The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Crail chief hails benefits of staging national event
Sebastiano Frau and Hannah Darling weathered difficult conditions to be crowned the Loretto School Scottish Boys’ and Girls’ Under-14 champions at Crail Golfing Society.
National Girls’ champion Darling , of Broomieknowe – the youngest ever winner of the girls’ title aged 13 at Scotscraig last month – continued her fine form to win by five shots over Welsh player Ffion Tynan with two impressive rounds of 73.
Frau, from Italy, had rounds of 72 and 70 to win by one shot over Ireland’s Joseph Byrne (Baltinglass).
Crail Golfing Society’s managing secretary David Roy explained how exciting it was to see so many Scottish players competing so well in a high quality international field, including Crail’s very own, Anna McKay.
Having hosted several Scottish Golf events in the past, Roy says there are huge benefits to staging such tournaments.
“The most obvious tangible benefit is the fact that we get international publicity from this.” he said.
“People come from up to 20 different countries all over Europe, coming to Crail for the first time, so that in itself is a good thing.
“It’s something a bit out of the ordinary rather than looking after a standard members’ medal, which we all thoroughly enjoy, but this is something a little bit special.”
Roy believes that hosting a Scottish Golf event is something that all clubs should consider and added: “I think one of the reasons is that we’re all obligated to help the game of golf grow in Scotland so that should be your first reaction.
“One of the things that you get from hosting an international event, especially if it involves juniors, is you get to see the progress of these really talented young players as they develop. That legacy will stay with you.”