Grangemouth's Lindsay Blair helps Scotland become Home Internationals champions

The weather was a serious issue, but once play resumed following a visit from the uninvited Storm Ali, Scotland went on to win the tournament.

The second day’s play was lost due to the extreme weather conditions, but a change to the original format was agreed with two sessions taking place last Thursday, which consisted of seven head-to-head battles, ensuring all three country versus country matches were played.

In the round robin format, Scotland, England and Ireland all won two out of three matches, so the title was decided on the most match points scored across all three matches.

On the final day, it was Scotland who turned on the style, losing only one match from 14. In the morning session, the hosts defeated England 5-2 with Ireland getting the better of Wales by the same scoreline.

The morning’s battle with the Auld Enemy was a close affair. Scotland led England 3-2 with two matches on the course, but 4&3 victories from both Malcolm Reid and captain Ian Brotherson closed out the match. With it all to play for in the afternoon matches, England convincingly defeated Ireland 5.5 – 1.5, whilst Scotland took charge early on against Wales and never let up, winning 6.5 – 0.5.

When all was said and done, it couldn’t have been closer, with the winner decided by the team with the highest number of points scored across all three matches.

Scotland totalled 15 points, England 13.5 and Ireland 12, meaning Scotland were crowned champions for the first time since 2014, which was also on home soil at North Berwick.

On the Tuesday, hosts Scotland got off to a good start against Ireland in the morning foursomes, taking a 2-1 lead into lunch after Ronnie Clarke and Lindsay Blair, of Grangemouth, notched a 3 & 2 victory against their Irish opponents.

Ireland came back to beat the Scots, but that proved to be just a small set-back on the way to a Scottish victory.