Twelve boys from South Area took the long road north to Murcar Golf Club, Aberdeen to compete in the Scottish Boys Championship from Monday 4 April to Saturday 9 April. Three of the boys had been drawn to play their first round matches on the Monday, eight on the Tuesday, and one boy had a bye into the second round. The weather throughout the week was strong winds and blustery showers.
Matthew McCulloch (Portpatrick) was the first South boy out on Monday morning and coasted to a 6 & 5 victory. In the second round he again played well to win 7 & 5 but came to grief in his third round when he lost narrowly to a fellow internationalist by 2 & 1.
Cameron Gray (Kirkcudbright) was a bit lucky in his first round match when his opponent just gave up and shook hands on the 17th tee after Cameron had driven off and hit it far left. He fought hard in his second round but eventually lost by 2 holes.
Finlay Copeland (D&G) did not play to his potential and was well beaten by 6 & 4 but he is still young and the experience will have been beneficial.
On the Tuesday, Rowan Marchbank (D&G) played par golf and sensible golf and was very impressive in winning 4 & 3. He continued his fine form in his second round but ran out of holes losing at the 19th.
Greg Rice (D&C) played well in his first round match and was 3 up through 9, but the wheels fell off from the 14th and he lost on 17th.
William Squires (Kirkcudbright) in his opening round had a comfortable win by 5 &4, his opponent playing poorly. He won his second round match by the same margin, and his third round by 6 &4 but despite playing his best golf of the week he lost narrowly by 1 hole in round 4.
Another youngster, Mitchell Cowie (D&C) put up a great fight, 3 down early but recovered to 2 up after 15 in his first round match. Then the nerves kicked in and he lost down 19th. This was unfortunate because he had played well.
Chris Finnie (Lockerbie) had a close game in his first round with only his experience winning him through at the 18th. This became the pattern for the next four rounds; winning at the 22nd in round two, 2 & 1 in round 3, at the 20th in round 4 before losing 2 & 1 in the fifth round. A good week for Chris which should help his confidence.
Callan Harkness (Lochmaben) started well in round 1 and was up early on only to be reeled back in. But he stayed calm and finished his match confidently on the 17th green. He played well in the second round to win 2 & 1 but unfortunately lost in the next round by 3 & 2.
Young Jamie Marchbank (D&G) played well in his first round match but his putter was stone cold and he was eventually beaten by 4 & 3.
Angus Bendall (Castle Douglas) got off to a slow start in his first match but soon found his form and played well to record another fine win by 4 & 3 for the South boys. He continued his fine form and won his second round match by 4 & 2 but could not sustain his progress and lost by 4 & 3 in the third round.
Nathan Watson had a long wait to play his first game on Wednesday and was unfortunate that his opponent was a current internationalist. He played very steadily but was beaten by 5 &3.
This was good experience for the South boys of whom eight are young enough to return next year. Eight of the boys reached the second round, five the third, two the fourth and Chris Finnie was knocked out in the last 16. All the boys enjoyed the competition and now look forward to representing the South of Scotland in their league matches over the summer months.