PAUL LAWRIE FOUNDATION SCOTTISH SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

CONNOR SYME FOLLOWS IN FOOTSTEPS OF PGA

 PRO FATHER TO WIN TITLE 25 YEARS LATER

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Colin@scottishgolfview.com 

Twenty-five years after Stuart Syme (now the Dumfries and County Golf Club professional) won the Scottish schoolboys golf championship at Carnoustie, his 16-year-old son Connor Syme followed suit in the Paul Lawrie Foundation-sponsored 2012 version of the same tournament over the Murrayshall House Hotel courses near Perth today.

Chip off the old block Connor shot 71 (two under par for the No 1 course)  and 67 (two under par for the Lynedoch course) for a four-under-par total of 138, pipping the local Perthshire hero, Bradley Neil, by a single shot at the end of a long day with the last boys in the big mixed field not completing their rounds until after 8.30pm in the fading light on an already misty day.

Neil had scores of  71 and 68 for 139 for second place, only a shot ahead of Cameron Buist (Stirling) who had a pair of 70s.

Connor Syme's great effort helped Dumfries and Galloway schools maintain their recent monopoly of the team title.

Connor Benewith, Maxim Jackson and Connor Syme were the winning team trio from the south with a total of 434, two ahead of East Dunbartonshire with Perth and Kinross third on 441.

It is Dumfries and Galloway's sixth team success in recent years in this event.

Lesley Atkins (East Lothian), former Scottish girls champion, pipped Heather Munro (Dundee City) and Jessica Meek (Angus) for the individual girls title with a three-under-par second round of 68 over the Murrayshall No 1 course.

That gave her a 36-hole total of 141, a shot ahead of both Heather and Jessica.
Big name absentees from the girls field were last year's title winner, Lauren Whyte (St Regulus), and GB and I Junior Vagliano Trophy team player Clara Young (East Lothian). Both had injuries that prevented them from playing.

South Aberdeenshire's Shannon McWilliam and Kimberley Beveridge won the girls team title with a total of 302 - two ahead of Borders with East Lothian third on 306

FINAL TOTALS

BOYS
Par 142 (Murrayshall course par 73 first, Lynedoch course par 69 second)
CSS 71 for Murrayshall course; 69 for Lynedoch course).

138 Connor Syme (Dumfries and Galloway) 71 67
139 Bradley Neil (Perth and Kinross) 71 68.
140 Cameron Buist (Stirling) 70 70.
141 Scott Grant (Dundee City) 70 71
142 Cameron Farrell (W Dunbartonshire) 75 67, George Burns (E Renfrewshire) 76 66, Robert MacIntyre (Argyll and Bute) 71 71
143 Blair Carnegie (Stirling) 77 66, Craig Chalmers (E Dunbartonshire) 70 73, George Duncan (E Dunbartonshire) 72 71, Robbie Fitzpatrick (N Ayrshire) 70 73, Fraser Davren (E Renfrewshire) 75 68.
145 Maxim Jackson (Dumfries and Galloway) 73 72, Kerr Baptie (N Aberdeenshire) 74 71
146 Lawrence Allan (Clackmannan) 76 70, Willem Kerr (Edinburgh) 76 70, Ross Brydon (Edinburgh) 72 74, Euan Walker (S Ayrshire) 77 69
147 Ben Craggs (Falkirk) 78 69, Ross Dallas (Angus) 75 72, Niall McMullen (Fife) 73 74
148 Blair Gavin (S Ayrshire) 75 73
149 Ross Millar (Midlothian) 75 74, Ryan Walsh (Fife) 75 74, Ben Kinsley (Fife) 78 71, Rory Stewart (Perth and Kinross) 74 75
150 Rory Franssen (Highland) 77 73, Andrew Carrell (Aberdeen City) 73 77, Cameron Bennie (E Dunbartonshire) 76 74, Robert Johnson (Argyll and Bute) 74 76, Colin Edgar (Renfrewshire) 77 73.
151 Connor Benewith (Dumfries and Galloway) 75 76, Kevin Prentice (S Lanarkshire) 74 77, Michael Brodie (Angus) 80 71
153 Gareth Renwick (Borders) 80 73, Euan Matthew (Angus) 79 74, Grant Paul (S Lanarkshire) 80 73, Calum Hill (Perth and Kinross) 75 78, Lewis Mutch (N Aberdeenshire) 73 80
154 Stuart Lovelle (W Dunbartonshire) 73 81, Fraser Kane (S Lanarkshire) 79 75, Lewis McWilliam (S Aberdeenshire) 81 73
155 Scott Beattie (Clackmannan) 80 75, Liam Allen (S Aberdeenshire) 76 79
156 Ross Robertson (Renfrewshire) 81 75
158 Jamie Reid (N Aberdeenshire) 80 78
159 Aiden Fortune (Borders) 78 81, Christopher Thursby (W Dunbartonshire) 81 78, Alistair MacVicar (Argyll and Bute) 83 76
160 Stuart Easton (N Ayrshire) 78 82, Gary Brownlee (E Lothian) 77 83, Josh Beatt (E Renfrewshire) 81 79
161 Connor Toal (Renfrewshire) 79 82
162 Ian Christie (Dundee City) 82 80, Stuart Walsh (N Ayrshire) 80 82, Craig Stephen (S Aberdeenshire) 79 83
163 Joshua Lamb (Borders) 86 77
165 Mark McNulty (Falkirk) 76 89
166 Grant Joss (Aberdeen City) 83 83, Greg Morrison (Aberdeen City) 78 88
169 Scott Murray (Highland) 78 91


Boys' team prizewinners
434 Dumfries and Galloway (Connor Syme, Connor Benewith, Maxim Jackson).
436 East Dunbartonshire (Craig Chalmers, George Duncan, Cameron Bennie).
441 Perth and Kinross (Bradley Neil, Calum Hill, Rory Stewart).
Other totals:
445 Fife, Renfrewshire East
448 Glasgow
451 Angus, Argyll and Bute.
452 South Ayrshire.
455 West Dunbartonshire.
456 North Aberdeenshire.
458 South Lanarkshire
461 Dundee City
465 North Ayrshire.
467 Renfrewshire.
471 South Aberdeenshire.
475 Borders
477 Highland
479 Falkirk
480 Inverclyde
482 Aberdeen City.
496 North Lanarkshire
No Returns: Clackmannan, Edinburgh, Midlothian.

 GIRLS
Par 140 (Lynedoch course par 69 first, Murrayshall course par 71 second)
CSS 69 71
141 Lesley Atkins (E Lothian) 73 68
142 Heather Munro (Dundee City) 69 73, Jessica Meek (Angus) 67 75.
143 Rachel Walker (Dumfries and Galloway) 69 78
147 Tara Mactaggart (Borders) 72 75, Connie Jaffrey (N Ayrshire) 72 75.
148 Eilidh Watson (Forth Valley) 74 74
149 Kimberley Beveridge (S Aberdeenshire) 73 76
152 Emma Hale (S Ayrshire) 75 77
153 Shannon McWilliam (S Aberdeenshire) 72 81
154 Katie Wright (Dumfries and Galloway) 73 81
157 Danielle Ker (Borders) 76 81
160 Nicola Robertson (Forth Valley) 79 81, Eilidh Crawford (N Lanarkshire) 78 82.
163 Jennifer Saxton (Perth and Kinross) 79 84,
 Emily Glencorse (S Lanarkshire) 90 88
164 Emma Greenlees (Dumfries and Galloway) 86 78, Claire Gadsby (Perth and Kinross) 80 84, Eilidh Crawford (N Lanarkshire) 78
165 Kirsty Brodie (Angus) 83 82, Kirsten Pryde (Aberdeen City) 77 88, Charlotte Munro (E Lothian) 83 82
166 Alexandra Tait (Fife) 83 83, Molly Stewart (Aberdeen City) 80 86, Jessica Dalgetty (Midlothian) 79 87, Alexandra Qayum (Renfrewshire) 87 79
167 Hazel MacGarvie (S Ayrshire) 8tb 6 81, Ellie Bryce (S Lanarkshire) 88 79
168 Lauren Watson (Aberdeen City) 80 88
170  Emily Dalgetty (Midlothian) 81 89
171 Lois Mills (W Lothian) 83 88
172 Tegan Seivwright (Aberdeen City) 84 88.
173 Alexandra Duffy (S Lanarkshire) 84 89.
175 Eleanor Tunn (Highland) 84 91.
177 Claire Robertson (Angus) 85 92, Zoe Marr (N Aberdeenshire) 83 94, Emma Morrison (Edinburgh}91 86
178 Emily Glencorse (S Lanarkshire) 90 88
179 Joanne Free (E Lothian) 91 88
180 Emma Kennedy (Renfrewshire) 91 89
181 Jillian Farrell (W Dunbartonshire) 95 86
183 Jennifer Allan (Forth Valley) 94 89
187 Heather Neilson (S Lanarkshire) 88 99, Katie Scott (S Lanarkshire) 93 94
192 Heather McKimmie (Glasgow) 96 96

GIRLS' TEAM PRIZE LIST
303 South Aberdeenshire (Shannon McWilliam and Kimberley Beveridge).
304 Borders (Tara Mactaggart and Danielle Ker)
306 East Lothian (Lesley Atkins and Charlotte Munro)
Other totals:
308 Forth Valley.
311 Dumfries and Galloway
319 Angus, Ayrshire South
327 Perth and Kinross.
336 Midlothian.
356 Renfrewshire
340 Aberdeen City
351 Lanarkshire South
No Returns: Aberdeenshire North, Glasgow,


INDIVIDUAL HANDICAP
134 Eilidh Crawford (North Lanarkshire) (13) 65 69.
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FOOTNOTE FROM COLIN FARQUHARSON
I've hung up coats, jackets, bonnets, etc in clubhouse changing rooms all over Scotland for the best part of at least 40 years - and they've always been there when I've gone to retrieve them ... until Murrayshall House Hotel today.
On my arrival at the Perthshire venue, I put on my black Sunderland of Scotland rainjacket (a Christmas present) to make the short trip from the carpark to the clubhouse and thought it would be better to hang it up on a peg in the changing room rather than walk into the upmarket lounge area.
Big mistake. At the end of a long day, on the way back out to the car park went to get my rainjacket in a now deserted changing room -- and it had gone from the peg.
Whoever took it would have to be about 5ft 11in tall and weigh about 13 stone if the rainjacket was going to be a good fit. Are schoolboys that big nowadays. They certainly are! 
If any of the competitors at Murrayshall reads this and wonders from where one of their mates got a nearly new Sunderland of Scotland black rainjacket,
now you know.
All in all it was a costly day for me at Murrayshall which is not one of the hotels that gives free WiFi access to guests and other visitors. Their rate is: £5 for an hour or £9 for 24 hours. One hour not nearly enough for me on my laptop, collating the scores, etc, and 24 hours far too long but that's what I had to pay.
COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com