2024 Platinum
But it was Marchbank, the Auchterarder professional, who took home the sponsors' commemorative glassware, courtesy of an inward half of 33, one better than the Downfield (Dundee) man. The entry of 118 players, the biggest of the PGA regions, reflected the fact that the 72-hole final will be played in Scotland later this summer - at the new St Andrews Bay Resort, seven miles from the 'Home of Golf'.
Marchbank, part of the golfing dynasty that included his father, Ian, long-time professional at Gleneagles, gathered five birdies and a solitary bogey, at the 462-yard 14th. Now, along with the 24 other qualifiers, he and Hutton will head for one of the latter's favourite golf complexes, St Andrews Bay, in mid-August for the £78,000 Glenmuir final.
Said the 39-year-old Dundee pro' "I've played the Torrance course maybe a dozen times, and the Devlin four times, and they're both terrific layouts. It was especially good over the winter to play a links course when, on most inland courses, you'd be playing off mats." Hutton dropped not a single shot at Ladybank, picking up four birdies in a flawless round.
What could have been an arduous play-off for the final places was avoided when John McTear, former PGA Senior Club Professional champion, failed to appear. That meant all seven players who'd recorded a level-par 71 - with the exception of McTear - will now play in the 72-hole final.
The winner at St Andrews Bay not only picks up £10,000 but gets an automatic place in the 2005 Great Britain & Ireland PGA Cup team to meet the United States in the club pros' version of the Ryder Cup.