Booth and Macdonald clinch scholars titles

Stirling University’s David Booth edged out teammate Jack McDonald with a play-off victory on the iconic 18^th hole of the St Andrews Old Course to win the 2012 R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament.

The women’s title was won by another Stirling student, 2010 champion Kelsey Macdonald, who claimed her second title by two shots.

Scoring was difficult due to torrential rain with Conor Wilson of Plymouth shooting 70, the lowest round of the day, to join Booth and McDonald on a 54-hole total of 215 to set up a three-way play-off for the overall title.

Wilson, however, caught his approach to the first hole a little heavy and found the burn, putting himself out of contention. With the Stirling pair both making par it was onto the 18^th where Booth claimed victory with an eight-foot birdie putt.

Kelsey Macdonald, meanwhile, added a final round of 71 to scores of 76 and 72 over the Eden course on the first day for a total of 219 to claim the title ahead of teammate Hannah McCook who finished on a total of 221.

Booth, playing in his sixth and final Scholars tournament before turning pro after he graduates later this year, said: “Every year it seems to get harder and the conditions were tough so you just have to grind out a score. The scores weren’t as low as some of the guys expect but you still have to go out there, play hole-by-hole and try and win and that’s what I did.

“It’s my second play-off against Jack in a couple of months and in the back of my mind I’m thinking, is he going to try and get his own back but I just thought no, I’m going to go out there and try and make birdies.

“I played awesome tee-to-green but couldn’t hole a putt. I holed on 17 and 18 in regulation and that one on the second hole in the play off and that’s all I’ve holed this week.”

The 23-year-old from Rotherham can now look forward to taking his place on the European team for this year’s Palmer Cup against the USA, which takes place in June at Royal County Down.

“It’s amazing to get into the team, “the sports management student who has won his first three events this season added. “I played with Nick MacAndrew over the last couple of rounds and I live with Patrick Spraggs, both past winners, and obviously I’ve been jealous when they’ve told me what goes on at the Palmer Cup.

“You play the best guys in the world because the US team has the number one, two, three players in the world. It’s such a big prize.”

Women’s champion Kelsey MacDonald, who is a reserve for this year’s Curtis Cup, has secured a place in a Ladies European Tour event later in the year with victory over a field that included last year’s winner Jane Turner.

“It was quite tough this week, I struggled on the greens on the Eden Course,” said the 21-year-old from Nairn. “I struggled a wee bit today but hit it in really close which helped a lot.”

The third-year student added: “The standard is really high. Stirling has, for men, the best golfers in Britain. They were European champions, so were the girls. Italy, France and Belgium come over so you have got a lot of good, good players playing in the event.”

Fifty-three competitors played 36 holes over the Eden Course on Monday 9 April, before contesting the Old on Tuesday.

For the 2011/2012 academic year, The R&A awarded around 100 Foundation scholarships, taking its support of student golf to more than £300,000.

Final Results Sheet - Overall

			Round 1	Round 2	36 Holes	Round 3	Total
1	Conor Wilson	Plymouth	72	73	145	70	215
=	David Booth	Stirling	73	69	142	73	215
=	Jack McDonald	Stirling	74	68	142	73	215
4	Alexander Culverwell	Stirling	70	70	140	76	216
5	Graeme Robertson	Stirling	71	74	145	72	217
6	Oliver Roberts	Stirling	75	71	146	72	218
=	Kit Holmes	Stirling	74	69	143	75	218
=	Daniel Sommerville	Dundee	72	70	142	76	218
9	Kelsey Macdonald	Stirling	76	72	148	71	219
=	Gareth Jenkins	Birmingham	74	73	147	72	219
=	Michael Daily	Stirling	71	70	141	78	219
12	Dewi Merckx	Stirling	72	70	142	78	220
13	Jamie Lynch	Forth Valley College	73	75	148	73	221
=	Matthew Wheeler	St Andrews	74	72	146	75	221
=	Tai Yasuda	Loughborough	75	70	145	76	221
=	Hannah McCook	Stirling	75	70	145	76	221
=	Darren Timms	Stirling	69	74	143	78	221
18	Laurie Potter	Exeter	79	72	151	71	222
=	Patrick Spraggs	Stirling	76	74	150	72	222
=	Fraser Moore	Stirling	71	74	145	77	222
=	Andrew Wallace	Stirling	74	70	144	78	222
22	Mathias Eggenberger	Stirling	76	76	152	71	223
=	Susan Jackson	Edinburgh	76	73	149	74	223
=	Martin Tavoda	Birmingham	72	73	145	78	223
25	Gabrielle Macdonald	St Andrews	74	74	148	76	224
26	Nick Macandrew	Aberdeen	74	75	149	76	225
=	Charlotte Austwick	York	73	73	146	79	225
=	Thomas Jessamine	Birmingham	73	72	145	80	225
=	Mike Howard	Stirling	70	73	143	82	225
30	Jean Pierre Verselin	France	72	79	151	75	226
=	Jack Scott	Edinburgh	73	77	150	76	226
32	Jane Turner	Robert Gordon	71	75	146	81	227
33	Melissa McMahon	Buckinghamshire New	77	74	151	77	228
=	Kate McIntosh	Elmwood	74	77	151	77	228
=	Eilidh Briggs	Stirling	71	74	145	83	228
36	Allexandra Braida	Italy	76	76	152	77	229
=	Julien Richelle	Belgium	79	72	151	78	229
38	Clement Lemaire	France	77	78	155	75	230
39	Lauren Spray	Birmingham	81	74	155	77	232
=	Lewis Hollingworth	Lincoln	74	80	154	78	232
41	Bronwyn Davies	Myerscough	76	80	156	77	233
=	Alison Knowles	Exeter	73	79	152	81	233
43	Rebecca Wilson	Stirling	81	74	155	79	234
=	Matt Hill	Loughborough	75	72	147	87	234
45	Chiara Brizzolari	Italy	80	75	155	80	235
46	Harriet Beasley	Stirling	76	79	155	81	236
=	Gemma Bradbury	St Andrews	76	76	152	84	236
48	Karlis Broders	Loughborough	83	75	158	79	237
49	Jordana Graham	Stirling	79	75	154	84	238
50	Nicola Rawlinson	Loughborough	79	77	156	83	239
51	Steve Martin	Loughborough	89	76	165	81	246
=	Gillian Scanlan	Strathclyde	75	80	155	91	246
53	Alice Barnes	Exeter	87	85	172	79	251