Bunkered Matchplay Challenge at The Carrick at Cameron House

Drama, excitement, a nail-biter of a finish, superb golf, an immaculate course, perfect weather, two teams bristling with determination and two captains equally as resolute in their desire to claim the spoils. Yep, the 2007 bunkered Matchplay Challenge ticked all the boxes, and then some.

Staged over two days – three counting the hugely successful, star-studded Pro-Am – at the magnificent Carrick at Cameron House in early October, the return of the bunkered Matchplay Challenge after a three-year hiatus had been much anticipated by people from all corners of Scottish golf.

Luckily, then, it proved well worth the wait. Read on for a full report from one of Scottish golf’s tournaments of the year.

The Ryder Cup-style bunkered Matchplay Challenge between the best of the Tartan Tour and their amateur counterparts was first staged in 2004 at Cardrona where the professionals took the spoils after a rain-shortened event.

As such, talk of unfinished business was heard coming from both camps in the build-up to this match.
For the Tartan Tour pros – led by three-time Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher – victory was essential to prove that they were worthy winners last time around.

For George Crawford’s team of young amateurs, well, they had no shortage of incentives: settling the score for their defeat last time around, the bragging rights that unquestionably go with beating the pros and the honour of striking a blow and winning for amateur golfers all across the country.

And so it was two severely determined teams who turned up at The Carrick, primed and ready for battle in what would prove to be a closer match than anyone could have anticipated. Far closer.

Indeed, after the first morning’s foursomes matches, the teams were deadlocked on three points apiece, and, remarkably, the afternoon session saw a repeat of the morning’s result, the teams sharing the fourballs 3-3 to leave the match delicately poised at 6-6 at the end of day one.

That meant there was all to play for as the final day and the 12 singles matches dawned. Surely, something would separate the teams at the end of those games and a sudden-death play-off would be avoided – surely. Well, it certainly seemed that way as the top of the order closed out their matches the following day. The amateurs, indeed, looked to have one hand on the trophy as the opening matches drew to a close: they claimed 31/2 points from the first five to take control of the match.

However, the PGA pros drew on all their experience to fight back and claim 41/2 points from the next six games to lead 12-11 with one match left.

With nothing other than a win good enough to force the match into extra holes, former Scottish Strokeplay champion Scott Henry rose to the challenge, beating Colin Gillies one-up, in what Gillies later revealed was his final match in the event with his retirement from competitive golf looming.

Almost unfathomably, that meant, for the third straight session, nothing...