40,000 miles in a Ford Cortina as Scot-based pro jousted with Jacklin, Lyle, Faldo and Woosie

Charles Dernie had the ultimate golf road trip

Charles Dernie travelled thousands of miles by car in the early years of the European Tour. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Connor Syme’s road trip to Austria for this week’s European Tour restart has brought memories – both good and bad – flooding back for a well-known club professional on the Scottish scene.

In the late 1970s, Charles Dernie clocked up just under 40,000 miles in one season as he drove around Europe in his Ford Cortina with Denis Pugh, now one of the game’s top coaches, as a travelling companion.

“The European Tour was a much more compact affair back then, making it possible to drive to almost every event if you were crazy enough, or skint enough, to do so,” explained Dernie, who, after more than 20 years as the head pro at Blairgowrie, retired last year.

A Ford Cortina was Charles Dernie's trusted mode of transport on tour. Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

“There would have been 20 or so players in the travelling ‘circus’, with the best-known ones being Ian Woosnam and DJ Russell. The tour didn’t start until the week after the Masters and would kick off with five events in Europe.

“First up was the Portuguese Open at Penina then we moved on to Spain for Spanish Open in Barcelona and the Madrid Open. It was then over to Sardinia for the Italian Open then back to La Baule for the French Open. All done using maps and rubbish advice from locals who had no idea what a golf course was!

“My two travelling partners were Denis Pugh and Peter Barber from Manchester. Denis had lost it mentally before we were halfway, so wouldn’t drive, and Peter had only just passed his test, so I did nearly all the driving, which was not ideal.

“The journey to Barcelona was eventful. We were driving through the night as Denis had to Monday qualify and the alternator on my car packed in and we crawled into the club at 5.30 in the morning expecting to sleep in the car but the clubhouse was open.

“They told us to have a shower, cooked us an amazing breakfast then said we could play as soon as we wanted and, when we got in, the club mechanic had fixed the car – unreal!”

In an event won by Brian Barnes, Dernie opened with a 69 in the Spanish Open at El Prat. “I was going okay and partnered Tony Jacklin and Antonio Garrido in the last round,” he added. “Back then caddies weren’t compulsory, so I normally only had one when I made the cut. But couldn’t find a pro caddy on this occasion, so I decided to pull my own trolley.

“On the fifth or sixth hole, I got a tap on the shoulder from Jimmy Cousins, Manuel Pinero’s caddie offering to carry my bag. ‘Thanks’, I said, ‘but I can’t afford you’, to which he replied, ‘don’t worry, it’s all sorted’. Jacklin had organised it and paid him. He gave me a right dressing down after the round for not doing it properly, but I still think it was a great gesture.”

Dernie’s long drives that season also took him to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as trips to 11 events closer to home in the UK, Jersey and Ireland.

“The only one I flew to that year was the Swiss Open,” he recalled. “So, along with a couple of under 25 events and an odd North Region event, I covered just under 40,000 miles in my sponsor’s Cortina estate.”

Injury sustained in a car crash steered his career in a different direction, with spells at Buchanan Castle and Banchory preceding his lengthy and enjoyable stint at Blairgowrie.

“To be honest, there were not too many highs on the playing front,” said Dernie, laughing. “I kept my card easily enough, finishing mid-80s in the order of merit. Tour records are very unreliable from back then. They even have me playing as an amateur that year.

“But, even doing it on the cheap, my earnings were nowhere near enough to cover expenses, so changed days. If the total prize fund for the week was £40k, that was a really big event as it was another year or two until the ‘Seve [Ballesteros] effect’ kicked in.

“I used to struggle with self-imposed pressure, so hardly ever did a good last round unless I was well back. The best thing about it was the life experiences and the camaraderie which was superb. Almost too sociable! I played with Jacklin, Sandy Lyle, Woosie, Greg Norman and Nick Faldo that year, so that was great for someone of my limited ability.

“My low point was definitely being DQd in the last round at Penina for getting my start time an hour wrong while I finished double, double, par double to miss the cut by one in the French Open. I was knackered from the travelling and once I started to go I had no reserves, taking four to get down from 25 yards at the last.

“I then missed the ferry home as I travelled to London for the qualifier for the next event, sleeping in the car in the car park overnight, and playing one of my worst rounds of the year the next day in the company of none other than (former Stirling professional) Ian Collins.

“Would I do it that way again? No! But there was a lot of fun along the way.”