Prestwick paying tribute to Strath

Published on Tuesday 1 April 2008 23:07

THE burial site of Andrew Strath, one of the great names of early Open championship history, is to be commemorated by Prestwick Golf Club.

Strath broke the dominance of Willie Park and Old Tom Morris during the tournament's formative years to win the Challenge Belt over the famous Ayrshire links in 1865.

Strath, the professional at the Prestwick club between 1865 and 1868, died of tuberculosis at the age of 32 and was buried in an unmarked grave at a churchyard opposite the course's first fairway.

Now, 143 years after his Open triumph, a plaque has been commissioned by the club in honour of the St Andrews-born golfer.

Donald Turner, the captain of Prestwick Golf Club, said: "We felt it was only proper to recognise not only a fine Open champion but a former professional at this club.

"We are not sure yet of the exact placing of the plaque, but it will be somewhere at the churchyard to let people know that he is here."

n THE 750,000 Tartan Tour swings into action at Monifieth today with the Callaway/Audi 36-hole order of merit event.

Cowglen's Mark Loftus, the reigning Scottish PGA champion, headlines a 108-strong field which also includes the 1989 European No1 Ronan Rafferty, the former Italian Open winner Dean Robertson and the 2001 PGA champion Andrew Oldcorn.

Murray Urquhart, last year's Northern Open winner, also lines-up, but the current Tartan Tour No1, Greig Hutcheon, is missing from the field.

Alford are junior club of the year

ALFORD Golf Club in Aberdeenshire has won the inaugural Dunfermline Building Society Junior Club of the Year award, picking up a cheque for 1,000 to help bolster their flourishing junior golf programmes.

Alford's junior convener, Graeme Gill, said: "This is a great springboard for us to continue to deliver great coaching and to encourage more youngsters into the game."

Greenock Whinhill, Turnhouse, Reay, Inverurie and West Kilbride all received runners-up prizes of 300.

CALLUM Macaulay, Wallace Booth, Keir McNicoll and Scott Henry make up the Scotland team for the European Cup of Nations, which gets underway today, at Sotogrande in Spain.