Over the past 98 years, Scotland has produced over 20 Ryder Cup players, including two captains.
Eric Brown, right, and Sam Snead share the cup in 1969(Image: Gerry Cranham/Offside via Getty Images)
As the Ryder Cup tees off this Friday, all eyes will be on Bethpage Black where Europe and the USA will compete over three days for the coveted gold trophy.
The Ryder Cup, one of the globe’s most significant sporting events, has evolved dramatically since its inception in the 1920s.
Scotland, known as the Home of Golf, has a rich history with the tournament. The first official Ryder Cup took place in 1927, but an exhibition match at Gleneagles in 1921 is often considered the precursor to the biennial competition.
In the last 98 years, Scotland has produced more than 20 Ryder Cup players, including Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomerie, who both competed eight times.
Bathgate Golf Club in West Lothian has a special place in Ryder Cup history(Image: Bill Harrison/Wikicommons)
Both men later captained successful Ryder Cup teams, making them two of six Scots to have led the British, British and Irish, and European teams, reports the Scottish Daily Express.
Bathgate Golf Club, located about 20 miles west of Edinburgh, holds a unique position in Ryder Cup history. Known as one of West Lothian’s finest courses, Bathgate is the only golf club globally to boast two Ryder Cup captains as members.
Eric Brown was the first, moving to the town when he was just 15 months old from Edinburgh. He joined the local club and won the Scottish PGA Championship eight times between 1956 and 1968.
Eric Brown won eight Scottish PGA Championships, 27 professional titles, placed third twice at the Open, topped the 1957 Order of Merit, and played in four Ryder Cups.(Image: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
He clinched 27 professional titles in total, secured third place twice at the Open Championship, and led the Order of Merit in 1957. His impressive form earned him four Ryder Cup appearances in 1953, 1955, 1957, and 1959.
During those matches, he triumphed in all four of his singles matches but suffered defeat in four foursomes, resulting in a 50 percent win record. In 1969, he served as a non-playing captain for Great Britain in one of the most memorable Ryder Cups of all time.
The match is famously remembered for Jack Nicklaus’s generous concession to Tony Jacklin on the 18th green at Royal Birkdale on Sunday. This resulted in the teams finishing tied on 16 points each.
Less well-known is that prior to this, the match had been played in a highly charged atmosphere, with the cunning Brown playing his part. He instructed his players not to search for American balls in the rough and, along with his counterpart Sam Snead, had to pacify warring players after an especially contentious fourball match.
While Nicklaus’s concession has been immortalised as an act of ultimate sportsmanship, Snead was incensed, as were some of his players.
Brown, who passed away in 1986 at the age of 61, returned in 1971 to lead the British team at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. The USA cruised to a comfortable victory by 18.5 points to 13.5.
That year, the top-scoring European was 22 year old Bernard Gallacher, who accumulated 3.5 points over the week in what was his second Ryder Cup.
Gallacher, another Bathgate native, played in the Ryder Cup eight times as the competition expanded to include Irish and then European players. In 1991, he was given the captaincy for what would later be dubbed the notorious ‘War on the Shore’ at Kiawah Island, where a spirited US team clinched the cup for the first time since 1983.
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The event was tainted by unsporting conduct and the behaviour of some spectators. Gallacher returned in 1993 when Europe hosted the event at the Belfry, but despite a more subdued atmosphere, found himself on the losing side again.
However, fortune favoured him on his third attempt in 1995 when Europe overcame a 9-7 deficit on the final day to secure the cup. Gallacher’s nephew, Stephen Gallacher, also a Bathgate member, was part of the triumphant Ryder Cup team at Gleneagles in 2014.
The younger Gallacher has since captained the Junior UK Ryder Cup team twice. Bathgate now boasts a Ryder Cup room dedicated to its players, displaying flags from the matches and other items donated over the years.
The course itself is highly regarded, with the most recent review on Golf Now advising visitors to anticipate a “friendly welcome, great course layout and condition, absolutely superb, highly recommend”.
