Just twelve days after Zach Johnson lifted the most famous claret jug in the world on the Old Course at the Home of Golf in St Andrews, the Greencard Golf Tour landed in Fife for what turned out to be the closest tournament of our season and for many years.
Perhaps the Most Famous Scene in Golf
After completing the research on this event last year, I was very excited about running it, and just had a feeling it would be a great venue for a Greencard Golf Tour event – and it didn’t let us down.
Our base for the four days was the Fairmont St Andrews. The hotel enjoys a spectacular location overlooking the Torrence Course and the sea beyond. The town of St Andrews with its plentiful supply of bars and restaurants is only a short drive from the hotel.
Looking from the 5 Star Fairmont Hotel Down to the “Home of Golf”
Mark Dominates on the Torrence
The first round was held on the Fairmont Torrence. The course is perched atop the cliffs that are situated above St Andrews Bay. In a region famous for being the home of golf, the course manages to hold it’s own against the area’s other links courses. The designer, Sam Torrance, has transformed this course into a challenging links layout that looks like it has been there forever. The dramatic final stretch of holes is both scenic and challenging with greens that play right along the edge of the water.
Spectacular View From the Torrence Course Across the Castle Course and Over to St Andrews
The weather was pleasant as we set off, although we were warned that the rain was due to arrive later during our round. Mark Stacey, requiring five Tour Points to qualify for the finals, made an excellent start with 22 points on the front nine. He then followed this with 17 on the back, coming in with the day’s best score of 39.
Maggie Lowe, was also looking for the remaining tour points and required a top three finish to secure her place at the finals week. A first round of 35 put her in second place after the first round. Glyn Pepper scored 33 and Chris Reading, on his first Greencard event completed the day with 32.
Claire and Neil Join the Party
The second round was played at Ladybank, this provided an entirely different test of golf. The course was originally established as a six hole affair in 1879 by Old Tom Morris himself. It expanded to nine holes in 1910 and 18 holes in 1958. It has been used for qualifying for the British Open due to its challenging but fair layout. Features include long, narrow tree-lined fairways and well-manicured greens. It is fair to say that accuracy was key to achieving a good score.
Ladybank Golf Club – Venue of the Second Round of our St Andrews Event
Claire Howell and Neil McGarva led the way both completing the day with a tremendous score of 39. Anthony Trafford and Paul Speakman both made their move up the leaderboard with 34 points each. After yesterday’s fantastic round, Mark couldn’t quite reproduce the same form and completed the day with 29 points, but was still very well placed.
At the half way stage Neil with 70 points had a two shot lead over Claire and Mark. Maggie Lowe was a further three shots back followed by Glyn Pepper, Paul Speakman and Reuben Fielding.
“Homeboy” Hits the Front
The next day, we travelled the short distance to Crail Golf Club for the third round. The view of the coastline from the approach road to the clubhouse is stunning and with the weather still behaving we were looking forward to the round. The course was actually designed by Tom Morris and founded in 1786, making it the seventh oldest golf club in the world. The dramatic seaside landscape is used to full effect with some wonderful golf holes.
Crail Golf Club: the 7th Oldest Golf Club in the World – founded in 1786
There are several blind shots and certain lines that are favourable from the tee for the approach shots. As a member of the club Neil McGarva was red hot favourite to claim the best score of the day. At the turn, he was one under gross and took 24 points from the front nine. Another 18 points followed on the back nine resulting in an overall total of 42. Even with his advantage of being a member this was a tremendous round of golf and deservedly gave him large advantage going into the final round.
However, the great scoring did not finish there, Reuben Fielding shot his best score on Greencard for years carding a 41, just one behind Neil. Rumours shot around the group that Reuben was secretly also a member of the club! Meanwhile, Mark Stacey had another solid round with 36 points. Anthony Trafford had scored 34 in round two and now had 35 in round three, surely he couldn’t score a 36 in the last round….?!
So with one round to go, Neil with 112 had a commanding eight shot lead over Mark. Reuben and Claire were a further two shots back and completed the final four ball. If a winner was going to come from any further back, it would have to be a tremendous round of golf.
The Stacey Sturge at the Stunning Kingsbarns Golf Links
The last day, we made the short journey to Kingsbarns for the final round. All of the courses were a pleasure to play but Kingbarns was always the headline course and it did not disappoint on any level. We arrived at the club under brilliant blue sky and sunshine. The conditions were just perfect and it was not too long before the cameras were out!
Early Morning Shot From the Clubhouse at Kingsbarns Golf Links – the Signature Course on our St Andrews Golf Holiday
Kingsbarns Golf Links has to be one of the best courses I’ve ever had the privilege to play. It is just an incredible setting, every hole is very fair, but at the same time tests your skill set. Kingsbarns Golf Links is simply a must play golf course for your golf bucket list.
As the leaders set off, we all assumed that Neil would hold on to his lead and claim his expected victory on home soil. However, golf is a strange old game and one should never assume a result.
Watch Our Short Video of the Stunning Kingsbarns Golf links
Ironically, Anthony Trafford did score 36 points to complete his amazing 34, 35, 36 scoring sequence! This would be enough to move him into 5th place. Glyn Pepper, Neil Marr, Pauline Crosthwaite and Claire Howell all came in with a great score of 35 points.
This ensured that they finished in 9th, 8th, 6th and 3rd respectively. Reuben had fallen away and completed the day with 27, enough to secure a final position of 7th overall. So it all came down to whether Mark could possibly catch Neil. At the turn, Mark had 19 to Neil’s 17 and the gap was down to six.
Building to an Exciting Finish Over the Closing Holes at Kingsbarns Golf Links
However, the odds were still stacked in Neil’s favour at this point. Mark kept chipping away at the lead but on the 18th hole, his tee shot veered to the right and into deep rough. It was touch and go, but Claire managed to find the ball within the allotted five minutes. The approach shot at the 18th hole is extremely tough with a long carry over a water hazard and onto an elevated green.
Unfortunately for Neil his approach came up slightly short and landed in the banking. From this position, despite a great putt, he was unable to score a point.
It’s a Tie!
Neil finished the day with 30 points and a superb overall total of 143. Mark completed his round in 38, and also managed to reach the same overall total. After 72 holes over some of the best courses in the St Andrews area we had a tie!
Kingsbarns Golf Links: The Final Holes Gave us the Closest Finish to a Greencard Golf Tour Event so far this Season
As regular Greencard Tour players know in the event of there being a tie at the end of an event unlike Zach Johnson at The Open we don’t have a play-off. Our tied events are decided on the countback rule whereby the highest stableford scoring for the final round will win the tournament. In this instance Mark scored 38 points to Neil’s 30 and therefore Mark claimed the most unlikely victory on countback and as a result qualified for the finals.
Greencard Tour Captured by the Magic & Beauty of the “Home of Golf”
It was truly a tremendous effort. Neil has played consistently all year and already qualified for the finals week back in February, with his victory in Marrakech, third place in our previous Greencard Golf Tour event in Ireland. His second place finish here has also taken him to the top of the 2015 Greencard Golf Tour Order of Merit.
Our congratulations to Mark for his fine victory and a huge thank you to everyone for making the event such a success. I think it is safe to say that Greencard will return to the home of golf before too long and we highly recommend that you join us. It is a magical place.
