Age no obstacle as Burgess aim to kick on from title

ROYAL BURGESS aim to continue their remarkable journey in the Edinburgh Summer League until it comes time to swap handicap certificates for bus passes.

The Barnton club chalked up a fourth title on the trot with victory over Mortonhall in the final of this year’s Pollock (Scotrans) Ltd-sponsored event.

They’re the first team to have achieved the feat and are the undisputed “Kings of the Capital” at the moment.

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The average age of Sunday’s winning team was 47 – Stephen Buckley being the youngest at 27 and Ian Taylor the oldest at 60.

In addition to Taylor, the likes of John Fraser, 59, Fraser McCluskey, 55, and Sandy Gray, 53, show no signs of letting up. If anything, they all seem to be getting stronger with each passing year.

“All the experience is working for us at the moment,” noted Doug Ross, another seasoned campaigner in the side at 48.

“But that will also work against us as every year goes by and more bus passes are required rather than handicap certificates!”

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According to John Yuille, age in the Royal Burgess ranks brings a maturity on the golf course. “There are no heads-off, so to speak,” noted the 45-year-old. “Everyone just keeps plodding on.”

Team manager Richard Hughes also has a strength in depth that few clubs can match. The latest win, for example, was achieved without James Ross, Grant Pollock, Grant Hill, Jim Thompson, Scott MacDonald or Varun Varadharajan.

The latter will surely become a regular before too long and bring that average age down a bit. But, with the old guard still going strong, he’ll face a fight to get into the team again next season.