Thursday 1st July 2010
All eyes will be on Gullane No 1 at the end of the month when the famous East Lothian course hosts the 2010 Allied Surveyors Scottish Amateur Championship (26 – 31 July).
A field of Scotland’s leading 256 amateur golfers, with handicaps balloted at just 2.4, to battle out for the title of national amateur champion, hoping to follow in the footsteps of European Tour golfer, who was the winner the last time Gullane hosted the SGU’s flagship event back in 2004.
Fifer Murray has gone onto to achieve success in the professional ranks, with his maiden win coming at the Scottish Hydro Challenge last month while he earned more than £45,000 coming third in the Madeira Open on the main Tour earlier in the season.
Among the main challengers this time around will be Banchory’s James Byrne, who finished runner-up in The Amateur Championship just a mile down the road at Muirfield a fortnight ago and the US-based Scotland international has set his sights on going one better at Gullane:
“I’ve not got a great record in the Allied Surveyors Scottish Amateur Championship having failed to get past the early stages in the last couple of years. However, my performance at Muirfield has given me a real confidence booster.”
“We play quite a bit of match play with my University (Arizona State) so that should stand me in good stead for the Scottish. It would be great to win a national title at this level, having had success in the Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship in 2007 and follow some of the great names on the trophy.”
Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie is one of those famous names, having clinched the title at Nairn in 1987, while Stephen Gallacher, who is enjoying a fine season on the European Tour, won at Glasgow Gailes in 1992. The Championship has become a great platform for launching the careers of Scotland’s emerging talent, with Callum Macaulay taking the title in 2008 before going on to help Scotland win the World Amateur Team Championship three months later.
North East star David Law made history twelve months ago when he became the first golfer to win the national men’s and boys’ titles in the same year, and the 19-year-old, who plays in the Barclays Scottish Open next week as a result of his win at Royal Troon in the Scottish Amateur, is looking forward to his title defence:
“Gullane is a fantastic golf course and with the recent enhancements they have made will be a great challenge for all the competitors. Match play certainly brought out the best in me last year and would be great to do well again this year.”
“I’ve been working hard with my coach Neil Marr and Paul Lawrie, who helps me alot, to get my game in shape for the big events this summer. Injuries have hampered me a fair bit but hopefully they’re behind me and I can concentrate on having a good second half of the season.”
The Allied Surveyors Scottish Championship gets underway at Gullane No 1 on Monday 26 July with the 36-hole final on Saturday 31 July. Live scoring is available throughout the week on www.scottishgolf.org while exclusive updates will also feature on the event’s Facebook page. Entry is free for spectators.
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