Play got underway in the 11th Alfred Dunhill Links Championship today and the competitors were greeted by warm, sunny conditions.
Among those teeing it up on the Old Course were 14 year old Alasdair McDougall (pictured) who was called up yesterday as a reserve amateur. The St Andrews Links Junior Golf Association (SALJGA) Order of Merit winner played in the same group as SALJGA honorary president Paul Lawrie. The former Open Champion met Alasdair on the tee along with St Andrews Links Trust Chief Executive Euan Loudon.
Also playing on the Old Course today were former St Andrews Links Trophy champion and recent Czech Open winner Oliver Fisher, Henrik Stenson, the Swedish Ryder Cup star, and fomer course record holder on the Old Course Welshman Bradley Dredge. Scots Stephen Gallacher, a former Alfred Dunhill Links champion, Steven O'Hara and David Drysdale were among the early pace setters all notching up birdies in the benign conditions on the front nine.
The championship is played over the Old Course at St Andrews Links, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie. A cut takes place after the third round with the leading scorers qualifying for the final round on the Old Course on Sunday. The championship's unique format sees two separate competitions: one for the world's leading golfers and a team event in which they are paired with celebrated amateurs.
Four players were tied on six under par after the first round. Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 St Andrews Open champion, and Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who played at Kingsbarns, and Michael Hoey, from Northern Ireland, and Austrian Markus Brier, who played the Old Course. Among the chasing pack one shot back was Graeme McDowell and Colin Montgomerie was handily placed on four under par.
For live scoring from the championship please click here.