SCOTTISH BOYS U16 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Ben Kinsley, another golfing prince from the Kingdom of Fife. Image by courtesy of the Scottish Golf Union.

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE
By ROSS DUNCAN
Ben Kinsley from St Andrews is the new Scottish Boys Under-16s champion after carding a superb four-under par closing round of 65 to hold off the challenge from Newcastle’s Jack Hermeston.
The 15-year-old Madras College pupil, who posted a 68 in this morning’s second round to move into contention, finished with a four-under par aggregate of 203, one shot ahead of Hermeston, who saw his 30-foot birdie putt at the last just slip past.
Kinsley got his final round off to a flying start, hitting a wedge to within a foot of the first hole to set up an easy birdie, before rolling in a 25-foot birdie putt at the second to move to two-under. An unlikely birdie followed at the seventh after he caught a tree trunk at impact with his 7-iron in the process of hitting his approach shot to 10-feet, which snapped the shaft of the club, but he calmly rolled in the putt for a superb three.
A further birdie three followed at the tenth and despite dropping a shot at the 12th, he made birdie at the par five fourteenth hole, before paring home to clinch his first national championship.
“I played great all day, hitting it really well off the tee and holing some good putts. That’s one of my lowest ever rounds and it’s nice to do that in a big event like this. I got off to a good start this afternoon which was important and thankfully my wrist recovered after hitting the tree with my club at the seventh,” said Kinsley, coached by Gary Forrester in his first year of the Scottish Golf Academy programme.
“It’s been a good year so far having reached the semis of the Scottish Boys Championship. My goal is to keep progressing and hopefully I’ll do well in the McGregor Trophy down in England next week.”
Hermeston, a member of the Northumberland junior team, posted rounds of 69, 68 and 67 to clinch the runners-up spot, one shot clear of Barassie’s Euan Walker, who fired a superb final round of 64, the lowest score of the week. Walker, who opened with a 73 yesterday, was an incredible 8-under par for his last 24 holes.
The first three boys all broke par with their 54-hole totals.
Overnight leader, Italian Luigi Botta, finished level par in fourth place after rounds of 72 and 69.
Kinsley’s win continues Fife’s dominance of amateur golf events in Scotland this season, while the Kingdom’s golfers will be keeping a close eye on 1996 Scottish Boys Under-16s champion Peter Whiteford from Kirkcaldy, who currently shares the lead in the Barclays Scottish Open.

FINAL TOTALS Par 207 (3x69). CSS 69 69 68 203 Ben Kinsley (St Andrews) 70 68 65. 204 Jack Hermeston (City of Newcastle) 68 69 67. 205 Euan Walker (Kilmarnock Barassie) 73 68 64. 207 Luigi Botta (Italy) 66 72 69. 208 Rico Thome (Germany) 71 71 66. 209 Tom Sloman (Taunton) 73 70 66, Connor Syme (Dumfries and Co) 68 66 75. 210 Jake Storey (Alnmouth) 69 68 73, Calum Hill (Tantallon) 69 72 69. 211 Lorenzo Scalise (Italy) 72 69 70, Innes Ferguson (Drumpellier) 70 72 69. 212 Callum Gorrie (Kilmarnock Barassie) 73 67 72, Lewis Mutch (Duff house Royal) 72 74 66. 213 Vincent Abel (Germany) 72 69 72, Willem Kerr (Craigielaw) 71 71 71, Taylor Hutton (Foxhills) 68 72 73. 214 Renato Paratore (Italy) 71 74 69, Andrew Carrell (Peterculter) 71 70 73, James Rooney (West Lancs) 71 70 73. 215 Adam Fisher (Inchmarlo) 72 73 70, Adam Chapman (Windermere) 72 72 71. 216 Roberrt Johnson (Helensburgh) 73 75 69, Jack Walsh (Castle) 72 70 74, Ewen Ferguson (Bearsden) 71 74 71, Bradley Neil (Blairgowrie) 71 73 72, Euan Bowden (The Glen) 69 73 74, Stuart Blair (Royal Musselbugh) 69 75 72, Cameron Kirkwood (Bearsden) 69 73 74. 217 Cameron Bennie (Balmore) 73 76 68, Jack Merry (Birstall) 73 73 71, William Aldred (Brocket Hall) 72 74 71, Bjorn Bojesen (Denmark) 69 72 76. 218 Alexander Wilson (Gullane) 72 71 75. 219 Louis Murray (Troon Welbeck) 72 74 73, Alexander Henderson (Royal Ashdown Forest) 72 70 77, Neal Woernhard (Switzerland) 72 75 72. 220 Jevann Parmar (Leicestershire) 73 71 76. 221 Fraser Davren (Williamwood) 73 79 69, Joel Lenz (Switzerland) 69 80 72. 224 Connar Cook (Caird Park) 73 76 75, Alistair MacVicar (Glencruitten) 72 81 71. 225 Andrew Burgess (Nairn) 72 78 75. 229 Alasdair McDougall (St Andrews New) 73 76 80. 231 Robert Willemars (Blairowrie) 72 75 84, Victor Van Doorn (Netherlands) 72 80 79. Solid performance from Alex. Well done Callum Hill too.