Crail member Burns among four men left at Scottish Am
The Scottish Amateur trophy (Crail Golf/Twitter photo)
After four days and six tough rounds of golf at Crail Golfing Society, the semifinals are set at the Scottish Amateur.
The first player to book his place in the final four was Lewis Irvine, who defeated Lachlan Reynolds, 3 and 2, in the afternoon. Irvine put together a nearly flawless performance against Reynolds with four birdies and no dropped shots. The youngster had earlier reached the last eight in tense fashion with a victory at the third extra hole against Jeff Wright.
Matthew Clark also reached the semifinals with a tense one-hole victory over 2008 champion, Callum MacAulay. The match between Clark and MacAulay contained 12 birdies and an eagle, with both players playing some outstanding golf. Earlier in the day, Clark had beaten Sean Marc, 3 and 2, in the last 16.
Speaking to Scottish Golf after reaching the semifinals, Clark said, “I played reasonably well this morning without being exceptional. I holed a couple of decent putts when I needed to and got over the line.
“Callum MacAulay is someone I used to look up to back when he was in the amateur ranks in 2007/08, it was an honor to just play with him this afternoon and to win was fantastic. We both played really nicely. It was a good match and most importantly played in the right spirit.”
Darren Howie will also tee it up Saturday morning after a one-hole victory over John Paterson. Howie fell behind at the first had to battle to stay in the match until he leveled things up with a birdie on No. 15. Howie then took the lead for the first time with a par on the 17th and closed out the victory with another par on 18. It was Howie’s second 1-up victory of the day, having earlier beaten Louis Dobbelaar in the last 16 by the same margin.
Completing the semifinal lineup is Crail member George Burns who kept alive the hopes of a home winner this week. In another match that was won on the 18th, Burns edged out Marcus Rickard, having earlier beaten Eric McIntosh in the last 16.
The event will reach its conclusion Saturday with the semifinals taking place in the morning before the 18-hole final in the afternoon, which will tee-off at 1:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE
Scottish Amateur
The Scottish Amateur Championship began in
1922 and has witnessed many famous victors,
including legendary amateurs Ronnnie Shade
and Charlie Green as well as some of the stars
of the modern game, Colin Montgomerie and
Stephen Gallacher.
Entry to the Championship is open to any male
golfer who was either born in Scotland, has
Scottish parentage, permanent residency in
Scotland for not less than 5 years and has not
played international golf or competed in a
closed Championship for any other country
other than Scotland. The starting field shall be
256 and, in the event of an over-entry, the
number shall be reduced in order of exact
handicap. Each match shall consist of one
round of 18 holes except the final which will be
played over 36 holes.
View Complete Tournament Information