On a day when the sun again shone in Dundee but the wind picked up to make conditions harder, Hume was in the first match out on day two and raced to a 6&5 win over Connor Neil, brother of Amateur champion Bradley.

The 32-year-old, who returned to the amateur ranks at the start of last season after his struggles as a professional, won the Scottish Amateur on its last staging at Downfield in 2001.

Haggs Castle’s Hume made six birdies en route to a convincing victory over Neil and said: “I really enjoy this place. I played in the Boys Stroke Play here in 1997 and finished 3rd when I was 15. I loved it then.

“Obviously, I came back for the Scottish Amateur when I was a wee bit older. It just fits my eye, so I’ve got access to good memories as well which is always useful to have at certain times.

“It’s a bit like at Haggs. I would liken it to an American-style course. Every hole is its own hole, so you just can’t just blast away. I just tried to focus on my own game, if it’s good enough then great, if I’m outplayed then fine. I feel like I can compete this week.”

While Hume progressed, along with the likes of Boys’ international Calum Fyfe (Cawder), European Nations Cup winner Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) and Men’s international Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm), there were more surprises on day two.

After fifth seed James Ross (Royal Burgess) exited yesterday, Irish Open Stroke Play champion Jamie Savage (Cawder) followed him today, the third seed losing to Carnoustie’s Daniel Elder.

The 25-year-old insurance broker has won two club championship at Carnoustie this year and continued his form to oust Savage.

“I played the wrong ball on the first hole, only realised when I was putting on the green as I hit my tee shot on the first down into rough on the right, and things went from bad to worse,” said Elder. “I was three down after four holes.

“But I hardly hit a bad shot after that, making birdies on the 5th, 6th and 10th to really get myself back into it. I kicked on from there and could see he was getting a little agitated, so it was great to come through and win on the 16th.

“I knew that if I came here and could knock Jamie out it would be a great achievement for me. It opens the draw up now in my section, not just for me but for the other players.”

Grant Forrest, the second seed and 2012 Scottish Amateur champion, also moved into round two, winning the battle of the Craigielaw players.

Forrest came out on top against his friend Greg Smail, who caddied for him in last year’s Open Championship at Muirfield. George Burns, winner of the Stephen Gallacher Foundation Trophy, also won his first-round tie as he targets another good week.

Downfield member Campbell Donaldson reached round two as well, helping keep the local interest alive. The 42-year-old has played at Downfield for almost 30 years and was the youngest captain in 2001.

Indeed, when the round two matches started late in the day, another Downfield member progressed, as Stewart Smith eased into the last-64 after his success over Musselburgh’s Benn McLeod.

Blairgowrie duo Glenn Campbell and top seed Bradley Neil also claimed second-round victories, with Neil winning 7&6 against Bathgate boy Joseph Bryce.

There was still time for a shock just before 7pm as Bearsden’s Ewen Ferguson (pictured above), holder of three Boys’ titles, lost on the 18th to Blairgowrie’s Wayne Crole, who only came into the field as a late reserve.

“It’s my biggest ever win,” said Crole, 32. “I was a reserve originally and didn’t give myself much hope against Ewen. But I was never down and as the holes went by I just felt I had a chance. I managed to rescue a par on the last with a 10 footer to win.”

Elsewhere, the Burgess boys from Nairn stayed on course for a championship clash after coming through their opening rounds – with Sean determined to finally get the better of Andrew.

The pair could be set to put brotherly love aside as they are scheduled to meet in round four should their form continue in Angus.

Sean, 20, and Andrew 19, both won their games today, with the former seeing off Edward Shannly from Linlithgow by one hole and the latter defeating Louis Murray of Troon Welbeck 2&1.

“We’ve played in a few club championship finals at Nairn and Andrew is always the winner,” said Sean, who is on a golf scholarship in the US, with Andrew also soon to embark on a college career across the Atlantic. “I’m playing well, in good form and I’m here to win, like anyone else.”

Andrew, who has represented Scotland at Under-16 level, said: “It would be nice if we played each other in this event and hopefully we can continue to play well.”

Defending champion Alexander Culverwell (Dunbar) is also into round three, as are Lawrence Allan (Alva) and fourth seed Jack McDonald of Kilmarnock Barassie.

-story courtesy of Scottish Golf Union