Member of triumphant Dispatch Trophy team hailed as 'man who resurrected Riccarton'
Why Braids success in his historic team tournament was extra special for Fergus Lockhart
Fergus Lockhart became an Edinburgh Evening News Dispatch Trophy winner in the event’s 126th edition after being hailed as the “man who resurrected Riccarton”.
Lockhart teamed up with Mark Riddell, Owen Brady and Jake Edgcombe to land the Baberton team’s third triumph in the Edinburgh Leisure-run event at the Braids on Saturday.
Emulating wins in 1956 and 2005, the success by the ‘Class of 2026’ came after Riccarton had been notable absentees for a spell.
That was because the club within Baberton had become inactive and it was thanks to Lockhart and Matthew Downie that it is now back in the spotlight on the Capital golf scene after beating Stewart’s Melville FP in a repeat of the 2005 trophy decider.
“I think it was about four or five years ago, myself and Matty, both of us being quite social people, decided to try and get Riccarton up and running again socially in the first instance and it was great to then get a team back in the Dispatch Trophy.
“A lot of the guys in the Baberton team for the Summer League are good players, so I was confident we could get close in the Dispatch - but I didn’t expect it to be this year.
“We were just having outings and competitions at Baberton before we decided to go for it again in the Dispatch Trophy. So this win is even more special because of the fact the club was resurrected, so to speak, and I am happy for everyone involved.
“It’s funny because people like my grandad and my wife’s grandad were excited to hear that I was playing in the tournament and to actually go home and say we’ve won it is a brilliant feeling.”
Riccarton reached the semi-finals in 2024, when the tournament was concluded later in the year due to bad weather.
Determined to improve on that, the same four players went all the way on this occasion following wins over Clark Technical Consultancy, Harrison B, Edinburgh Western, Murrayfield and then Stew Mel in the final.
“I still speak to Laurie Morton, who I think won this with Heriot’s, and he gives me grief all the time about him winning it and I hadn’t,” revealed Riddell of his delight at now being a gold medallist as well.
Steven Marshall, who was in the winning team in 2005 along with Grant McCall, Andy Laurence and Ian Gourlay, turned up on Saturday afternoon to catch the denouement.
Earlier in the week, the Riccarton players had joked about how they had become used to hearing about the most recent triumph “all the bloody time!”.
“It’s good to be able to go back to the golf club and tell Ian Gourlay: ‘I’ll tell you about my win in the Dispatch instead of having to listen to your one’,” added Riddell, laughing.
According to Riddell, Brady “drove like a pro” at times during the week while Lockhart reckons his task was made easier by Edgcombe “smashing it up the middle all the time”.
Savouring his success Brady said: “I remember playing a practice round for the Lothians Boys up here and seeing a mass of people around the first tee as a round of the Dispatch Trophy was getting underway. That’s when I first heard of it.”
Edgcombe, meanwhile, got his first taste of the event playing for Lothians Boys and admitted of his partnership with Lockhart: “We were quite clutch, good from that five to six-feet range, which you need around here.”