Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship won by Linus Vaisanen

Happiness is cup-shaped for Finnish youngster Linus Vaisanen. Image by Andy Forman.

Grandstand Finnish by young man from Helsinki 

By ROSS DUNCAN
Scottish Golf Union marketing and sponsorship manager
Finland’s Linus Vaisanen held his nerve in a dramatic finish to clinch the Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship by one shot from Pollok’s Conor O’Neil at Craigielaw this evening.
Vaisanen, who will return to Scotland in September to study economics and finance at Edinburgh University, fired a two-under par final round 69 to post a total of 281, holing a 10-foot birdie putt on the last green having let a three shot lead disappear on the previous three holes.
The 18-year-old from Helsinki was joint leader overnight, but a two-over par 73 this morning left him three shots behind Scott Gibson going into the final round. After Gibson played himself out of contention on the front nine as O’Neil edged in front, the turning point for the young Fin came with a superb eagle three at the long 11th, after his 8-iron approach landed just six feet from the pin.
The Finnish Boys Championship runner-up then bogeyed 15, 16 and 17 to fall back to two-under par alongside O’Neil, who narrowly failed to birdie the final two holes, and a superb up and down from just off the back of the 18th green handed victory to Vaisanen, the fourth foreign player to win a Scottish championship in 2010.
A delighted Vaisanen said:
“This is my first trip to Scotland so I’m thrilled to lift the trophy. It’s also my first experience of links golf but I’ve loved every minute of it. I came into the event with a lot of confidence having finished second back home last week in my national championship and that was the key. My driving was good all week and although I was shaky playing the last few holes, I managed to keep my nerve at the last.”
“The people here in Scotland have been fantastic and the staff at Craigielaw have really looked after me. I acclimatised myself by eating haggis in a bar in Edinburgh watching The Open on Sunday afternoon, so I now feel very home in Scotland and look forward to studying here.” he added.
O’Neil’s final round started brightly with birdies at the 1st and 4th and despite dropped shots at the 3rd and 5th the former St Ninians High school pupil moved into a share of the lead at the turn. However, a number of birdie chances slipped by and he could only par the final thirteen holes for a level par 71 and a four-round aggregate of 282.
“I’m disappointed to miss out on the win but pleased with my performance this week. It was a frustrating final round with my putter having given myself so many chances, but I’ll head to Michigan State University next month for my scholarship in good confidence.” said O’Neil, whose triplet brother Patrick was also in the field.
Falkirk Tryst’s Jamie Lynch clinched the bronze medal with a one-under par final round of 70, while Aberdeen born Daniel Hendry – representing the United Arab Emirates – finished fourth on level par to lift the U16s title.
Grant Forrest’s hopes of a dream national title double faded with a closing round of 75 to end the week in seventh place, with Scotland team-mate Gibson in fifth place on one-over par after going out of bounds on the final hole.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
281 VAISANEN, Linus (Finland) 67 72 73 69.
282 O'NEIL, Conor (Pollok) 73 69 69 71.
283 LYNCH, Jamie (Falkirk Tryst) 74 67 72 70.
284 HENDRY, Daniel (U16) (United Arab Emirates) 73 71 70 70.
285 GIBSON, Scott (Southerness) 70 71 68 76.
286 HAMILTON, Craig (New Zealand) 72 70 74 70.
287 FORREST, Grant (Craigielaw) 69 71 72 75.
288 WALZ, Maximilian (Germany) 71 74 73 70, SMITH, Marc (Troon Welbeck) 73 69 73 73.
290 BEST, Lloyd (Sherwood Forest) 67 72 83 68.
291 THAIN, Fraser (West Linton) 73 75 72 71, ROSS, Craig (Kirkhill) 74 73 69 75, DONALDSON, Ewen (Craigielaw) 69 75 72 75, JOHNSTON, Liam (Dumfries and Co) 68 74 71 78.
292 JAMIESON, Josh (St Andrews New) 76 72 75 69, FAIRBURN, Simon (Torwoodlee) 71 74 73 74.
293 WRIGHT, Jeff (Forres) 74 72 73 74.
294 HOWIE, Craig (U16) (Peebles) 76 72 73 73.
295 SMITH, Steven (Deeside) 78 69 76 72, CLARKE, Rodger (Moray) 73 74 75 73, MARCHBANK, Greig (U16) (Dumfries and Galloway) 72 74 75 74, BLANEY, Anthony (U16) (Liberton) 75 72 72 76 +11
296 REDFORD, Ian (St Andrews New) 73 75 75 73. MACNEAL, Charlie (Troon Welbeck) 75 73 73 75.
297 GAUGHAN, Louis (Bathgate) 75 73 78 71, LAMBERT, Jordan (Australia) 72 71 82 72, BRADLEY, Eamon (Mount Ellen) 74 72 76 75.
298 FAIRBAIRN, Lewis (Berwick Upon Tweed) 67 76 78 77, SMAIL, Greg (Craigielaw) 75 72 73 78.
299 NEIL, Connor (U16) (Blairgowrie) 74 74 78 73, McDONALD, Jack Kilmarnock (Barassie) 72 73 78 76, WRIGHT, Dale (Alness) 70 75 77 77, JOHNSTON, Chris (Truro) 71 74 77 77. 
300 FLANNERY, Daniel (U16) (Peebles) 74 73 80 73. 
301 RAVNDAL, Arne Norway 71 74 81 75, MITCHELL, Cameron (Lundin) 72 73 78 78. 
302 NEIL, Bradley (U16) (Blairgowrie) 75 73 80 74.
303 HILL, Calum (U16) (Tantallon) 73 72 83 75, SAVAGE, Jamie (U16) (Cawder) 75 72 75 81. 
304 COSTELLO, Scott (Kirkhill) 75 72 81 76. CRAIGON, Sam (Milnathort) 76 69 83 76. 
305 WIGHTMAN, Scott (Powfoot) 72 74 79 80.
306 MACKAY, Euan (Craigielaw) 77 71 79 79.
308 CAMPBELL, Ryan (Grangemouth) 73 74 74 87.
312 McDOUGALL, Alasdair (U16) (Elderslie) 72 75 83 82.