Craigielaw crowned Edinburgh Summer League champions for second time

Craigielaw are the Edinburgh Summer League champions for a second time after beating Bruntsfield Links in this season’s title decider at Kingsknowe.

The East Lothian club claimed the crown for the first time in 2023 with a win in the final against Royal Burgess before losing out to Duddingston at the same stage last year.

It was mission accomplished again, though, for a side co-captained by Guy Dalziel and Kenny Glen as Craigielaw triumphed 5.5-3.5 in the final of this year’s Rowanbank Financial Consultants-sponsored event.

Craigielaw show off the Edinburgh Summer League trophy at Kingsknowe. Pictured are: Back row, from left: Kenny Glen, Angus Carrick, Gerry Gilmour, Marc Reid, and Mark Watt. Front row, from left: Scott Cunningham, Guy Dalziel, Chris Martin and Sean McGarvey | Contributed

Craigielaw were worthy winners, having topped their group, beating Prestonfield 8.5-0.5 in the quarter-finals then pipping a strong Royal Burgess side thanks to Angus Carrick winning a play-off hole after a 4.5-4.5 tie in the semi-finals at Royal Musselburgh.

In the final, former Scottish Amateur champion Carrick finished all square with reinstated amateur Stuart McLaren after a ding-dong battle.

Marc Reid earned Craigielaw's first point with a 6&5 win over Donald Livingston, followed by 2&1 victories from Glen, Sean McGarvey and Dalziel.

Bruntsfield secured points late in the order with wins from Drew McIntosh, Mark Kernaghan and Steve Smith.

However, Chris Martin secured the deciding point in match No 7 with a one-hole victory over Keith MacKenzie.

Individual consistency was key to Craigielaw's success with Glen, McGarvey and Reid leading the league's MVP standings. Glen's stellar campaign earned him back-to-back MVP titles, marking the third consecutive season a Craigielaw player has taken home the league's top individual prize.

McGarvey, meanwhile, achieved a 100 per cent win rate from the 11 games he played in the competition.

Craigielaw co-captains Kenny Glen and Guy Dalziel show off the trophy at Kingsknowe | Contributed

"We are delighted to win the Edinburgh Golf League for the second time,” said co-captains Glen and Dalziel. “We were disappointed narrowly losing to Duddingston in the final last year, but it is great to get our hands back on the trophy once again.

"It means a lot to represent Craigielaw because the club looks after us so well as a team, so it's great to keep bringing trophies back."

Craigielaw will now play Bonnyton, winners of the Glasgow Boundary Bell, in the Inter-Cities match at Mortonhall on 4 October.