The weather in the Highlands this year was lovely with temperatures into the mid teens on all days.
We stayed in the Speyside Hotel in Grantown on Spey for the first time which proved to be a great success. The malt whisky selection was excellent and Peter Edwards did a quality check on most of them over the two days! I always say that Boat of Garten is the prettiest James Braid course and this year I was pleased to see that the Club had displayed a letter in the Pro Shop from the man himself confirming what I have always said. Unfortunately, the whisky sampling the night before seemed to have surprisingly dulled the XL performance and we were beaten 4-0! The only consolation was that most matches were decided on the 18th hole.
The following day at Nairn, after a strong team talk and a review of the pairings guided by Mrs G, we reversed the result at Boat and came away with a 4-0 win with some exceptional golf played by the Captain!
As usual we had a very warm welcome at Brora. The Captain drove off first with a slight breeze behind. It’s easy to get lulled into a false sense of security with the marginally easier front nine at Brora. The back nine is a real test of golf. This year the wind had picked up and had changed direction, coming across the course. Sadly the test proved too great for the XL team and we lost 2.5 to 1.5. Peter Edwards standing in for Steve B, did a noble job looking after 6 times past Brora Captain Kenny Lorimer and much malt was consumed!
The sun was shining brightly at Tain the following day as again the Captain led us to a solid victory 2.5-1.5.
The Sir Len Hutton jug was awarded to Bryan Pickup for the best results over the Tour.
Chris Greet, Tour Manager
