DOC THOM AYRSHIRE ORDER OF MERIT - Hillhouse Cup win moves Nicholas Gold into contention

Nicholas Gold (Troon St Meddans) moved himself into contention in the early stages of the 2024 Ayrshire Order of Merit , for the Doc Thom Salver, with a win on Sunday 19th May in the annual competition for The Hillhouse Cup over the championship course at Royal Troon.

A scratch score of 71 gave him the trophy by a single shot from Iain Brown (Largs), with six other players, including Cameron Aitken (Largs), Andrew Gordon (Ayr Belleisle), Ben Gibson (Kilmarnock Barassie), Alistair Belford (Prestwick St Nicholas), Harvey Broadfoot (Royal Troon),and Ruben Lindsay (Turnberry) finishing two strokes further back on 74.

The win moved Gold straight into the top eight in the chase for the Order of Merit title, after completion of the first four of the twenty one counting events.

Ayrshire Strokeplay champion Gavin Chesney (Kilbirnie Place) holds a slim lead over Craig Hamilton (Ballochmyle), Iain Brown (Largs), and Harvey Broafdfoot (Royal Troon) in joint second place at this early stage.

The next qualifying events are the prestwick St vCuthbert Open on the 25th of may and the West Kilbride men's Open on the 26th of May.

Present positions in the Doc Thom Ayrshire Order of Merit are:-