McDONALD, FERGUSON SEAL NATIONAL ORDER OF MERIT TITLES
SGU MEDIA RELEASE
Jack
McDonald and Ewen Ferguson, two of Scotland’s most promising young
talents, today expressed their delight after being crowned SGU Order of
Merit winners for 2013 at Men’s
and Boys’ level respectively.
Kilmarnock
Barassie’s McDonald held off the challenge of Lundin’s James White to
win the SGU Men’s Order of Merit, while Ferguson (Bearsden) eased to
success in the Scottish
Hydro-sponsored Boys’ rankings.
The
SGU National Squad pair will collect their titles at next year’s
Scottish Golf Awards in Glasgow, along with various other winners.
McDonald,
the 20-year-old University of Stirling student, has completed a notable
double after winning last year’s Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year
award. Indeed, he is
only the third Scot – after Callum Macaulay and Michael Stewart – to
win both titles.
After
his heroics last year when he reached the semi-finals of The Amateur
Championship and played all four rounds of the Aberdeen Asset Management
Scottish Open, McDonald
progressed further in 2013.
The
Ayrshireman began the year without a 72-hole stroke play title to his
name, but collected three during the season, including back-to-back
end-of-season wins at the North
of Scotland and South East District Championship.
McDonald,
whose season was also highlighted by a tie for fifth at the S Andrews
Links Trophy and helping Scotland to a runner-up finish at the European
Amateur Team Championship,
finished on 697.83 points, over 66 clear of nearest rival White.
McDonald,
a past Scottish Boys Stroke Play champion, said: “It’s a great feeling;
it just tops things off for me. I won the Amateur Golfer of the Year in
2012, so it’s great
to do the double if you like.
“It’s
great to get recognition like this at the end of the year. Now it would
be nice to kick on further next year and win a couple of big national
titles, as well as moving
further up the world rankings.
“I still have two years to do of my Maths degree at University, so my focus is on that as well.”
Fifer
White, the 2011 Men’s Order of Merit champion, pushed McDonald all the
way after a purple patch since late June which saw him record three
runner-up finishes, including
at the Fairstone Scottish Amateur Championship, and two third-place
results.
McDonald’s
Adam Dunton followed up his tie for second in the merit standings last
year with another strong season, resulting in a third-place finish ahead
of Matt Clark (Kilmacolm)
and Craig Ross (Kirkhill).
In
the Boys’ rankings, Ferguson proved the class act, such was his
consistency. The 17-year-old secured three top-five finishes early in
the season, before he won the Stephen
Gallacher Foundation Trophy in May.
After
sharing second at the Stephen Gallacher Foundation Scottish Boys Stroke
Play Championship, Ferguson reached the quarter-finals of the Fairstone
Scottish Amateur at Blairgowrie.
But
it was at Hoylake last month where he highlighted his season in style,
holding off the world’s leading boy golfers to become the first Scot in
almost a decade to be crowned
Boys Amateur champion.
Ferguson
defeated Germany’s Michael Hirmer by the resounding score of 10 and 9
in the 36-hole final to win one of the most coveted titles in the
amateur game.
The
teenager was then one of four Scots selected for the Great Britain and Ireland side for the prestigious Jacques Leglise Trophy, helping
secure a 15-9 win over the Continent
of Europe.
“It’s
been a really good year,” said Ferguson, who also won the Hurricane
Junior Golf Tour Order of Merit in America in 2012. “I felt confident
over the winter and worked hard
in the gym to get stronger.
“I
also did a lot of work with my coach, Gregor Monks, on my swing and I
felt comfortable. When you post good finishes early in the season, it
gives you confidence and I pushed
on from there.
“Winning
the British Boys was a great feeling. I just played really well the
whole week and holed a lot of putts. I really thrived in front of the
big crowds too.”
Scottish
Schools champion Connor Syme (Dumfries and County) was over 600
points behind Ferguson as runner-up in the Boys’ rankings, with
Tantallon’s Calum Hill rewarded for his
solid play in third.
Scottish
Boys winner Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) finished fourth overall, with
Glencruitten’s Robert MacIntyre, twice a national champion in 2013, in
fifth spot.
Labels: Amateur Men, Boys
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home