INTERNATIONAL FIELD FOR GOLF DATA LAB SCOTTISH YOUTHS CHAMPIONSHIP AT LADYBANK

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

Young golfers from across the globe will bid to follow in the illustrious spike marks of Martin Laird, Stephen Gallacher and Paul McGinley as they chase glory at the Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship from tomorrow until Sunday (11-13 May).

The prestigious Under-21 event is being staged at Ladybank Golf Club in Fife, an Open qualifying venue, and is sure to provide a feast of golf to match the Paul Lawrie Foundation Scottish Boys Championship at Murcar Links last month.

The assembled field have the chance to join a stellar list of past champions, with Laird - Scotland’s highest-ranked professional at 39th in the world – among the most notable.

The honorary Hilton Park member, who left Glasgow as a teenager to enrol at Colorado University and has since gone on to win twice on the US PGA Tour circuit, claimed the Youths crown at Letham Grange in 2003, the same year he represented Scotland in the Home Internationals.

Other notable past winners have progressed to the European Tour, including Frenchman Gregory Bourdy (2002), Scots trio Gallacher (1994), Dean Robertson (1991) and Andrew Oldcorn (1979), as well as Ireland’s Ryder Cup hero McGinley (1988).

Wallace Booth, a World Amateur Team Championship victor for Scotland in 2008, also claimed victory in the event back at Brunston Castle in 2004.

Last year, Royal Dornoch’s Lyle McAlpine (pictured above) weathered the conditions to secure his maiden national title by three shots. Morning rain on the final day reduced the event at Paisley to 54 holes, but 18-year-old Invergordon-based McAlpine, who works in Inverness, proved the most accomplished on the wet turf to post a three-under-par winning total.

Torwoodlee’s Simon Fairburn, second a year previously at Monifieth, again had to settle for the runners-up prize while Greig Marchbank, the Dumfries and County player who went on to win the 2011 SGU Boys’ Order of Merit, took third spot.

McApline is back to defend his title in a truly international field that features players from Hong Kong, France and Sweden as well as strong representation from south of the border. Marchbank is among the home hopefuls, joined by his fellow SGU National Boys’ Squad players including Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie), Anthony Blaney (Liberton), David Wilson (Troon Welbeck) and Paul Lawrie Foundation Scottish Boys runner-up Ewan Scott (St Andrews).

Scott is looking forward to another excellent week and the 16-year-old said: “I’ve managed to keep my game ticking over since the Scottish Boys last month and I feel in pretty good shape for the Scottish Youths Championship.

“It’s an older age category and there are a lot of good players, but I’ll be trying my very best to win an important title. Hopefully I can go one better than the Scottish Boys.”

Caird Park’s Connar Cook, a semi-finalist at the Scottish Boys Championship, also tees-up, but the champion at Murcar Links, Craig Howie from Peebles, is unable to play due to school exam commitments.

The championship, featuring a starting field of 120, will be played over 72 holes starting on Friday, with the leading 40 players and ties after the second round qualifying for the final two rounds on Sunday.

Host venue Ladybank was established in 1879 and the architect of the original 6-hole course was Old Tom Morris. The course last hosted Local Final Qualifying in 2010, when The Open Championship was played at St Andrews.

Golf Data Lab, sponsors of the event since 2009, is the exclusive supplier of performance data to the Scottish Golf Union squads, providing statistical data and measurement on players’ performance, designed to identify key practice requirements. Golf Data Lab also works with a number of players on the European Tour and its innovative website tools are also available for the ‘average’ club golfer.

>> Click here for the draw for the Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship