SCOTTISH PGA BRING TOGETHER PAUL LAWRIE, JEAN VAN DE VELDE

  PAUL LAWRIE lets Jean Van de Velde get his hands on the Open Championship trophy at last as the 1999 Carnoustie protagonists meet at the annual Scottish Region PGA lunch at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel today. Picture by courtesy of Andy Forman.

IT'S THAT MAN AGAIN! Paul Lawrie received a PGA Achievement Award in recognition of his Paul Lawrie Foundation work to help golfing youngsters.
Picture by Andy Forman.

THE MAN FROM MACHRIHANISH. Jock MacVicar, the Scottish Daily Express long-serving golf writer with the PGA award he received for outstanding service to golf and journalism. Picture by Andy Forman.

FROM THE R and A WEBSITE
Legendary golf writer Jock MacVicar has been presented with a Scottish PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career spanning more than 50 years.
MacVicar covered his first Open for The Scottish Daily Express in 1962 and has been at virtually every Championship since for the same newspaper.
He has also been present for many of the biggest moments in golf over the past half-century, having covered numerous Masters, US PGA Championships and a host of Ryder Cups.
A well-known figure throughout the world of golf, MacVicar’s career highlights include seeing Sandy Lyle win The Open at Royal St George’s in 1985, witnessing the Duel in the Sun between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson at Turnberry in 1977, and Paul Lawrie’s incredible play-off victory over Jean Van de Velde at Carnoustie in 1999.
A good golfer himself, the Glasgow-based journalist ranks Dunaverty in Kintyre as his favourite course.
Asked about his long and successful career, the 74-year-old said: “I don't know about the secret to good golf writing, but it is essential that you have a great love of the game and a pretty good constitution to keep going.
“Although, working for what might be called a tabloid, you have to try to be fair without your copy becoming deadly dull.
“An ability to quickly spot the main line of a story or situation is very important, even if it doesn't always please a player or an official body!”
MacVicar received his award from Scottish PGA captain Andrew Crerar at the Association’s annual lunch at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel.
Hosted by the BBC’s Dougie Donnelly, the guests of honour were Lawrie and Van de Velde who reminisced about their careers and the 1999 Open.
The lunch also saw former Gleneagles Hotel head professional, Ian Marchbank, receive the John Panton award for his achievements in golf.
The PGA top trainee award went to Alan Gibson (Troon Municipal), who was presented with the Stewart Thom Trophy.

Scottish Assistant Professional of the Year Alan Gibson (Troon Municipal), left, receives the Stewart Thom Trophy from Scottish PGA Region Captain, Andrew Crerar (Panmure GC). Another image by Andy Forman.