FireSport UK Four Nations Golf Championship 2023 hosted by Scottish Fire and Rescue Services at
Drumoig Hotel & Golf Course
3rd – 5th July 2023
Sponsored by Fire Risk Solutions Northern Ireland Ltd.
With the dust well and truly settled on what was a fantastic 4 Nations competition, at Drumoig Hotel & Golf Course in Fife, a big thank you to our hosts who kept us fed, watered and most welcome. It was an entertaining and close contest between the 4 countries, all digging deep to bring home the silverware.
Practice day With the teams all at Drumoig, the Practice Day got under way. With the course in great shape and the “breezy” conditions, it certainly did not give anyone an idea of what lay ahead over the next 3 days. Some Par 5s easily reached in 2 shots with the others, easily playing 4 club winds!!!!! With some decent scores coming in, this gave the players some confidence going into the Pairs Day.
Pairs After a motivation speech from the Drumoig Club Captain, the Pairs Teams headed off to the first tee. A nice dry start to the day allowed all the teams to hit the course and start dropping birdie after birdie, or so we thought. With the winds from the practice day gone, the course took on a new test…….it felt 1000 yards longer. Off the Championship tees, the course bit back. Throw in torrential rain for 2 hours, this became a massive battle between player and course with the water loop at 9, 10 and 11 claiming a few balls. With most pairings just about managing to “keep the heid”, a round of applause must go to a couple of fantastic scores. The Welsh took the advantage after Day 1 with a 9 shot lead over the English team. Only 3 shots behind, Northern Ireland were still well within striking distance. The Scots, being hosts, kept their heads down and were further 7 behind. Down but not out!
Best Pairs Nett – Haydn Willis & Chris Grovett (Wales) – 67 Best Pairs Gross – Danny Doherty & Kenny Carlyle (Scot) – 75 Nearest the Pin, Hole 16 – Mark Tudge (Wales) Nearest the Pin in 2, Hole 9 – Paul Champ (Eng)
Singles After a good drying out, the singles day was a far more pleasant experience; dry, splashes of sunshine, little wind and much friendlier tee positions. Can’t say much for the Pins! All to play for, the 4 balls headed out in good spirits. I doff my cap to Tony Leslie, England Captain who kicked off the day with a tap in Birdie on the 1st, laying down the gauntlet immediately. As the teams moved through the course, the first of the 4 balls arrived at the 18th green after about 4 hours. Perfect timing for the Competition Sponsors to spectate from their balcony and watch the putts drop. Some smiles, some frowns, some shake of heads as the cards started to come in. An idea of the challenge before the final results, single gross scores ranged from 71 to 109, with only 1 player managing to shoot Par or better.
Birdie Cup – Terry Corrieri (Scot) – 7 Birdies (1&6) Best Singles Nett – Brent Parry (Wales) – 70 Best Single Gross – Terry Corrieri (Scot) – 71 Best Pairings over 2 days (Country Prize) –
Northern Ireland – Simon Vaughan & Graham Moore England – Tony Leslie & Lee Digweed Wales – Brent Parry & Jamie Rees Scotland – Terry Corrieri & Ross Hastie
A fantastic effort by all and well done the prize winners. To quote Kenny Bryan (Scotland) “There are no losers!”
On to the big one. The following results and the Champions of the 4 Nations Golf Championship are: In reverse order, 4th Scotland – 920 3rd Northern Ireland – 898 2nd Wales – 896 Winners - ENGLAND – 895
4 Nations Winners with Sponsors FRSNI ltd
Thank you all for your efforts and contribution to a successful and very competitive championship and we look forward to the 2024 Four Nations, hosted by Northern Ireland. Thanks also to the event Sponsor (FRSNI ltd – Joseph & Geraldine) for your generosity in making this championship the success it was. Andrew Macleod – Scottish Secretary