Lawrie heaps praise on new Scottish title holder Locke

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie has heaped praise on Sam Locke after the north-east player achieved a storming success in the Scottish Men’s Amateur Championship at Prestwick.

The 18-year-old produced an impressive display to emphatically defeat Anglo-scot Ryan Lumsden (Royal Wimbledon) 9&8 in Saturday’s 36-hole final over the famous Ayrshire link s– the biggest margin of victory in the matchplay final since Colin Montgomerie triumphed at Nairn 30 years ago.

“We’re so proud of Sam’s golf, but also of him,” said Lawrie of Stonehavenbased Locke, a member of the Paul Lawrie Foundation since he was aged 14. “He is a lovely lad who works very hard at his game and is developing very well.”

Now Locke is looking forward to making the Men’s Home Internationals at Moortown from 16-18 August after gaining automatic selection to the team following his win at Prestwick.

With another spot up for grabs following the event, the selectors have opted for experience with Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm) making up the 11-man line-up as playing captain.

The 35-year-old again proved his ability with a run to the quarter-finals at Prestwick and will now make his sixth successive Men’s Home Internationals appearance. The banking manager currently sits in third place on the domestic Men’s Order of Merit and said: “I’m delighted to gain my sixth consecutive Homes appearance.

“Huge thanks to Renfrewshire Golf, in particular Ian Storie for the initial belief and continued support over many years, and recently to Neil Marr at Meldrum House for his hard work and advice.

“I’m incredibly proud to be named playing captain, an honour I could never have dreamed of. We have such a talented group this year that we travel with high hopes of bringing the Raymond Trophy back north for the first time since 2012 at Gailes.”