The Dempsters 2023: Prize guys for golf featuring team tussles and sumptuous shots
It’s that time of year again when we reflect on achievements over the past 12 months and, despite the level of title triumphs dropping, 2023 as a whole was a rewarding year for Scottish golfers. In the absence of a formal Scottish Golf Awards, something that needs to change at a time when there is definitely a feelgood factor back in the game in its birthplace, here are my selections in terms of achievement this year.
Player of the Year
Though Bob MacIntyre deserves enormous credit for securing an automatic spot on Europe’s Ryder Cup team then being unbeaten in three matches in the brilliant win in Rome, I’m giving this one to Gemma Dryburgh. Displaying the confidence she gained from landing a breakthrough LPGA win in November 2022, she made the cut in all five women’s majors this year and, in doing so, secured a pick from Suzann Pettersen for the Solheim Cup in Spain in September. Though used sparingly at Finca Cortesin, Dryburgh helped Europe retain the trophy before making it to the LPGA’s season-ending CME Group Tour Championship for the second year running. In short, she’s gone from strength to strength in 2023.
Team of the Year
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Hide AdThis one has to go to Europe’s Ryder Cup team, even though their Solheim Cup counterparts also deserve a huge pat on the back for keeping that piece of silverware in European hands for a third match running. Let’s face it, few people really gave Luke Donald’s side much of a chance in Rome on the back of Europe’s 19-9 hammering at Whistling Straits in 2021. Helped, though, by a first-ever 4-0 whitewash in the opening session at Marco Simone Golf Club, it was mission accomplished by the home team as they pulled off a stunning 16.5-11.5 success. Rory McIlroy enjoyed his best-ever performance in the biennial event while a mix of experienced campaigners and rookies gelled really well in the home ranks.
Shot of the Year
It looked as though MacIntyre had secured this prize after hitting a 3-wood from 213 yards to inside four feet to set up a birdie at the 72nd hole that left him on the brink of a fairytale win in the Genesis Scottish Open. “That has to be one of the best shots I’ve ever hit in my life,” admitted the Oban man and, on another day, it would have been good enough to have secured victory. Rory McIlroy, though, had other ideas. He’d already made a great birdie at the par-3 17th at The Renaissance Club before hitting a 2-iron to around ten feet at the last then rolling in the putt to secure a first success on Scottish soil. “Yeah, it’s definitely in the top ten. And it could be in the top five,” he admitted recently.
Captain of the Year
Again, the Solheim Cup should be mentioned as Suzann Pettersen had a hard act to follow in back-to-back winning captain Catriona Matthew, but the Norwegian showed she was up to the task as European retained the trophy. However, Donald deservedly earned both huge respect and lavish praise from his Ryder Cup players after taking up the reins following Henrik Stenson’s switch to LIV Golf. The Englishman absolutely nailed his speech at the opening ceremony and, from that point on, he always seemed to hold the upper hand on his US counterpart, Zach Johnson. It was fully deserved when Donald recently became Europe’s first repeat captain for the event in 30 years after agreeing to stay on for the 2025 match at Bethpage Black in New York.
Coach of the Year
I’m giving this one to someone who is now based in Scotland after South African Jamie Gough moved to Pittenweem in the past few years. Gough, the brother of former Rangers, Tottenham Hotspur and Scotland defender Richard, is one of the hardest-working individuals in the game and enjoyed another successful year. Two of his pupils - Kiwi Ryan Fox and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon - secured PGA Tour cards from the 2024 season helped respective by wins in the BMW PGA Championship and acciona Open de Espana while Ewen Ferguson, another of the players Gough works with, backed up his sensational two title triumphs as a rookie in 2022 by not only making it to the DP World Tour Championship but producing a top-ten finish in the season finale at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
Amateur of the Year
While Hannah Darling enjoyed another solid season on the US women’s college circuit and Lorna McClymont pulled off a notable double in the Welsh and Irish Women’s Open, it’s impossible to overlook Connor Graham for this award. The Blairgowrie member signed off with a sensational 63 at Meldrum House to win the Scottish Men’s Open in June before creating history at St Andrews a couple of months later as the 16-year-old became the youngest-ever Walker Cup player. Though unable to help Great Britain & Ireland come out on top in that match, Graham was then unbeaten in four games as part of Europe’s winning team in the Junior Ryder Cup in Rome. He’s now off to Texas Tech after the 2024 summer campaign.
Outstanding Achievement
Not since 2004, when the side contained McIlroy and Carlota Ciganda, had Europe won the Junior Ryder Cup but, boy, was the drought ended in style in Rome with a thumping 20.5-9.5 victory and huge credit for that goes to the captain, Stephen Gallacher. It was an inspired decision by Ryder Cup Europe to appoint the Bathgate man, both in terms of his vast experience as a player and also his passion for junior golf through the hugely-successful Stephen Gallacher Foundation. The 2014 Ryder Cup player also made a shrewd move by getting Scott Knowles, a former Scottish international and R&A boys’ selector, to assist him, with a jubilant Gallacher, speaking after getting his hands on the trophy: admitting “Our preparation was awesome and we got our six picks spot on.”
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