Tuesday 5th September 2017

New season underway with new and old mixing it at the top

The 7th Stirling International kicked off the new student golf season at Fairmont St. Andrews, with early rain giving way to sunshine on the Fife coast.

As the first event of the SSS/BUCS Tour, this was a chance to lay down a marker for the season, a chance that Cassie Kneen (St Andrews) and Craig Howie (Scottish Golf) certainly took.

In the women’s competition, there were a number of new faces in the draw making their presence felt. These women were led by American Kneen, who after a bogey at the first had four birdies on the front nine to reach the turn at three under, a further two birdies on the back helping her to a first round score of 70, four under par. Leading the chasers was another first year, Mirren Fraser (Stirling), her solid two under par featuring three birdies. Rounding out the first round podium is second year Fern Clark (St. Andrews), who reached the turn sharing the lead with Kneen, before dropping back to +1 for the tournament.

The men’s side of the draw sees a more experienced line up at the top of the leaderboard where the round of the day saw Howie, a former Stirling student, shoot a very impressive 3 under par 69, to lead by 2 strokes. He is being chased by his Scottish Golf teammate, Greg Dalziel, who mixed in five birdies with a few dropped shots to sit at one under par. They are followed by 6 golfers who all shot level par, representing four different institutions, showcasing the growing depth at the top end of the student golfing programme.

Round two commences from 0800 tomorrow morning with a cut at the end of the day for the top 45 men and 9 women.

For full competition details, please click HERE.

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