Appearing soon at a clubhouse near you .. the Eisenhower Trophy!

Requests for a loan of

World Cup present

nice problem for S G U

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

So many Scottish golf clubs are asking if they can "borrow" the magnificent Eisenhower Trophy men's world amateur team championship to display in their clubhouse on a special domestic occasion that it is creating a wee problem for the Scottish Golf Union. It is a nice problem to have, one, in fact, that every other national amateur golf association in the world would love to have.
The magnificent silver trophy was won for Scotland for the first time by Callum Macaulay (Tulliallan), Wallace Booth (Comrie) and Gavin Dear (Murrayshall) in Australia last October.
Macaulay has since turned professional but both Callum and the trophy were "guests of honour" at the recent Clackmannan County Golf Dinner at Braehead Golf Club.
As Wallace Booth and Gavin Dear are both playing in the Scottish Champion of Champions 72-hole tournament which will ring up the curtain on the Scottish 72-hole amateur tournament circuit on April 4 and 5, Leven Golfing Society, the organisers, thought it would be appropriate to have the Eisenhower Trophy on show at the clubhouse that weekend.
But Gavin Dear beat them to it.
"I asked the SGU whether I could take the trophy and display it at my home club, Murrayshall (near Perth) on that weekend, the reason being I was unable to take the trophy to the club's prizegiving when it was still in transit from Australia. I thought that since most of the Murrayshall members would be playing on April 4, the opening day of the new season, it would be nice to have the trophy on show for them," said Gavin.
"It's great that the Eisenhower Trophy is being shown at lots of different evetsn and that Scottish golfers can see it for themselves."
Euan Mordaunt, the Scottish Golf Union's Events Manager, said:
"As we are getting an increasing number of requests for the trophy, a first come first served policy has been adopted by the SGU. Leven Golfing Society did make an approach but Gavin Dear had already booked it for the same weekend at his club, Murrayshall."
The Scottish Golf Union website says that the Eisenhower Trophy and the three winning team members, Macaulay, Booth and Dear, will all be given pride of place at the annual Scottish Golf Dinner at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow on Friday, March 27.
So if you want to see the trophy and the national golfing heroes who won it, you can buy a ticket through the Scottish Golf Union for £47.50 - or reserve a table for £450.
That may be your best/only chance of getting your hands on or your picture taken with the Eisenhower Trophy as more and more clubs realise that the SGU will release it into their safe keeping for a special occasion.

+The PGA's Scottish-born chief executive Sandy Jones would never confirm it but while Europe were the holders of the Ryder Cup, and it was displayed at many functions the length and breadth of Britain (and possibly Ireland), it was rumoured that the original gold trophy never left the PGA safe at The Belfry and that there were/are several copies in existence. Maybe that's the answer for the SGU although making even just one replica of the Eisenhower Trophy would cost an arm and a leg.