By George, the Dispatch goes to Carrickvale

AFTER waiting for nearly 30 years, George Alexander finally saw his golfing dream come true on Saturday when his beloved Carrickvale lifted the Dispatch Trophy for the first time.

To the delight of a man who lives and breathes the club, the Vale, represented by David Ewen, David Yorkston, Craig Elliot and Darren Coyle, beat defending champions Silverknowes by 3 and 1 in the final. They become the third first-time winners of the Edinburgh Evening News-sponsored event in seven years.

"This is the happiest day in the club's history," beamed Alexander. "It's a terrific achievement by the boys and I'm so proud of them.

"I've been coming up to the Dispatch Trophy for nearly 30 years now and the best we've done prior to this was reaching the quarter finals on two occasions."

Ronnie Summers, the Carrickvale club captain, added: "As this was the 108th staging of the event, it obviously takes us a wee while to warm up. But, having won it now, we'll be back next year to try and do it again."

In Saturday morning's semi-finals, Carrickvale had their bottom couple, Elliot and Coyle, to thank for a 2 and 1 victory over BBT, a Turnhouse team that will surely add its name to the famous trophy before too long.

Up against a formidable duo in Steven Armstrong and Olly McCrone, Elliot and Coyle bagged eight birdies in 16 holes to finish five up, cancelling out the three hole defeat suffered upfront by Ewen and Yorkston.

In the other match, Silverknowes beat Scottish Life by 5 and 3, mainly thanks to Tom Caldwell and Graham Robertson, who finished 6 up in the top match.

As is always the case, an army of fans arrived at the Braids to see Silverknowes in the final and they had high hopes of watching their team become the first side in nearly 20 years to make a successful defence of the trophy.

Right from the outset, however, they could see that Carrickvale were going to be tough nuts to crack, having grown in confidence since they almost made a first round exit eight days earlier.

In the top match, Caldwell and Robertson got their noses in front with a birdie at the third and were two up at the turn against Ewen and Yorkston. Behind, Silverknowes won the first with a birdie but Elliot responded by holing from 30 feet for a birdie at the second and, from the moment they three putted the third to lose that as well, it all became a bit of a struggle for Keith Reilly and Ian Doig.

Carrickvale went two up at the sixth and that lead was extended when Elliot hit a superb tee shot to set up a hole winning birdie two at the short ninth.

Both Carrickvale couples won the long tenth with birdies - Ewen holed an eight footer across the slope upfront while Elliot was almost on in two at the back - and, at that point, they went two up over the double foursome.

Caldwell and Robertson then won the 11th with a birdie but, following a booming drive from Yorkston up the 12th, Carrickvale won that, Ewen almost holing an eagle putt from the front of the green.

Minutes later, Doig sank a 12 foot birdie putt on the same green to reduce the deficit to three in the back match and, as the game entered the notorious closing stretch at the Braids, it was still all to play for.

Upfront, Silverknowes suffered a costly blow when they lost the 14th to a par, cutting their lead to just one, while Reilly was unable to convert a good birdie chance at the 15th in the back match.

Caught up in the excitement of the occasion, Coyle them played out of turn off the tee at the 16th and had to reload. Talk about a pressure situation but, not for the first time in the week, he was up to the task, hitting his second drive to almost the same spot as the first one, just short of the green.

After all that, the hole was eventually halved in pars, edging Carrickvale closer to victory. "What are they doing to me," groaned Alexander from the top of the hill as he then watched Coyle race a birdie putt well past the hole at the 17th.

After coming up short with their tee short there, Reilly made amends by holing an eight foot par putt but, from just inside that, Elliot followed him in, the ball doing a lap of honour around the hole, to clinch the trophy as they finished three up.

The top match was on the 18th green at the same time and, though it actually didn't really matter in the end, Ewen holed a five footer to win the hole with a par as the Carrickvale duo, after staging a brave fightback, eventually finished all square.

"This is a real shock," said Elliot, still one of the top players in Lothians golf even though he doesn't play in many of the big amateur events these days.

"We almost went out on the first night and to win the Dispatch Trophy for the Vale, where I've been a member from my junior days, means more than anything else I've achieved in golf.

"The four of us all owe so much to George Alexander and his wife, Babs, for their support and also giving us the confidence to believe we could go all the way."

Ewen, a Turnhouse member who only joined Carrckvale on the back of his friendship with Elliot, dedicated the win to his young son, Jamie. "I was playing out there for Jamie, who was born two months premature," said Ewen, 40, who is waiting for an implant operation to help with his hearing.

Elliot, Coyle and Ewen all heaped praise on Yorkston, who had been drafted into the team for the quarter finals as a replacement for the two times Scottish Mid-Amateur champion, Allyn Dick.

"I knew before the tournament started that I'd be required if the team were still in on the Thursday," said Yorkston, a 24-year-old who works for the Royal Bank. "I came up for a practice round last Wednesday and, thankfully, Davie Ewen and I gelled very well."

As always, Silverknowes were gracious in defeat. "We are disappointed, especially after coming so close to making a successful defence of the trophy," said Reilly.

"We had a good run, though, and all credit to the Carrickvale boys. They were very solid in the final.

"We are pleased for them as they are a club we are friendly with - but we'll be back again next year to try and win the trophy back."

Results

Semi-Finals: Carrickvale (D Ewen and D Yorkston 0; C Elliot and D Coyle 5); BBT (S Robb and N Anderson 3; S Armstrong and O McCrone 0). Carrickvale won 2 and 1.

Scottish Life (K Mackay and P Mitchell 0; A Smith and S Walker 1); Silverknowes (T Caldwell and G Robertson 6; K Reilly and I Doig 0). Silverknowes won 5 and 3.

Final: Carrickvale (D Ewen and D Yorkston 0; C Elliot and D Coyle 3); Silverknowes (T Caldwell and G Robertson 0; K Reilly and I Doig 0). Carrickvale won 3 and 1.