Comment: Martin Dempster on Scottish golf calendar changes

So, the Scottish Boys Championship will no longer be the curtain-raiser to the domestic campaign after being moved from its traditional April date to a summer slot as part of a fixture-list shake-up by Scottish Golf.

29/09/13 ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP OLD COURSE - ST ANDREWS Bradley Neil.

I won’t deny that, personally, the change has been met with a tinge of sadness, and I say that because, for most of the past 30 years, I’ve had the pleasure of covering that event and I actually loved where it sat on the schedule.

Yes, of course, it was regularly played in cold, wet and windy conditions, but this is Scotland, after all, and, in case you hadn’t noticed, June and July can just as easily be like that as well due to the pesky climate change.

Even in the time I’ve covered it, the event was won by the likes of Alan Tait, Andrew Coltart, Steven O’Hara, Scott Henry, Michael Stewart, David Law, Grant Forrest and, most recently, Bradley Neil. Do you think it mattered to them whether the event was played in April or August? Of course not.

It certainly didn’t inconvenience Scottish golf writers and that’s a point those widely applauding the event’s move to a new slot are missing. It was laughable, in fact, to see one organisation claiming last week that “with any luck, its new date will yield greater media coverage”.

Seriously? Without a shadow of doubt, the Scottish Boys Championship has received more column inches in newspapers than any comparable event around the world. Yes, I know, that is quite a bold claim, but I am confident it can be backed up.

Even though it often clashed with The Masters, most Scottish newspapers still found room for decent-sized reports from either Dunbar, West Kilbride, Royal Aberdeen or Murcar – the courses that formed a rota for the Scottish Boys – and, in many cases, it was where relationships between upcoming players and journalists were struck up.

Just ask Jock MacVicar, our doyen. He’s covered the Scottish Boys more than anyone over the years and he’s always bumping into people that he first interviewed after a victory in that event. Just imagine what a thrill that must have been to any youngster, and I know for a fact that remains to be the case, even though the legendary Scottish Daily Express golf man is old enough to be their grandfather. Great grandfather, in fact, in some cases.

The Daily Record used to send a staff man – it was Jack Adams who deputised for Alister Nicol when he was out at The Masters when I first attended the event. Back then, having hammered away at his typewriter, Peter Donald also filed freelance copy to the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

In addition to the Scottish Daily Express, The Scotsman, The Herald, The Courier and the Press & Journal have all continued to have staff writers there whenever possible or convenient, providing widespread coverage of the event long before the days of either the internet or social media.

So, please, don’t be fooled into thinking this change for the Scottish Boys Championship is going to be a good thing in terms of media coverage. In fact, I’ve got a feeling it will have a negative impact in that respect, which would be a great pity.

It would seem that the main reason behind the date change is the fact that the event has gone from easily filling 256 spots each year to struggling more and more to get a full field. This year’s event at Murcar Links fell 22 short, though I still can’t understand why the handicap limit wasn’t raised to avoid that avoidable scenario.

What we didn’t see coming surely, though, from Scottish Golf’s “comprehensive review” of the fixture list was the field being brutally reduced to 180, meaning there are going to be an awful lot of disappointed youngsters around next year when they don’t even come close to getting into an event to be held at Scotscraig and Drumoig.

That’s another big change and it remains to be seen if those venues used in the past are still in the frame for future stagings, though a decision to run the Scottish Boys and Scottish Girls concurrently henceforth would suggest that is unlikely. Again, that’s a pity.

Last but certainly not least, the Scottish Boys, as with the Scottish Amateur Championship, will no longer be a straight knock-out. Two rounds of stroke-play will see the top 64 and ties progress to a match-play phase, falling into line with events like the Amateur Championship and the 
English Amateur Championship. I’m keeping an open mind about that particular change. On the one hand, it could prove more appealing to competitors as they’ll be guaranteed two rounds for their entry fee. In the case of next year’s Scottish Amateur, one of those will at Prestwick, the other at Prestwick St Cuthbert.

But, on the other, it will take away the prospect of the odd seed slipping on a banana skin over the first couple of days, and that has certainly happened plenty of times in both the Scottish Boys and Scottish Amateur over the years. I’m not against change because, in a lot of instances, it is certainly required. The domestic fixture list was long overdue this “comprehensive review” and credit to Eleanor Cannon, the chair of Scottish Golf, for implementing it.

Only time will tell, though, if the changes set to be rolled out next year are indeed the right ones and those claiming “victory” in respect of the Scottish Boys getting its new summer slot should really wait and see what the overall impact is because that’s what is important here.