Derek Ives was eventually awarded the prize after a protracted debate about how the nearest ball in the group in front of him, struck by Paul Cartwright, was marked. Derek somewhat cheekily assumed he had won the prize when his ball landed on the green, because he did not think there was any marker on the green when he arrived. Paul had however left a scorecard pegged into the ground, on the green, which was marked with the words "Nearest the Pin - Dacoity Cup". This in fact marked the position of his ball, though Derek had not realised this, and therefore made no comparison to check whether his ball was closer than the marker.
Previously undiscovered photos have recently arrived at the headquarters of ODCOC which clearly show Derek's ball further away from the hole than the scorecard used as a marker by Paul.
In a statement, an ODCOC spokesperson said "the evidence is clear. As was thought by many at the time, Paul Cartwright's ball was nearer the pin than Derek's, and it is a travesty that this could not be verified at the time. Unfortunately Derek disregarded what was a traditional Bandit Trophy method of marking the nearest ball to the pin. We can only assume that this was a careless error rather than any sort of foul play but only Derek will ever know the true answer to that."
The official ODCOC ruling is that the Nearest the Pin prize for 2014 should now be retrospectively awarded to Paul Cartwright. Ives has therefore been stripped of his prize.
This has led to speculation over whether Ives should continue as England Captain at this years event. He was not available for comment. ODCOC said that a final decision on this years captaincy in the Dacoity Cup has yet to be made. They refused to say whether this latest controversy will affect the decision.
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