Dennis Taylor is the leading celebrity after the first round of the pro-am section of the Prostate Cancer UK Scottish Senior Open at Archerfield Links.
The former World Champion snooker player carded a fine five under par 67 in partnership with Spanish Senior Tour professional, Pedro Linhart, but that still leaves him trailing four shots behind Scotland’s Ross Drummond and his amateur partner, local businessman and eight-handicap Archerfield member, Bill Robertson, who registered a magnificent nine under 63 over the club’s Fidra course in winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour.
“We had a great day yesterday,” said nine-handicap Taylor. “My man, Pedro, played lovely. It’s the first time I’ve played with him, smashing fellow.
“It’s great to be up here. I jump at any chance I get to come back to Archerfield. I love the place. I joined here about nine years ago. I’m four hours away. I live near Chester but I try to come up here as often as I can.
“Playing with the boys here is great too. All the senior professionals are fantastic. I don’t get to play in many of their pro-ams these days but the Senior Tour players are all great characters and have time for everybody. It’s very refreshing and it’s also good to be contributing to what is such a great cause.
“I still play a fair amount of golf at this time of year,” he added. “I can just about get it round. Not bad for a 66 year-old anyway. I used to play off 14 or 15 but when I packed the snooker in I got my golf handicap down. I can’t promise I’ll play well today but I know we’ll have a lot of fun.”
Taylor is one of a number of celebrities taking part in a new Scottish Senior Open format similar to that used at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. One shot further down the leaderboard is former Liverpool, Spurs and England goalkeeper, Ray Clemence, who carded a 68 alongside Gary Wolstenholme while Des Smyth and former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, Peter Fowler and test cricketer Chris Broad and Gordon Brand Jnr and Sir Ian Botham all scored 69 to lie in a share of 20th place with one round left to go.
Gary Wolstenholme and goalkeeper Ray Clemence
Three shots further behind Sam Torrance and his son, Daniel, carded a level par round of 72 as they bid to add the Prostate Cancer UK Senior Open team title to their win in the team event at the Alfred Dunhill Links Trophy several years ago.
The Prostate Cancer UK Scottish Senior Open Pro-Am started on the morning after a hugely successful Pro-Am Gala Dinner at Archerfield attended by Salmond, Botham, Clemence, Broad and Taylor and hosted by veteran golf writer and Golf Monthly columnist, Bill Elliott, who himself has had first-hand experience of a disease that kills one man every hour in the UK.
Peter Fowler and Chris Broad
During the evening, Prostate Cancer UK’s Director of Fundraising, Mark Bishop, addressed the audience of well over 100 guests who raised an impressive £8,000 for the charity in an auction. The evening also saw David Hadley-Wood, another prostate cancer victim, deliver a powerful address on how the disease can affect middle-age men. The following day, Hadley-Wood carded a two under par 70 alongside Senior Tour professional, Paul Eales.
“Driving into Archerfield ahead of the Prostate Cancer UK Scottish Senior Open was a truly special moment for our organisation,” said Bishop.
“We know what a great fit golf is to Prostate Cancer UK, and through our long-term partnership with our great friends from the European Senior Tour seeing our messaging front and centre across such a magnificent venue really brought that home.
“The support of sporting legends such as Ray Clemence, Sir Ian Botham and Dennis Taylor made for a fantastic gala dinner and it was great to further reinforce our message about how serious this disease is as well as raising a substantial amount of money through an entertaining auction.
Gordon Brand Jnr and cricket legend Ian Botham
“One man dies every hour from prostate cancer, which is a startling statistic given the average length of a round of golf, so this disease is not out of bounds. We need to fund vital research to hit back and those golfers at every level who have chipped in to support us are the perfect example of what we like to call Men United, people joining together to fight a common opponent – prostate cancer.
Tom Younger, CEO of Archerfield Links said: “We are delighted to have Prostate Cancer UK as part of the Scottish Senior Open at Archerfield. With so many men across the UK affected by this disease we hope that this partnership can help raise awareness within the golfing community of the great work done by this charity.”
That was a message reiterated by Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour: “We are delighted to be partnered with Prostate Cancer UK and will do all we can to help them spread the message that the disease poses such a serious threat to middle-age men. It’s the first year of our association but I’m sure there will be many more to come.
