There can’t be many better stretches of golfing coastline in the world than that of East Lothian and last week found me up in Gullane for the 32nd playing of the Madill Trophy at the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (HCEG).
Golfing heaven.
The match has been going long enough now that we are beginning to have a few time-honoured traditions of our own and one of the most fun is the girls’ team dinner the night before the match. On occasion the venue has altered over the years but the over-riding favourite is The Old Clubhouse in Gullane where they look after us very well indeed. This gives us a great chance to have a catch-up over a meal and a few drinks – totally necessary as we don’t see much of our own team-mates on match day itself. If you know how to play proper foursomes you’ll understand why.
Almost all of the 2026 Madill Trophy team – Heather Macrae joined us the next morning.
At the end of the evening we were all up at the bar paying the bill when we fell into chat with a woman who asked us what we were all doing in Gullane. We informed her we were there for golf and she enquired where we were playing. Upon hearing it was Muirfield she told us she had a house on the 1st fairway at Muirfield whereupon I asked her was it anywhere near the lovely house of Ronnie Corbett’s.
“It is indeed. It’s that house,” she said. “I’m Ronnie’s daughter, Emma.” It transpired that she and her companions were in the pub to raise a glass to her Dad on what was the tenth anniversary of his death. Emma is not a golfer but is trying her hand on the stand-up circuit, which strikes me as being a great deal more difficult than anything you might face in golf, but each to their own. We did tell her, however, that it should be illegal for a non-golfer to own a house on the 1st fairway at Muirfield, which seemed to amuse her greatly.
As I mentioned, this was the 32nd time we have held this fixture but it was a first in one respect. David Normoyle of Saratoga Springs in upstate New York made his match debut this year and flew in especially to take part. His Newark to Edinburgh flight landed on Tuesday, he played 36 holes of foursomes on the Wednesday and then flew home on the Thursday – a stout effort if ever there was one. Unsurprisingly, he is now the record holder for distance travelled to tee it up in the Madill Trophy – and by the time this blog is posted he’ll be at Augusta National along with his wife, Dottie Pepper. Among Dotti’s many accolades is the distinction of being the only media member allowed inside the ropes at the Masters but that obviously pales in comparison to her hubby’s achievement this past week.
Jet lag………. what jet lag? Smooth swinging from David Normoyle.
The scores on the doors prior to this year’s match were as follows: fifteen wins to The Lasses; eight to The Lads; and five halved matches. We have over the years had three cancellations – two matches falling foul of Covid and one of snow. Over the last decade The Lads have performed better than us so I was very happy with my team that we were a point to the good at lunchtime.
Historically, though, we don’t train awfully well on wine in the middle of the day – and so it looked like proving yet again. We found ourselves four points to three down with one match still on the course. Thankfully, Katie Tebbet and Julie Thomas won on the last to share the spoils overall. Julie was elected President of Wales Golf a wee while ago and this, her first official day in charge, was spent in Scotland playing at Muirfield! Talk about having your priorities right!
A slightly disinterested Barley Walker at the 2nd green in the morning. Only another 34 holes of this to go!
This year, on the day before the match, Gill Stewart and I climbed the North Berwick Law, one of the numerous volcanic plugs which litter the countryside around Edinburgh. The jawbone of a whale was placed at the summit in 1709 and a replica stands there today maintaining that rather curious tradition. We were fortunate enough to have a pretty clear day and could pick out Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park from our vantage point, as well as the Bass Rock, home to the world’s largest colony of Northern gannets.
Gill took some photos at the top, including the one below and I didn’t realise till afterwards there was an inscription on the side. With yet another visit to the HCEG, home of the best hosts in the world, behind us it does seem apt to close with this pic. This unique club is certainly at the forefront of enabling us to obey this command.
