SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP - Hazel McGarvie secures title at Lossiemouth

Hazel McGarvie with her trophy at Lossiemouth

Stirling University rising star Hazel MacGarvie from Troon completed a famous maiden victory as the Scottish Student Golf Championships drew to a close at a rainy Moray Golf Club, Lossiemouth, on Tuesday 27th March.

writes Stew Fowlie – courtesy of the scottishgolfview.com website.

The win was her second in two weeks following her triumph in the West Of Scotland students event at Western Gailes last week.

MacGarvie, a past winner of the Scottish U18 girls' championship, once again showed supreme ability and confidence to weather not only the conditions but an uncertain start to her final round.

Double bogeys at the second and fourth holes brought the chasing field much closer, but MacGarvie responded in emphatic style – completing the following 14 holes in five under par. 

A birdie at 5 was shortly followed by a huge moment on the 7^th where she rolled in a 15ft putt for an eagle 3. Further birdies came at the 10^th, 14^th, 16^th and 17^th to deliver a final total of 284 (-8).

Commenting on her victory Hazel said "It feels great to win this tournament, especially first time round. I got off to a bad start today but didn’t feel too nervous and I was really happy to be able to bring it back."

The Stirling University scholar, currently in her first year, continued: "I really enjoy playing student golf. It gets me out of the classroom and I  enjoy getting to play with new people."

St Andrews’ Lieve Van Veggel completed a fine four-round series with a determined -2 round of 73.

Despite bogeys at the fourth and fifth, Lieve was level at the turn, before a bogey-free back nine of 36, featuring birdies at 14 and 17. This left the Dutch competitor in silver medal position with a final total of 280 (-2).

Three-time champion Gemma Batty (Stirling) rounded out the top three following a closing 76 (+1) to conclude her final Scottish Student Championships in a creditable bronze medal position.

Stirling University also won the extracted team element with a six-round total of 289, eight shots ahead of St Andrews, with Stirling II a further four shots back.

Final Totals in the Woman's championship were:-

284 H MacGarvie (Stirling) 73 67 70 74
290 L Van Vegell (St Andrews) 73 75 69 73
295 G Batty (Stirling) 76 73 70 76
299 K Brown (St Andrews) 76 73 70 76
300 J Mackintosh (NE College) 74 73 70 83
301 C M Boa (UHI) 81 75 70 75
303 P Brown (Stirling) 79 72 76 76, M Fraser (Stirling) 76 74 71 82
313 S Woodhouse (Strathclyde) 77 75 82 79

In the mens' event, Stirling University’s Laird Shepherd, the defending champion, saw off stiff competition in a tense final round to claim his second Scottish Student stroke-play championship.

Leading scores in the mens' championship were :-

281 L Shepherd (Stirling) 72 69 68 72

282 A Wilson (St Andrews) 70 69 74 69, R Foley (Stirling) 68 74 68 72
285 P Kerr (St Andrews) 75 71 68 71
286 G Burns (St Andrews) 71 71 73 71
287 C Edgar (Stirling) 71 71 73 72
288 M Lawrie (Stirling) 657 73 76 72
289 A Benson (Strathclyde) 72 65 75 77
293 R Nelson (Stirling) 71 77 70 75
294 M Napier (Stirling) 75 72 76 71, A Bagnall (St Andrews) 73 72 76 73, B Bojesen (St Andrews) 67 78 78 71, R Asher (Strathclyde) 70 72 76 76
295 E Ferguson (UHI) 71 77 73 74, L Frean (St Andrews) 70 76 78 71
296 J Sundborg (Stirling) 74 73 79 70, R A Castillo (St Andrews) 70 72 81 73
298 R Brydon (Stirling) 73 75 77 73, C Kulukundis (St Andrews) 75 69 78 76, A McNaughton (UHI) 69 73 80 76
299 T Cochrane (St Andrews) 72 76 74 77, R Cellerino (UHI) 76 70 80 73
300 G Greer (SRUC) 74 72 78 76
301 M Schinkel (UHI) 74 75 77 75, C Franssen (St Andrews) 72 71 81 77, B Bannerman (Glasgow) 70 72 78 81
303 A C Rigby (Heriot Watt) 74 71 78 80
305 R Johnston (Strathclyde) 74 71 83 77, G Minton (UHI) 73 72 81 79
306 T Hein (St Andrews) 77 72 79 78
307 S Alexander (St Andrews) 71 79 76 81
308 S Davidson (Stirling) 71 77 77 83
309 J Bisset (Aberdeen) 73 74 84 78
310 L West (RGU) 75 71 80 84
316 J Mackintosh (UHI) 72 72 92 80
317 S McCaw (Stirling) 78 72 85 82
318 D Fair (Strathclyde) 74 75 83 80
321 C Rochon (St Andrews) 77 72 92 80