BILL HOGG RECALLS BALGOWNIE MATCH AGAINST BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

FROM BILL HOGG

I happened to note the recent posting in your Scottish Golf View website of the sad death of Mike Brannan, the former US Walker Cup player and tour pro.  

 I can offer a personal reminiscence of Mike Brannan from I think 1975 when he was a member of the Brigham Young University team which toured the UK which included a match at Balgownie against Royal Aberdeen GC.   

I played Mike in the top singles match and managed to scramble a square game after having been dormie 3 down so you can understand why the occasion has stuck in my memory!     I recall he was a delightful chap to play against, as were all the members of his team, all being impeccably mannered through their Mormon upbringing.      

While Brannan was deemed the star of that team, I recall that the late Joe Little came up against an even better player in John Fought who trounced Joe, which was no easy feat over his home course!    

Fought later broke the Balgownie course record with a 64 in a subsequent University Championship event which stood as an amateur record for many years until alterations to the course.     Fought then went on to have a very successful career on the US tour and also became a highly regarded golf course architect.

 

The above match was the second such match between RAGC and BYU as 10 years earlier, there was a match which was notable for the inclusion in the BYU team of a certain Johnny Miller who went on to have a stellar pro career including, of course, winning both the Open and the US Open.    

The late J P Grant had the privilege of playing Miller on that occasion and I recall John predicting at the time that he had witnessed a future star in the making.

Enough such tales from me but just thought you would be interested to hear about Mike Brannan’s Aberdeen connection!

 

With kind regards,

Bill Hogg