It was billed by the promoters as ‘Golf, but not as you know it’ but for long-suffering fans of Scottish sport, the manner of the country’s departure from the inaugural Golf Sixes at the Centurion club yesterday was more a case of defeat as we know it only too well. The format may have changed but some things stay the same eh?

While Denmark took the ultimate honours in this engaging, upbeat and experimental venture into new territory, Marc Warren and Richie Ramsay’s narrow 2-1 loss to the Australian pairing of Sam Brazel and Scott Hend in the semi-finals would have had members of the Tartan Army tugging at their See You Jimmy wigs in an anguish-laden lather.

It wasn’t quite glorious failure – the Scottish alliance simply didn’t get going in the afternoon session – but it was still a sore one to stomach. Having drawn level with the Aussies on the fourth hole of the rapid-fire six-hole shoot-out, Warren’s 3-wood approach to the par-5 last plunged into the water as Scottish hopes went down like a burial at sea.

It was good while it lasted, though. And this fresh addition to the golfing schedule will hopefully last too. “It’s been brilliant,” said Warren. “Everyone has got involved and got into the spirit. That helps to bring out the best in us. Some of the golf has been really good and hopefully we have managed to put on a show.”

Having eased through the group stages on Saturday, Warren and Ramsay continued to bound along at a sprightly pace in the greensomes format with a purposeful 3-0 win over Portugal in the quarter-finals. From the second to the fourth, the Scots conjured a telling thrust and went birdie, eagle, birdie to surge into a unbeatable advantage.

The profitable gains dried up in the last four, however, and they failed to muster a single birdie over the half-a-dozen holes despite Ramsay having good opportunities from 10-feet at both the third and fourth. The Scots were oot and it was a case of what might have been.

“We were really, really good in some of the earlier rounds and if we had produced half of that (against Australia) we would have been in cruise control,” reflected Ramsay. “I probably needed to make one of the putts on three or four to give us a bit of momentum. When you’ve got only six holes, you need to hole something and I didn’t.”

The Scots did manage to grab third place in a nearest-the-pin play-off with Italy. It was tight, mind you. Warren was four inches closer than his Italian opponent, which was worth an extra £12,700 in the Scottish prize pot of some £43,000 each.

With that big fiery orb up in the sky finally making an appearance after a dull, dour first day, the colour and vibrancy of this golfing garden party was showcased nicely. Even some of the traditionally crabbit golf writers were almost tempted to stick on an oversized foam finger and join in the fun.

There were things that worked and things that didn’t but, overall, there was a positive vibe about the first airing of the Golf Sixes. One of the more popular innovations was the shot clock, which counted down from 40 seconds on the fourth hole and did actually catch out the dilly-dallying Paul Peterson of the US on Saturday as he was given a one stroke penalty. England’s Ryder Cup player Chris Wood was certainly in favour of this golfing version of Countdown in the battle to combat slow play. “He (Peterson) is probably a but humiliated and it’s that naming and shaming thing which has quite a lot to do with it,” said Wood. “There’s too much leniency.”

In the final, meanwhile, Thorbjorn Olesen, who won the World Cup with Soren Kjeldsen last year, tasted more team success, this time with Lucas Bjerregaard, as the Danes beat Australia 2-1. It was the joy of six. And most folk enjoyed it.