Week by week, event by event, there is no dispute about who the best player is, after all, the leaderboard never lies.

But one question that has crossed the lips of many Tour observers is who is the best player over the year? How do you measure that? Is purely based on the number of tournament wins, do the Majors have more weight than a regular season event? Just how do we define a EuroDov Tour player of the Year?

Well in 2024 the Tour is launching its first ever Player of the Year award and it will be voted on by the players. Who better to decide what constitutes such a lofty award than those who were in the mix the whole season long?

The EuroDov Tour HQ have convened a panel to determine 4 players to be shortlisted for EuroDov Tour Player of the Year and I, EuroDov Reporter, will have the pleasure of presenting the case for each.

So, let’s take a look at player number 4 – Scott Gowens.

Last and by no means least is Scott Gowens.

2024 was Gowens Jr.’s first year on Tour and he entered the newly formed Q-School. Due to commitments off-Tour in April he missed round 1 of Q-School at St Andrews.

Gowens Jr. joined the Tour with the ambition to get some experience of competition golf, to enjoy the games and build towards 2025.

He came out the traps firing with a 2nd place finish at Kinghorn despite some self-confessed, “first tee nerves.”

His next event was at his home course, and it was a struggle as he succumbed to a last place finish, leaving him with just 400 points and 500 points adrift of the promotion spots.

However, his first two appearances were merely a warm-up act for what was to come. 500 points adrift of the promotion spots, Gowens Jr. would run off 2 first place finishes at Burntisland and Canmore and finish tied 1st at Lochgelly to not only gain promotion but to win Q-School outright.

Gowens Jr.’s year is a great portrayal of the Tour’s funding values of supporting access to competition golf in a friendly and inclusive environment and shows players can not only meet but surpass their own expectations.

Gowens Jr.’s season shouldn’t only be viewed in the narrow prism of Q-School, in EuroDov Tour Carnegie Cup selection he sits 5th out of the 23 eligible players showing his performances are comparable to those in the Order of Merit and across the Tour, so much so that he has risen from 27th on the Official Tour Rankings to 4th overall in what can only be described as Rookie of the Year season.

If you think Gowens Jr. deserves to be crowned the 2024 EuroDov Tour Player of the Year, cast your vote for him before 10th November.