Golf writer aims to script dream spot in Gleneagles final

After almost two decades reporting on the greatest golf tournament on earth, journalist Iain MacFarlane is bidding to create a few headlines of his own in the sport.

The 42-year-old, who has covered every Open Championship since 1996, teams up with Stirling PGA pro Ian Collins, above, in the Lombard Trophy regional final at Ladybank on June 10.

The pair will be targeting a place in the 36-hole grand final over Gleneagles’ Kings Course on September 2-3, just weeks before the Perthshire venue stages the Ryder Cup.

With only one qualifying spot available for the final of Europe’s largest pro-am event competition will undoubtedly be fierce, but MacFarlane, who first played golf when he was just four years old, is confident that he and his pro stand every chance of reaching the £43,600 showpiece.

“It’s going to be a great event and I want to go and enjoy it. But as with any competition, you also want to win,” he explained.

“It’s the first time I’ve played in this event, and to be honest I don’t normally play a lot of competitive golf or go to a lot of different courses around the country. I usually just play at the club.

“I have played at Ladybank once before though, about 25 years ago with my dad, who was responsible for getting me started in golf.

“I just remember it being very tight off the tee, but we’ll see how we find it when we get there.”

MacFarlane, who currently writes for the Scottish editions of the Daily Express and Daily Star, feels fortunate that during a distinguished career he has been able to go behind the scenes at some of sport’s biggest events.

“Sport is a passion for me, so it’s really good to have been able to get inside the ropes throughout my career,” he said.

“Obviously I cover a lot of football, but I always look forward to the start of the golf season in the summer and love writing about that.

“For me golf has been a passion from such a young age, it has always been there.         

“I remember when I was younger we had a golf course next to us which was really accessible, we didn’t have to book tee times and could play as much as we wanted to in a day.

“One summer we seemed to spend the whole holiday there and would often play 54-holes a day – just because we could!

Other pairs competing at the regional final include: Alastair Webster and Stuart Reid (a) (Edzell), John Harrison and Frank Mann (a) (Matfen Hall), Craig Mackie and Ross Burnett (a) (Scotscraig), and Martyn Huish and Alasdair Simpson (a) (North Berwick).