About JPSO
In 1987 or 1988 the foundation-stone of the JPSO was layed. Jim Paton, born in East Wemyss, Fife, travelled to Scotland with Frank Reising, to show him around his native country and to play golf. In 1989 the trip was repeated with Helmut Fritz, Karl-Heinz Dücker and Lothar Grüter joining them. From then on, the enthusiasm for the country, its people and its golf courses spread rapidly and infected many members of the GC Castrop-Rauxel.
Hence, more and more club members joined the group in 1990 after hearing about the exceptional dimension of golf in Scotland. Due to the german habit of turning everything into a tradition they ever did twice, the journey then took place every year. Some club members and some friends of Jim joined the group while some others left – resulting in a group of about 8 to 10 golfers setting out to Scotland every May ever since.
We’ve stayed in Lower Largo, Elie and in Leven so far. For some years now, we’ve been spending the nights in the Caledonian Hotel located in Leven. We feel very welcome there, one reason for that being the staff conscientiously seeing to there always being enough Lagavulin kept in stock for our stays. Which is not always the case in our home clubhouse.
In the early years, Jim organized everything himself. He booked flights, hotels and tee times. He himself even drove the bus his Scottish friend Sandy had lent him. Some years later Lee Murray who owned a taxi- and bus-company provided transportation to the golf courses where he would join us for a round of golf whenever possible. We will not forget his hooked tee shots with his 1 iron that would not only leave the fairways but even the golf course only to return and land on the fairway. Lee has given up the taxi company by now. These days, he owns a pub in Leven, where we occasionally drop by for a drink or two. He is a very good single handicapper now – with his drives being said to be straight now.
Quite some time ago, we met George Finlayson, a golf professional in Leven. George supported us by booking the tee times. Later, he became teaching pro in Murrayshall and Skibo Castle. After moving to Edinburgh and then to Elie, he was in charge of tee times and transports to the courses. By and by this business developed. Nowadays, George lives in St. Andrews and organizes golf travels for customers all over the world with his company Scotland For Golf.
There are only few photos capturing the first years. As we know, the free and easy play had soon developed into a serious competition named Jim Paton Scottish Open (JPSO) by Dierk Skulima, though Jim Paton Scottish Invitational might have been even more appropriate, because only invited guests have the chance of joining the group.
At the beginning, we used to play 12 rounds of golf a week. The stroke play results were added and at the end of the week two winners were honoured: net and gross. But becoming older, we had to shorten the program. These days, we only play two rounds of golf a day in Lundin Links or in Blairgowrie .
May 26th in 1997 remains unforgettable, when we played Downfield (Dundee) in the morning and the Championship Course in Carnoustie in the afternoon. We reached our limits – not to say we crossed them.
Jim Paton dominated the gross scoring in the first years. Only rarely a guest was able to beat him. Since Peter Dürscheidt joined the group in 2004, he has been the unchallenged gross winner.
The net winner changes from year to year, because as we all know, condition and form of golf may often change – sometimes within minutes.
We usually play the Balcomie Course in Crail on the last Saturday of our golf week. The net winner of this round wins the fabulous Crail-Putter, which he may keep one year or longer if he can repeat his victory. The putter was donated to our group by George Finlayson in 2003. The first winner was Udo Möller, the winner in 2014 is Dirk Weinrich – for the fifth time since 2003.
In May 2010, the volcanic eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull gave us two extra days in Scotland. We had booked return flights for Monday but the volcanic ashes didn’t allow us to leave. However, we had to check out of our hotel but the Old Manor in Lundin Links was worth all the hassle. The two unexpected and unintended days of vacation greeted us with blue sunny skies, a light breeze and two extra rounds fo golf in Lundin Links – it was a mere pleasure, except for the scores …