Martin Dempster: Fife keeps on smiling

THE likes of David Moir and Bill Dickson, two well-kent faces in the Fife golfing fraternity, are easy to spot at the moment due to the fact they’re wearing smiles as wide as the opening tee shot on the Old Course.

They’ve been put there by a remarkable run of success by golfers from the Kingdom, which continued when Brian Soutar, a Leven Golfing Society member, pulled off a stunning victory in the South African Amateur Championship last Friday.

In one fell swoop, Soutar secured pole position in the race for three spots in Scotland’s side for the Eisenhower Trophy later this year and, based on the events of the last year or so, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of fantasy for that team to be an all-Fife affair.

Lundin’s James White, after all, topped the Scottish Order of Merit last year, while Aberdour’s Scott Crichton, like Soutar, is making the most of the South African trip currently being undertaken by seven members of the SGU men’s squad.

Moir and Dickson may have been the brunt of some ribbing from officials from other parts of the country in the past, but the bragging rights for the moment certainly belong to the Fifers.