EDINBURGH STUDENT TO THE FORE IN BOYD QUAICH

Thomas Main from South Africa and American university student Steven Smith (pictured) from Kirknewton, near Edinburgh set the pace over the Old and New Courses, St Andrews respectively when the Boyd Quaich Memorial Tournament for student golfers from around the world began with play through until almost darkness.
Smith, about to begin his fourth and final year at Western Carolina University, shot a 69 - the lowest score of the day - over the New Course.
Main had a 71 at the Old Course.

The Boyd Quaich Memorial Tournament was first played in 1946 and was founded in memory of two St Andrews students who were killed in the Second World War.

Seventy-one players are involved this year with almost half the field representing universities outside the UK. 

The format is 18 holes on both the Old and New courses after which there is a 36 hole cut. The top 30 players will play a further 18 holes on the New on Wednesday afternoon. The final round will be on the Old course on Thursday morning after which the Quaich will be presented.

LEADING FIRST-ROUND SCORES

Old Course - CSS 73

71 Thomas Main (Cape Town, South Africa)

72 Daniel McCrea (Queens, Belfast)

73 Greg Smail (Louisianna Monroe, USA), Ross Carvill (Ulster),Varun Varadharajan (Heriot-Watt), Leon Ang (Griffith, Australia)

74 Daniel Lewis (Loughborough), George Kershaw, Manchester Metro

75 Clement Lemaire (Bordeaux, France), James Hendry (Edinburgh).

ST ANDREWS NEW COURSE

CSS 72

69 Steven Smith (Western Carolina, USA).

71 Tai Yasuda, Loughborough), Rob Patterson (Bournemouth),

Roddy Forgie (Edinburgh), Jack Pierse (Dublin).

72 Sebastian Backlund, Francis Marion (USA), Freddie Edmunds (St Andrews)

73 Richard Persaud (Toronto, Canada), Oliver Roberts (Stirling), Ambroise Fourquet (Bordeaux, France)