Perthshire's princes of golf on top of the world again

Gavin Dear with the president of the Irish Golf Union and the open championship trophy.

Scotland 1-2 in Ireland with

Dear winner, Booth second

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Murrayshall's Gavin Dear and Wallace Booth from Comrie recaptured the form that, with the help of Callum Macaulay, won the Eisenhower Trophy world amateur team championship last October when they finished first and second, well clear of the field, in the Irish men's open amateur stroke-play championship over the Royal Dublin club's Bull Island links today.
It was Dear's second 72-hole win in a matter of weeks after his success in the recent Craigmillar Park Open but this was a field crammed full of Walker Cup team place rivals and elite squad players from the Continent.
Gavin from Scone came through the gale-force winds on the opening day with a 77 and then took the halfway lead with a second-round 69 before digging in at the front with Sunday rounds of 72 and 71 for a final total of one-over-par 289.
Dear, 24, has two ambitions to achieve before he turns professional in late September. The first and foremost is a Walker Cup cap at Merion Golf Club in the States and secondly he wants to make the top 10 of the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings.
The Irish win - he follows in the footsteps of Richie Ramsay (2005) and Lloyd Saltman (2007) - coupled with the Eisenhower Trophy triump, not to mention becoming the first Scot to win the Dixie Amateur in Florida over the Festive period - should clinch a place in compatriot skipper Colin Dalgleish for the Perthshire man and it will be interesting to see how many places Gavin rises in the rankings from his current 42nd position when the revised list comes out from the R&A on Tuesday.
And for Wallace Booth, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the Scottish stroke-play title-holder from 2008 and, by the way, ranked No 58 in the world, to chase him home at the head of such a strong field is a terrific boost for Perthshire and Scottish amateur golf.
Booth, 23-year-old older brother of Curtis Cup prodigy Carly - whose swing he has worked on, had the best Sunday aggregate with rounds of 70 and 72 to add to his opening effortsd of 76 and 73. Wallace totalled three-ovber-par 291, finishing four shots clear of the third-placed Irishman Nicky Grant from Knock who scored 78, 69, 72 and 76 for 295.
The next best Scots were young James Ross (Royal Burgess) and Ross Kellett (Colville Park) in joint 10th place on 302. Ross, who has been gradually making a name for himself in Edinburgh circles, is obviously ready for bigger things.
With only the precise number of 39 qualifiers getting through to the final day, Ross had to survive a card countback to be one of the players on the 158 mark to survive. His scores were 80, 78, 71 and 73. Kellett scored 80, 75, 71 and 76.
Scott Borrowman (Dollar), who totalled 306, and Paul Betty (Hayston), who scored 312, were the last of the six Scots to get through to Sunday's play.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
289 G Dear (Murrayshall) 77 69 72 71.
291 W Booth (Comrie) 76 73 70 72.
295 N Grant (Knock) 78 69 72 76.
296 D Whitnell (England) 78 75 70 73.
298 L Goddard (England) 81 73 69 75, S Lowry (Esker Hills) 79 76 71 72.
299 P Westermann (Germany) 78 70 78 73.
300 S Einhaus (Germany) 82 74 74 70, P Cutler (Portstewart) 78 74 74 74.
302 J Ross (Royal Burgess) 80 78 71 73, R Kellett (Colville Park) 80 75 71 76, R Prophet (England) 79 78 73 72, D Lernihan (Castle) 78 75 75 74, R McCarthy (The Island) 77 74 72 79, N Kearney (The Royal Dublin) 75 74 78 75.
303 S Hodgson (England) 80 76 74 73, M Thistleton (England) 79 73 73 78, S Hutsby (England) 78 75 75 75, T Hakula (Finland) 77 74 77 75.
304 M Glauert (Germany) 82 76 74 72, A Hogan (Newlands) 80 78 74 72, J Fox (Portmarnock) 75 81 69 79, F Keenan (England) 74 77 77 76.
306 L Lennox (Moyola Park) 82 76 75 73, S Borrowman (Dollar) 80 75 76 75.
307 D Coyle (Co. Louth) 83 74 76 74, G McGrane (The Royal Dublin) 82 76 72 77, A Dunbar (Rathmore) 80 77 71 79.
308 C Curley (Newlands) 81 74 79 74, H Satama (Finland) 80 76 74 78.
310 G McDermott (Co. Sligo) 82 75 77 76.
311 M Durcan (Co. Sligo) 80 76 77 78, A Runcie (Wales) 78 76 79 78.
312 P Purdy (Shandon Park) 79 75 79 79, J Monaghan (The Island) 78 79 77 78, P Betty (Hayston) 76 79 73 84.
313 B Walton (The Island) 79 78 76 80.
316 E Arthurs (Forrest Little) 81 74 82 79.
318 R Leonard (Banbridge) 77 75 84 82

SCOTS WHO HAVE WON THE IRISH OPEN AMATEUR TITLE
First played in 1892
1903 George Wilkie (Leven Thistle).
1907 J Douglas Brown (Murrayfield).
1908 J F Mitchell (Royal Musselburgh).
1912 Gordon Lockhart (Prestwick).
1928 G S Noon (Royal Burgess).
1931 E A McRuvie (Leven Thistle).
1932 Jack McLean (Hayston).
1933 Jack McLean (Hayston).
1934 Hector Thomson (Williamwood).
1935 Hector Thomson (Williamwood)
(Championship not played between 1960-94)
2005 Richie Ramsay (Royal Aberdeen).
2007 Lloyd Saltman (Craigielaw).
2009 Gavin Dear (Murrayshall).