GRAEME BROWN FAVOURITE FOR YOUNG PROS' CHAMPIONSHIP

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PGA IN SCOTLAND

The Scottish Young Professionals Championship – open to all PGA Trainees and Qualified Professionals under the age of 25 – will be staged at The West Lothian Golf Club this coming week.

It is the third consecutive year that West Lothian has hosted the Championship, and a there will be a new name inscribed upon the trophy on Thursday night, with none of the field having lifted the trophy before.

Three time winner David Patrick is not eligible to defend his title this time around, having completed his PGA degree last year, and there will be no shortage of competitors anxious to fill the void.

In the absence of Dunbar’s Neil Fenwick, who has opted to pursue his European Tour ambitions at the first stage of the Qualifying School, Graeme Brown (Montrose Links) will start as favourite, with Ross Dixon (Renaissance), Keir McNicoll (Gullane)  Daniel Wood (Hirsel) and Ballumbie Castle’s Patrick Walker others who are likely to present a challenge.

Martin Lawrence (Newmachar) and Andrew Rollo (Moray) have both won at this level in the past and cannot be discounted.

Gullane’s Emma Fairnie is the only Lady Professional in the field of 80.

Play gets underway at 8am on Tuesday and Wednesday morning for the first two rounds, after which there will be a cut to the leading 34 players, with those surviving the cut playing 36 holes on Thursday.

Spectators are welcome, and entry is free.