Scottish Student Sport Golf Tour tees off in Fife

 Ailsa and Connor set the pace at Ladybank

 

By ROB MACPHERSON 

Sunday saw the first round of the traditional curtain-raiser for the 2015-16 Scottish Student Sport Golf Tour at an overcast and cool Ladybank Golf Club in Fife. With over seventy of the countries top student golfers playing - although lacking the traditionally strong Stirling I Men's Team (who currently are in the United States where Marco Iten (Stirling; Switzerland) won the MacDonald Cup, hosted by Harvard University and where Stirling finished runners up to the hosts in the team event) - it was a day of good scoring in both the ladies and mens events.

Defending Champion in the Ladies event, Ailsa Summers (St Andrews; Carnoustie Ladies) picked up where she left off last year and posted a one over par 72 to lead the field. She was matched by another local who knows the course well in Jen Saxton (Stirling; Muckhart), with Sinead Sexton (Stirling; Lahinch) one shot further back. In the ladies team event, Stirling II (Saxton and Chloe Goadby - fresh from playing in the Dunhill Links with Thomas Levet) lead their more prominent Stirling I teammates as well as the St Andrews teams.

In the Men's event, it was a more challenging day for defending champion Andrew Wilson (Northumbria; Darlington). His 74 was not what he had hoped for, and he was bettered by over a dozen fellow competitors , led by Connor Neil (Abertay; Blairgowrie) whose two under par 69 was the round of the day. The elder brother of Scottish superstar Bradley Neil, Connor had a steady round with only one bogey and three birdies but he is being closely chased by two Strathclyde players, Craig Chalmers (Strathclyde; Cawder) and James Johnston (Strathlcye; Ayr Belleisle) as well as local St Andrews player David McLellan (St Andrews; Largs). There is then a small gap back to those on one over par, Mike Howard (Edinburgh; Royal Birkdale), Bjorn Bojesen (St Andrews; Belgium) and the first two Stirling players Sean Walter (Stirling; West Linton) and Colin Edgar (Stirling; Cochrane Castle). In the mens team event, Strathclyde lead the way from St Andrews, Stirling and Nortumbria.

The 54-hole event continues today  and concludes on Tuesday.

Ladies

1st Ailsa Summers(+2)  72
St Andrews University [St Andrews I
2nd Jen Saxton(3)
Stirling University [Stirling II] 72
3rd Sinead Sexton(0)
Stirling University [Stirling I] 73
4th Gemma Batty(+1)
Stirling University [Stirling I] 75
5th Chloe Goadby(+1)
Stirling University [Stirling II] 75
6th Hannah Holden(1)
Sheffield University 76
7th Nikol Chrenkova(2)
St Andrews University [St Andrews II] 77
8th Miranda Brain(0)
St Andrews University [St Andrews I] 77
9th Nia Greville(1)
Stirling University [Stirling I] 77
10th Lieve Van Veggel(3)
St Andrews University [St Andrews III] 77 

Men

1st Connor Neil (+2)   69

Abertay Dundee University
2nd David McLellan (+1)

St Andrews University [St Andrews II] 70 
3rd Craig Hughes (+1)

Strathclyde University [Strathclyde I] 70
4th Craig Chalmers (+2) 

Strathclyde University [Strathclyde I] 70
5th Bjorn Bojesen (+1)

St Andrews University [St Andrews II] 72
6th Sean Walter (+1)

Stirling University [Stirling I] 72
7th Colin Edgar (+2)

Stirling University [Stirling II] 72
8th Mike Howard (+2)

Edinburgh University [Edinburgh I] 72
9th Rob Paterson (+1)

Aberdeen University [Aberdeen I] 73
10th Greg Telfer (+1)

Glasgow University [Glasgow I] 73
11th George Burns (+2)

St Andrews University [St Andrews I ] 73
12th Tom Beasley (+2)

St Andrews University [St Andrews I] 73
13th Jack Rogan (3)

St Andrews University [individual] 74
14th Elliott Butterworth (0)

Northumbria University [Northumbria I] 74
15th Andrew Wilson (+4)

Northumbria University [Northumbria I] 74
16th George Grant (0)

Northumbria University [Northumbria II] 74
17th Chris MacLean (+2)

Stirling University [Stirling I] 74