2nd June 2024

Round 4

Dominic CLEMONS (ENG) has won the Scottish Men’s Open Championship with a 260 (-24) total.

He is the 11th English winner and the fourth in the last five playings.

Dominic Clemons (Photo: Scottish Golf)

I was impressed with his 65 this morning in the circumstances but clearly Mr. Clemons was not. A bogey free 9-under 62 in the final round this afternoon saw him run off into the distance and ultimately win by an amazing 17 shots.

21 year old  – he’s 22 on 14th June – Clemons has just finished his senior fourth year at Stetson University having transferred there from Hutchinson two years ago. He arrived home to Cambridge in good form having finished 87th in the 2024 Clipped Scoreboard Men’s Division I Individual Ranking. Whilst I tipped him to do well in my Preview below I’m sure neither he nor certainly I were expecting a performance of this magnitude.

Talking to Scottish Golf afterwards he said “When it’s your day, it’s your day. When I was out there, I wasn’t thinking about what it means to win around Muirfield, but now it’s sinking in.”

Dominic Clemons Round 4 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Jordan BURNAND (RSA) -7 finished 2nd on last round count back, Kai KOMULAINEN (AUS) -7 3rd, Jamie NIELSEN (DEN) -6 4th and Matteo CRISTONI (ITA), who had a final round hole-in-one on the 16th, -4 5th.

Jack MCDONALD -1 8th was the highest finishing Scot with Charlie FORSTER (ENG) Ev also finishing in the top 10.

Just eight of the 44 players who made the cut finished under par.

Dominic Clemons Round 4 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Click here to view the – 2024 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Leaderboard

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Round 3

Overnight leader Dominic CLEMONS (ENG) showed few nerves in producing a second consecutive 6-under 65 at Muirfield in this morning’s third round.

He now leads the Scottish Men’s Amateur Open Championship by 5-shots going into this afternoon’s final round.

Dominic Clemons Round 3 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Australian Kai KOMULAINEN, playing in the penultimate three-ball, produced a bogey-free 68 to move into 2nd place on -10.

Clemons’ playing partners Jordan BURNAND (RSA) 71 and Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA) 72 just about stayed in touch with him, albeit four and five bogeys respectively on their cards were always going to hold them back.

Jamie NIELSEN (DEN) and Matteo CRISTONI (ITA) finished the round on -5 and tied 5th. Cristoni’s 67 was the second best third round score behind the leader.

Round 3 Scorecard – Leaders (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

ME.

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1st June 2024

Round 2

Dominic CLEMONS (ENG) moved into the lead at the Scottish Men’s Open Championship after shooting a 6-under 65 around Muirfield on Day 2.

Dominic Clemons Round 2 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Jordan BURNAND‘s (RSA) 7-under 64, the best round of the day, lifted him 12 places on the leaderboard into 2nd place. He will start the final day 1-shot behind Clemons.

Jordan Burnand Round 2 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Kai KOMULAINEN (AUS) and Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA) -7 are tied 3rd after they both recorded 67’s.

Overnight leader Jamie NIELSEN (DEN) fell back to 5th after his even par 71.

The other big movers towards the top of the leaderboard on Saturday were Maxime LAM (FRA) 66, up 48 spots and now tied 6th on -3, and Rory MCDONALD-O’BRIEN (ENG) 67, up 43 places and now tied 11th on -2.

Round 2 Scorecard – Leaders (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

44 players made the top 40 and ties cut which fell at +2.

ME.

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31st May 2024

Round 1

Jamie NIELSEN (DEN) took the early lead in the Scottish Open Amateur after a seven birdie 65 (-6) around the famous Muirfield links.

Jamie Nielsen Round 1 Scorecard (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

David LUNDGREN (SWE), Eli RIEGGER (USA), Charlie FORSTER (ENG), Khaled ATTIEH (SAU), Kai KOMULAINEN (AUS), Dominic CLEMONS (ENG) and Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA) are all tied 2nd on -3.

On a lovely day for golf in East Lothian 23 players broke par at Muirfield with a further 11 finishing their opening rounds on Even par.

Round 1 Scorecard – Leaders (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

ME.

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28th May 2024

The 57th Scottish Men’s Open Stroke Play Championship starts on Friday 31st May at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian.

I will be updating this article throughout the week.

Format

This open scratch amateur competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play.

18 holes will be played on both Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June.

A 36 hole cut will then take place with only the leading 40 competitors and ties qualifying for the final two rounds which will be played on Sunday 2nd June.

In the event of a tie for the Championship there will be a sudden death play off. All other ties will be resolved via card count back.

Field

144 competitors will start the 2024 Championship.

The field will be made up of (1) the 55 entrants with the highest WAGRs, (2) the next 55 players with the lowest WHS Handicap Index, (3) 10 Scottish Golf nominations and (4) a minimum of 24 players via the Pre-Qualifying event (see below).

The busy amateur schedule means that despite hosting the Championship at Muirfield, one of the best courses in the world, Scottish Golf have again struggled to attract a top class field for its Open Amateur. The NCAA U.S. college season, which only ends on Wednesday 29th May, and the conflicting East of Ireland Men’s Open Amateur and PGA Tour Americas Q-School events have attracted some players. Others are resting with the Scottish Open falling between the Brabazon Trophy and St. Andrews Links Trophy & Amateur Championship in a few weeks time.

The defending champion Connor GRAHAM (SCO), still recovering from a wrist injury, and his brother Gregor GRAHAM, one of GB&I’s best players this year, are both skipping the event.

On paper Cameron ADAM (SCO), Eliot BAKER (ENG), Jordan BURNAND (RSA), Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG), Dominic CLEMONS (ENG), Brodie CUNNINGHAM (SCO), Andrew DAVIDSON (SCO), Charlie FORSTER (ENG), Andrew HASWELL (ENG), Jack INGHAM (NED), Jack MCDONALD (SCO), Benjamin REUTER (NED), Matt ROBERTS (WAL), Gregor TAIT (SCO), Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA) and Matthew WILSON (SCO) seem the most likely to feature highly on the leaderboard.

Pre-Qualifying

Gullane Course No. 2

Scottish Golf, for the third time, held an 18 hole Pre-Qualifying event. This year it took place on Tuesday 28th May at Gullane No. 2.

Jack DRURY (ENG) and Charlie GILLESPIE (SCO), who both posted 65’s (-6), were the co-medalists leading 36 guaranteed players into the main event. The top 36 cut off fell at -1 with II players on the number. Seven made it through on count back with Ellis WILLOT (ENG) taking the final spot and the four remaining players making up a reserve list.

Click here to view the – 2024 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Pre-Qualifying Results

Muirfield

The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (HCEG) was formed in 1744 with Muirfield becoming their home in 1891.

The original links was laid out by Old Tom Morris before Harry Colt redesigned it; his course, now on a larger site, opening for play in 1924. Martin Hawtree undertook further refinements in 2011.

Muirfield has staged the Open Championship (16 times), Amateur Championship (11), Curtis Cup (2), Walker Cup (2), Vagliano Trophy (2) and Ryder Cup (1).

It staged the inaugural Scottish Open Amateur in 1967 when Bernard Gallacher won and then again in  1977 when Paul McKellar (SCO) was victorious.

Unusually for a links course the opening nine holes circle clockwise around the edge of the property before the back nine plays in an anti-clockwise direction on the inside. The fairways are generally flat and visible, and despite their being 148 deep bunkers, the test has always been considered a fair one.

The Championship course plays to 7,245 yards and a par of 71. It has a Course Rating of 73.8 and a Slope Rating of 142.

Prizes

The Winner receives the distinctive silver Championship Trophy and a Crystal Award.

Crystal Awards are also given to the runner-up and third place finisher.

Weather Forecast (last updated Friday 30th May)

The weather forecast suggests the Championship will be played largely in sunny conditions with only light breezes expected throughout.

Fri 31st May – Sunny Intervals / Wind 10 mph NE / Temp. Min. 10°C / Max. 16°C,
Sat 1st June – Sunny /  Wind 8 mph NE / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 17°C
Sun 2nd June – Sunny Intervals / Wind 20 mph W / Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 18°C

2023 Results

A 16 year old Connor GRAHAM (SCO) won the 2023 Scottish Men’s Open Championship at Meldrum House in Aberdeenshire.

Conor Graham (Photo: Scottish Golf)

Graham produced four under par rounds for a 265 (-15) total. This included a final round 63 (-7), the low round of the Championship, to storm to a 4-shot victory.

Experienced South African, Altin VAN DER MERWE -11, finished 2nd, Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG) -8 was 3rd, Jordan BURNAND (RSA) -7 4th and Max HOPKINS (ENG) -6 5th on count back (last 3 holes) from Connor MCDADE (AUS) -6 who had to settle for 6th.

Final Results (Graphic: Scottish Golf)

Click here to view the – 2023 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Leaderboard

Past Winners

The Scottish Men’s Open Amateur was first contested in 1967 and has an impressive list of past winners. Here are some of them: –

2011 – Andy Sullivan (ENG)
2009 – Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
2004 – Richie Ramsay (SCO)
2003 – Gary Wolstenholme (ENG)
1997 – Barclay Howard (SCO)
1996 – Alastair Forsyth (SCO)
1995 – Stephen Gallacher (SCO)
1992 – Dean Robertson (SCO)
1991 – Andrew Coltart (SCO)
1985 – Colin Montgomerie (SCO)
1981 – Philip Walton (IRE)
1980 – Gordon Brand Jr (ENG)
1975 and 1984 – Charlie Green (SCO)
1971, 1974 and 1979 – Ian Hutcheon (SCO)
1970 – Dale Hayes (RSA)
1968 – Ronnie Shade (SCO)
1967 – Bernard Gallacher (SCO)

A full list of the past winners can be viewed here – Scottish Open Amateur Winners

ME.

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