September 7th is a date engrained in EuroDov Tour folklore.

It was on this day in 2013 the genesis of the Tour was founded, 12 players gathered on the first tee of the Montgomery Course to play a match that would be the very foundation of today’s EuroDov Tour.

In 2024, that number had grown to 24, and they stood on the same hallowed turf ready to compete in the 10th RyDov Cup match.

It was an atmospheric morning as fog swept across the course and players would be forgiven for seeing the ghosts of RyDov past on the fairways and greens in front of them.

Andy Love, present on that day in 2013 marshalled his team of founding members with Barry Cunningham, John Hedges, David McColgan and Stuart Sutherland, all there went it began. On the opposing side was Paul Gowens, one time rookie of the year on the EuroDov Tour, leading his team of new members.

As the leading matches headed out on to the course, the first green, only 150 yards down the fairway was proving to be illusive, was the occasion getting better of the players?

By the time the entire field had played the first hole the score was Team Love 6.5 – 5.5 Team Gowens, but there was much golf to be golf and let’s follow the action through the morning.

Andy Love had backed himself and was out on the course against Graeme Connor, it was a nip and tuck match with Love leading after the first hole, however Connor would peg him back on the 4th but only for Andy to win 5 and go back to 1Up. The match would be squared on 7 and after a win on the 9th hole Connor took his first lead of the day 1Up at the turn.

Just behind them Stuart Allan was facing Richard Mair. Despite winning the first hole, Stuart Allan wouldn’t have the rub of the green as Mair shot away to 2UP thru 4. However Allan’s fight back was immediate, winning 5 and 6 to square the match but he’d then lose three holes in a row to be 3Dn at the turn.

Greig Baxter and Graeme Rose were out third and this match was dominated by Team Gowens’ Graeme Rose. He’d win the first and be 3Up thru 5, despite a couple of come back efforts by Baxter, Rose would find himself 2Up at the turn.

Daniel Peck was the first Team Love player who looked like he was here and ready to play. He’d win the opening three holes from Scott Gowens before exchanging holes that would eventually see him just 1Up at the turn.

Alan Duncan was in the same mood as his teammate Peck and fired out the trips after halving the first. Stevie Orr would find himself 3Dn thru 6 but he’d win the 7th, 8th and 9th to pull the match to square after 9.

It was a family affairs in match 6 as Barry Cunningham faced off against his father-in-law Andy McGregor after taking the lead on the 2nd hole Barry was pinned back on 3, only to watch Andy race off in front and lead by 3 at the turn.

It was a fast start for RyDov rookie Rory Malloch as he won the opening two holes against Den Duncan. Den would fight back but Rory would get to 3Up thru 7, but Den had the momentum to end the front 9 winning 8 and 9 to trail by just 1 at the turn.

Danny Wood was making the most of his debut against Team Gowens’ Stuart Anderson. The pair halved the first hole but Woody woud run of 4 holes to get to 4Up after 5. Stuart would pull one back but when they reached the turn it was a commanding 3 hole lead for Team Love’s Danny Wood.

Stuart Sutherland was definitely in the mood from the get-go, winning 4 of the first 5 holes to lead 4Up after 5. Callum McNeill, however, reminded him he was in a match claiming the 6th and 7th holes but wins on 8 and 9 for Sutherland saw him reach the back nine 4UP.

Stephen Hedges put up a good showing early on against Ally Greenshields. After squaring the first hole, he’d get to 2Up thru 5, but Greenshields would hit back immediately to halve the lead and then with a win on 9 he’d reset the match to all square heading into the back nine.

Joel Morrison was making his RyDov Cup debut against ever present David McColgan. The pair of them split honours on the first two holes before Morrison obliterated McColgan winning the 3rd hole then the 5th thru 9th to reach the turn 6UP. McColgan didn’t manage to win a single hole on the front nine.

And the final match on the course was Captain Paul Gowens against John Hedges. Gowens would win the opening hole and halve the 2nd and find himself at 3Up thru 4, he’d get one more hole on Hedges before the turn and lead 4Up with 9 to play.

When all matches were thru the 9th hole the score stood at Team Love 4 – 8 Team Gowens.

As Gowens Snr. cemented the lead in his match at the half way point the early matches were starting to conclude and points were appearing on the board.

The first points of the day went to Richard Mair in match 2. After leading 3Up at the turn he traded holes with Allan losing 10, 12 and 14 but winning 11, 13 and 15 and when he holed out to win the 16th hole, he also sealed a 4&2 victory and the first blue points on the board for the day.

Straight behind match 2 came match 3 and that too would finish on the 16th. Graeme Rose would take his 2Up lead on 9 and push it to 4Up after 11 he’d lose 12 and 13 but winning 15 and 16 was enough to emulate his teammate up front and win 4&2.

As that match was finishing on 16, so too was match 1 on 8. Graeme Connor had led 1Up after 9, but Andy Love would win the first three holes of the back 9 to lead 2Up thru 12, but Connor wasn’t done and would win the next two holes to square the match in a real battle. Connor would win 17 to guarantee Team Gowens at least a half point, and Andy love duly ensured that was the only points they got by winning 18 and claiming Team Love’s first points.

The next two points were pivotal in the whole match.

Daniel Peck had never been behind in the entire match and after leading 1Up at the turn had been pulled back to square on 10. He’d pull away from Scott Gowens by winning 11 thru 13 and lead 3Up with 5 to play.

He’d lose 14 and 16 then Scott Gowens would win 17 and 18 to lead for the first time and win the match 1UP.

As Peck crashed for Team Love, rookie Danny Wood was delivering a resounding 5&4 win over Stuart Anderson. After leading 3Up thru 9 he cruised to a 5&4 win to take the edge of Peck’s descent in to defeat.

In almost identical circumstances to Peck, Alan Duncan too would lead 3Up thru 6, find himself square thru 9 then lead by 3 with 4 to play. However, Stevie Orr wasn’t to be put off and he clawed Alan Duncan back one hole at a time winning four straight holes to lead for the first time on the 18th green and win his match 1Up.

Whilst this was going on in match 5, Stuart Sutherland was closing out match 9 with an impressive 5&4 win.

After getting to the turn 4Up he wasn’t at risk at any point of losing the match and his win, whilst helping Team Love his win was soured by the collapse of Alan Duncan up ahead on the 18th green.

The next two points in the match would also swing Team Gowens’ way with Andy McGregor. After leading by 3 at the turn he never lost the lead. However, Cunningham gave a good account for himself getting the match back to 1 at 12, but McGregor would get back in the swing of things and close out the match 2&1.

Outside of the wins in matches 9 & 8, Team Loves day had been characterized by either resounding defeat or nervously surrendering commanding leads to the opposition.

Match 6 was the only hope on the course of a Team Love revival and Denis Duncan had pulled from 3Dn thru 7 to square on 10 to 2Up thru 15 and all was looking good for Team Love, however, like his brother before him, Denis Duncan would lose 16, 17 and 18 to lose his match 1Up.

As this was playing out on 18, Joel Morrison had finally put David McColgan to the sword. After leading 6Up at the turn, he’d lose the 10th and 11th holes but wins on 12 and 13 were enough to seal the biggest win of the day at 6&5.

Team Gowens’ Captain, Paul Gowens was wrapping his game up on the 14th with a 5&4 win over John Hedges at the same time Ally Greenshields was wrapping his game up against Stephen Hedges 3&2 on the 16th.

It was a bleak picture for Team Love and a morning session that can only be defined as what could have been. At lunch they were trailing 2.5 - 9.5 with the realization that they lost 3 points where they threw away the lead by losing the 3 final holes of the round – a bitter pill to swallow.

An honourable mention for David McColgan who shot a 2-under par round, hitting 13 out of 14 fairways and 15 out of 18 greens but just couldn’t contend with the 20 strokes and outstanding play of Joel Morrison.

As the players retired for lunch there was a definite sense of ying and yang in the clubhouse with Team Gowen’s buoyant at their 7-shot lead and Team Love despondent at the morning session.

In an uncustomary fashion Team Love delivered his afternoon war cry in front of Team Gowens, pleading with his players to look at the glee in the faces and use that as fuel as they went out requiring a miracle, not seen since September 7th 2013, where Team Dov needed to win all the afternoon session to lift they trophy and they duly delivered – could lightning really strike twice?

Team Gowens’ lead meant the team needed only 3 points from the afternoon session, so a win and a halve was enough to see them over the line.

As the afternoon session got underway it was evident Love’s speech at lunch had its desired effect. Team Love won 4 out of 6 of the first holes, halving one and losing the other. Would this dominance translate across the entire afternoon?

The first match out saw two players who lost their three last holes to lose their matches paired together Daniel Peck and Denis Duncan and they faced off against Stevie Orr and Andy McGregor. It was a tense affair with the match square 6 times in the first 11 holes.

If Love didn’t want the afternoon to go like the morning his match, paired with Greig Baxter, wasn’t leading by example. Graeme Connor and Richard Mair set about dismantling the pairing with the match concluding on the 12th hole with Team Gowens winning 8&6.

Their afternoon objective was two thirds of the way achieved.

Thankfully matches 4 through 6 got the memo. Stuart Sutherland and Barry Cunningham were never behind after winning the opening hole and were the first red points on the board in the afternoon winning 5&4 over Stuart Anderson and Rory Malloch.

As the winning putt fell in on 14, shouts from the 17th confirmed Team Love were at it again, this time in the shape of Duncan/Peck. After getting to 11 square, they’d lose 12 and 13 but in a reversal of their morning matches the Team Love pair won holes 14 thru 17 to seal a 2&1 win.

At this point Team Love were 6.5 -11.5 down however Daniel Wood and David McColgan were 3Up with 5 to play after an utterly dominant performance over Ally Greenshields and Callum McNeill. The pair were 5Up thru 5 and held a commanding lead into the back nine.

The final match saw Hedges Snr. and Jr. take on Gowens Snr. and Morrison. It was a match dominated by the father and sone combo as they were 3Up thru 9, but Team Gowens were fighting back and the match was square after 14.

In the other match on the course Stuart Allan and Alan Duncan were taking on Gowens Jr. and Rose. It was a tentative match that was square after 7, but as the match went into the back 9 Gowens/Rose pushed to 3 Up with 5 to play. All would hinge on the 14th hole, a win for Gowens/Rose would guarantee the half point and the win for Team Gowens. And when Rose’s putt fell it was all over apart from the shouting. They’d secured the half, but on 17 they secured the full points to give Team Gowens 13.5 points and the win.

Further down the course McColgan/Wood closed out their match 4&2 and Hedges Snr. and Jnr. Made the score a respectable 13.5-10.5 when they won 2&1.

It was a RyDov Cup befitting of the occasion, played in the spirit of the first ever match and for every match to come, I am sure.

Team Gowens morning display was rampant, and they had created a situation that was almost impossible for Team Love to overcome, and despite their best efforts the cup goes to a new home in 2024 as the EuroDov Tour season comes to its traditional close.