Scottish U18 boys' open amateur stroke-play championship at Barnton

GREAT SCOTT! SANDY'S IN THE LEAD 

AGAIN WITH A SIX-UNDER 65
 

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Nairn men's club champion and boy captain Sandy Scott has opened up a two-stroke lead over a field of 143 competitors at the end of the first round of the 72-hole Scottish Under-18 boys' open amateur stroke-play championship over the Royal Burgess parkland course at Barnton in Edinburgh.
Scott, pictured, shaping as the best player to come out of the North since Hugh Stuart (Forres),  has developed into a national stage competitor over the past few weeks. Earlier in the season he won the Stephen Gallacher Foundation national boys' tournament. Then Sandy won the East of Scotland Open at Lundin links and led at halfway in another SGU 2-hole Order of Merit event, the Sutherland Chalice, at Dumfries and Galloway GC at the weekend.
A bogey-free round of six-under-par 65 at Barnton today showed Scott's class. He birdied the second, long sixth, the 12th, 14th, long 16th and 18th in halves of 33 and 32.
Sharing second place on 67 are Kieran Cantley (Liberton) and England's Giles Gill from Haywards Heath GC in West Sussex.
Cantley, like Scott, had no bogeys. He birdied the long sixth and the 10th and then staged a grandstand finish by holing his second at the par-4 18th for an eagle 2 and an inward half of 33.
Gill also put in a finish worth talking about. He had six birdies in all - finishing with sub-par figures at the 16th, 17th and 18th in halves of 35-32.
FROM THBE SGU WEBSITE:
The Scottish boys' match-play champion, Carnoustie’s Will Porter, has work to do after a first-round 74, with Deeside’s Michael Lawrie, the youngerson of Open champion Paul, on 75.
Angus Bendall from Castle Douglas is on five-over 76, but he arguably produced the story of the day. Bendall remarkably notched an albatross on the 16^th and an eagle on the 18^th, five under par for his last three holes, but his front nine included a double bogey and a triple bogey eight at the sixth.
Meantime, Marriott Dalmahoy’s Murray Naysmith, a Scotland international, was forced to pull out of the event due to a wrist injury he didn’t want to risk ahead of next week’s Fairstone Scottish Amateur Championship at Muirfield.
The huge field will be cut to the leading 40 and ties after Wednesday's second round. Based on the first-round scores, the cut should fall around 147-148. The qualifiers will play the third and fourth rounds on Thursday.

LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES
Par 71. SS 71 CSS 71
65 S Scott (Nairn)
67 G Gill (Haywards Heath), K Cantley (Liberton)
68 J Rogan (Longniddry), N McMullen (Lundin), F McArthur (Lillesthorpe), V Andersson (Swe).
69 R Dixon (Castle Eden), G Burrett (Haggs Castle), L Buerk (Ger), B Hjort (Swe).
70 C Bruce (Duff House Royal), A Thomson (Lanark)
71 C Farrell (Longniddry), C Finnie (Lockerbie), M Ronald (East Kilbride), L Irvine (Kirkhill), C Fyfe (Cawder), G Alibrandi (Ita).
72 G Brown (Cathkin Braes), R Franssen (Inverness), C Curran (Harburn), R Yu Zhu (Sandyhills), J Hassan (Royal Blackheath), J Trewhitt (Castle Eden), G MacIntosh (Mannings Heath), T Donovan (Royal BlackheatH), S Roger (Cruden Bay)
73 K McVicar (East Kilbride), R Alberti (Ita), A Mihaylov (Bul), E Diston (Kirkcaldy), A Sinclair (Haggs Castle), M Watt (Inverallochy), J Currie (Greenock), G Tait (Ipswich), K Brown (Stonehaven), E Busnelli (Ita).
74 D Logan (Bishopbriggs), A Einarsson (Swe), B Bannerman (Strathmore), C Burns (Balmore), M Schinkel (Orkney), W Postlethwaite (Carlisle), D Boyd (Australia), I Alexander (Longniddry), R Callan (Bathgate), M McCulloch (Portpatrick Dunskey), K Reid (Balmore), S Stavnar (Nor), R Brown (Dunfermline), G Greer (Carluke), M Napier (Turnhouse), R Leitner (Aut), R Watson (Muckhart), E Giletta (Ita), A Eriksson (Swe), T Schiavetti (Ita).
75 W Porter (Carnoustie), H Gorn (Aberdour), F Kane (Kirkhill), G Marinelli (Ita), D Longhine (Ita), L Theys (Ger), R Murphy (Dun Laoghaire), M Lawrie (Deeside).
76 A Bendall (Castle Douglas), G Dalziel (Kirkhill), A Strachan (Royal Eastbourne), T Foster (Merchants of Edinburgh), J Bryce (Bathgate), J Barclay (Chart Hills), A Moir (Elgin), C Cheyne (Newmachar), A Badano (Ita), L Novella (Ita), A Smith (Edzell), C Giffen (Dunfermline), J Broun (Ayr Belleisle), C Bauchop (Glenbervie), R Giddens (Elie).
77 G Crawford (Ratho Park), M Hughes (Hilton Park), D Fair (Strathaven), A Simpson (Strathmore), S Locke (Banchory), J Patterson (St Andrews New), D Smith (Deeside), C Toal (Old Ranfurly)
78 R Kemsley (Balmore), G Munro (Reay), F Asher (Nairn), M Dalrymple (Old Ranfurly), L Reid (Longniddry), E Gill (Inverness), E Hart (Dullatur).
79 C Duffton (Aboyne), A Benson (West Lothian), J Cummings (Uphall), L Ross (Fort William), E English (Erskine), C Fraser (Oldmeldrum)
80 B Henderson (Deeside), D Rudd (Longniddry), A Black (Castle Douglas), F McKenna (Royal Aberdeen).
81 L Breslin (Fereneze), A murray (Troon Welbeck), S Nicholson (Ladybank), N Stewart (Balmore)
82 E Munro (Reay), R Higgins (Loretto), L McCartney (Cawder)
83 R Thomson (Palacerigg), C Allison (Bathgate)
86 C Richmond (Cowal).