The EuroDov Tour has perfected expansion and announcements since its inception in 2013. Providing new platforms for the membership, consolidating existing events and then launching new ones.

In 2024 the Tour introduced the Matchplay tournament, it was the first new event since 2021 and the introduction of the Order of Merit and Anstruther Medals.

The Matchplay tournament was to be the first singles matchplay event hosted by the Tour, outside of the RyDov or Carnegie Cups.

In 2024 it attracted 16 players including 8 of the top 10 players in the Official Tour Rankings. Round 1 went largely to form with McColgan (1), Allan (3), Love (8), Connor (4) and Gowens (6) all dispatching lower ranked players.

However, McNeill, ranked 9th, demolished 7th ranked Ally Greenshields 8&6 to book a place against number 1 ranked McColgan in the quarter finals. Likewise, Morrison (12) beat Brannan (5) 2&1 moving on to face Allan in the next round and on the other side of the draw Orr (15) beat second seeded player Mair 2Up to move to the Quarters.

On the number 1 seed side of the draw the quarters went as expected. McColgan beat McNeill (9) 4&2 but Allan (3) needed 2 extra holes to see off Morrison (12) setting up a semi-final against McColgan.

However, on the other side of the draw it was upset galore Orr (15) who had put out 2nd seed Mair was at it again, this time putting Love (8) to the sword in a 4&3 victory. Gowen’s in the other quarter final would replicate the score putting 4th ranked player Graeme Connor out.

The semi-finals were set, but in the intervening period Orr and his partner celebrated the arrival of their first child, Orr – rightly so – cut his season short and forfeited the semi-final sending Paul Gowens in to the final.

The semi-final between McColgan and Allan was played over the Kings course, in a stern wind.

Allan got off to the perfect start with a birdie-par combo to take a two-hole lead.

He’d find trouble on his approach into the 3rd and McColgan would win a hole back. The Par 4 4th hole is the hardest hole on the course and was playing straight into the teeth of the wind.

McColgan’s drive found the fairway and a 2 iron found his ball resting pin high 15 feet left of the pin, he’d make par and square the match.

Allan found bother off the tee on the par 3 5th and after a tough wedge shot found the green then rolled off again, he’d concede the hole for McColgan to take a 1 hole lead.

McColgan would go 2Up after a lost ball on 7 cost Allan the hole, but a sublime birdie on the par 3 8th, after McColgan found the bunker pulled it back to 1.

After tee trouble for Allan, McColgan’s 2-iron off the tee sat perfect in the middle of the fairway and his 9-iron to 2 feet secured a birdie and the win. He’d make the turn 2UP.

McColgan was putting on a driving masterclass in the semi-final having hit 7 out of 7 fairways and he did the same on the challenging 10th hole. Allan would lose his tee shot and subsequently concede the hole when McColgan’s third shot found the centre of the green.

McColgan was 3Up and the pair would half the next two holes, the 12th halved by a 20 foot left to right breaking putt by McColgan.

The 13th hole was the first – and only fairway missed by McColgan in the match – Allan would follow him but whilst McColgan’s was recovered in a good position Allan lost his. The hole would eventually be conceded and McColgan was 4UP.

The driveable 14th was halved in birdies and then Allan delivered back to back birdies to claw it back to 3 on the 15th.

At dormie 3 Allan had the honour and when his tee shot found the tall grass, McColgan sent his ball to the centre of the green and the match was over. It was a tough fought match, with the weather no doubt having a say in the proceedings.

After a short break for some lunch and refreshments David McColgan (1) and Paul Gowens (6) made their way to the first tee of the Queen’s Course for the Final.

The first hole – after lunch – is always a bit of a tester but the pair navigated it in pars. First blood was to McColgan who found the centre of the par 3 2nd and walked away with a par and 1UP.

The par 4 3rd hole is long, and longer when it is straight into the wind. McColgan continued his driving form splitting the fairway, but his approach hadn’t accounted for the wind, and he found the deep greenside bunker, an error Gowens capitalized on to square the match.

A half was secured at 4 but McColgan won the par 3 5th after Gowens found the bunker from the tee. 1Up McColgan. The par 4 6th – hardest hole on the course, straight into the wind – was an exhausting hole that would be halved in double bogeys.

McColgan would miss his first fairway of the match – second of the day – and end up playing most of the hole up the 12th fairway.

The par 5 7th is where the course starts to turn from the prevailing wind, however Gowens who had rough trouble, then had to contend with the wind struggled, McColgan back to finding fairways carded a par and took the match to 2UP. He’d take the match to 3UP after Gowens fought his way up 8 as well.

Heading to the turn McColgan had sent a bullet of a driver around the corner and was lying in prime position, however his approach was pin high left 15 feet from the pin.

Gowens had navigated the hole well and lay above the hole for 3. Taking 2 putts to complete the hole he had carded a 4, McColgan on the other hand raced his first putt by and burned the edge on the way back, his first major mistake of the final and back to 2Up.

The pair would halve 10 and 11 and head to 12 where Gowens had 2 shots. After Gowens hit the fairway and sent his 3 wood 70 yards short of the green, McColgan’s drive couldn’t be found. Missing only his 2nd fairway of the round (3rd of the day) his ball was located in a deep bundle of grass, he’d card a 5 and lose the hole, back to 1UP.

On the par 3 13th McColgan found the heart of the green 40 feet from the pin, Gowens was in the bunker. McColgan would card his second 3 putt of the round and it would cost him again, back to all square.

The 14th hole typified this match so far. McColgan sent a 6-iron towering in the wind towards the pin 189 yards away, it would pitch a foot short and finish 6 inches from the hole.

Gowens’ drive would find the deep rough left, but he’d play the deftest of wedges and use the banking to gather ball towards the hole and bring it to rest just a foot from the hole. Halved in birdies, all square for the day.

McColgan would take advantage of his length on the driveable par 4 and card a birdie, enough to win the hole and go 1UP with 3 to play.

A half on 16 sent them to 17 and Gowens and McColgan would ying and yang from the tee. McColgan’s ball was right down the throat of the pin but landed front edge and stopped dead. Gowens sent his 7 wood towards the hole and using the banking gathered it back to the green but sat as far through the pin as McColgan was short.

McColgan would slip up and make his third 3 putt of the day and go to the 18th tee all square.

Gowens had 2 shots on this hole and sent his drive right down the middle. McColgan, deliberated between a driver and a 4 wood and opted for the former. However, he caught it out of the toe, and it came to rest on the slope at the front of the 1st tee box.

Advantage Gowens.

Gowens hit a 3wood to the front edge of the green around 30 feet from the pin. McColgan – with the clubhouse, and trees between him and the ball – settled himself on the slope and hit a wedge over the obstruction into the heart of the green, 25 feet from the hole.

Gowens raced his first putt 15 feet by and McColgan settled over his, knowing he needed to hole it to extend the match. It was a perfectly weighted putt, rolling end over end, and as it broke towards the hole it came to rest an inch directly behind the cup.

Gowens had 2 putts to win, and like a seasoned competitor lagged his 15-foot putt up to a few inches and was met with McColgan’s handshake and the win.

The semi-final, final, the setting – it was all a perfect way to finish the inaugural event. We had big, exciting scores, we had tight matches, we had underdogs winning, we had it all. If the 2024 Matchplay is anything to go by, we’ll undoubtedly see greater interest in the 2025 format.

But for now it is congratulations to your 2024 Matchplay winner, Paul Gowens.