The EuroDov Tour season came to a close in the traditional fashion with the seventh playing of the RyDov Cup.

Team Duncan, captained by Denis Duncan, were striving for the historic three-peat, achieved only by David McColgan’s Team Dov in 2013, 16 & 17. In his way, Greig Baxter, and Team Baxter, vying to be the fourth captain to lift the RyDov Cup and only the second challenger to defeat a standing captain.

The players arrived at Kinross Golf Course on a slightly colder and damper day than years gone by, but the courses were in fine condition and the field were ready to go. Preparations for 2021 were severely hampered by the ongoing covid-19 pandemic with two players withdrawing a week before play due to positive test results and one player receiving the all clear only 24 hours before play.

Marc Richardson, making his debut in the RyDov Cup, got affairs underway in his match versus Allan Kinnear. The opening fourball was completed by Jim Robertson (Team Duncan) versus Kieran Lynch (Team Baxter).

Team Baxter would get the advantage of the opening hole and take a 1Up lead in both matches. However, as all the groups got on the course Team Duncan would find themselves up in 6 matches, Team Baxter up in 2 and 4 ties through the first hole.

The opening match of Richardson (Team Duncan) and Kinnear (Team Baxter) was dominated by Team Baxter’s lead man. Kinnear won 5 of the first 7 holes to take a commanding lead that would see him close out his match 6&4, losing only 2 holes throughout the whole match.

Lynch would reach the turn at 2 Up on Robertson and stretch his lead to 3Up after 10. A fight back from Robertson got it back to 1 but Lynch closed the match out 3&2 and put the first two points on the board for Team Baxter.

Team Duncan reeling from losing the first two matches seemed to regroup and rally through matches 3 and 5. Graeme Connor (Team Duncan) took a 2Up lead into the back 9 and with wins in 11 and 12 pushed the match out of reach before securing Team Duncan’s first points on the 16th.

The other match in the fourball Robertson v Shepherd would also go team Duncan’s way when Derek Shepherd strung wins together on 7 thru 9 and 13 thru 15 before winning 3&2.

The marquee morning match-up was of course the Captain v Captain, Baxter v Duncan. After exchanging blows thru 1 and 2 Duncan strung together wins on 3, 5 and 7 before Baxter struck back with wins on 8 thru 10. Baxter would go 1Up on 13 before losing 14 & 15 to go 1 Down. Denis Duncan would close out the game with a win on 17 to put his team 3-2 up in the first five games.

The side match to the marquee was Team Baxter’s Vice-Captain Kevin Brannan against Jordan Mushet. After going two holes down thru 2 Brannan kicked into action to win them straight back to be all square thru 4. Brannan would win 6 of the next 10 holes and win the match 5&3 to tie the match 3-3 at the halfway point.

The fourball behind featured the 7 time major winning and current Champion Golfer of the Year, David McColgan versus Stephen Hedges. The game was a ding-dong back and forth for the front 9 with Hedges taking a 1Up lead for Team Duncan. Hedges won the 11th to go 2Up but McColgan hit back on 13. The 14th went to Hedges before McColgan won 15 and 16. Hedges won 17 to go Dormie 1 and a half on 18 secured him and Team Duncan the point.

The other match in the fourball was Stuart Sutherland v Daniel Peck and this match too would go down 18. Team Duncan would prevail 2Up as Peck got the better of Sutherland. Peck won 5 of the first 9 holes and was in a commanding position until Sutherland won 9, 11 and 13. Sutherland’s rally put Peck on the ropes, but he bounced back with wins on 14 and 15. Sutherland won the 17th as Peck was Dormie 1 down 18 but lost the 18th and the match 2Dn.

The 9th match was the only match of the day that was halved. Andy MacGregor and John Hedges battled it out in a front nine that saw MacGregor take a 1Up lead. But a back and forth back nine saw Hedges win 17 and 18 to take square the match and take the match to 5.5-3.5 to Team Duncan.

Accompanying that fourball was Cunningham v Sinclair. Sinclair took a 1Up lead into the back nine. The back nine was packed with action with Sinclair winning 3 holes and Cunningham winning 5 including the 18th hole to take the match 1Up and the match to 5.5-4.5 for Team Duncan.

The final two matches would share the points evenly. The 11th match was Andy Love v William McColgan. McColgan would win the first two holes and Love would hit back with a win at 3. A halve at four stemmed the flood until Love would win the final 5 holes of the front 9. McColgan hit back with a win at 10 and fought with a couple of wins before Love closed the match out 4&2.

The final match was a repeat of the 2019 pairing of Green v van Spaendonck. Green drew first blood at two, but van Spaendonck hit back with three straight holes and would eventually close out the front 9 2Up. Green won 11 and 12 to square the match but van Spaendonck would win 12, 13 and 15 before closing the match out 2&1.

The morning singles concluded, and Team Duncan took a one-shot lead into the afternoon session. The 6.5 v 5.5 margin is exactly the same as Team Duncan’s margin in 2018 when they defeated Team Hedges and spirits were high.

The Afternoon session saw McColgan/Peck for Team Duncan take on Brannan/MacGregor. And buoyed by the morning results Team Duncan came out the traps fast, winning the first 5 holes. In fact, the match wouldn’t see any halved holes until the 12th hole by which time the Team Duncan pair were 5Up.

Brannan/MacGregor struck back with wins on 12 and 13 but it merely extended the match and McColgan/Peck delivered 2 points to Team Duncan with a 4&3 win.

The second match saw Connor/Shepherd for Team Duncan take on the 2020 Kinross Medal winners Baxter/Love. This match was significantly more sedate than the opening group. The first 9 holes saw an exchange of blows with Team Baxter taking a 2Up lead into the back nine. Holes were once again exchanged 10 thru 13 then wins on 14 and 15 sealed the win for Team Baxter taking the result to 8.5 – 7.5 in Team Duncan’s favour.

The third match out went Team Duncan’s way with the pairing of Jordan Mushet and Marc Richardson both making up for big defeats in the morning. The pairing won 6 of the first 9 holes and closed their match out 5&4 to give Team Duncan a three-shot lead 10.5 – 7.5.

The final two matches followed suit with a 5&4 win for Lunch/Robertson. The Team Baxter pair only drop two holes the whole match in a commanding display that saw Team Duncan’ captain, Denis Duncan, put to the sword.

The final match on the course saw a 6&5 win for Hutcheson/Kinnear and Team Baxter. The pair won the first 5 holes and 7 of the first 10. They exchanged a few holes early in the back 9 but the Team Duncan pairing of Hedges/Hedges had no answer to the power and accuracy of Team Baxter. Their win gave Team Baxter the first lead of the day 11.5-10.5.

The only match left on the course was the fourth match out between Sinclair/van Spaendonck for Team Duncan and Green/McColgan for Team Baxter. The Team Duncan pair drew first blood with a win on the first hole. That was followed by halves on 2 and 3.

Green/McColgan shifted in to gear however and won three holes on 4, 6 and 8. Team Duncan’s pairing won the 9th hole to leave Team Baxter 1Up thru the front nine. However, Sinclair/van Spaendonck won 10 to square the match and went on to win 12 and 13 to take a 2Up lead.

An altercation on the 14th tee between McColgan and van Spaendonck marked a change of attitude in the former. Stephen Green said, “once we realised the final result would come down to our match we re-grouped and re-focused and made sure we played error free.”

McColgan said, “the discussion on the 14th tee between myself and van Spaendonck galvanised my resolve to deliver the points for Team Baxter and Green and I just knuckled down.”

And knuckled down they did, Green/McColgan would win 14 with a pinpoint 6 iron from McColgan leaving Green 20 feet from the pin and straight up hill. Green would step up and deliver a putt dead centre of the hole and cut the Team Duncan duo to 1Up.

The 15th hole saw McColgan send a pinpoint 4 wood to the centre of the fairway, 150 yards out. Green stepped up and delivered a hybrid to the back edge of the green, 20 feet from the hole. With the pressure on, van Spaendonck sent a glorious iron shot towards the green but misjudged the wind and carried it into the gorse. The match would go all square.

The Par 3 16th would be tied, and the players went to the 17th knowing that a halved match was enough for Team Baxter to win the cup. McColgan and Green sent two perfect drives down the right-hand fairway and the perfect look into the green. Sinclair and van Spaendonck had matched for length but hugged the tree and gorse line leaving a blind shot into the green.

van Spaendonck had the honour, and his shot found the gorse resulting in a dropped shot due to an unplayable ball. McColgan had a green light to the green and sent a 50-degree wedge to the back edge. Green’s third shot found the heart of the green leaving McColgan a 15 footer straight up hill.

McColgan knew that holing the putt would put the pressure on Sinclair, who lay 10 feet from the pin, to halve the hole and force it down the 18th. As McColgan stood over his putt the other groups had come to watch and McColgan’s putt rolled 15 feet, dead centre and all eyes were on Sinclair.

Sinclair’s putt lay on a similar line, 5 feet inside McColgan, and was to take the match down the 18th. Sinclair rolled his putt and as it caught the left edge it appeared it would go the distance, but the putt lipped out and it was all over, Green/McColgan were Dormie 1 and Team Baxter had reached the 12.5 points required to win the cup.

Denis Duncan, who followed the last match for three holes said, “I was a mixed bag of nerves and excitement, I wanted to watch but I also was caught with leaving, as I didn't want them to feel any added pressure with watching as they had been doing well up to that point.

When McColgan holed the winning putt there was a feeling of disappointment but proud of my team especially Curly and Ally as they were fighting a single fight for a good few holes.”

It was another RyDov Cup worthy of the season closer. Team Duncan’s defence of the Cup fell a point short, but the team fought to the end. Team Baxter in the end walked away with the win and one that will ring through the ages. A dominant performance in the afternoon coupled with a knife edge morning result was enough for Greig Baxter to etch his name in RyDov Cup history.