The event has very, very small group of winners with only 2 players etching their name on the trophy in the four-year history of the tournament – Stuart Allan and David McColgan. So, it was no surprise to see EuroDov Reporter backing them to be near the top of the leaderboard in 2025.

However – in 2025 leaderboards have been tighter than a fairway in a cross wind, and we had plenty of those today, and there were plenty of players who fancied their chances around Burntisland.

There can be no debate about course conditions, the fairways were perfect, the rough tight and punishing and the greens rolling like a dream. However, the players’ complaints may very well be justified when the subject of weather comes up. The course was buffeted all afternoon with a 1 to 2 club wind at times with intense downpours rolling across the course at regular 15-minute intervals, making not just shot selection, but clothing choice a real challenge throughout.

The opening hole was fairly benign, wind at the players’ backs helping with the up-hill tee shot and a pin tucked at the back of the green, offering a very big target on approach. The field played the hole pretty much to par, just .08 shot over with Denis Duncan making the best of the early start with the only birdie on the opening hole.

The second hole, a relatively simple par 5, if you can avoid the trees dotted along the fairway. This time the hole played under par on average, showing the benefit of the wind at your back. Our leader Duncan could only manage a par, but that was enough to stay in the lead albeit with company; Allan, Baxter, McNeill and Gowens Junior all got in on the party with birdies at 2. Order of Merit contenders Mair and Peck lost shots on the field carding a bogey and double bogey respectively.

Enter the par 3 third. It’s a devilish hole, playing 204 yards to the pin today and tucked on the left side of the green, add to that a tee box tucked left and the regular sound of cars driving just the other side of the tree line left of the hole and it’s a nerve shredder for sure. The field played the hole half a stroke over par with 3 bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey all featuring on scorecards. Stevie Orr was the only player to card a birdie.

Denis Duncan held the lead with a par whilst Allan, Baxter, McNeill and Gowens Junior shared out the over par scores for the hole.

The par 4 fourth hole, is fairly simple, but in a tough cross wind today players are reminded of the boundary wall left. Stevie Orr may have chosen to ignore the reminder as he watched two balls sail out of bounds as he carded a 9. However, Stevie Orr’s pain came Stuart Allan’s pleasure, a wonderful eagle 2 erasing his bogey on the previous par 3 and when Denis Duncan could only manage par, Stuart Allan, 2-time winner here, was in the lead for solo.

Whilst he held the lead the leaderboard was tightly bunched, just one shot behind him sat Brannan, Duncan, McNeill with McColgan and Baxter just another shot back.

Allan would bogey the next two par 3s. However, the par 3 5th hole played a whole 1.15 shots over par and with 6 bogeys, 3 doubles and a triple Allan found himself still in solo first after 6 holes. With a third of the competition played Allan’s solo lead was just 1, with an unbelievable 10 player within 4 shots – the ever-competitive nature of the Tour coming through again.

Allan’s lead would slip at 7 when he carded a bogey, but his paying partner Greig Baxter carded an eagle. A huge momentum swing with three shots in one hole! Richard Mair, a couple of groups behind, would come in with a birdie to join Baxter at the top too.

By the 8th hole the tournament had seen six different leaders and, on the 8th, playing straight into the wind and driving rain for most of the field, enter leaders number seven and eight – David McColgan and Daniel Peck. The 8th hole played nearly a third of a shot over par on average but Peck and McColgan managed birdies to propel them into the lead with a chasing bunch of Allan, Brannan, Mair, Baxter and McNeill just 1 shot back.

Disaster would befall Peck on the 9th hole however, with a triple bogey 7 on the par 4. The hole was playing a full stroke over par on average, but McColgan managed a comfortable par to enter the back 9 in the lead.
Holes 10 through 13 were a relatively calm period for the leaderboard with McColgan holding the solo lead, the longest stretch of any player all day.

McColgan – alongside Brannan, Allan and Denis Duncan – stole a stroke on the field with a par at 10. He’d do it again on 11 with an unbelievable birdie after his tee shot found the fourth fairway. Tight against the tree line, with no shot over the trees, McColgan threaded a 6 iron through the tree trunks to 12 feet short of the pin and when his putt dropped it was probably one of the best bridies he’s ever carded on Tour.

The birdie on 11 sparked something in McColgan and after he’d carded bridies on 12 and 13, the galleries were beginning to talk of his closing heroics at the MCM in May – and could it just be happening again.

However, his run wouldn’t extend to four birdies in a row as a bogey on 14 stopped him in his tracks and cost him the lead. For the first time since the 9th hole McColgan was out of the solo lead and joined by Stuart Allan. Two names, inextricably linked by the history of the Dodhead Invitational at it again.

The pair of them went step for step with each other recording pars on 15, 16 and 17 and whilst they were focused on surpassing each other, something else was happening in the background. Kevin Brannan had quietly been building a strong round, since his back-to-back bogeys on 5 and 6 he’d carded 6 pars and 2 birdies through to the 14th hole – and whilst all eyes were on Allan and McColgan, Brannan was stalking them just 1 shot adrift.

Allan was first into the clubhouse, and after a bogey on the par 4 18th sat at 1-under par. A strong score in tough conditions, and with Brannan and McColgan still on the course battling the conditions the advantage always sat with the clubhouse leader.

As Brannan and McColgan made it to 17, playing in the same group, there was some discussion of the leaderboard and the current standings. McColgan’s wedge to 17 was caught by the wind and dropped short. In a moment of indecision Brannan returned to his bag, changed club and fired a 9 iron to 8 feet. Sitting 1 shot of the clubhouse lead Brannan knew what was needed, back-to-back birdies and the win was his.

As Brannan reached the green McColgan dropped a deft wedge to a few inches for the hole for a certain par, but Brannan was unfazed, he stepped up and confidently dispatched his birdie putt and was tied for the clubhouse lead with 1 to go.

McColgan knew he needed the birdie to guarantee the win and not worry about countback; Brannan knew a birdie would put him past the clubhouse leader and likely into a countback with McColgan.

McColgan took a tight line, into the wind and down the left edge of the fairway, flirting with the out of bounds that dares you to double cross, Brannan stayed well clear and after bouncing in the first cut nestled down amongst the trees at the right side of the fairway – advantage McColgan.

Brannan was first away and with trees around him opted for a punch shot that ran across the fairway and found the front edge of the green just 12 feet from the pin – amazing shot, amazing nerve.

McColgan opted to take the aerial route and left it 14 feet from the pin – and the galleries started taking about the 2022 EuroDov Cup that came down to the pair of them putting on the last hole, with McColgan the victor.

Just like 2022 McColgan had the first putt, but when his putt slid agonizingly past the hole, it was Brannan’s moment. He steadied himself over the putt and when it found the bottom of the cup, Brannan was the 2025 Dodhead Invitational Champion.

The 2025 Dodhead Invitational will be remembered for tough conditions, but it’ll also be remembered for those who mastered it. McColgan and Allan shot 1-under par in incredibly tough conditions but found themselves bettered by Kevin Brannan. Despite the tough conditions the leaderboard remained highly competitive with 8 of the field within 7 shots of the leader at the close of play, and 5 of the field within 3.

The Order of Merit Standings are exciting with McColgan leading the way on 4,150 points and Richard Mair just 700 behind. Paul Gowens, who was absent from the Dodhead, is a further 1,400 points back and Stuart Allan only 1,550 points adrift.

Much like the individual tournament the Order of Merit standings are tightening up in 2025, and with McColgan set to miss the King’s Cup at Canmore GC in July, the field has to be looking at significantly closing that gap – and anything better than 5th place for Richard Mair will see McColgan replaced at the top of the Standings with one regular season event to go before the crucial Tour Championships at Craigielaw.