Dr Louise Robertson, St Andrews University Principal and Vice-Chancellor, is flanked by (left) runner-up Sean Thompson (Stirling University) and (right) Boyd Quaich winner Sean Morrison (Francis Marion University, South Carolina).

Londonderry student wins Boyd Quaich by two strokes

Northern Ireland’s Sean Morrison from Londonderry, who has just completed his freshman year at  Francis Marion University, Florence in South Carolina, won the 62nd Boyd Quaich international students’ golf tournament at St Andrews today.

Tied fourth overnight, three shots off the pace, Sean came to the front with a final round of 69 over the Old Course fr a 72-hole total of 283, three under par for two rounds over the Old and two rounds over the New Course..

Joint leaders after three rounds, Alex Main (Edinburgh) and Karl Ochse (Stellenbosch), bidding to complete a memorable South African double at St Andrews over the past week, had final rounds to forget. Main had a 78 for 289 and Ochse a 76 for 287.

That opened the door for players further down the leaderboard although not far enough for defending champion Gordon Stevenson (St Andrews), the first-round leader, to come back into the picture. He finished seventh on 289.

Morrison had a blemish-free first nine holes worthy of the Open Championship played on the same course, a week earlier, albeit off the back tees. He turned in four-under-par 32 and then added further birdies on the 10th, 14th and 15th holes.

That was as good as it got for the Ulsterman. He was four over par for the last three holes but a 69 gave him victory by two strokes from Sean Thompson (Stirling).

Thompson had a round which he’ll never forget, but which he won’t want to reflect upon. He birdied the first and 4th before eagling the fifth.. He then birdied the sixthh and got another eagled at the ninth, to be out in an incredible 29 strokes.

The amazing run continued on the back nine where he birdied the 10th, 12th and 14th. At this point he was 10 under par and set to win the Boyd Quaich.

But he stumbled to a bogey on the 15th before consecutive double bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes. A par at the last concluded a memorable 67 giving Thompson outright second place ahead of Mark Dickson (Edinburgh) who finished a close-up third on 286.

Morrison’s total of three-under-par 283 equalled the tournament record.

It was a fitting tribute to the Boyd brothers, the St Andrews students who were killed in World War II and after whom the tournament is named.

The Boyd Quaich is run by the Athletic Union of the University of St Andrews, and receives significant grant aid from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club with support from the St Andrews Links Trust. Without this financial help it would not be possible for many of these young golfers, especially from overseas, to be able to compete.

FINAL TOTALS

Par 286 (2x72 over Old; 2x71 over the New). Order of scores: New-Old-New-Old

283 Sean Morrison (Francis Marion, USA) 72 71 71 69.

285 Sean Thompson (Stirling) 73 75 70 67.

286 Mark Dickson (Edinburgh) 69 75 70 72.

287 Chris O’Neill (Wales Newport) 76 68 75 68, Karl Ochse (Stellenbosch, S Africa) 73 69 69 76.

288 John Owen (Ulster) 72 68 72 76.

289 Gordon Stevenson (St Andrews) 76 67 75 71, Alex Main (Edinburgh) 72 70 69 78.

290 Adam Morris (Buckinghamshire New) 77 72 71 70.

291 Christopher Dlaska (Vienna, Austria) 72 74 74 71.

292 Gerard Kelly (UC Dublin) 74 71 73 74.

293 Richard Knightly (Trinity College Dublin) 75 73 75 70, John Duff (Aberdeen) 72 76 73 72, Gareth Rees (Cardiff) 71 71 77 74, Ross Crowe (Northumbria) 71 75 72 75.

294 Michael Becker (Germany) 72 76 72 74, Andy Weir (Francis Marion, USA) 72 76 72 74, Nicky Maddison (Northumbria) 77 69 72 76, Will Wrisdale (St Andrews) 73 75 69 77.

295 Alistair Robinson (Warwick) 75 74 75 71.

296 Colum Kenny (UC Dublin) 73 72 78 73, Chris Young (Exeter) 72 73 78 73, Clark Nelson (Clayton State, USA) 72 72 75 77.

297 Graeme McDougall (Strathclyde) 75 71 75 76, Andrew Heesom (Leeds) 69 73 77 78.

298 Dylan Evans (Lehigh, USA) 75 74 73 76.

300 Steven Smith (Heriot Watt) 72 70 79 79, Jon Corke (St Andrews) 72 74 69 85.

301 Brett Eagle (Stellenbosch, S Africa) 76 72 76 77, Daniel Bishop (Bournemouth) 73 76 75 77.