EAST OF SCOTLAND OPEN WINNER

DUNCAN HEADING FOR USA – BUT

HE WOULD COME HOME FOR A CAP

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

If the Scottish Golf Union selectors have Duncan Stewart on their short leet for the men’s home internationals in September, they had better not waste much time in getting in touch with the 23-year-old from Grantown on Spey.
Winner of the East of Scotland Open amateur championship at Lundin last weekend, Stewart will be packing his suitcases very shortly for a return to the States where he spent the last four years as a very successful member of the golf team at Jacksonville University, Florida.
“My girlfriend lives in America and my future lies over there. I am going back to play in two tournaments, maybe three, if I qualify for the US amateur championship,” said Duncan.
“The first is the Scratch Players Championship at the Del Rio Country Club in California. Rhys Davies beat Oliver Fisher in a play-off for that title last year.
It’s considered one of the big ones on the American amateur golf calendar. Immediately after that I’m going to try to qualify for next month’s US amateur championship at the Olympic Club, San Francisco.
“Then, I think I will turn professional in the States and play on one of the good satellite tours they have over there. I would hope to go to the US Tour School later in the year.”
There is only one thing that will change Duncan Stewart’s plans – and that’s where the SGU selectors come in.
“I would delay turning pro and definitely come back to this country if I was selected to play for Scotland in the home internationals (September 19 to 21 at Co Louth, Ireland). It would mean a lot to me to finish my amateur career playing for Scotland in the men’s home internationals,” said Duncan, who was capped for Scotland in the boys’ home internationals at Blairgowrie in 2002.
“I have to be honest. I don’t think I will be selected on the basis of winning the East of Scotland Open. But I can always hope.”
Stewart is being somewhat self-deprecative. Last summer, the SGU thought Duncan was a good enough player to represent Scotland in the Chiberta Grand Prix, a prestigious 72-hole event in south-west France. And Duncan responded by beating an international field.
Being a winner must surely count for something with the SGU selectors. Stewart won four or five 54-hole tournaments on the US college circuit over the past four years and helped Jacksonville University win several conference team championships.