Nairn golfer Sandy Scott aims to take Scottish Open experience back to US college circuit
MAKING his senior debut at the Scottish Open has Sandy Scott primed for his second year on the US collegiate circuit.
Scott finished his maiden Scottish Open on nine-over par at Dundonald, with his Friday round of 75 three shots better than the opening day.
He had only qualified the weekend previous, the 19-year-old one of four late qualifiers at the final pre-tournament event at Barassie.
But playing practice rounds with fellow Scots Graeme Ramsey and Richie Ramsay, as well as Ross Fisher, Jamie Donaldson and Brett Rumford, proved a quick learning experience for the 19-year-old, who plays for Texas Tech in the NCAA “Big 12” Conference.
“They all strike it differently and have different games. They’re all on sort of the same level,” said Scott, a member at Nairn Golf Club.
“I definitely think I’ll be better off going back to America after this. In some of those tournaments, playing against older and stronger guys, I was a bit intimidated because it was all new to me. But the more I played, the less I cared about that.
“I didn’t feel my golf was in great shape but just playing was always going to be huge for me. It’s made me realise I’m not to far away.”
Scott has been in regular action since returning home for the summer, taking top-20 finishes at the Scottish Stroke Play Championship and the European Amateurs last month. He is due to fly back to America in late-August.
American college sports are split into regional conferences, which in turn are broken down into divisions. The Texas Tech Red Raiders play in Division I of the Big 12, against the likes of the Iowa State, Kansas State and the much larger University of Texas.
There has been no rest for Scott, who was in Monifieth yesterday to help the North District side in their junior fixture. He is also due to play the Scottish Amateur Championship at the end of the month.
It has been a whirlwind period for the teenager, who had little time to prepare for his Dundonald appearance.
“I qualified on the Sunday, went home and got some clothes and went straight back down the road,” he said. “It didn’t sink in until I started practising with Richie and Graeme. It all happened really fast, which was kind of cool.”
Scott has also won Paul Lawrie Foundation events and represented Scotland in the European Boys Team Championship last year, alongside Inverness’s Rory Franssen.
For fellow Highlander Russell Knox it was a more devastating experience, as the Inverness-born world-number 48 missed the cut by a stroke.
Knox was two-over after a 74 on day one and despite a double-bogey six on his opening hole on Friday, he carded five birdies to finish on two-under for the round.
The cut was made at one-under, with all those finishing on level-par eliminated from the weekend’s play. Others making their way home with Knox included Rory McIlroy and reigning Scottish Open champion Alex Noren.
Spain’s Ryder Cup player Rafa Cabrera Bello took home the title, seeing off a brave challenge from England’s Callum Shinkwin in a play-off to take the trophy.
Calum, Scott’s younger brother, chalked up the biggest win of his fledgling golf career last week by winning the Global Golf Post Scottish Under-16 boys’ open stroke-play championship at the Kittocks course, Fairmont St Andrews.
Just last year, when only 12, Calum became the youngest ever winner of the North District boys’ championship for the RP Bain Trophy.
Now he has bettered an international field by four strokes with an aggregate of eight-under-par 276, with scores of 67, 71, 68 and 70 over the par-70 course. After sharing the first-round lead with a French competitor, the 13-year-old made every stroke a winning one, forging clear of the field and never looking like being caught.
The last north boy to have won this championship was Chris Campbell from Grantown on Spey in 1995.
