The Invitational Tournament holds a very special place in the EuroDov Tour calendar. The season is underway, the players are swung off the winter rust and they are ready to do combat.

It also holds the unique position of the only Major, or event on Tour, that you need to qualify for. The top 9 players from the 2023 Montgomery Cup make up the field alongside exemptions. In 2024 the qualifying field was made up of Callum McNeill, the winner of the Montgomery Cup in 2023, Barry Cunningham, Richard Mair, Daniel Peck, David McColgan, Stuart Allan and Paul Gowens and they were joined – through exemption – by 2021 winner Andy Love and 2022 winner Kevin Brannan.

The first two Invitational’s were won by players claiming their first and second Major in back-to-back outings so all eyes were on Callum McNeill to see if he could repeat Andy Love’s feat of 2021. Barry Cunningham was also discussed after missing out on his second Major on a countback at the 2023 Montgomery Cup could he take a step from single Major winner to multiple winners in 2024?

And there was of course the perennial question, could David McColgan complete the career Grand Slam?

McColgan holds 4 Montgomery Cups, 4 EuroDov Cups and 2 Order of Merits but in two attempts hasn’t managed to get his hands on the coveted Invitational trophy as yet.

The field arrived at an atmospheric Tulliallan Golf Course, home of the Invitational Tournament since its inception. The course is the perfect canvass for the event and with its challenging opening 4 holes and closing 4 holes it always has a say in the destination of the trophy.

As the opening tee shot was hit, the low-lying cloud began to lift and the sun signalled the start of a bright and exciting day for the second Major of the season.

The opening hole demands a good tee shot, either laying short or taking on the corner, either way tree danger lies to the left, right and in front for balls overshooting the turn. However, Richard Mair, Stuart Allan and Kevin Brannan made short work of the hole carding the first birdies of the day and the tournament began with a bang!

The second hole, a perilous drive with out of bounds along the right side is a risk reward hole, short and accessible a good drive can serve you well and serve Mair and Brannan well it did as the pair went back-to-back birdies to open their tournament.

One of the shots of the tournament was fired in the first 3 holes. A long arduous hole, the 3rd hole claimed nearly more strokes than any other hole. But after a thunderous drive to the centre of the fairway, Stuart Allan fired a long iron to within inches of the hole. So close was the shot that he had players in the group in front walking back to see if he had holed it. He’d tap that in for an eagle and with Mair and Brannan managing bogeys at best Allan took the solo lead.

A bogey for Allan, however, at the tricky par 3 4th hole saw him slip into joint lead as Kevin Brannan carded a rare birdie to get back to the top of the leader board.

The 5th hole feels like the first hole that players can open their shoulders off the tee. In the middle group McColgan found the right edge rough with 150 to the pin, he sent a 9 iron pin high and 8 feet right of the pin.

A confident stroke and he had his first birdie of the day.

In the group behind however, Allan was in trouble. After losing his first tee shot he was three off the tee and managed a double bogey to stem the tide, however Brannan carded a par to hold the solo lead through 5 and would retain it after a par at the 6th as well.

A hole in front McColgan had driven 40 yards short of the green, and a delightful flop shot left him with a kick in birdie, which he duly dispatched. Brannan managed a par and the par of them were tied for the lead.

The 8th is a tricky hole, with a number of ways to play. After finding himself greenside in 2, McColgan proceeded to double bogey the hole and after birdies on 5 and 7 was back level par and 1 off the lead.

However, Brannan’s bogey on the par 4 9th was bettered by McColgan who parred the hole, and the pair were tied after 9.

Whilst the pair were tied, Stuart Allan and Callum McNeill were just 1 back and Richard Mair found himself 3 back from the top of the leader board.

McColgan and Brannan opened the back nine with a brace of pars but Allan wanted in on the action and after a birdie-par opening 2 holes he too was joint leader.

McColgan would take the solo lead with a par on 12 as the other 2 bogeyed but a par on 13 and birdies from Allan and Brannan saw the leader board busy at the top again.

However, it wouldn’t last long. After his eagle on the 3rd hole Stuart Allan was in the mood and on the long par 5 he sent his approach to 3 feet of the hole and slid it home for his second eagle of the day and the outright lead by 2, the most anyone led by all day.

Allan held the lead through 17 holes, despite a double bogey on the 16th. He’d double bogey the 18th to finish 2 over par, but a par on the 18th for McColgan saw him in at lunch 1-over par and in the lead.

After 18 holes the leader board stood as; McColgan +1, Allan +2, Brannan +2, Mair +3, McNeill +4, Peck +8, Cunningham +9, Gowens +11, Love +16.

After lunch the players were back out, 18 holes all that separated one player from Major glory. It was tightly packed leader board, and the twists and turns of the next 4 hours would make the 2024 Invitational Tournament one to remember.

The first turn was Stuart Allan, a birdie on the opening hole in the morning was matched after he sent a thunderous 3 wood towering over the right-hand trees to the centre of the fairway. A Par from McColgan – also matching his morning score – was enough to stay tied at the top with Allan.

However, McColgan got in bother from the tee on the 2nd hole and after a great up and down he managed a bogey, but Allan’s par would pull one in front, but he wasn’t alone. Richard Mair was opening his afternoon account in the exact same fashion as the morning round – back-to-back birdies saw him claw his way to the top and tied for the lead with Allan.

Mair would forge on to solidify his lead, a par on the 3rd hole and birdie on the 4th stretched his lead, but with McColgan dropping 4 shots, Allan dropping 1 and Brannan dropping 5 shots in the opening 4 holes Mair was in clean air and sprinting away.

By the time we’d reached the turn in the afternoon Mair had a 3 shots lead over McColgan, with McNeill one shot further back and Allan and Brannan 5 off the lead.

Mair and McColgan managed to open their back nine par-birdie, but a par by McColgan on 12 and a double from Mair saw the lead close to 1.

In the group in front Mair managed a par on the tricky 13th hole. McColgan, who hit a sublime drive in the morning hit a carbon copy in the afternoon, however he also hit a poor wedge shot just like the morning round. Standing over his putt, just off the front of the green he read it beautifully and watched the putt drop for a birdie and tie the leader Mair.

The pair got birdies on the long par 5 14th and would match each other all the way through the 16th hole.
As the last group made their way to the 17th tee Mair and McColgan were 4 in front of the nearest player, McNeill and 5 off Allan – who deserves a special mention on the back nine. After opening double bogey-bogey, he ran off 4 straight birdies 13 thru 16 in an impressive stretch of holes that saw his driving reach unmatched ability in the field.

In the group in front Mair had completed the 17th hole and scored a par. McColgan tied for the lead sent his driver straight down the middle of the fairway and left himself 50 yards into the pin.

Those following the action on split screen couldn’t have seen two more opposing shots. From the 18th tee Mair, whose driving had been the solid foundation his game is built on collapsed. He snap hooked his tee shot and found trees just 100 yards off the fairway.

Back on the 17th McColgan steadied himself over a 60-degree wedge and watched it first bounce just short of the hole, then spin to rest just 2 feet from the hole.

As McColgan waited on the 17th green he saw the tree trouble Mair was in and watched his second shot slam into a near by tree, it was clear there was drama up ahead.

McColgan settled over his putt and with a birdie on 17 he took the lead with one hole to go.

Standing on the 18th tee McColgan knew he had a one-shot lead but wasn’t aware of what was unfolding ahead of him.

All he knew was one more good hole, and history would be made. One more drive, and he could allow himself a second to think about an 11 Major victory. As the fairway cleared, so did McColgan’s mind and as he connected with the ball there was no doubt it was destined for only one place – the centre of the fairway.

Walking up the 18th fairway was one of the first times McColgan had allowed himself a smile and a light-hearted joke with Allan and Brannan. The sense of relief was later increased when waiting to hit his approach to the 18th McColgan saw Mair’s triple bogey finish giving him a 4-shot lead and 72 yards to the pin.

Facing an almost identical yardage to the morning, McColgan hit the same 56-degree wedge to 7 feet and burning the edge for his birdie, relaxed as he tapped in his par and with-it grabbing history along the way.

At the start of the season, I gave McColgan an 11% chance of completing the career grand slam saying “This feels like Groundhog Day for McColgan who has been chasing the Grand Slam since The Invitational was introduced in 2022. McColgan has 10 Majors to his name (4 – Montgomery Cups, 3 – James Braid Quaich’s, 3 – EuroDov Cups) but finds himself yearning for the The Invitational as the only Major needed to complete the collection.

He has never been far off from winning it – 2 shots in 2022 and 4 in 2023 – but equally he’s never really been in the hunt.

As the Tour has expanded his ability to notch up the wins has decreased, and I am sure he’d swap it all in 2024 just to get his hands on the Invitational.”

He’s not only done it, but he hasn’t had to swap anything for the process, he now holds the EuroDov Cup, the Invitational Tournament…and the question on most people’s lips is, can he win the Grand Slam all in one year?

There is still a long road to go but with 2 in the bag, it’s got to be on his mind.

That’s our round up of the 2024 Invitational Tournament, it wasn’t to be for McNeill or Cunningham and Brannan and Love could recapture the trophy. In the end Mair came closest to winning his maiden Major – something that is surely in his not too distant future – but the golfing gods were looking down on McColgan in 2024 as he wins his first Invitational Tournament, his 11th Major and the career Grand Slam.