The good folk of Kirkhill Golf Club have already had cause to celebrate this season and there may be another excuse for a knees-up in the clubhouse after Lewis Irvine reached today’s final of the Scottish Boys Championship at Murcar.
Back in February, it was Craig Ross, another emerging talent from the Cambuslang club, who had them hanging up the bunting after he conquered all in the South African Amateur Championship. Now, it’s Irvine who has the opportunity to add another prestigious prize to the trophy cabinet when he takes on Edinburgh’s Eric McIntosh in the 36-hole shoot-out.
Irvine, the junior champion at his home club for the last three years, secured his final berth with a two hole win over John Paterson, who had earlier ended the hopes of Paul Lawrie’s son, Michael, in the last eight.
It could be third time lucky for a Kirkhill member in this event. Irvine’s colleague, Paul Shields, suffered back-to-back final defeats in 2008 and 2009. If you’re guddling about for upbeat omens, then here’s one. The last Lanarkshire golfer to win the national under-18s title was Steven O’Hara in 1998. And where was the event held? That’s right, Murcar.
“I’ve surprised myself by getting this far because I was away with the Scotland under-16s last week and I thought I’d be dead on my feet by now,” admitted Irvine after a rigorous schedule of seven ties in five days this week. “But I feel strangely fresh.”
In a nip-and-tuck tussle with Paterson, Irvine got himself back on level terms by driving the 11th green and making an eagle-two before inching ahead on the 13th when his rival stumbled to a double-bogey. A raking putt of some 30 feet to halve the 15th kept Paterson at bay. “That putt was a key moment,” admitted Irvine, who was one-up playing the 18th but was handed the hole when Paterson made a hash of his attempts to square the tie.
“I played a round with Craig Ross just before the event here so he was giving me a few tips and some advice,” added Irvine of a little pep talk with his South African title-winning clubmate.
In the other semi-final encounter, McIntosh, a 17-year-old member at Bruntsfield Links, beat Bellshill’s Dylan Burt by a 2&1 margin.
McIntosh, who played cricket for Scotland at an under-15 level and had a stint on the pro-youth football programme with Livingston and Hibernian, bolstered his assault by chipping in for birdie at the fifth from his position up on the sixth tee to edge in front. Three-up playing the 15th, McIntosh’s putt to clinch the tie lipped out before Burt gave himself a glimmer of hope on the 16th with a monstrous birdie putt of 50-feet to keep the match going. It was too little too late, though, and a par on the 17th from McIntosh sealed his final place. “I’ve done a lot better than I expected this week and I’ve been helped by a lot of seeds going out early,” said McIntosh somewhat modestly.
Meanwhile, England’s Emily Price claimed a play-off victory in the Scottish Girls Open Championship at Strathmore after finishing tied at the top with compatriot, Annabell Fuller, on a three-under 213.
Troon’s Hazel MacGarvie led the Scots in seventh place with a 216.
Scottish Boys Championship Murcar Links, Day five
Quarter finals
J Paterson (New GC St Andrews) bt M Lawrie (Deeside) 1 hole
L Irvine (Kirkhill) bt C Leith (Royal Aberdeen) 3&2
E McIntosh (Bruntsfield Links) bt A Moir (Elgin) 4&3
D Burt (Bellshill) bt C Gallagher (Longniddry) 6&5
Semi-finals
Irvine bt Paterson 2 holes
McIntosh bt Burt 2&1
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here