IS THERE ANOTHER TOM LEWIS IN THE ST ANDREWS LINKS TROPHY FIELD THIS YEAR?

NEWS RELEASE

Some of the world’s leading amateur golfers will aim to follow in Tom Lewis’ footsteps by winning the St Andrews Links Trophy at the Home of Golf next week. 

The Young Englishman won last year’s event on the way to a memorable year in which he won the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at The Open Championship and won the Portugal Masters in only his third event after turning professional.

The strong international field comprises players from more than 20 different countries but also features a strong local contingent with five players from Fife securing places in the event which takes place from June 8-10 on the New Course and the Old Course. 

Two of the top ten in the World Amateur Golf Rankings will lead the field – Australia’s Jake Higginbottom and last year’s joint runner-up Daan Huizing from the Netherlands. The 18 year old won the Riversdale Cup in February to follow up on three wins last year and a creditable sixth place finish in the Asian Amateur Championship. Huizing is the man in form after an 11 shot victory at the Lytham Trophy earlier this month. The win followed on from the remarkable six victories the 20 year old racked up last year.

Another of last year’s St Andrews Links Trophy runners-up, Wales’ Rhys Enoch, will again be bidding for the trophy along with Ben Campbell from New Zealand and Franco Romero from Argentina who were among three players tied for sixth in 2011. The 2009 winner and Walker Cup player Alan Dunbar from Ireland will also be making a challenge. 

Leading the local charge will be James White from Lundin and Brian Soutar from Leven, who both finished ten shots back from Lewis last year, Scott Crichton from Aberdour, Ewan Scott and Brian Young from St Andrews.

The St Andrews Links Trophy is sponsored by Allianz, the global partner of St Andrews Links Trust. The 72-hole event is one of the highest ranked events of the amateur season in the UK and features a 144 man field. The cut-off for entry was +2.9.

John Grant, Director of Golf at St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The St Andrews Links Trophy is one of the big events on the amateur golfing calendar and it attracts entries from throughout the world. It was a big part of Tom Lewis’ fantastic achievements last year and it will be interesting to see if another future star emerges this year.”

Live scoring from the 2012 St Andrews Links Trophy will be available at www.standrews.org.uk.