Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) won the Scottish Boys Open Strokeplay Championship at Ladybank on Thursday 23rd July with a superb finishing burst of three birdies in the final four holes of the 72 hole event.
The Ayrshire player, who led by three shots overnight, had his worst round of the week on Thursday morning, a 76 putting him two behind the leader after three rounds.
As the championship neared an end, McDonald still trailed by one shot with only four holes to play, but birdie threes at the 15th, 16th and 17th propelled the boys internationalist into pole position and a par four at the last secured the title.
His performance also won 15 year old McDonald the trophy for the best placed under 16 in the championship.
LEADING SCORES
286 (+2) - Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) 69/70/76/71
290 (+6) - Graeme Duncan (Shotts) 72/74/73/71, Colin Baird (Bothwell Castle) 71/71/75/73,
Scott Gibson (Southerness) 74/68/71/77
291 (+7) - Sandy Bolton (Magnolia Park) 75/72/72/72
292 (+9) - Stuart Boyle (Harburn) 75/71/74/73, Ian Redford (St. Andrews New) 73/71/75/74
The other Ayrshire player to qualify for the final two rounds, Marc Smith (Troon Welbeck) finished tied in 39th place on 309 (+25) after rounds of 74,73,82 & 80.
The report on Jack McDonald's victory, from the SGU website at http://www.scottishgolf.org/ , is reproduced below :-
Jack McDonald from Kilmarnock Barassie claimed the Firstpoint USA Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship following an exciting final round at Ladybank Golf Club this evening.
The SGU Academy player coached by Adam Hunter who had led the field over the opening two rounds went on to claim his first national title and at 16 years of age also claims the George McDonald Memorial Bowl for the leading U16 player in the field. The double was last achieved by Murray Urquhart 21 years ago and before him Lee Vannet, making McDonald only the third player to have won both trophies.
McDonald carded rounds of 69 and 70 before his third round of 76 saw him slip off the pace, enabling Scott Gibson from Southerness to head the field going into the final round. However despite relinquishing his lead, McDonald, the grandson of former Walker Cup player Gordon Cosh, dented Gibson’s two shot margin at the very 1st hole of their final outing and from there on both players were fairly evenly matched until after the turn. From there, it was McDonald who was to head home with a form that again saw him dominate his nearest rivals finishing with a level par 71 and a four round aggregate of 286 (2 over).
Commenting after his final round over the Fife course which is an Open qualifying venue for next year, McDonald said,
“It feels great to win the Scottish Boys Stroke Play. I didn’t putt well this morning which saw me slip back but I stuck to my game plan and knew the birdies would drop eventually. “I hit my driver everywhere today as I was hitting well and straight and my only real mishap was a bogey at the 14th and just didn’t get up and down.”
However McDonald recovered well to birdie the next three holes which included holing two twenty foot putts at the 16th and 17th. A final par at the last saw him 4 shots clear of the field to claim his biggest win of his career. He added,
“I have been playing well this year which is really down to the SGU Academy as it really has made a difference and my handicap has dropped from 3 to plus 1 this year. Hard work over the winter has made everything in my game click.”
Following the presentation, the newly crowned champion paid tribute to the green staff for the superb condition of the course and to his fellow competitors for providing great competition.
Scott Gibson, after taking control of the penultimate round lost momentum over the final few holes and had to settle for a share of second place. Joining Gibson on an aggregate of 290 was Graeme Duncan (Shotts) - who was awarded the silver medal based on a better final 36 holes (144) – and Colin Baird from Bothwell Castle. Both Gibson and Baird received bronze medals.
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