Cameron Adam cards second course-record 63 in Scottish Amateur qualifying

Cameron Adam carded a course-record 63 for the second day running to qualify in sensational fashion for the Scottish Amateur Championship.

Royal Burgess left-hander Cameron Adam carded course-record 63s at both Royal Dornoch and Tain in the qualifying for the Scottish Amateur Championship. Picture: Scottish Golf

Twenty-four hours after signing for a bogey-free seven-under-par effort at Royal Dornoch, the Royal Burgess left-hander repeated the feat at nearby Tain.

The astonishing feat saw Adam, who is at Northwestern University in Illinois, finish four shots clear of his closest challenger in the battle for 64 spots in the match-play phase.

“It’s pretty surreal, especially after yesterday,” he admitted. “Being the qualifying for the match play, I didn’t go out trying to do anything special, but I hit a load of good shots in the greens, which helps a lot.”

In his second round, Adam birdied the first, eagled the par-5 fourth then added further gains at the eighth, 12th, 13th and 15th. “It’s still to sink in, but it feels amazing,” he added of becoming a double course record-holder in Sutherland.

Glenbervie’s Ross Laird also progressed to the knock-out stage in style as he matched Adam’s feat in covering 36 holes without dropping a shot.

A second successive 65 - his effort at Tain contained birdies at the fourth, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th - saw him finish in second spot on ten-under.

Greenock’s Paul Dorrian (66-68) ended up third on six under, one ahead of Scottish Men’s Open winner Connor Graham after the Blairgowrie teenager shot a bogey-free 64 in his second round at Dornoch Graham’s big brother, Gregor, also qualified comfortably on four under after firing a brace of 68s.

Aldeburgh’s Gregor Tait, last year’s beaten finalist, made it through in the top 20 along with a trio of winners on the Scottish circuit this year - Andrew Davidson (Crail), Jack McDonald (Roxburghe Schloss) and James Morgan (Longniddry).

So, too, did experienced duo Chris Kelly (Scotscraig) and Matthew Clark (Meldrum House) while 2021 winner Angus Carrick (Craigielaw) made it through on three over.

Defending champion Oliver Mukherjee (Loretto) missed out on 11 over after a second-round 79 at Dornoch, but one of his younger brothers, Cameron, progressed on two over.

Top ties in the first round of the match-play phase, which takes place at Royal Dornoch, include three-time Scottish PGA champion Kelly, who was reinstated as an amateur earlier this year, taking on Auchterarder’s Daniel Bullen.

In-form Adam is up against Marcus Rickard (St Andrews) while Laird faces Ratho Park’s Ciaran Paterson.