Not even the announcement that the GROGS Christmas Lunch would take place in a different venue this year could steal the spotlight from the broadcasting legend that is Dougie Donnelly who graced the October Lunch as guest speaker. Regaling his audience with tales of his experiences at sporting events all over the world, he gave the impression that there was very little he had not experienced as a commentator or presenter. There was a sense that, if he was asked to pick his two most memorable career experiences, the recent European victory in the Ryder Cup and the moment Scottish curling skip Rhona Martin slid the last stone of the match to win gold medal for Great Britain at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City would win out. His own sporting achievements had peaked when playing 2 games as centre half for Clyde F.C. reserves and, later, when he regularly played golf as the “Am” in a number of Pro-Am tournaments. Considering himself “an extremely lucky individual” in a career spanning over 40 years, Dougie talked about its development from the early days in Radio Clyde to being a top broadcaster with the BBC and now lead commentator for TV coverage of the European Golf Tour. He said he would be eternally grateful for all the opportunities that have come his way, visiting places all over the world covering sports he had never previously been interested in and knew very little about. However, as he explained to us, whenever he was asked by a producer if he was familiar with them he would say “Give me a few days and I will be”. For a man whose main loves in life, outwith his family, are music and sport, a career which started off as a DJ and moved on to allowing him to mention such sporting names as Gavin Hastings, Nick Faldo, Sam Torrance, Ally McCoist, and to be able to call them friends, must seem like a dream come true. Dougie Donnelly proved to be one of the stars in the GROGS speaking galaxy and was a delight to listen to. He deserved the gift of a bottle of rare GROGS whisky he was presented with.