EUROPEAN BOYS TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP - McDonald named in Scotland team

Jack McDonald

Young Scots Golfers Prague-Bound for Euro Challenge

(SGU News Release)

Current SGU Boys Order of Merit leader Greig Marchbank has been rewarded for his fine form this season with a place in the Scotland team for next week’s European Boys Team Championship in Prague (5 – 9 July).

Marchbank, from Dumfries & County GC, won the recent Junior Tour event at Cardrona with an impressive six-under par aggregate of 282 and has built up a significant lead in the boys’ standings after a string of fine performances throughout 2011, including a share of second place in the Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship.

Liberton’s Anthony Blaney, second behind Marchbank in the rankings, also earns his first taste of European team action. The 17-year-old played a key role in the Lothians team’s defence of the Scottish Boys Area Championship earlier this month and also finished runner-up to Marchbank in the Junior Tour event at Cardrona.

Joining him will be Lothians team-mate Grant Forrest, the former Scottish Boys Champion and current Boys Order of Merit number three, while Kilmarnock (Barassie)’s Jack McDonald will be the most experienced player in the six-man team having competed in the previous two European Championships and Boys’ Home Internationals.

Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen), fourth in the boys’ rankings and who finished seventh in the East of Scotland Open Championship at the weekend, is another debutant in the team, with St Andrews rising star Ewan Scott, winner of the opening Junior Tour event of the season, completing the line-up. Scott, the former English Boys U14s champion, will be the youngest member of the team, having recently turned 16.

The Championship begins on Tuesday at the Prague City Golf Club, with two rounds of stroke play qualifying before the top eight teams compete for the title in the first flight of match play.

Defending champions Denmark have dominated the tournament in recent years and will be aiming for their fourth win out of the last five years, while the Scots are looking for their first win in the event since 2000, when Martin Laird featured in the winning side and will be hoping to improve on last season’s tenth place finish.

The full Scotland team, sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management and TaylorMade-adidas Golf, is:

Anthony Blaney (Liberton)

Eamon Bradley (Mount Ellen)
Grant Forrest (Craigielaw)
Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie)
Greig Marchbank (Dumfries & County)
Ewan Scott (St Andrews)