SAMMY VASS, FRASER FOTHERINGHAM TO WED NEXT JANUARY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.comTwo of the North of Scotland's leading young golfers over the past six of seven years have lined up their biggest match yet.
Sammy Vass from Tain and Nairn's Fraser Fotheringham became engaged last October and the wedding has been arranged for next January.
 Sammy, 21, is a final-yar student at Gardner-Webb University in the town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina and Fraser, 23, went out there last autumn to propose to her.
Fotheringham was beaten on the last green of the 36-hole final of the British boys' championship by a Spanish player in 2007, and subsequently played for Great Britain and Ireland against the Continent of Europe in the boys' international match for the Jacques Leglise Trophy.
He lost a play-off to Kris Nicol for the North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship in 2008 and the following year finished third behind winner Kevin McAlpine.
Sammy Vass lost to Ailsa Bain by two holes in the final of the Scottish Under-18 girls' match-play championship in 2009. She won the North of Scotland women's amateur championship in 2010 and lost to Laura Murray in the final of the same tournament the following year.
Vass played for the Scotland U16 girls international team in 2006 and 2007, stepping up to the Scotland U18 girls team in 2009 and 2009.
In 2007 Vass teamed up with Nairn Dunbar's Kelsey MacDonald to win the Scottish schoolgirls team title.
Fotheringham is a director of Nairn's Clubhouse Hotel which he runs with other members of his family. Sammy, who spent her first year in America at the University of Central Florida and graduates from Gardner-Webb University in the spring, will be working there also.
"Sammy's degree course is in marketing so that has turned out to be very useful," said her mother Magi Vass, secretary of Tain Golf Club and herself a former Scotland junior international.
"The two of them have also formed a company together called Scotland Links Golf Tours, which they are excited about and they can develop further when she is finished studying.
"Their website etc isn't quite up and running yet but they have some bookings already through the hotel. It is an exciting time for both of them.
"They met during the Grampian Houston Junior trip to Texas in 2007 They didn't get together straight away as when they got back Fraser went to Australia for the winter but they reunited as soon as he got back and have managed to stay together all these years with long times apart, due to Sammy being at college in the States for four years,  so I am delighted for them both."