Welcome back to Linked by Golf, the podcast exploring the
journeys of people linked by the game.
I'm your host, Ross McGuire, and this week, I'm joined by Alex
Cooper, one of the founders of the Elite Amateur Golf Group.
In this episode, we've discussed Alex's love of the game, his own
golfing journey, and get into the details of the competitions
the Elite Amateur Golf Group are running.
Let's go over to Alex. Hey, Alex, great to see you.
Thanks for joining the pod. Great to see you Ross as well.
Nice to catch up. And Alex, we're going to jump
straight into you've just come back from the final of the Elite
Amateur Golf League and La Calais, Spain.
So talk the last news through a high level what that week was
like and and what what happens in that final.
It was, it's been great to be honest with you, just sort of
getting back to reality again after all the excitement of of
that final. So we were in La Carla and Mijas
for the finals this year, which was a venue we we, we went back
to in 2023. It was actually a repeat final
as well to big clubs in Hindhead and Woburn going head to head
again. So I mean, the final for us is
everything. Everything ramps up towards that
Ross anyway. So it's a long season, starting
in sort of March time through group stages and knockouts and
then with the grand finals obviously being abroad, which
was an introduction we brought in about 3 years ago in total in
that time as well, we've got other finals that are going
along with the main grand final of the league campaign.
We've got the full ball bet, ball final, singles knockout
final and foursome final as well.
So there's a nice plethora of formats and people and the nice
thing is we got a lot of spectators join on as well, so
they want to see who's going to walk away with the bright hot
pink jackets on it. Then the end of the calendar
year, so to speak. That's brilliant and last will
jump straight under the final, but where we want to start, Alex
is well, be yourself. What we're the Gillantress for
golf start and we'll go through your journey get into the
league. So we're to begin for you.
Very young age actually, back north of the border like
yourself back just outside Edinburgh.
My home club was Westland, just in the borders, not far from
probably better known areas of Peebles.
Joined the Golf Club from the age of four.
I had a Golf Club in my hands from nine months of some
description plastic clubs and wooden hickories, all
greenkeeper sheds, knocking things up from my dad just
entering to put in my hands to get playing.
Very fortuitous been at the club I was at because, you know, it's
we produced a lot of good players.
So I suppose the aspiring aspect is you had you had people
emulate, you know, some names that we mentioned on on the
podcast over the over the last 12 months with yourself, like
Sir Simon McKenzie, Scott Walker, Gareth Wright, who's
gone on the pro ranks. So, you know, we're very
fortunate and not, you know, loads of other county players,
Stevie Smith, Grant Douglas. OK, keep going.
We had a very, very good, strong foundation.
And really part of the main reason is like a lot of people,
parents and that. So my dad was in all sorts of
sport. He was a sports journalist when
he was younger, golf and football predominantly.
And we played both sports from a young age.
Could never make my mind up. Well, wanted to do maybe if I
stuck at one of them, I might be better at them.
But yeah, you know, got a little bit involved in Lothians in my
teens, but never really pushed on an elite level myself.
I mean, I've been fortunate enough to win, you know, Order
of Merit events as a junior and things.
So, you know, played the good players.
David Ingalls again, another one drop names here, but David,
David died. Actually run our football team.
So I put a lot of golf with David before he moved off to
Texas and his collegiate career, which was obviously as we know
is very successful and LED him into the coaching game.
So we've all gone off in a different sort of ways.
But yeah, father's influence really got trophies.
You know, they were put up it my join in me joining the Golf
Club. That club, that trophy still
runs with my name on it. So there's a little bit of
history amongst the club there, which is nice, yeah.
Brilliant and then we've gone back in time a lot about Alex,
but just together by by going to us.
There's a bit yourself. So the the amateur golf league.
What was the concept? Why did you start you was behind
it? What's the driving force here?
And to be honest, it came about after moving down South, the,
you know, doubled in getting back into golf.
You know, in a way after you start, you start work in your
early 20s, finished university and things not a bit of a gap
and then got back into it and through moving through different
clubs I ended up at when I'm back now at Clandon, I have had
little periods that hinted for a few years as well.
So. But being at Clandon got me back
in a competitive golf and I suppose.
Yeah, it's elite golf. It's scratch golf at the end of
the day. So isn't that elite bracket?
We know the percentages they are around, you know, the lower
handicaps and you know, across the the UK and, and, and the
globe that that is a small category for for golf.
But we had a very good scratch team bringing a couple of
youngsters through. I played in that and we were
lucky enough to win the Sony plate, which is, you know, the
the lesser of the two, the two that were going.
But still, it's still, you know, a difficult one to win in its
own right. So we just found or I found
myself, they are going, what else do we do?
You know, as a team, as a collective and as a club.
There's nothing else to plan, you know.
So you're left if you're drawn, you know, knockout competitions,
if you're drawn away from home, first round against, you know,
Tech, somebody that's been in on our finals behind her Woburn and
you're knocked out, you're left scratching head for what to do
in the season. So I looked around, I suppose at
the market, if you want to call it that, What was available to
us? What else could we get, you
know, get involved in it, try and bring some of these
youngsters through. You know, I was probably in my
early 30s at the time. And so I'm going to the other
side. There's this guy's coming
through. But there was just nothing.
And the only thing we could find was an inter county scratch golf
league sort of north to then 25, which involved actually Warborn
Stoke Park, no ride and and then numerous other clubs.
And it was a it was a league format.
So it was a promotion relegation, but it involved a
lot of players and A and a lot of time And and they they
wouldn't let us in. Not no, no disrespect to them,
they wouldn't let us in. We were too far South.
And I just thought this is crazy.
You know, you know, from the clubs that we are lucky to be
blessed with in the South of England, especially across,
well, coming from County Surrey myself, how many clubs?
You know, I, I was involved a bit with the Surrey team as
well. So, you know, I knew all the
clubs had networked quite well within our county in particular
and a bit in the Kent and Hampshire.
So we just thought, you know what, let's, let's just try it,
let's go for it. Let's, you know, let's set this
up. So in 2017 was originally
founded as the Solomon County Scratch.
Hopefully that was the original name for it, which so it says
what it does on the 10 in a way. And I think not, nothing is easy
to start with, is it? But it was just a case of simply
picking the phone up, sending emails, phoning clubs,
especially ones we knew that that helped obviously.
And we got a bit of traction. And you know, year one was 15
clubs, which you know, now looking back doesn't seem like a
lot, but you know, it was a starting point for what what was
the common and the transition into, you know, what we've got
now. And so that first year, what did
they look like? They said 15 clubs.
How did it split out? What was the kind of format you
started with originally Alex, in terms of playing?
Quite similar in a way, to be honest.
It's it's not really, it's evolved, but it was a six man
team as opposed to where we are now.
We're A5 man team and explain the reasons and and changes for
that name was to get 20 clubs in groups of five and again, it's
ability Champions League format for you know, for ease of
conversation and everyone sort of understands that it's group
stages. You know, we play home and away
and in this case and then talk, you know, top, top qualifier
goes through to the knockout stages and it went through from
that. And luckily, you know, one of
the clubs that year, very early knock insurance and offered us
the course with the final helped us with it, you know, from a
cost and an outlay point of view, and that was the naval and
but like the Champions League and it sometimes you get lucky,
you get home advantage in the final and and that's what
happened to them that year. But they had a very good say
that a lot of Sussex players playing that year and and you
know, they played right get help in the final that year and and
one so the first ones to to etch the name on the what is now
becoming a little bit more historical trophy.
Yeah. And so one of the things I
remember you saying is, excuse me.
And these things exist in some respects elsewhere, different
counties, etcetera. And England I'm sure may have a
similar format, but I think what you'd deflated on before was
that in the Edinburgh area, for example, there's a really
successful summer league under one league actually split into
groups. The ones the groups get
together, I think there's a semi final, then there's a final.
Then the one of the Edinburgh League actually plays the one of
the Glasgow League, right? So.
I think it's great that you've you've elaborated in that format
because in backing Scotland that would be like 10 man teams I
think back in the day and. I think.
Games and all that. It it did.
It started out, I think he's ten man, I think today sitting at an
8 man and I was unfortunate being at West London because we
tried to get to that league and you'll probably know yourself
from playing in it back in Dalmoy days that it wasn't.
It was a one in one out job and it was very hard to get into.
And West London at the time, we had been, as I said, some of
those players with an unbelievable team and we could
not get in. So they actually got in just as
I was leaving Scotland, unfortunately.
So I never got to fulfill, you know, playing in that.
But obviously very, very aware of it.
We knew it was prestigious, you know, especially some of the,
again, the clubs up there that are repeated when I was like the
budgets, etcetera. So that's where the concept came
from me and that's where we approved an MVP.
That's where the most valued player came from.
So scoring system very, very similar.
So I've taken a lead from that, from that Edinburgh golf league,
as you know from the the county I was playing in anyway, the
Edinburgh site. But the difference is that we
brought in is we've taken down the and we go by the county
borders, more district borders up up the north, but we take the
county borders down. So we're trying to get across
the border lines so you're playing clubs that you don't
play every day. Woburn could play Hindhead,
Woburn could play bare with Lakes or West Sussex could be in
the same group as Roland's Castle.
You know, you're suddenly playing clubs and playoffs that
you just don't come face to face with within your, you know, your
normal county setup and it's not just a straight knockout.
So you have got a group competition which gives you that
social element which is, you know, equally as important to
the the level of golf you're playing.
And we're fortunate enough now that a lot of these clubs who
have played each other over the last five or six years, they've
actually got together collectively their friendly
matches that they arrange on their own back.
So it's really growing the sort of golf network for us.
And you know, you might get one or two players that will go and
practice the other of course. So it really opens up that
space, you know, as I say, breaking down those, those
borderlines really. And so is it the same five teams
that the are the same teams each club would play each year or do
you change that round as well? Is it a better rotation with
unreason for dustness and stuff like that?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, what we, what we did
probably about four or five years ago now, we did, do you
know, completely random draw. And this is, we'd rather be
transparent. This is why it's good to come on
and talk about it really, because we try and be as
transparent as we can. I think people understand it's
not simple as just pulling numbers out of heart.
I mean, we could be traveling up and down England here because I
would say our most, most northerly club would be the
likes of Envo And then we could we have clubs down in Brighton.
So, you know, it's quite, a, quite a, a gap, you know, an
area and a territory. And, you know, we populate this
all on like the Google Maps. You can see this sort of heat
maps ourselves, where they're coming from, where they, you
know, what they do year on year. But yeah, so there's, there's
travel involved. So we, we do run that.
We do do the draw and then you have to just sort of redraw a
little bit to the point where you get the travel allowances,
right. We try and keep it within an
hour as best as best we can. It doesn't always work bang on
the button, but you know, might be a 5 minutes over either side
but we're it's there or thereabouts.
And just to paint a picture for the last nurse, I hope I'm right
saying Enfo Golf Club is near Birmingham.
Yeah, it's not. So you're talking we have the
the difference between Birmingham, That's right.
It's quite was it 200 miles or something?
That can be far off 200. Yeah, it could be more than that
actually. Might be in, Yeah, between 200
and 2:30, maybe in that ballpark.
Off the top of my head. I used to travel a lot across
England from a normal, my real day-to-day job, so.
But yeah, I mean we've got Felixstowe ferry we've had
towards the Kendall show, you know, so they do they do span
quite a big block in this in the South of England.
We, I mean, we unfortunately, we have had entries down in
Traverse the difficulty where we are what not difficulty.
The the nice position, I suppose in a way where we are at the
moment, but equally causes decision making to be taken on
board is where we want to, where we want to grow it.
You know, we want to move up the country.
And you know, I've spoken to recently in the last 3-4 weeks,
spoken to clubs in Scotland, players that are playing in
clubs in Scotland that are part of the Lothian set up, part of
Gull and etcetera, because we'd like to go back in there.
No, I don't want to step on the toes of the Gulf, Edinburgh Gulf
League because, you know, I know the history behind that.
But maybe it's something, you know, anyone listening to this
can reach out as well and be we'd be very welcome to
conversation. Because for me, golf is very
historical. You know, it's, it's about
legacy that we leave behind. You know, it's the same as
having a board in your Golf Club.
Why do you want to? Why do we play sport?
I don't know. Everyone's got their own, their
own take on it. My personal view on it is I want
to leave my name up there so it's there long, long after I'm
gone. At the end of the day, you know,
it's a bit silver. We're amateurs don't pay for
money for for that reason. You know, we're there when
unopposedly when, but they're lucky to pick up the checks at
the same time. So I think we'd like to to do
that. We also been able to blood a lot
of juniors coming through. We're seeing what was it again
probably 4 years ago maybe yeah, four years ago we we started
running independent matches. I don't want to get off subject
too much, but we run matches. We created an All Star team.
We'll be played against Surrey and Hampshire and we could
select an 8 man team to take on the what they deem as the
county's finest. We were very fortunate at this
to be able to pick from, you know, elite group of golfers
that we've been able to watch and see and, you know, take
point scoring from. And we picked an 8 man team that
came in and we, we, we, we give we turned over sorry and and a
heavyweight. I won't go into the results too
much, but but from that we we met, we met new people and that
allows us connection with the golf clubs again.
So from there we took Zach Chegg Wigan, we brought him on as our
first ever ambassador for the brand.
And it was at the same time when we rebranded around, you know,
from southern counties to the elite amateur golf, which we
feel depicts more about what we're about.
It tells the story. It's not just southern we want
to be. We want to be UK national
eventually. And Zach had a fantastic year
and I think it shows confidence in in backing Sunday.
And I think Zach would be able to tell me that himself.
He's maybe 1:00 to to have a chat with at some point in the
future Ross, but he's now in the sunshine too.
So he's progressed really well through his career as we took as
we started working with him first year won the Berkshire
South of England. He finished second at the Brab.
He shot course record that the Brabus and at Gant and he's you
know, and he became an England home international on multiple
occasions. The nice thing at the at the
beginning before he had always England outfit on.
He's wearing our badge and it's nice to see our badge out there.
So that got recognition with England golf, you know, then you
speak to the Graham Walkers and you're into the right camps
where you want to be. I mean, we believe strongly Will
and I, this is Will's been with me year 2.
So Will's a huge part of what we do.
It's not just it's not me that's doing it on my own.
Far from it. It's a complete partnership.
And the good thing is we both CIA on predominantly everything
we do, which is which is makes you know, makes welcome with
someday much easier. But you know, I believe in what
what we've got and we could give an England closed door game.
We can we can put people in the limelight that are just on the
plethora. So these squads that they could
give them up. It could give England options,
it could give them options. So it's creating a platform to
better themselves as well. Yeah, and just circling back and
a few things Alex saw, you know the point in the high strength
just to go back over that you're not trying to replace any other
leak and you haven't done that in the Southeast either or
anyone else for that matter. So you're the the Saudi county
leagues are still going and that's a knockout situation.
Hampshire still got Hampshire and a little bit of crossover of
other counties. Thing is Berkshire endorser,
maybe others has got the stag. The stag still goes on.
That's a knockout format that's still there.
So what you're saying is you've got this opportunity for people
if they've got the time and if they want to do it.
Here's another look you can play on.
And the difference I think for you is typically it's the
weekends, right? You're you're typically like a
weekend format. You've only got four games and
all back home in Scotland, for example in the Lanarkshire
League is I think there's normally six teams in the
league. And it was always my tweet games
that was home underway. So you're actually talking 10
games. It's a lot, a lot of commitment
during the summer. But for you, it's it's kind of
supplemental. You've got four games in the
range maybe over the summer and it's weekends and stuff like
that. If you've been enjoying the
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Now let's get back to the pod. And then the other part is, and
we don't even touch the number. How many teams have you got in
the league overall? Overall, we've we've, we've sat
80 by choice as much as anything else because to to we've gone
past it on on one occasion a couple years ago.
But there's is that fine point of you, you want an even number
and even distribution, you go into a new area, you need
probably 20 clubs to kick that area off.
So in your target audience now for us would be Yorkshire.
Yorkshire, I think it's got 182 clubs.
It's the biggest county in England in terms of clubs.
So it's one that we, you know, to not to not even be, yeah,
it's massive. And to not even be touching that
for us is crazy. When we know how strong
Yorkshire are in a county, we know how strong Scotland is as a
country and you know, obviously a smaller country at that.
But you know the, the like you say, the Edinburgh League, the
Glasgow leagues, Lanokshire and all that, that you know, you're
talking about some of the best golfers in the country.
So we that was part of it is the time the squad numbers are high,
high and what I believe by having the squad numbers that
high you are eliminating the competitive nature a lot of the
time, not always but a lot of the time.
So not every club is blessed on 8 plus golfers or scratch
golfers or better. So by bringing it down to five,
it makes it much more an equal playing field, brings about
clubs into it that might not be in it in the past.
That's a great point I hadn't thought, but I'll like.
So if you take and I'll just throw some Saudi, Saudi county
names out there, Sunningdale, Wentworth, yeah, probably go or
it could be 50 players the playoffs scratch are better or
more versus a another. I wouldn't name another club,
but another club that's got a couple of guys off a scratch,
maybe maybe a couple of 1 and then the next lowest handicaps
3-4. But if you, if you took a team
of 10, you're going to struggle. It'd be a sudden deal or a
Wentworth. But actually if you take a team
of five, you've got two really strong players at the front and
then anybody in the day, as you know, in March play, you've got
a real good chance to 1 and that's brilliant.
I'd usually stop that until you said it there.
And the other thing on that as well, and and again, Ross, you
played in the in the sunny stuff here in the if Barnum and and
what where you've been, but it's five man as well in in Surrey as
an example. But sorry, force you to play in
handicap order, which again I disagree with.
What's the point of having a captain?
What's the point me fielding the captain when there is no captain
duties apart from, you know, picking up the blower and making
a call? Right.
We're playing, you know, that set where the team's going to
take care of itself. Shouldn't have picked it.
It's done. So it's a bit tactics.
It's about how, where do you place your strong men?
Where do you place your wheat men?
Do you put alarm to the slaughter?
It's all part of it. So that's the other thing.
So it's really down to the captains to decide how they how
they lay the team out. Are they away from home?
How do you think that the opposition is going to come out?
So I think that's a big part of it as well.
So that's why even if, you know, we were fortunate enough to keep
growing and get up in Yorkshire, getting up into the, the north
of the country and then in in Scotland, which you obviously be
a a sweet spot for me being, you know, being the home home for
us. But it could be different.
It could run alongside it. And it is a weekend competition
that you say like, you know, using the Scottish example, they
play on a Tuesday night and, you know, getting there after work.
That's not practical for everyone these days.
You know, everyone's life's changing and the world's
changing at the same time. So, but we can go predominantly
still still works. And the thing that's nice, Alex,
as a lot of the 36, all competitions are disappearing.
Even back up the road in Scotland, there's so many 36
holes have become 18 or completely disappeared.
So as much as folks might think, oh hey, that's a weekend
commitment of go. Well, maybe if the choice now
is, do you know what I could go with the guys, four other guys
in the team. We're going to a really nice
course somewhere against another group of guys, but a bit of
crack, a bit of fun. Maybe we won, maybe we don't,
but we're guaranteed forward to them over a couple of months
period. And actually I I don't
necessarily need to go with that 36 hole competition and be
completely away for the day. You can be like an idea that's
less stressed in terms of trying to play 36 holes as well.
That's that's a great thing while still giving you really
competitive golf against a good player.
No, absolutely, absolutely. And you're actually, you're,
you're sparking on my mind back to literally a week ago or two
weeks ago now when we're in Spain, we've we've been
discussing actually we've been lucky as well.
You know, I'm going to mention this, some of the sponsors here,
but you know, TaylorMade and Mortal CAD in particular are
backed as now for the last few years, which have been
fantastic. And what we're discussing with
them at the moment is to run 418 hole events this year for along
the lines of what you're saying, most people in the 30s and in
the 40s who still want to take the golf seriously.
It's a long, it's a lot of golf, it's a long day.
You know, we've all done it. We're up at 5:00 on the tee for
half seven, eating a sandwich on the first tee back out again.
I don't think a lot of people want to do that.
And from speaking to most of our community, yeah, the young lads
do it because they've got the energy, but they're still
playing against good players. And actually this, having this
18 hole, we'll call it a Sprint Order of Merit and we hope to do
something with each of the sponsors.
So we'll make it a very sponsor oriented day and pull in and
pull in and, you know, from our network and our audience pulling
these 418 hole events across the year, which will create an Order
of Merit, which is something we can tie in with other people.
You know, those winners could go on and play and I don't know,
clutch or other other things that you can propel them.
So this is where we can, we can grow and, and entertain a lot of
people. So we can all help one another,
you know, which is for me, what the golf community is about.
I think the other thing you touched on there was younger
players get a chance as well. And and one of the things that
was Graham own club up the road. At some point they decided that
they were going to just try and get more of the younger guys.
And this is a long time ago, obviously for me, like more than
30 years ago now, but they I guess took about of our Ruskin
said right, we're going to start playing basically juniors in the
team started us off most times you'd play used to have reserve
matches and stuff. So with 10 man team, +2 reserves
and you would play against a couple of guys, most cases were
more experienced than us, like you know, guys that had families
and stuff. And we were out there at 161718
just yeah, messing up effectively.
But it was great for our team actually.
It meant that you got that experience of playing people.
You go to develop yourself, you got to play with better players.
But certainly that you only give us our opportunity.
Maybe they take one, maybe they just come up to do you know
what, we're going to take one really good junior with us so
that we don't have an entire team because some clubs might
think that way. We don't have an entire team
bloodied with younger folk that maybe don't have the experience
or maybe don't want to be there potentially whatever the
situation is. But they can mix that in and out
and have some real good fun for kids that are coming through on
their own teams as well. I think I think a lot of people
take the same approach to what I'm about to say in terms of if
you, if you're good enough, you're old enough, you know, in
any sport really that we're not talking about handicap golf.
We've chosen, you know, elite scratch or better golf is in the
after scratch 1-2, but I mean, we'll call it cap 1 and down.
And the reason for that is because that market or that
level of handicap or that level of golfer predominantly if
they're playing just normal club golf and I can vouch for myself,
they go, you know, you, we, we know being a one and scratch
golfer that is not, doesn't make us a good golfer and you know
who we who we are trying to play with.
So, but at a club level, you're still deemed as your top 10
minimum, you know, and but that's all you've got to plan is
your club championship and maybe a stroke play.
And if you're lucky, you might have a match played.
But most clubs that you have a stroke play these days, even
those of a really because they don't have an audience for it.
So you've got your club championships, you one event of
the year. Beyond that, you've got nothing
else to plan unless you want to go like we're saying earlier or
you mentioned earlier about traveling 36 all events cross
counties, you know, national events and most people, again,
working people, kids, it doesn't allow us all to do that.
So we give you something that that overcomes that that that
problem and those difficulties. The other thing as well as as
much as, and I totally agree with you, Alex, if you're good
enough, you're old enough. I still reflect on some of the
games I had when I was a junior, played in the senior team and
I'd be playing a guy who was probably the age of no and I
thought it was about 70. We've all been there.
But you're playing this person who's heading, maybe heading for
retirement are already there. And I've got vivid memories of
playing guys who were off maybe the same handicap, like 3 at the
time, say. And they're honestly like 60,
maybe 65 years old. And I'm having it at times 120
pass them off the tee and I'm getting absolutely dusted.
So the point of that is you learn, you actually learn
there's a different side to the game.
It's not just about smashing off the tee.
It's not just about how great you can hurt your irons.
It's not even great. It doesn't even matter if you're
a great Potter. It's if you're smashed in the
trees, right? What are you doing?
Are you are you trying to try and hurt the hero short?
Are you smart about it? Are you looking at where your
opponent is? You can pack up so much.
Plus you're going to get you're going to get people chirping in
your ear after the experienced know the ways of the world, the
dark arts. It prepares you and helps you
for games you'll have in the future.
So that's a great way for younger people or folk of
developing a game to learn as well as just playing against
different categories of player within the category of you can't
one golfers. There's different ways that
people approach the game. No, absolutely.
I mean, like you say, it's golf's a results business.
You know, there's so many ways to get there.
I've seen the best swing it unbelievable.
Doesn't mean you say they're the best golfers or you know, the
results will it indicate that. So yeah, as a especially as a
youngster, like you say, you learn how these not Downey
Islands instead of trying to flush a sandwich or a wedge.
You know what is the percentage shots?
You know what I mean? It's you just it's, it's trying
to get that old head on a young shoulder as quick as possible.
And that's where the younger generation will benefit.
The ones that take that on board quickly are the ones that
generally go on a bigger and better things, you know, a good
acceleration rate. But I mean we've got we've had
lads as long as young as 14 playing in the league.
You know that we're talking about, plus we're not talking
about and it's and it's good and you know, we get some of them
going or we have to put a limit on it.
But we had one last season saying, you know, I've got no
problem with that. Obviously we have to safeguard
because of, you know, where we are now in the world,
unfortunately, but we make allowances for that.
We just say, look, you've got to play in a four ball or if the
dad's walking around, that's fine.
We're not in a senior kind of caddies because they're X or Y.
So we that that gives the surrounding that they need to be
able to thought and compete. You know, I'm not here to put
blockades up. We're we're, we're actually
trying to take the like I said earlier, we're trying to take.
The barriers down, I'm sure you've sure you've done it
yourself. Carding for one of your pals and
a junior game. Carding for one of your pals and
a senior game. It's a brilliant way to get a
folk involved as well. Used to be fun.
My dad, my dad carried for me Monday 15 club champs at
Westland and but he carried for me and smelting and eat 36 holes
one day. But you know, the memories you,
you get to keep, don't you? So as well, you know, so rather
than just watching, they're involved.
So no, it's good. It's great.
Yeah, and we've touched in the final at the start Alex from
about back up to you know, weird, I don't want to say
finished off, but the season completed very decently for you.
So let's talk a wee bit more in detail about the final and and
what actually happened on the days you were there in Lakala.
It was a bit of panic 48 hours before as we we got we one of
the clubs, Woburn actually, led by Justin and Justin and Woburn
as a club, you know, pass on thanks to them and a lot of
other clubs, not just them, but it has a club.
They're very supportive of what we've done because they've we've
given them something that their club can completely get on board
with. So they enter the foursomes, the
singles, everything but Justin's getting older head younger squad
and that's where the the two marry up really well and he had
them out early. So they were out maybe 3 days
before we landed and practice and well, unfortunately the
practice probably didn't got a plan, but they made the
preparations the right way and there was a lot of rain as as we
all suffered here in the UK at the moment.
So the course was looking really, we were apprehensive.
Is this going to go ahead at one point?
Something we'd never had before and part of the reason why we go
abroad to sort of protect that from being an issue.
But hey, you can't control control above.
So you know. So we normally land on a Friday,
we all travel out on a Friday either flying from Gatwick,
Heathrow as a group, some make their own arrangements.
That's that's their choice. Most of the time we get there,
set ourselves up, we do what we call a media day.
So we try and run it professionally in an amateur
way. So we have photographers,
videographers out with us, green screens.
They'll take all the graphics you'll see on our Instagram
channel. Then the match up, so who's
playing who and then we get all that prepped ready for, you
know, normally on the Saturday, Saturday's the, you know,
practice round and then the Sunday where we have we roll out
the finals. So I mean, as I say, this year
we had the grand final, as we call it, which is the, you know,
the league, which for us is always the it's been the focal
point around what we built everything else around the the
nice ball ones we brought to other football, better ball, the
singles and, and things as well, because it gives us again, an
audience and and even brings us a new clubs every year because
those clubs get those players get involved from other clubs
that are maybe not playing the league and they get involved in
that. They don't have to play with a
member from the same club as well.
They just have to elect a club that are going to play from and
then they go, oh, do you know what?
I won't be involved in the league.
I've seen what happens out there, you know?
So you're saying on the four ball side between the two, if
you're at two different clubs you just nominate a club that is
the main club and you could alternate IG right as pals?
Yeah, 100%. I mean look for example, I could
enter you Ross next year we elect what's going to be a home
club for the day and it's only to around for the draw
properties. Yeah.
And so you know, and then actually we we we've got no
problem and swapping it around if it works better for you and
the opposition. Again, this is where we give it
a little bit flexibility. It's not to bend the rules in
anyone's favor is to make the arrangement of these ties as
easy and feasible. You know, say for example, my
courses are clay based course which is yours as a heathland.
Makes more sense to get the game played.
It's not that far apart. So you know, it's only to
protect if you're a member at Woburn.
I'm a member in Brighton. It's not going to necessarily be
fair to who you're playing potentially so, but that then
also brings in new clubs in the audience for us in the following
years as well because they get to see what the big finals like.
And as I say, 4-4 years ago we brought in the the pink jacket,
the famous, actually longer than that.
I'm looking back here. We didn't have them.
You do, you know what? I've had them as far back as
2019. I'm just looking.
I just made a note for myself there.
And so the pink jackets, the hot pink jackets came in just for
the captains. And then we decided to take it a
bit further and then it becomes all the players got a pink
jacket. So hopefully in in a few years
to come, we're going to have events or you know, the gala
dinner. The final long term could be,
you know, a bit like the masters.
You got to paint Jackie, you're like attended the opening night
dinner or things like that. And it's it's becoming a it's
becoming a good thing. It's it's good from us.
You're noticeable. The Woburn guys, they've got the
30th anniversary this year and they were, they were lucky to go
away as as as victors in 2025, which switched what happened to
them in 2023 when they played that behind the hindhead beat
them at La Cala in 2023. So they've they've, you know,
reversed that who do. And so they've got their hands
on it finally after a bit of a bit of effort.
But I mean, we've we've seen even the teams just don't the
what they wear, the way they've turned out, you know, going from
clubs coming up is very sort of five individuals, we'll call it.
They're coming up now in team shots, team bags, team hats,
team member. They'd even have an EAG branded
onto the club when they come out to Lucala.
So the IT is, it just shows the the the level of sort of
seriousness around what how the clubs are taking it.
And I know being a member of hainting myself, you know that
this wasn't their prime event. It was the county stuff.
This has become and you know, I'm not knocking any counties.
You know, I love county golf. Like I said then it's just
different. It's the fact that there's a
trip to take the score away for the finals.
What we want to do or what we are going to do in 2026 is we're
going to going to change it a little bit to give more people a
taste of that nervous feeling about the semi final match.
We're going to take it back to quarterfinals and give more
people a taste of. So we're going to take the semi
finals and the finals out to 2026 so that you put that mouth
water and tie in more people's hands in that knockout segment
because you know, you're what you feel that you're winning.
Go to the finals in the 1st place and then the Creme de la
Creme is obviously lifting the trophy like anything but.
So what you be making that like you, you go and maybe in a
Thursday, the semis on the Friday, then the finals on the
Saturday, something like that. But we would still keep it
within reason, we still keep it very similar.
So what we'd probably do is we we generally fly early on the
Friday so most of them can get a practice around the Friday, semi
final Saturday and fight off on 4th playoff on the Sunday
followed by the final. And it means that you've got
one. We've got more people there to
generally get more spectators there.
So it makes it more of an amphitheat.
I mean, we've been very lucky. We've seen more and more people
come every year, you know, and it's great.
You know, I mean, how nice is it to have people from your club,
you know, paying their money to fly out to join their squad and
watch something? It's it's a lovely it's a really
cool thing to see. It really is.
And in and then a lot of them join us for the gala dinner.
So you know, a lot of them that came to watch this year will
will tap us up and say, look, can we get involved?
You know, we we we'd like to see 150 there at some point in the
very near future. And it's got bigger and bigger.
We're in 60 odd at the dinner and you know, it's got bigger
and bigger every year. 60 audit. I mean you've only got 10
players plus your other finals, So what, 16 players in total
technically? For yeah, yeah, 2020 players
were out there this year. Yeah, 20 players out there this
year. So well, I've actually Ross
actually 22 because we take 6 to the final and the reason we take
so it's a five man team, but for the final we take 6 and what
what we've learned from that, because obviously we're going in
our resort environment, it's you put two in a buggy, you're not
going to share with an opposition, which makes sense.
Resorts want you to fulfill your slots and the tea time.
And that's something we don't, you know, not everyone's going
to have control of, but I'll also allows them to bring that
extra man in from the squad that, you know, it's been in and
out all the year and we think 6 quite a nice number.
Some did an extra 1. That's played two games or
something but hasn't. Yeah, playing the other two and
stuff with us, but. Yeah, or or you know, can't be
there. So, yeah, it's amazing how where
that six months always, always pops up, but it's it's what for
the last couple of years. Well, so we're going to, we're
going to keep that. So and also it gives this is a
very formatted, we have run in the finals, whereas as good as
the singles and everything is sometimes the crossover where
you might get somebody's playing the singles and the main final.
And that makes it very hard to to organize what's going on
because how far do you stretch it And you're limited on time.
So we'll still put them on a fantastic venue, but we're going
to hose them in the UK for the time being.
And me mate, I'm not going to promise anything when I say
this, but you know, we've we've used the Grove and Hall and well
in the past. So it's not about it's not going
to be a certainly a pure venue and they're still going to get a
good experience from it. And then and also you'll
generally find from the four semi finalists, your MVP is
predominantly going to come from there.
So we can guarantee them also be in the as part of the the final
from presentation purposes. I mean, think so far we've had
one year where an MVP corner from London, the London club won
it last year and he wasn't part of the, you know, the final.
So it shows you even the guys, they're taking that in the seat
and he's going off to turn pro as well.
But MVP is good because it allows us to get a point system.
So if we want to pick a side to play a county or play England or
Scotland or whoever wants to play us, we'd like to be the
Barbarians of the golf, really. I've just recorded with Scott
and also Slim *** the Junior Writer Cup team up against you.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, Absolutely.
But the Stevie Gallacher Foundation, There's another one.
Well. I know, I know, I know Simon
used to play well. I said to Simon, I take Simon
the other day, McKenzie, and you know, he's not playing
competitive golf, which you know from a talent point of view is
what waste on it. But hopefully, you know, it
might, we might spark a bit of interest getting back involved.
You could have a somebody like a George McGregor who used to like
beating the whole Scotland team and he's been here, actually
just been the captain. Yeah, yeah.
I used to see him down at Glenn course.
Quite a bit actually. Back, back, back when you know.
So, Alex, that has been brilliant.
So we've talked about the final, your new format, what about?
So you talked about having the finals of the other competitions
back here in the UK, but do you see any other developments in
those competitions you go forward?
You mentioned potentially having eighteen holes and stuff.
What other ideas have you got in mind?
We, we spoke in the past. I mean the, the, I think we're
going to put a focus on these because we can see the growth in
it now. We, we, I think it's settled
down. We've tweaked it ever so
slightly year on year, you know, and the good thing is we, you
know, you're talking about good elite golfers again, they've
given us feedback and we never take it as criticism.
It's always constructive. You know, everyone, if they want
to, if they're willing to talk to you, you've got to listen.
If you listen to your audience, you hopefully you'll get it
right now. And I, and I hope a lot of them
would agree that we, we do listen and we tweak it.
We can't always give everyone what they want, but you know, we
keep tweaking. I think that, you know, the
foundation is, is the league and if we can keep growing that and
ever we know we get more reach, we we can conversate with more
individual players, which inevitably just grows every
single event we've got. And then you can, you know, if
it gets big enough for us, we you can easily regionalize it.
So the growth factor is quite easy to to consider as it as it
grows anyway. Last and Alex Walbert contact
details of people are interested for themselves and individual
stuff you've got potentially coming up the other competitions
and ultimately the leak. How would they get in touch, how
it defines you? What's your social channels?
I'll give you the the three best ways to do it because the
website is very useful for information.
Give me a bit of history about it and, and entry forms and all
there such as www.eagg.co.uk. And then you've got our
Instagram is Elite amateur Golf. And then if you want to e-mail
me, it's just Alex ELEX at eagg.co.uk.
Nice and simple. Last and thanks for coming on,
Alex. It's been great to see you and
all the best for that season. Pleasure.
Nice to speak to you and great to see you again.
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