Line Up Complete For Breadalbane XIX

The Breadalbane has never been short of controversies over the years. From police-gate at Peebles, to players being escorted out of weddings at; well, several venues; there have been times where the PR machine has had to kick in to avoid tarnishing the name of this world famous competition. However, rather than controversy being at the event, this year it is happening before a ball has been struck or a pint drank.

Ahead of the 19th competition, there was an outrageous attempt by the beleaguered Taymouth team to tap up Kenmore's Blair Reid with a space being available in their side following the news that Darren Petersen would be unable to tee it up at Belton Woods, due to a surprise call up to the LIV Tour. An emergency committee vote was called by the Founding Foreskins and the decision was taken to extend the 2025 event to 18 competitors. The decision allows Reid to return to the Kenmore side, making Captain Gary Cornelius' decision an easy one; keeping the side together from Forest Pines, whilst adding a man who has an 100% Rider Cup record to date.

With Petersen's withdrawal and Reid shunning their advances, Taymouth's Captain; Craig Roberts, had a selection dilemma with two spaces needing to be filled. That was further added to with the news that Stephen MacKinnon had made himself unavailable for selection; rumours of a pending disciplinary ban from the tour for scorecard irregularities are unconfirmed.

With the pressure mounting on the team in white to finally get off the mark in The Rider Cup, Roberts turned to two bandits, sorry, strong players to welcome into their side. Not seen since Peebles in 2021, Ian Baird will return to make his 3rd Breadalbane appearance and Rider Cup debut. Baird's two previous appearances both resulted in 2nd place finishes, so he will be hoping to go one better this year; although questions are already being posed about his lack of official handicap.

Roberts' other pick is a complete rookie in Grangemouth Golf Club's Chris Taylor. Not much is known about the debutant to the Breadalbane Tour, with Chris hardly being seen or heard since being selected. Pace of play could be impacted with Chris joining the tour. With rounds taking over 6 hours at the recently completed Open Championship in Portrush, rumours are rife that Chris found it surprising that players could get round a course so quickly. Many commentators are forecasting that there could be the first ever Monday finish to a Breadalbane if Chris and Brucey are drawn to play in the same group on Sunday.

That left just one place for Taymouth to fill and that in itself turned into something of a long, drawn out saga. Since losing his tour card at Wokefield in 2022 for falling asleep on a fairway mid-round, Anton Mowatt has been out in the wilderness on the lesser known North Sea Tour, trying to get his place back.

With Mowatt uncertain if he would be available, Petersen then re-emerged as a possible inclusion following his resignation from the LIV Tour after it was leaked to the press that all members of the Saudi Royal Family had mysteriously taken delivery of some new diggers.

Finally, with just over 2 months left until the event, it was confirmed by Roberts that Mowatt would return as his final squad member for Belton Woods. That leaves the confirmed line ups looking like this:

Quite what the Taymouth uncertainty will mean for team morale, pairings and overall preparation is open to debate. However, all that will be answered in September with the first tee shot being struck in just 59 days.