As we approach the new year, thoughts begin to turn to the start of the new season in April and whilst the EuroDov Cup, the season opening event and Major, is the first event of the calendar year, for many the St Andrews Open and the start of the Order of merit is the signal the season is here.

The Order of Merit enters its 5th year in 2025 and has matured and settled into the premier event of the EuroDov Tour calendar. In 2025 16 players will compete to win the James Braid Quaich, the field boasts five Major winners and nine players who have at least one Order of Merit event win to their name and with four prize money spots and two relegation places at play every player needs to be on form to contend.

EuroDov Reporter has taken time to sit down and look at each individual player and assess their prospects ahead of 2025. So, sit back, and enjoy their reviews.

Up next is Ally Greenshields. Greenshields is the first of the five co-sanctioned players in the 2025 Order of Merit field and made his debut on Tour in 2023.

Greenshields would be best described as laid back about his approach to the game, one of the big hitters who can’t always rely on the direction of the ball. Greenshields has put in some top performances over the years showing he has the ability to win.

His debut on Tour was only overshadowed by another debutant – Alan Duncan – as he shot a 4-under par round in the St Andrews Open to finish second by a shot – his score would have been good enough to win any other iteration of the event since 2021.

Greenshields also has a thing for the Tour Championships in his 2 appearances he’s managed a 2nd place finish and a T7th but that hides some remarkable golf.

In 2023 with the ominous shadow of relegation hanging over him he started the afternoon in T5th place after shooting a morning round of 5-over par. He’d open up the afternoon with a level par front nine but with 3 birdies in his last 5 holes he shot a 2-under par back nine to finish T1st and lose on a countback.

Jump forward another year and Ally Greenshields was battling relegation once again after playing a limited schedule earlier in the season. However, as the pressure mounted on the first tee Greenshields was calmness personified and shot the low round of the morning with a level par score to lead the Tour Champs at the half-way point.

His appearances at the Tour Champs have shown he not only has the ability to handle pressure, but he can also handle himself around a golf course, putting in field leading performances on arguably the tough course the Tour plays all year.

Greenshields enters 2025 with 2 full Order of Merit seasons under his belt. He is yet to win an event on the OoM but he has two runner-up spots to his name. Greenshields has managed a 5th and a 9th place finish in 2023 and 2024 respectively, giving him an average OoM standing of 7th place.

Looking at his 11 appearances in the Order of Merit since 2023, Greenshields has averaged a 7th place finish per event. This would see him amass 5000 points at the end of the season enough to place him 6th over all on the average points per standing since 2022.

5000 points would have given Greenshields a 5th place finish in 2024 and the same in 2024 but would have seen him slide to 8th in 2022.

So, looking towards 2025, what is EuroDov Reporters prediction for Greenshields.

Firstly – Greenshields is expected to play a fuller schedule, which will help with potential points haul.

He’s now a seasoned vet on Tour, and no one looks to him as the new guy on the tee anymore, so he’s got to take advantage of that experience. The big question mark for Ally is his mental approach to the game, if he can sharpen that up, his ceiling is very high.

Saying that, the field doesn’t carry any driftwood in 2025, it’s full of experience and full of players who can carry themselves round the course. It’s highly unlikely there will be multiple winners on the Tour next year and every position in the field will be hotly contested.

Greenshields could make the step this year to winner but if he doesn’t there are still at least a couple top 5 finishes, the big challenge will be if he can limit the number of times he falls outside the top 10.

Greenshields ceiling is going to be 6th in the overall standings, which would put him around where he finished in 2023, but his floor isn’t far from there either with a 10th place finish as low as I’d expect Greenshields to drop.

Look for a more consistent year for Greenshields, that doesn’t see him grapple with the pressure of relegation, but equally doesn’t see him hitting the heady heights of the prize positions.