Lossie welcomes quality field for Carrick
Neill Scottish open stroke-play championship
NEWS RELEASE FROM SGU
An
international-class field will gather over the renowned Lossiemouth links of Moray Golf Club for this weekend’s Carrick Neill Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship,
with in-form Ewen Ferguson among the home hopefuls chasing the
prestigious prize.
One
of the Scottish Golf Union’s flagship events, players from 13 countries
will tee up in the 72-hole event from Friday until Sunday over the Old Course at Lossiemouth (clubhouse and deep bunker to left of elevated 18th green pictured).
In
a Walker Cup year, leading names from the home unions are in the
144-player field seeking to catch the selectors’ eyes, as well as
competitors from the likes of America, Australia, Hong Kong, Saudi
Arabia, New Zealand, South Africa,
France, Germany and Switzerland.
The
field are aiming to join an impressive list of past champions,
including victorious Ryder Cup captains Bernard Gallacher and Colin
Montgomerie, as well as current European Tour stars Stephen Gallacher,
Richie Ramsay, Tommy Fleetwood
and Andrew Sullivan.
Challenge
Tour player Wallace Booth was the last Scot to win the Scottish stroke-play title in 2008.
A strong home challenge will seek to emulate him,
including Ferguson, the 2013 British boys' champion, who has won twice
domestically
in 2015.
“It
was key for me to settle down in the men’s game this season,” said the
18-year-old Bearsden GC member, the leading Scot in the field at No. 62 in the world
amateur rankings (WAGR).
“Last year, in men’s events, even when I felt
as though I had played well,
I was finishing 20th and so on. It’s just different the step up from boys’ golf. I really wanted to get off to a good start in my first full
season at men’s level and it has gone well.”
Ferguson won the Scottish champion of champions tournament hosted by the Leven Golfing Society and then, the following weekend, the Craigmillar Park Open in Edinburgh.
South African amateur champion Daniel
Young (Craigie Hill), winner of the Battle Trophy at Crail a few weeks ago, and SGU Men’s Order of Merit leader Connor Syme
(Drumoig) also lead the Scottish challenge, along with the likes of
GB and I Walker Cup squad players Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie),
Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) and Jamie Savage (Cawder).
Will Porter
from Carnoustie, the Scottish boys champion at Dunbar in April, also
lines up.
Lucas Herbert from Australia is the
highest-ranked player in the field at No. 20, with England’s Nick Marsh,
winner of last year’s Golf Data Lab Scottish youths championship and
joint-runner-up in the event at Panmure last year, also one
to watch, world-ranked 33rd.
Another
Aussie, Anthony Murdaca, who played in The Masters at Augusta National,
is also among the favourites, along with Mathias Eggenberger, the
University of Stirling student, from Switzerland.
Cormac Sharvin, also a Stirling student and past Irish amateur champion, and US student Paul Dunne lead the
Irish challenge, given three other leading Irish amateurs – Gavin
Moynihan, who won the "Scottish" at Panmure 12 months ago, Gary Hurley and Jack Hume – and Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil, the
British amateur champion, earned invites to this week’s Dubai Duty Free
Irish Open on the European Tour.
Bearsden’s Ferguson admits he has been
inspired by the exploits of Neil and added: “There are four Scots in
the top 100 in the WAGR right now, so you are playing in events thinking
‘C’mon let’s try and beat them’ which can help you get
up the WAGR due to the category of the events.
“You see them doing well and it pushes
you on. I’ve also been in groups playing with good players, like Graeme
Robertson and Cormac Sharvin, and that helps too. I just want to keep
pushing on. I’ve moved up the rankings every single week
since I started playing this year. The top 50 towards the end of June
are exempt for the US Amateur and that would be incredible to qualify
for.”
The
Carrick Neill Scottish stroke play continues an exciting year for
Scottish amateur golf, with the St Andrews Links Trophy at ‘The Home of
Golf’, the British amateur championship at Carnoustie and the Fairstone Scottish amateur championship
at Muirfield to follow this summer.
Moray Golf Club, which annually hosts the Scottish student championships, celebrated its 125th
anniversary last year
A
series of course improvements have recently been made, which include
the redevelopment of 24 bunkers, the introduction of three new bunkers
and removing four, to enhance the much-loved routing of the Old Course
which was first laid out
by Old Tom Morris in 1889.
To view the Carrick Neill Scottish Stroke Play Championship, visit:
http://www.scottishgolf.org/events/listings/scottish-open-amateur-stroke-play-championship
For further information on Carrick Neill’s golfers insurance policies, visit:
www.carrickneill.co.uk
Latest updates will be provided during the event on the SGU website and on Twitter @SGUGolf and SGU Facebook.
Ed Hodge
PR and Media Executive
Labels: Amateur Men
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home