Poulter sparks war of words with author

While Brandon Stone won hearts and minds at Gullane, one galactico instead spent yesterday doing for golf what President Trump has been doing for Americans.

The title of a long and vitriolic letter from a prominent Gullane member to the Scottish Open tournament director, said it all: “Ian Poulter is an a----hole”, it began.

Celebrated crime author Quintin Jardine lives in Gullane and, as a member of the village’s golf club, was on duty as a marshal. As such, he came into contact with England’s finest, and it was not a happy experience. Jardine’s 450-word letter, which is published on his blog, implied that the cause of Poulter’s ire was Jardine’s refusal to gift the golfer an unfair advantage.

“Mr Poulter arrived in a shower of expletives and asked me where his ball was,” wrote Jardine. “I told him and said that I had not ventured into the bush for fear of standing on it. I wasn’t expecting thanks, but I wasn’t expecting aggression either.

“He told me, in essence, that I should have, his reasoning being that, if I stood on the ball it was a free drop, whereas if he did it was a penalty … He (later) came back at me and said again that next time … I should go straight in there feet first.”

Poulter seemed nonplussed by Jardine’s reaction. “It’s a shame if he [Jardine] has misunderstood my explanation to him,” he said. “I was trying to help him out. I said a couple of choice words aimed at myself. I don’t abuse volunteers.”

Jardine was, however, unrepentant. “I would like him [Poulter] to be reminded that, even though most of the world knows you’re an a----hole, there’s no need to go proving it to the rest.

“I will take his apology as read,” he added, “but if he wants to make it in person, I’m not hard to find in Gullane.”