Yorkshire’s Dylan Shaw-Radford shot a day’s best 69 at windy Murcar and then hung tough in the afternoon to win the Scottish Boys Open.
The 16-year-old from Huddersfield came through the field with a rollercoaster two-under second round. He had been five adrift of Blairgowrie’s Connor Graham after the first 18, but made it all up in the space of his Friday morning back nine.
In the afternoon, played in gruelling conditions with strong winds, the English Boys’ Champion of Champions winner overcame a sticky front nine but again finished strongly to claim the title by a shot.
Shaw-Radford finished with a three round, four-over aggregate of 217. Thursday’s scheduled second round was wiped out by adverse weather.
Wales’ Joe Jones finished second, with rounds of 75 and 76 to add to the 67 that left him sharing second after 18 holes. A bogey on the 17th cost him a potential play-off for the title. Blairgowrie’s Connor Graham shared third place with England’s Charlie Croker.
Rollercoaster second round by the winner
🏆| In a sunset finish, Dylan Shaw-Radford from England wins the 2022 Scottish Boys' Open after a solid final round of 77 (+4), in tough conditions at @MurcarLinksGolf.👏
Full leaderboard can be viewed on the App or online – https://t.co/VWci53Oi84 pic.twitter.com/4pPXoVwbF2
— Scottish Golf (@ScottishGolf) April 8, 2022
Shaw-Radford hadn’t made up any ground at all after a wild front nine in his second round, not having a par until the ninth. He had four birdies and four bogeys, perfectly aligned in sets of two.
But once all that was done with, he settled down. A run of pars from the nineth and two key birdies at 16 and 17 was enough to leap him into the lead.
Graham led by a shot after his first round 66 but it was markedly different conditions for the 15-year-old Blairgowrie hopeful.
Two early birdies in his second round augured well. But he was clinging on to a share of the lead with Jones at the turn as conditions worsened and four shots leaked.
Four more went on the back nine, a birdie at the short 16th meaning Graham rescued a 76, but the lead was now Shaw-Radford’s.
With the wind still blowing hard in the final round, Graham’s challenge was effectively over after back-to-back double bogeys at the fifth and sixth. He rallied to play the final six holes in one-under but a 77 meant he finished two shots adrift sharing third.
Gourley storms through win Girl’s Open
🏆| Rachel Gourley wins the 2022 Scottish Girls' Open after a stunning final round of 68 (-4), finishing two shots clear of Philipa Gollan after an epic final day dual @IrvineGC. 👏
Full leaderboard can be viewed on the App or online – https://t.co/x1PgCSmwN0 pic.twitter.com/3o72wZUOFq
— Scottish Golf (@ScottishGolf) April 8, 2022
Over at Irvine England’s Rachel Gourley stormed through to victory in the Scottish Girls’ Open with a four-under final round of 68. The 17-year-old from the Arcot Hall club just north of Newcastle overhauled the leader for the first two rounds, Germany’s Philipa Gollan.
Gourley didn’t drop a shot in her final round. She made up her two shot deficit on Gollan after 36 holes with birdies in the first two holes. She finished with a seven-under total of 211.
The German eagled the second and still had a share of the lead with two to play. But she double-bogeyed the 17th to surrender the lead for the first time all week. The 16-year-old from Lubeck settled for second, five shots clear of Roisin Scanlan (Woburn) in third.
The best Scottish finisher was North Berwick’s Grace Crawford. The West Links player ended in 9th place on four-over after rounds of 74, 73 and 73.