Norwegians Overcome Scots to Retain Broxwood Trophy

Scotland's Cabinet Sectretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney MSP, presented the coveted Broxwood Grouse Tropy to the visiting team after the Scotland v Norway international golf match at Perthshire's Strathmore Golf Centre on Sunday, 6 April 2008.

The Broxwood Grouse event was first introduced at the start of the new millennium, starting out as a friendly match with only eight golfers. It has since increased in popularity and takes place in Scotland. Now almost forty Norwegian golfers come across to stay in the big county for five days to enjoy golf at some of Scotland's best courses including Blairgowrie, Murrayshall and Scotscraig.

On arrival at Strathmore Golf Centre on Sunday, players were surprised to find a good layer of snow had fallen in the Strathmore valley, especially as much of the Blairgowrie and Perth areas had remained clear. Despite the early morning whiteout conditions, the Broxwood Grouse Golf match eventually went ahead enabling the Norwegian team to go on and retain the coveted prize.

The Norwegian players were piped into the clubhouse for a true Scottish welcome and, as the sun shone on Strathmore, the teams congregated during the morning reception. A vibrant buzz took to the air as the golfers rekindled old acquaintances and formed new alliances. Meanwhile, much to the delight of both teams, course officials had indeed take the right decision as the course continued to clear and drain at a remarkable rate enabling play to commence just one hour later than scheduled.

Strathmore Club President, Peter Tinker, said: "Strathmore is a beautiful parkland course boasting stunning views over the Strathmore valley. It provides an excellent test for players of all abilities with generous and forgiving fairways combined with undulating and sometimes tricky greens. As well as a challenging golf experience, Strathmore is referred to as the 'Friendly Place to Play Golf' so we were thrilled to hear the Norwegian team suggest that our Scottish welcome was so warm that it had perhaps helped to melt the snow!"

It was a fierce and bitterly cold north wind that next proved testing for the golfers as they took to the course, but as they returned to the clubhouse sometime later, it was clear that everyone thoroughly enjoyed their game. Following a good meal, Laurence Blair Oliphant of Ardblair Castle and Chief of the ancient family of Oliphant, lead a highly entertaining performance of historic Scottish dress and weaponry which saw the Norwegian Men's Captain transformed from golfer to Jacobite Highlander with a swirl of the ancient kilt, much to the delight of his team mates.

The prize presentations commenced with awards of Broxwood crystal glasses, medals and bottles of Famous Grouse Scotch Whisky presented jointly by the Norwegian Consul in Scotland, Mona Røhne, and John Swinney MSP for the highest scores, longest drive and nearest the pin results.  

The first major prize to be awarded was a magnificent crystal creation sponsored by Scotland’s first onlinegolf booking service, TeeDeal.co.uk, which was awarded to the player of the match, Sigvor Reisaeter, a member of the Norwegian Ladies' Team who achieved a score of 43 stableford points. Thereafter, attention turned to the serious issue of who had won the Broxwood Grouse Trophy. It was clear from the final scores that the match had been a close-run thing, but the Norwegian's Men's Captain was clearly delighted when he came up to receive the Trophy from Mr Swinney amid rapturous applause.

Accepting the award on behalf of his team, Roald Fisken said: “This event just gets better and better. We are honoured by the presence of Mr Swinney and our Consul, Mona Røhne, and we thank the Scottish side for their friendly welcome and for an event which has been so professionally organised. Strathmore is a great course and we have again enjoyed some tremendous golf today. The scores were very tight but Team Norway is absolutely delighted to be taking the Broxwood Grouse Trophy home again this year.” 

The Norwegian Ladies Captain, Ingeborg Leira, added: “Today has been simply amazing! We have all been looking forward to this trip very much and have certainly not been disappointed. We did not expect today’s event to go ahead at Strathmore because of snow, but the Centre Manager did not cancel play and by noon the snow was all but away - possibly helped by the very warm welcome we have received!  We’ve all loved the great food, entertainment and wonderful company and most importantly we have enjoyed a beautiful day’s golf in stunning surroundings. We are already looking forward to coming back to Scotland in 2010. First though we would love for the Scottish team to come over and meet with us in Norway next year.” 

The invitation for the Scots team to visit Norway was also extended by the Norwegian Consul, Mona Røhne, who said: ““It is lovely to take part in this very friendly competition between two proud nations. It is especially nice that my home country has won for the second time today. It would be lovely to see the Broxwood Grouse international match become an annual event. With this in mind, we warmly extend the invitation for the Scottish team to join us in Norway next year so that we may return their generous hospitality.” 

Golf is a growing sport in Norway and demand to take part in the Broxwood Grouse event and golf tour to Scotland is high. Due to logistics, numbers this year had to be limited but it is anticipated that the event could easily be expanded in the future to build on the unique marketing opportunity and bring additional visitor income to Scottish golf and tourism in general.

In recognition of this, John Swinney MSP was pleased to add his support to the Broxwood Grouse Scotland -v- Norway event, saying: “This is a tremendous venture which is helping to attract visitors from mainland Europe to Scotland to enjoy the best of what our country has to offer. Today has been about warm welcomes, excellent sport, good food and entertainment – and all despite a late appearance of wintry weather. This type of event is extremely helpful in promoting our country as a welcoming tourist and business destination and serves to boost the Scottish economy. Our Norwegian visitors appear to have enjoyed a fantastic trip and I hope to see the continuation of this event and for it to grow from strength to strength.” 

Norwegian-born Olav Skretteberg, Managing Director of Perth-based business Broxwood which supports and leads the organisation of the event said: “When I saw all the snow at Strathmore I really couldn’t see how the match could proceed. After all the long-term planning and organisation that goes into this international match, anticipation was high and cancellation was the last thing that either side wanted. Thankfully however, centre officials were spot on in predicting that the course would be playable. This year’s event has been a fantastic success and has helped strengthen international relations on sporting, social and business levels. Our Norwegian friends have thoroughly enjoyed their visit which has helped provide a flavour of Scotland and an insight to the Tayside and Fife area as a great golfing and tourist destination. I thank everyone involved including those involved in organising the event, the team captains, Strathmore Golf Centre and not least the Norwegian Consul, Mona Røhne and John Swinney MSP for their most welcome support and for presenting the Broxwood Grouse Trophy.”