Autumn Meeting & Monthly Medal. King’s. Sat 10th Sept.
5th last year. Here’s hoping for similar weather!
Autumn Meeting Preview – King’s Course
The Autumn Meeting returns to Gleneagles’ King’s Course this Saturday, the last throw of the dice for Dun Whinny’s two grand old trophies. The Championship Cup, presented in 1936 by founder John C. Dougal, will once more honour the season’s most reliable handicap golfer, while Lord Rollo’s 1976 Duncrub Trophy will settle the scratch argument. Thick rough and summer cross-winds bloodied many a card in August; now the fairways lie bronzed and fast, but early forecasts promise a lively north-easterly that could turn the closing stretch into a war of attrition.
David McColgan, paired at 8 : 10 with Tariq Ali and Iain Atchison, carries the Duncrub lead on 165. His advantage is narrow, yet the draw suits him: first wave, fresh greens, and the chance to post a number before the breeze stiffens. Four shots back sits Ken Marshall, who goes at 8 : 40 with Alistair Shand and Aidan O’Carroll. Marshall has twice played himself into contention only to leak strokes on the inward half; if the putter complies he can turn the screw on McColgan. Mark Higham, the summer victor, anchors the 9 : 20 trio with Sandy Grant and Paul Lewis. Higham’s 80 in August proved that precision can still trump power on King’s; a repeat in the seventies would force McColgan to find something under par of his own. Andy Lothian, the other man within five, is a late withdrawal, while Andy Barton—second in both orders of merit after spring fireworks—has elected to miss the finale, leaving his 169 gross and 145 net totals fixed and suddenly vulnerable.
The handicap race tilts decisively toward Kevin Beattie, who leads on 141 and tees off at 9 : 10 alongside Mark Nicolson and Rob Crockart. Beattie’s spring 69 still glistens on the ledger; a composed nett 74 or better should engrave his name. Yet danger lurks in his own group, for Crockart sits just eight adrift and possesses the kind of compact action built for gusty September golf. Ken Marshall, already hunting gross glory, also lies on 149 in the handicap reckoning; a tidy nett 71 could propel him into double contention. Paul Lewis, five back on 153 and desperate to erase a ragged summer inward nine, completes the cast of plausible challengers.
With Barton absent and Patrick Elsmie likewise scratching, the arithmetic is clear: McColgan must hold his nerve, Beattie must hold his form, and the pack must pounce early. The first fairway will still be dew-flecked when Scott Williamson strikes the opening drive at eight o’clock, but by mid-afternoon the King’s Course will have issued its verdict. Will steadfast McColgan and metronomic Beattie clinch the season, or will a late flurry from Marshall, Higham or Crockart rewrite the plinths beneath those storied trophies?
Saturday evening’s engraving chisels are poised; the ghosts of Dun Whinny’s past champions wait to welcome two new names—if, that is, the autumn winds permit.
