McDonald is Cowglen\'s oldest champ

John mcdonald has been crowned Cowglen Golf Club’s club champion for the second time, after also winning it back in 1998, writes Craig Dennett.

McDonald, 60, is officially the oldest champion in the club’s history, the previous having been 44. He has quite a golfing pedigree, too, having played in the 2008 Senior Open at Royal Troon, as well as being capped for the Scottish senior international side in 2012.

His run in the club championship almost ended prematurely, as he found himself four-down through ten holes of his first round match.

Thankfully for McDonald, he came back to win the match on the last hole and continued to make his way to the final where he came up against defending champion Alan Waugh, who was trying to make his own history, having won the title the past three years in a row.

The club’s head PGA pro Simon Payne was thoroughly impressed with McDonald’s battling qualities en route to the final.
Payne said: “There was no indication John was in any kind of form heading into this year’s championship. He’s a very good player and hits balls for at least half an hour every day but he was so far down in his first match of the competition that there were no signs he was playing well enough to lift the trophy.

“Even when he got to the final, he was a bit concerned about being able to play 36 holes in the one day. He hired an electric trolley but was still suffering from a bit of cramp near the end. I think that makes his win an even more remarkable achievement.

“It’s brilliant for him. He’d been telling me for years that he wanted to win the club championship for a second time because he thought if he only won it once, people might think he had had a lucky year.”

In Other News...