26th May 2022
Round 1
Play will start at 7.00am on Friday (27th) at Cruden Bay G.C. with Gregor TAIT (SCO), Monty SCOWSILL (ENG) and Greg HURLEY (ENG) in the opening three-ball. The final group will head out eight hours later at 3.20pm.
Click here to view the – 2022 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Results
Click here to view the – 2022 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Tee Times
ME.
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24th May 2022
The 55th Scottish Men’s Open Stroke Play Championship starts on Friday 27th May at Cruden Bay Golf Club in Aberdeenshire.
Cruden Bay Golf Club (Photo: Cruden Bay G.C.)
Format
This open amateur competition consists of 72 holes of stroke play.
18 holes will be played on both Friday 27th and Saturday 28th May.
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 29th May.
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 2022 Championship.
The field will be made up of automatic entries based on WAGR and handicaps, of which there are 106 listed at the time of writing, and players that come through a Pre-Qualifying event (see below).
Being scheduled slightly later in May more International and U.S. college players are available which means a strong field will be at Cruden Bay.
There is a strong South African touring party which unfortunately for the rest of the field has been added to since last week’s Brabazon Trophy in Devon. Golf RSA’s benefactor Johann Rupert has a lot to answer for ! I again expect the winner to come from one of these players – Christiaan BURKE #19, Kyle DE BEER #24, Jordan DUMINY #84, Casey JARVIS #7, Christiaan MAAS #3, Aldrich POTGIETER #94, Yurav PREMLALL #21 and Sam SIMPSON #64. They all arrive with confidence on the back of successful full seasons back home and some of them will now be even better prepared after a week at Saunton.
There are a number of players from Australasia competing. Jack BUCHANAN (AUS) #172, Harrison CROWE (AUS) #70, James HYDES (NZL) #139, Andre LAUTEE (AUS) #231 and former Scottish Boys and Mens International Connor MCKINNEY (AUS) #103 are the best of them. Crowe is the most interesting – he arrives having won the Master of the Amateurs, New South Wales Amateur and Golf Challenge NSW Open, a professional event, already in 2022. McKinney is the reigning Australian Men’s Amateur champion and obviously links ready given his past visits to these shores.
From a GB&I perspective the leading entries are defending champion Callan BARROW (ENG) #293, Jack BROOKS (ENG) #163, Paul CONROY (IRL) #394 who has returned from U.S. college golf to play, Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) #80, Hugh FOLEY (IRL) #146, Rory FRANSSEN (SCO) #114, reigning English Amateur, Spanish Amateur and Lytham Trophy champion John GOUGH (ENG) #35, Connor GRAHAM (SCO) #203, in form Matt MCCLEAN (IRL) #124 and Gregor TAIT (SCO) #385 who like Conroy is back home from the States.
James ASHFIELD (WAL) #297, Sam BAIRSTOW (ENG) #26, Jack BIGHAM (ENG) #293, Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG) #208, Luke HARRIES (WAL) #304, Olly HUGGINS (ENG) #130, Frank KENNEDY (ENG) #281 (playing in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge), Rob MORAN (IRL) #116, Liam NOLAN (IRL) #199 and Harley SMITH (ENG) #187 are the leading available GB&I players who are skipping this event presumably due to it’s remote location and / or pacing themselves for the busy summer ahead. It is 630 miles and an 11 hour drive from Saunton, where many players were last week, to Cruden Bay.
*The numbers quoted above are each player’s current Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking (SPWAR). The SPWAR is in my opinion a more accurate ranking than the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) which I largely ignore for player assessment.
Pre-Qualifying
Fraserburgh Golf Club (Photo: Fraserburgh G.C.)
Given the growing number of entries being seen Scottish Golf decided to stage an 18 hole Pre-Qualifying event this year rather than simply ballot out a large number of players via WAGR and handicap.
This took place at Fraserburgh Golf Club, which is located 27 miles further up the north east coast than Cruden Bay, on Tuesday 24th May. Fraserburgh is the 7th oldest golf club in the world and the competition will be played on their championship standard Corbiehill Links.
38 players from a field of 68 progressed to the main event with others added to the Championship’s Reserve List. Cormac SHARPE (SCO) won the event with a round of 67 (-3).
Click here to view the – Scottish Men’s Open Championship Pre-Qualifying Results
Cruden Bay Golf Club
Cruden Bay Golf Club is located on the east coast of Scotland 23 miles north of Aberdeen.
The original course, commissioned by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company, was designed by Old Tom Morris and opened for play in 1899. In 1926 the course was redesigned to the current layout by Tom Simpson and Herbert Fowler.
Cruden Bay Scorecard (Photo: Cruden Bay G.C.)
As you can see above the Championship course plays to 6,609 yards and a par of 70. It has a par of 36 going out and a par of 34 coming home with the back nine unusually featuring three par 3’s.
Cruden Bay Course Flyover (Video: Cruden Bay G.C.)
Prizes
The Winner receives the distinctive Championship Trophy and a silver gilt medal.
Silver and bronze medals are also awarded to the runner-up and third place finisher(s).
Weather Forecast (last updated Thurs 26th May, 8.00am)
The current weather forecast suggests a mostly dry week but the winds look like they will be strong throughout the event so low scoring doesn’t seem very likely.
Fri 27th May – Light Showers / Wind 21 mph NW / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 12°C,
Sat 28th May – Cloudy / Wind 25 mph NNW / Temp. Min. 9°C /Max. 10°C
Sun 29th May – Light Rain / Wind 30 mph NNW / Temp. Min. 8°C / Max. 9°C
2021 Results
Callan BARROW (ENG) shot rounds of 63, 67, 64 and 67 for a 261 (-15) total to win the 2021 Championship at Southerness Golf Club.
Callan Barrow (Photo: Scottish Golf)
James WILSON (ENG) finished 2nd on -12, Stuart EASTON (SCO), who had taken a 1-shot lead into the final day, came in 3rd on -7 and Lewis IRVINE (SCO) and Haider HUSSAIN (ENG) tied 4th on -6.
44 players made the 36 hole cut on Saturday evening which fell at 140 (+2)
Final Results (Graphic: Scottish Golf)
Click here to view the full – 2021 Scottish Men’s Open Championship Results
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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