SCOTLAND CAP REWARD FOR NEW CHAMPION ALEXANDER CULVERWELL
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION
By ED HODGE
Alexander
Culverwell, the new Fairstone Scottish Amateur champion, has quickly
been rewarded for his success at Blairgowrie after being handed a
Scotland debut for next week’s
Home Internationals at Ganton.
The
25-year-old from Dunbar, who defeated James White 2 and 1 in Saturday’s
36-hole final over the Lansdowne Course, has been handed a selector’s
pick for the 11-man team aiming
to defend Great Britain and Ireland’s premier amateur team title from
next Wednesday (14 – 16 August).
Culverwell
proved his matchplay credentials at last year’s Scottish Amateur in
reaching the last-16 at Royal Dornoch, before the University of Stirling
business studies student
went all the way to glory in Perthshire.
Now
he is relishing the chance of a first international cap as the Scots
seek to defend the title they won for the first time in six years at
Glasgow Golf Club’s Gailes Links
12 months ago.
“I
knew my win was going to open up a lot of opportunities,” said a
delighted Culverwell. “My win at Blairgowrie was the best golf I’ve ever
played. It’s an amazing feeling
putting it all together during a week and playing great golf. The
victory was massive for me.”
Culverwell
is one of six picks in total, with the other five qualifying
automatically either from the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) or the
SGU Men’s Order of Merit (OOM).
Five automatic places were up for grabs on the WAGR and two via the
OOM, but to fulfil the automatic selection criteria a player must be in
both the OOM top-15 and in the top-15 Scots on the WAGR.
With
19 July the date for automatic selection after the Sutherland Chalice,
Glenbervie’s Graeme Robertson, St Andrews’ Ewan Scott and James Ross of
Royal Burgess booked their
spots from the WAGR. Last year’s Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year
Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) and Scott Crichton (Aberdour), who
has posted four top-three’s in recent weeks, also met the automatic
selection as the top two on the OOM.
With
Culverwell securing the last of the six picks, the other five went to
last year’s Scottish Amateur champion Grant Forrest (Craigielaw), the
Scottish Boys winner Bradley
Neil from Blairgowrie, the 2012 SGU Men’s Order of Merit winner Scott
Borrowman (Dollar), Sutherland Chalice champion Matt Clark of Kilmacolm
and Cameron Corbett Vase victor Daniel Young (Craigie Hill).
Of
the 11, six helped Scotland finish as runners-up at last month’s
European Men’s Team Championship in Denmark – namely Robertson,
McDonald, Ross, Borrowman, Scott and Neil.
Four-time
Home Internationals player White can count himself unlucky in just
missing out on place, with the beaten Scottish Amateur finalist from
Lundin named as first reserve
for Ganton.
Only
four players in last year’s victorious Scotland side had previous Home
Internationals experience, with Borrowman, Clark, Forrest, McDonald and
Robertson all retaining
their places for the 2013 staging at the renowned venue near
Scarborough .
Teenage
duo Scott and Neil, who still qualify to play at Boys’ international
level, join Culverwell, Ross, Crichton and Young in making their event
debuts.
National
Coach Ian Rae said: “It’s a good, strong side with a lot of winners.
While we have six debutants, we actually have good experience as three
of the new players played
in the European Men’s Team Championship final.
“We
have practised at Ganton and players like Zander Culverwell have played
the course a lot in University golf. We’re confident of putting up a
strong defence.”
Each
Home Internationals team is represented by the leading 11 amateur
players in their respective countries, playing Ryder Cup-style match
play in a round robin format.
Ganton
is a classic links course in England’s north-east and boasts a proud
history of staging leading events. Indeed, the North Yorkshire course
staged the 1949 Ryder Cup
matches. Spectators are welcome to attend at Ganton, where entry is
free.
Scotland Home Internationals team (club and age):
Scott Borrowman (Dollar, 26)
Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm, 31)
Scott Crichton (Aberdour, 25)
Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar, 25)
Grant Forrest (Craigielaw, 20)
Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock (Barassie), 20)
Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie, 17)
Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie, 25)
James Ross (Royal Burgess, 23)
Ewan Scott (St Andrews, 18)
Daniel Young (Craigie Hill, 23)
1st reserve: James White (Lundin, 25)
Meanwhile,
eight members of Scotland’s Home Internationals team are in Spain this
week for the European Men’s Individual Championship.
At
Real Club de Golf el Prat, the Scots’ hopefuls will seek to build on
finishing runners-up at the European Men’s Team Championship.
Robertson,
Forrest, McDonald, Neil, Ross, Scott, Borrowman and Young are all in
action, many seeking to boost their Walker Cup selection claims.
The European Individual, played over 72 holes of strokeplay, starts tomorrow (7 August) and runs until Saturday.
The Scotland teams are supported by Aberdeen Asset Management and TaylorMade-adidas Golf.
Labels: Amateur Men
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