SCOTTISH BOYS' & SCOTTISH GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS - Royal Troon duo reach quarter and semi finals.

Royal Troon duo Dylan Cairns and Freya Russell reached the quarter finals and semi finals of the 2023 Scottish Boys' Championship and Scottish Girls' Championship respectively, when the national titles were contested recently.

The Scottish Boys' Championship was held from the 19th to the 23rd of July at Lanark GC, whilst the girls event was held, from the 21st to the 23rd of July, at Cardrona GC.

Andrew Farmer (Kilmacolm) led the 36 hole qualifying for the matchplay rounds in the boys' championship with a three under par total of 137 after rounds of 70 and 67.

The highest placed Ayrshire player in the qualifying rounds was Scott Newman (Royal Troon) in joint 11th place on 4 over par 144 with rounds of 71 & 73, whilst the only other matchplay qualifier was Dylan Cairns (Royal Troon) who finished in equal 21st place with a two round total of 148, 8 over par, with rounds of 73 & 75.

The other Ayrshire players, who failed to qualify for the matchplay stages, were:

63= Jack Broadfoot (Troon Welbeck) 157 (+17) 78/79

70= Connor Wills (Royal Troon) 158 (+18) 81/77

92nd Finlay Watt (West Kilbride) 164 (+24) 77/87

98th Lyle Vogwell (West Kilbride) 166 (+26) 81/85

Scott Newman lost out in the first round of the matchplay, by 2 holes, to Cameron Twynholm (Scotland), whilst Dylan Cairns opened with a 7&5 victory over Sam Somerville (Bearsden) and single hole wins over Scott Spark (Newmacher) and Jack Collingwood (West Links) before losing out by a single hole in the quarter final to the eventual runner up, Alex McGillivray (Nairn). 

In the girls championship, Freya Russell (Royal Troon) was second qualifier on 151, 5 over par, with rounds of 75 & 76, which left her just a single shot behind top seed Evie McCallum (Dunfermline) on 150.

Jodie Graham (Royal Troon) qualified in 10th place on 161, 15 over par, following rounds of 78 & 83, whilst the other Ayrshire player in the field, katie Ronnie (Kilmarnock Barassie) was 27th on 174, 28 over par, with rounds of 88 & 86, which was good enough to see her qualify for the handicap matchplay rounds. 

In the handicap matchplay Katie Ronnie had a first round walkover against Rebeka Sherry (Clober) and beat Kaci Robertson (Nairn Dunbar) by 2&1 to reach the semi final, before she had to withdraw, giving a walkover to Ellie Bent (Gullane), who went on to take the trophy by winning the final.

In the championship matchplay rounds, Jodie Graham lost out in the first round by a single hole against Summer Elliot (Inverness) whilst Freya Russell beat Louisa Hamilton (Scotland) by 8&6 and Ruby Watt (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) by 2 holes before losing in the semi finals by a single hole against evenutual championship runner up Sheridan Clancy (Australia)