It was first held in 1890 and has been played ever since apart from during the First and Second World Wars then for two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Edinburgh Evening News Dispatch Trophy is one of the oldest team events in golf and this year it is the 125th edition at the Braids. Here we look at some of the things that continue to make the tournament, which is run by Edinburgh Leisure and is being backed on this occasion by both Braid Hills Golf Centre and North Berwick-based Golf Finance, one of the highlights on the amateur scene in Edinburgh and the Lothians. The event has always been held at The Braid Hills Golf Course and it is a perfect venue for a number of reasons. Players who normally don’t play their golf at the Edinburgh Leisure-run course love the chance to head up there and enjoy the stunning views it provides of the Capital and beyond. The course itself is also brilliant for the event’s double-foursome format, with many matches over the years having been turned on its head over the closing stretch. This correspondent didn’t have a clue what was going on the first time he covered the event before eventually getting to grips with it. Teams are made up of four players who play in two foursome matches with the score being determined across both of them. A team could finish seven up after 18 holes in the front match, for example, but lose due to the second couple finishing eight down at the same stage. It’s fascinating to watch club officials relaying news of how the respective pairings are faring and big splits are not uncommon. The world’s top professionals are competing for an impressive piece of silverware this week in the Wanamaker Trophy, which is presented to the winner of the PGA Championship, but it could be argued that the Dispatch Trophy is even more eye-catching. The new trophy was first played for in 1952 and it is an absolute belter, both in terms of its size and how it looks. There’s always someone who appears during the event who hasn’t seen it before and their reaction really says it all. It’s pretty impressive in photographs, too. Part of the beauty of the event is that it brings FPs from the Capital’s top schools together on the golf course with members of the municipal clubs in the city. The likes of John Archibald and Keith Reilly, for instance, have not only earned mutual respect through the tournament but struck up a friendship as well and it’s exactly the same with loads of others, too. Scottish rugby legends Gavin Hastings and Andy Irvine have both played in the event, as did former Hearts player Jim Brown at one time while Jamie Gullan, the former Hibs striker who is now at Raith Rovers, teed up for Watsonians a couple of years ago. Ian MacNiven, the legendary golf correspondent for the Edinburgh Evening News, preferred covering the Dispatch Trophy - the Lothians Championship as well - to events like The Open. He was at his happiest sitting in the host club during Dispatch week and everyone knew he’d be waiting there to hear about completed matches. I’ve inherited that love for the event from him and I’m certainly not alone. George McLeod, an Edinburgh Thistle stalwart and former committee member, still pops up to the Braids when the tournament is on, as does Graham Ewart, the former Scottish Golf treasurer and president, who, in this instance, is there to cheer on teams representing Heriot’s and Hailes from his beloved Kingsknowe.