Thomas Rowland won the 2010 St Andrews Boys' Open on the Old Course today. The 17 year old from Prudhoe clinched victory over Calum Hill from Tantallon on the 15th green. Olivia Jordan-Higgins from Royal Jersey (pictured) triumphed over Emma Harris from Peel in the St Andrews Junior Ladies' Open.
Rowland went one down on the 2nd hole but one the fourth hole to level the match and birdied the next to go one up and led from there. His 14 year old opponent made a good fight of it winning the 8th and the 11th holes with threes but was always chasing the game. When Rowland moved to four up on the 14th it left Hill with a mountain to climb and a half on the 15th was enough to seal the victory.
"It's a great honour to be on the list of champions in such a prestigious trophy," he said. "It was a fantastic experience to play on the Old Course. Both it and the Eden Course were in great condition. It was my aim all week to qualify for the semi-finals but to win it was a real bonus. I am the third player from Northumberland county in a row to win here. The previous winners were county captains and I am the vice-captain so it is quite a run."
Jordan-Higgins was never behind in the match after taking the lead on the 2nd hole. Her 14 year old rival won the 5th to level the match but the lead was restored on the 7th hole and increased to 2 up on the 8th. Harris fought back to win the 9th and again to get back to one down on the 11th but the 22 year-old Jordan-Higgins seemed to take command when she moved three ahead on the 13th hole. Three down with three to play, Harris, however, battled back to win the 16th and 17th holes to take it down the last. Jordan-Higgins held her nerve to win the 18th for a two hole victory.
"It is just an unreal feeling," she said. "I went out today thinking the main thing was just to enjoy myself. To play the Old Course twice in the same day was just something else. I played really well in the semi-final this morning and felt comfortable when I started the final. I got to three up on the back nine and gave myself a good chance but it made it stressful when Emma kept battling. It was great to win on the 18th though."
The 2010 Murray Mitchell Trophy handicap event was won by Tiernan Lindsay from Fort William by two holes from Harinder Singh Ranshi from Withington.
Amy Staniford from Datchet won the Open Quaich 2010 handicap event by 4 and 3 against Heather Munro from Moniefieth.
For the full results from the 2010 St Andrews Boys' Open please click here.
For the full results from the 2010 St Andrews Junior Ladies' Open plase click here.