Muckhart ace bags Junior Tour triumph
Andrew Thornton’s summer is heating up nicely after playing his way to a Scottish Junior Tour victory.
The Muckhart member triumphed at Duff House Royal Golf Club in Banff following a consistent performance over two rounds.
The course, a demanding scratch test of 68, is located in a manicured parkland setting which surprises with glimpses of the Moray Firth. But Andrew made light work of the track during his opening round en route to setting the pace with an impressive three-under 65.
His back-nine included four birdies which resulted in a three-shot advantage heading into round two of the 36-hole strokeplay event.
While a second round 72 tightened the field up slightly, Andrew comfortably remained top of the leaderboard to take the title.
Nearest challenger Liam Waldron of Royal Aberdeen Golf Club finished the tournament two shots back.
Andrew was delighted with his victory in Aberdeenshire, especially his opening round which helped pave the way to his success.
“I felt I was playing nicely that whole round but wasn’t getting much of a reward for it so the last few holes really helped,” Andrew said. “I managed to birdie two of the hardest holes out there.
“I’ve been struggling with my putter recently so it helped that it warmed up a little and I started holing some nice putts last weekend. I had a difficult start to the season but I have been persevering and it’s nice to see the hard work paying off.”
Andrew was hoping that the hard work would continue to pay off at the Scottish Boys’ Amateur Championship this week.
A number of players from Perth and Kinross teed-up at Blairgowrie’s Lansdowne on Wednesday attempting to advance to the weekend, while the Rosemount course is playing host to the Scottish Girls’ Amateur.
Former Kinross High student Andrew is sharpening up his game ahead of jetting off to America later this year to begin a golf scholarship at Southern Illinois University, located in the city of Carbondale.
“I have the Scottish Boys’ this week followed by the men’s amateur in two weeks,” Andrew explained. “But after a year out of school I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine.
“The golf out in America will be great. I feel like I have the game to match those courses so I’m looking to hit the ground running.
“I’ve been working quite a bit with my coach lately before heading out to America, trying to get a bit of a higher, consistent ball flight.”
Professional Calum Hill, who grew up playing at
Perth and Kinross County golfer Andrew Thornton was in fine form at Duff House Royal to win the Scottish Junior Tour event by two shots Muckhart, also took the American route and is now rising up the ladder on tour.
He qualified for last week’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club and grasped the opportunity with both hands to finish 26th on 15-under. That banked him a prize of €61,796 and the achievement of top Scot alongside Scott Jamieson.
Andrew tracked his progress at the event closely and said: “Seeing Calum’s performance has given me even more belief as I know he was in the same position as all of the juniors once.
“With him being from the same club as me, Muckhart, is a cool thing. They do so much to promote junior golf and it’s good to see the likes of Calum coming through from that.”