Home Star Wins Faldo Series Scotland Championship at Ladybank

Highly regarded young Scottish golfer, Thomas Craig, triumphed at Ladybank Golf Club in Fife after winning a dramatic three-way playoff to secure the Faldo Series Scotland Championship.

Over 100 elite junior golfers, across both the boys’ and girls’ categories, teed up at the Old Tom Morris course to compete for a prestigious invite to the Faldo Series Europe Grand Final at Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Golf Club in Abu Dhabi this October.

Regularly used as a Final Open Qualifier, Ladybank’s stunning course measures only 6,800 yards and provides a number of risk/reward opportunities to create quite the stage for exciting tournament golf.

On cue, the Faldo Series lived up to the course’s reputation as a nail biting final day looked at one stage to require three playoffs to decide all three Boys’ age categories. In the end, just two were required and after the 56th hole,  it was highly tipped Thomas Craig who successfully managed the fast and firm conditions to secure the overall title, as well as the U21 category too.

After coming off the second playoff hole with the win, Craig, spoke about the week’s conditions, “I wasn’t expecting it to be as fiery as it was, but the course has been brilliant all week, although it has been firm, the greens have been nice and a really good speed.” He followed with his reaction to being named a Faldo Series champion, “It feels pretty good! It hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I am sure it will in time.”

Wrapping up the boys’ categories and securing their places at the Grand Final, Maximilian Barclay claimed the U18s title, whilst Max Halflants’ consistency throughout the three rounds found reward to secure the U16 title. With the round of the week Oliver Caton fell just short, after an impressive 66 left him just two behind the leaders.

Meanwhile, the Girls categories hosted a dominant display from winners Robyn Fowlie (U21 champion) and Ruby Watt (U16 champion) whose ten shot leads respectively, safely affirmed their invites to Al Ain as they head into the Grand Final with great momentum.

Speaking after the event, Matthew Faldo, Director of the Faldo Series, said: “The Scotland Championship always provides exciting tournaments as we return to the home of golf! This week welcomed a very different Ladybank course to last year’s autumnal test but provided an equally challenging stage for the players to navigate.

“Congratulations to Thomas, a highly impressive display over the few days and I am sure there will be more to come over the next few years for him. Equally, we are looking forward to welcoming all the age category winners, both Max’s, Robyn and Ruby to Al Ain who will all be fierce competitors come October.”

The Faldo Series Europe schedule will continue over the coming weeks.

Leading final scores and qualifiers for the Scotland Girls and Boys Championship:

Boys’ Under-21:

Thomas Craig E

Cameron Adam Gray E

Thomas Kollberg E

Boys’ Under-18:

Maximilian Barclay +9

Josh Dolzanski +9

Ciaran Paterson +10

Jamie Gibb +10

Boys’ Under-16:

Max Halflants +2

Harry Bent +3

Louie Walsh +5

Girls’ Under-21:

Robyn Fowlie +13

Luisa Gibson +23

Katy Alexander +28

Girls’ Under-16:

Ruby Watt +27

Jodie Graham +37

Holly Durnian +44