First day of Scottish boys' championship at West Kilbride

Jack Scott rallies to win after letting five-hole

lead slip against Callum Gorrie

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
By ROSS DUNCAN
Jack Scott (Deeside), winner of the opening SGU Junior Tour event of the season, scraped into round two of the Scottish boys' championship at West Kilbride with a narrow one-hole win after letting a five-hole lead slip against Barassie’s Callum Gorrie today.
Scott played some impressive golf on the outward stretch having reached the ninth tee in one-under par, but stuttered coming home to eventually clinch his match on the final green.
“I was in control of the game early on and playing some great golf but the wheels came off a bit. I suppose it’s good to get a tough match under my belt early on which might stand me in good stead as the week progresses.”
Scott, who in his final year at Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen and hoping to study at Edinburgh or St Andrews next year, admitted to seeking advice from last year’s winner David Law:
“David is a good friend of mine and we practise a lot together so I’ve been tapping him up recently for advice. He told me just to take one game at a time and keep believing in myself. We share the same coach in Neil Marr and he’s been working us hard on our short games, which is starting to pay off.”
Meanwhile, the lowest handicapped player in the field, Pollok’s Conor O’Neil who plays off plus 1.9, survived an early scare in his match against Cameron Cunningham (Royal Musselburgh) to progress to round two. The 18-year-old was two down after four holes, but fought back to win 4&2 to set up a tie against Mount Ellen’s Eamon Bradley.
Asked if being the back marker in the 256-strong line-up added any pressure, O’Neil said:
“I put a lot of pressure on myself anyway so I don’t think it makes a huge difference. There are a lot of good young players around just now of a similar standard so I just have to go out there and prove myself. My best effort in this event was the fourth round two years ago so hopefully I can improve on that.”
“I’m going out to Michigan State University in August which I’m really looking forward too. They’ve got some great golfers there just now, including Jack Newman who played in last year’s Masters after winning the US Public Links Championship, so it should be a fantastic experience for me.”
Angus Carrick, son of former Walker Cup player and Scotland international David, booked his place in the second round with a 2&1 win over Deeside’s Steven Smith. The 16-year-old, who has recently stopped playing rugby after suffering his second dislocated shoulder, is playing in the event for the first time and still faces some stiff competition from his dad:
“He’s still pretty handy and playing off one,” Angus said of the 1985 Scottish Amateur Champion. “His advice was to go out and enjoy myself which I did today. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, although my next game’s at 6.45am on Wednesday so I’ll have a very early start!”
Lyle McAlpine (Invergordon) racked up the biggest win of the day win a 9&8 defeat of David Wright (Cathcart Castle), while 13-year-old George Burns from Williamwood – the youngest player in the field – took Scotland Boys international Callum Stewart (Brora) all the way in a titanic match before losing at the first extra hole.
Click here for first round results from day one of the Scottish Boys Championship at West Kilbride.

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