Peebles player clinchesw Men's Order of Merit title for second time

Craig Howie scores second Craigmillar Park




win by eight strokes with 15-under-par total

 


By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Craig Howie turned in a brilliantly consistent display of low scoring in the Craigmillar Park Open to win the 72-hole event with rounds of 66, 66, 66 and 67 for a 15-under-par aggregate of 265 over the undulating  Edinburgh parkland course off Observatory Road in the Capital.
It was his second win in the tournament. The first came in 2013, the year after he was Scottish U18 boys' match play champion and winner of the Sir Henry Cooper Junior Masters.
The Peebles player  won by eight strokes from Steven Stewart (Clydebank and Dist) with Craig's younger brother Darren sharing third place on 274 with Alan Sutherland (Cupar) whose final round of six-under 64 (31-33) was the tournament low.
Darren Howie, who had two rounds of 65 over the weekend, would have finished a deserving second to his big brother but for a double bogey 6 and a double bogey 7 at the 17th in a final round of 72.
Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie), winner of the Scottish Champion of Champions on April 2 and a previous winner of the Craigmillar Park Open, finished ninth with a closing round (his best of the weekend) a 67 for 278.
Craig Howie is ranked No. 59 in the world.
His 15-under-par total of 265 is not a Craigmillar Park Open record low. Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) shot 20-under 260 when winning in 2010.
But eight strokes might be a record winning margin in the tournament. If anybody can confirm or otherwise, please Email the information to Colin@scottishgolfview.com
Craig Howie's win clinched the Men’s Order of Merit title for a second time.
The 22-year-old won the trophy in 2013 at the Edinburgh venue following a play-off, but blitzed this year’s field for a far easier success.

CRAIGMILLAR PARK OPEN
Craigmillar Park Golf Club, Edinburgh
Par 280 (4x70). SSS 68. CSS 71 71 71 69

ALL THE FINAL TOTALS
265 C Howie (Peebles) 66 66 66 67.
273 S Stewart (Clydebank and Dist) 69 68 68 68
274 A J Sutherland (Cupar) 67 72 71 64, D Howie (Peebles) 65 72 65 72.
277 A J Minnikin (Alnmouth) 74 67 68 68, S Heads (Hexham) 73 67 71 66, M Clark (Kilmacolm) 70 68 74 65, J White (Lundin) 67 68 74 68.
278 G Robertson (Glenbervie) 68 70 73 67.
279 S Locke (Banchory) 72 66 74 67, A Ni (Murrayfield) 69 69 71 70, A Utterson (Craigmillar Park) 66 71 71 71.
280 K Hamilton (Ayr Belleisle) 76 66 70 68.
281 K McClung (Wigtownshire) 74 72 66 69, S McGarvey (Broomieknowe) 71 72 70 68.
282 Euan McIntosh (Turnhouse) 72 71 68 71, M Pennycott (Royal Burgess) 66 73 67 76.
283 C Low (Tantallon) 74 71 68 70, M Bacigalupo (Longniddry) 72 69 71 71.
284 R J Smith (Dalmahoy Hotel) 71 72 70 71, S McLaren (Bruntsfield Links) 74 68 69 73, R Aisbitt (Brancepeth Castle) 69 72 73 70, J Harling (Banchory) 70 69 72 73.
285 K Mackay (Inverness) 72 73 72 68.
286 J Shaw (Boat of Garten) 69 71 78 69.
287 B McLeod (Musselburgh) 69 69 73 76
288 M Napier (Turnhouse) 72 674 73 69, C R Watson (East Renfrewshire) 72 74 71 71, G Telfer (Prestwick St Cuthbert) 74 72 73 69, L Morgan (Dunbar) 72 74 72 70.
289 J Duguid (Dunbar) 73 73 75 68, G Wishart (Lundin) 68 75 70 76.
290 G Greer (Carluke) 71 74 74 71, C Leith (Royal Aberdeen) 74 70 76 70, G Brown (Cathkin Braes) 69 764 74 73, S Blair (Royal Musselburgh) 73 70 76 71
291 M Miller (Lundin) 74 72 77 68.
292 N Peoples (Royal Lytham) 74 70 73 75, A Collier (Duke's) 74 69 75 74.
294 D Mitchell jun (Leven Th) 70 74 72 78, P Maxwell (Glenbervie) 67 74 76 77.
296 K Cantley (Liberton) 71 75 75 75
300 M De Vries (St Andrews New) 72 74 74 80.