New competition is a success

St Fillans defeat Comrie by huge margin to take the honour

St Fillans Golf Club secured the inaugural Famous Grouse Cup as they defeated Comrie in a weekend tournament that followed the format of the Ryder Cup.

Played over three days, St Fillans ran out comprehensive winners with a winning score of 23¼-8¾ over their opponents as their quality shone through.

The Friday of the tournament was a day dedicated to seniors, with 24 players taking part in a fourball betterball format over 18-holes, and another 16 being involved in a nine-hole tournament. Each team member was supplied with a team cap and the players were announced onto the tee giving a real sense of occasion as they made their way out for the matches. The day was dominated by St Fillans who gained a commanding lead from the start.

The home side continued to build upon that lead on the Saturday when the gents and ladies had their turn in foursome and fourball formats. St Fillans claimed five of the six points available from the foursomes and a further win in the fourballs almost concluded the contest before the final day of play.

However, play on the Sunday was required by the narrowest of margins and it was the turn of the singles format with each club fielding a team of 12 players. It looked as though a major upset could be on the cards at the halfway mark as match after match was going in Comrie’s favour but St Fillans were able to turn it around on the back-nine and won the contest by a large margin.

Around 90 members gathered for the traditional final dinner to see the trophy presented to St Fillans.

The organisers hoped that, whilst the whole event was based around the Ryder Cup, the members of each club could share in the experience inspired by the format and cement relationships between the two clubs for many years to come.

The Famous Grouse Cup will be staged again in 2014 and will be hosted by Comrie as they look to avenge their defeat in this year's competition.

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