ZANDER CULVERWELL SURVIVES WOBBLE TO WIN BATTLE TROPHY

THE BATTLE'S OVER ... Left to right line-up at Crail Golfing Society, Allan Govan (vice-president and donor of the handsome trophy, winner Zander Culverwell, Mrs Ruby Govan, club captain Ian Dickson. Image by courtesy of Trevor Ledger.

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Stirling University second-year student Alexander (Zander) Culverwell, a 23-year-old member at Dunbar Golf Club, was never headed from start to finish in winning the 72-hole Battle Trophy tournament over the Crail Craighead course at the weekend - this season's addition to the established SGU Order of Merit events.
Although he had been Lothians champion in 2005 and runner-up in the North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship in 2006, Culverwell was not one of the favourites to beat a field packed with the best players in Scotland.
This was Zander's breakthrough win - achieved by a four-stroke margin - and now that he knows he has the game and the temperament to be a winner at this level, who knows how far he can go?
Culverwell stretched his halfway lead to three strokes with a third-round, four-under-par 68, jointly the lowest score of the tournament, matched only by 18-year-old runner-up Scott Gibson (Southerness), last year's Paul Lawrie Scottish schoolboys champion, also in the third round.
With three shots in hand of Gibson and six ahead of third-placed Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) going into the final round, Culverwell should have been under no pressure to score his first 72-hole victory.
But he had a little bit of a wobble on the opening holes of Round 4 and was three over par after eighth holes after three-putting the first and bogeying the second, fifth and seventh holes.
With nine holes to play, Culverwell was joined in the lead by Gibson and Robertson who had come with a five-under-par surge.
But Crail Craighead is a deceptively difficult links, particularly for those who have not played it all that many times previously.
Robertson dropped out of the hunt as quickly as he had come into it with three double bogeys in the space of six holes. Gibson, for his part, had a triple bogey 7 with a lost ball at the seventh.
And so Culverwell was able to go clear of the field again with a run of three 3s over the ninth, 10th and 11th.
Even a double bogey at the 14th - the most difficult hole on the Craighead course - was only a minor setback and he played the last four holes in regulation to close with a two-over-par 74 and a two-under-par total of 286 - the only sub-par score at the end of four rounds.
Teenager Gibson, one of the Scotland Elite Squad recently returned from eight weeks in South Africa, had a 75 for 290 to claim second place while former Craigmillar Park Open winner Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) finished third with a 71 for 292.
The only other player to have a one-under-par 71 in the closing round was last year's Scottish amateur champion and Walker Cup team place contender, Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck). Stewart's fine closing effort - five shots better than his Sunday-morning 76 - pulled him up to a share of fourth place on 293 alongside Graeme Robertson (75), Hazlehead's David Law (74).
Greg Paterson (St Andrews), winner of last week's Craigmillar Park Open, finished joint 12th on 300 after a disappointing last round of 77.
Zander's father Alex has made the family name of Culverwell known nationwide in the business community - "Culverwell" is recognised as the market leader as a Scottish retail property agency - but Zander has other thoughts for his future. His ambition is to become a pro golfer and he will pursue that dream once he has completed his Stirling University degree course.
In the meantime he will continue to benefit from the coaching and guidance of former European Tour winner Dean Robertson at Stirling University.
Having played in a Scottish universities tournament on Craighead two years ago, and being brought up in Dunbar, Zander’s experience helped him get the better of a very strong field, packed with the cream of Scottish amateur talent. 
David Roy, the Crail Golfing Society secretary-manager, said later:
"For the first Order of Merit event held at Crail Craighead, it was a terrific start and points towards a bright future for this event."

FINAL TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72). CSS 76 75 74 75
286 Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) 70 74 68 74. 
290 Scott Gibson (Southerness) 78 69 68 75.
292 Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) 75 74 72 71.
293 Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck) 74 72 76 71, Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) 77 71 70 75, David Law (Hazlehead) 74 75 70 74.
295 Colin Thomson (East Renfrewshire) 77 75 71 72, Scott Crichton (Aberdour) 80 69 71 75, Paul Shields (Kirkhill) 73 72 75 75
296 Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) 75 74 72 75, Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) 77 74 72 73
300 Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) 77 78 76 75, Greg Paterson (St Andrews New) 75 75 73 77.
301 Connor O'Neil (Pollok) 77 76 74 74, Kyle McClung (Wigtownshire Co) 80 71 75 75.
302 Fraser McKenna (Balmore) 74 75 79 74, Chris Lawton (Falkirk Tryst) 77 75 73 77.
303 Stephen Speirs (Portpatrick) 77 78 75 73, Daniel Kay (Dunbar) 81 75 73 74, James White (Lundin) 77 76 76 74, Philip McLean (Peterhead) 76 78 71 78. John Duff (Newmachar) 76 74 78 75, Steven Smith (Dalmahoy) 76 74 79 74.
304 Steven Rennie (Drumpellier) 78 76 75 75, Stephen Neilson (Dunbar) 74 79 76 75, Gordon Stevenson (Whitecraigs) 78 76 73 77.
305 Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) 79 76 75 75
306 Paul Gault (Westerwood) 81 73 76 76, Andrew Wallace (Glenbervie) 72 79 79 76.
307 William Bremner (Edzell) 76 74 80 77, Ross Bell (Downfield) 74 78 77 78, James Hendrick (Pollok) 71 75 78 83.
309 Kevin Duncan (McDonald Ellon) 81 73 78 78.
311 Fraser Moore (Glenbervie) 81 74 83 73, Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) 73 79 84 75, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon) 78 73 79 81.
312 Paul Betty (Lenzie) 76 75 86 75.
314 Alastair Hain (Ladybank) 75 79 81 79.
320 David Mitchell (Leven Thistle) 80 75 81 84.
324 Alastair Thomson (Lundin) 83 73 84 84.