11th June 2023

Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) won the St. Andrews Links Trophy by 5-shots with rounds of 70, 66, 66 and 64 and a 266 (-21) total.

Maguire’s -20 total for the final 54 holes on the host course, let alone his strong run of recent results, must bode well for his chances of being selected for the GB&I Walker Cup team.

The winner said “It feels absolutely amazing to be able to call myself the St. Andrews Links champion. What a place to win. You couldn’t pick a better place to have a victory than the Old Course. I’m absolutely delighted.”

The Laytown & Bettystown member became the fourth Irish winner following in the footsteps of Alan Dunbar (2009), Connor O’Rourke (2016) and John Murphy (2018).

Alex Maguire (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

Round 4

Starting the final round tied for the lead the Irishman quickly got into his stride and pulled away from the field with an outward 31 (-5). It is to his huge credit that he was able to add three more birdies on the back nine to complete a flawless final round of 64, the lowest score seen at the tournament.

Alex Maguire’s Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Albert HANSSON (SWE) -16 finished 2nd, Calum SCOTT (SCO) -15 3rd, Harry CROCKETT (ENG) -15 4th and Paul BEAUVY (FRA) -12 5th.

It was a welcome return to form for Calum Scott who chose not to take up his WAGR Top 50 exemption into U.S. Open Final Qualifying and come home in good time to prepare for the St. Andrews Links Trophy and The Amateur Championship.

Markus LUOMA (FIN) -12 bounced back well from a disappointing 72 in the morning to finish 6th with Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) -12 again reminded us of his class with another top ten result.

Frank KENNEDY (ENG) -11 finished 8th and Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) -11, who had carried the burden of the lead for much of the tournament, 9th after he fell back with a closing 74.

26 of the 42 players broke par and 4 shot the par of 72 in Round 4.

Round 4 Results (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Click here to view the – 2023 St. Andrews Links Trophy Results

Round 3

Alex MAGUIRE (IRL) moved into a tie for the 54 hole lead on -13 after a morning 66 which included seven birdies.

Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) showed no signs of nerves, going out in 31 which included an eagle 2 on the par 4 3rd. However, he was unable to make further in roads on the back nine and as such his 68 saw him fall into a tie for 1st.

Charlie’s brother Harry CROCKETT (ENG) matched Maguire’s 66, the best achieved in this round, to move into tied 3rd with Albert HANSSON (SWE).

Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL) and Jack BIGHAM (ENG) both posted morning 67’s to move nicely up the leaderboard.

22 of the 42 players broke par and 8 shot par in Round 3 re-affirming how easy the 7,171 yard Old Course is to play when the weather is pleasant.

Round 3 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

ME.

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10th June 2023

Round 2

Charlie CROCKETT (ENG), playing in his first home event since returning from Missouri where he enjoyed a very good collegiate season, shot a 7-under 65 on the Old Course to take the 36-hole lead in the St. Andrews Links Trophy. The obvious highlights were his opening three birdies and his eagle two on the short par 4 10th hole.

Charlie Crockett’s Rounds 1 and 2 Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Markus LUOMA (FIN), Jerry JI (NED), Albert HANSSON (SWE) and Rob MORAN (IRL) are all one short further back of the Surrey man after rounds of 66, 67, 68 and 69 respectively.

In form Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), who won the East of Ireland title earlier this week, matched Luoma’s 66 to finish the day tied 6th alongside Paul BEAUVY (FRA), Calum SCOTT (SCO) and Jack INGHAM (NED).

Charlie’s younger brother Harry CROCKETT (ENG), who is now at Nebraska in the States, is tied 10th on -6. I was writing about successful brothers at the Brabazon Trophy a few weeks ago and here we are again with another pair.

The international nature of this event is clear when one sees that there are twelve different nationalities represented in the current top 20.

42 players made the top 40 and ties cut, which fell at 141 (-2), ensuring themselves a further 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday. They are all shown below:-

Round 2 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Luis MASAVEU (ESP) -1, Matt ROBERTS (WAL) -1, Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) -1, James CLARIDGE (ENG) Ev, Josh BERRY (ENG) Ev, Tyler WEAVER (ENG) Ev, Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) Ev, James ASHFIELD (WAL) +1, Harley SMITH (ENG) +1, Liam NOLAN (IRL) +3, Connor GRAHAM (SCO) +4, Hugh FOLEY (IRL) +4 and John GOUGH (ENG) +4 were amongst the group of 102 players who missed the cut.

ME.

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9th June 2023

Round 1

Jack INGHAM (NED), Ronan KLEU (SUI), Erik JANSSON (SWE), Robert MORAN (IRL) and Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL) all recorded opening rounds of 65 (-5) on the New Course to share the 18 hole lead.

Most of these players made good starts but none better than O’Keeffe who was 5-under after 3 holes, helped considerably by an albatross on the par 5 3rd hole.

Round 1 Leader Scorecards (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

Frank KENNEDY (ENG), with Fanny Sunesson on the bag again, Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA), Ben VAN WYK (RSA) and R&A Boys’ champion Albert HANSSON (SWE) are all one shot further back after posting 67’s.

Calum SCOTT (SCO), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Colm CAMPBELL (IRL) and Harry CROCKETT (ENG) are amongst a group of eight players tied 10th on -3.

On a lovely day in Fife 51 players broke par on the New Course with a further 20 achieving a par score of 71.

Round 1 Leaderboard (Graphic: St. Andrews Links Trust / Golf Genius)

ME.

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5th June 2023

144 golfers will tee off on Friday 9th June in the 34th St. Andrews Links Trophy.

This event has become one of the ‘majors’ in men’s amateur golf helped by its venue and timing.

This year it is even more important for the GB&I players who are competing as the Old Course in St. Andrews will also be hosting the 49th Walker Cup match in September.

R&A Clubhouse, St. Andrews (Photo: R&A Website)

Competition Format

The Links Trophy is a 72 hole scratch stroke play competition played annually over the St. Andrews Links in early June.

The field is primarily determined by reference to the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) and finished off with various National Golf Union and St. Andrews Links Trust nominations.

This year Round 1 will be played on the New Course and Round 2 on the Old Course. In non-Open Championship year’s the Jubilee Course normally alternates with the New for Round 1.

The New Course plays 6,681 yards to a par of 71. The front nine is 3,302 yards long with a par of 36 whilst the tougher back nine is slightly longer at 3,379 yards but has a lower par of 35.

Following a top 40 and ties cut on Saturday the leading players will play a final 36 holes on the Old Course on Sunday.

The Old Course has been set up at 7,171 yards for the event and has a par of 72. Both nines have a par of 36 and have similar yardages – the front is 3,535 yards long whilst the back is longer at 3,636 yards.

The winner will be the player who returns the lowest 72 hole aggregate score.

In the event of a tie a sudden death play-off will be held over holes 1 and 18 on the Old Course.

Ties for other places will be decided by the lowest score for the last 18 holes or the last 9 or 6 or 3 or 1 hole if necessary.

The Field

As this is the first event that takes place in Great Britain & Ireland after the U.S. college season has ended the field is stronger than we have seen in recent weeks.

GB&I Walker Cup squad members James ASHFIELD (WAL), Josh BERRY (ENG), Archie DAVIES (WAL), Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG), Hugh FOLEY (IRL), Connor GRAHAM (SCO), John GOUGH (ENG), Frank KENNEDY (ENG), Robert MORAN (IRL), Liam NOLAN (IRL), Peter O’KEEFFE (IRL), Mark POWER (IRL), Calum SCOTT (SCO), Dylan SHAW-RADFORD (ENG), Harley SMITH (ENG), Gregor TAIT (SCO) and Tyler WEAVER (ENG) are all competing.

The missing squad members are Barclay BROWN (ENG), Josh HILL (ENG) and Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL). Brown chose to play in U.S. Open Final Qualifying in California on Monday 5th June (he finished tied 2nd to progress), Hill withdrew having originally entered and McClean is travelling over to the U.S. Open to take up his 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion exemption.

Max KENNEDY (IRL), who won the Ulster Men’s Amateur Championship last week, had planned to play but withdrew when he was selected for the International Team at the Arnold Palmer Cup, which is also being played this week. Max, who is at Louisville, was our leading player on the U.S. college circuit this season.

Other GB&I players who have been showing some recent form are Jack BIGHAM (ENG), Tomi BOWEN (WAL), Seb CAVE (ENG), Zach CHEGWIDDEN (ENG), James CLARIDGE (ENG), Paul CONROY (IRL), Will COXON (ENG), Charlie CROCKETT (ENG), Matthew DODD-BERRY (ENG), Zach LITTLE (ENG), Sean KEELING (IRL), Alex MAGUIRE (IRL), James NASH (WAL), Matt ROBERTS (WAL) and Caolan RAFFERTY (IRL); all of them should be competitive this week.

In recent weeks Liam Nolan has won the Brabazon Trophy at Sunningdale, Connor Graham the Scottish Men’s Open Championship at Meldrum House and Alex Maguire the East of Ireland Amateur Open at County Louth so all three of them will arrive with their confidence high.

The overseas players in the field that stand out to me are Harrison CROWE (AUS), Quentin DEBOVE (FRA), Albert HANSSON (SWE), Elias HAAVISTO (FIN), David LUNDGREN (SWE), Louis MASAVEU (ESP), Laurenz SCHIERGEN (GER) and Altin VAN DER MERWE (RSA).

Players from 22 countries will be competing at St. Andrews this year.

Weather Forecast (as at Wenesday 7th June)

The current weather forecast looks very good with sun and gentle breezes expected.

Friday 9th June – Sunny Intervals. Wind 14 mph E. Temp. Min. 6°C / Max. 14°C.
Saturday 10th June – Sunny. Wind 14 mph E. Temp. Min. 10°C / Max. 16°C.
Sunday 11th June – Sunny Intervals. Wind 11 mph E. Temp. Min. 12°C / Max. 18°C.

Tee times in Rounds 1 and 2 will start at 7.00am and end at 3.10pm so as with any links course the draw could play a part in proceedings.

Prizes

The winner receives The St Andrews Links Trophy and a commemorative medal.

The runner-up and third place finisher also receive medals.

Reducing voucher prizes are also awarded to the top 10 finishers.

In addition to the main prizes The Ian Forbes Memorial Cup is awarded for the best aggregate score on the first two days of the Championship.

The Open Championship

In a boost to this year’s St. Andrews Links Trophy the R&A announced a new exemption category for the 2023 Open Championship a few months ago.

The player who gains the most WAGR points in the St. Andrews Links Trophy, the Amateur Championship and the European Amateur Championship will earn a spot at Royal Liverpool G.C.

Competition Website

Click here to view the – 2023 St. Andrews Links Trophy Tournament Website

2022 St. Andrews Links Trophy

19 year old Connor MCKINNEY (AUS) won the 2022 St. Andrews Links Trophy beating compatriot Adam BRADY by 2-shots.

McKinney produced 23 birdies and just seven bogeys in his 72 holes around the Jubilee and Old Courses.

Connor McKinney (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust)

Robert MORAN (IRL) and Arron EDWARDS-HILL (ENG) finished third and fourth on countback with Frenchman Paul BEAUVY claiming 5th.

Connor GRAHAM (SCO) 9th, Charlie CROCKETT (ENG) 12th, Matthew MCCLEAN (IRL) 13th and Matt GAUNTLETT (ENG) 15th were the other leading GB&I players.

Final Results (Photo: St. Andrews Links Trust / OCS Sport)

51 players made the top 40 and ties cut which eventually fell at 144 (Ev).

Past Winners

Click here to view a full list of the – St Andrews Links Trophy Past Winners

Only Craig WATSON (1992 and 1998), the former GB&I Walker Cup captain, and Barclay HOWARD (1994 and 1996) have won the title twice.

The most famous winner is Justin ROSE who won in 1997.

Interestingly given the normally cosmopolitan nature of the fields the Links Trophy has only been won by players from outside GB&I on four occasions – Australia’s Stuart BOVIER (1990), Daan HUIZING from The Netherlands (2012), Federico ZUCCHETTI from Italy (2015) and Connor MCKINNEY (AUS) from Australia (2022).

Huizing, who had won the 2012 Lytham Trophy by 11 shots just a few weeks earlier, set a scoring record of -23 in 2012 (65 New, 64, 68 and 67 all Old) and won by an astonishing 14 shots.

ME.

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