Aberdour hosts U14s

THE picturesque Aberdour course will provide the perfect test for young golfers from all over Europe when it stages the Loretto School Scottish Under-14s Championships over the next two days.

The event, first held ten years ago, is being staged over two rounds for the first time and has attracted players from Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

The winners have come from closer to home in recent years, Blairgowrie's Neil Bradley retaining the boys' title at Auchterarder 12 months ago, when Connie Jaffrey from West Kilbride claimed the girls' spoils.

North Berwick's Clara Young, who finished second on that occasion, has used the event as a springboard to earning caps for both Scotland and Great Britain & Ireland at girls' level this year. English challenger Samantha Fuller could be one of the players to beat this time around. The Roehampton player finished fourth overall last year and was leading under-12 player.

Bradley is too old to go for the hat-trick, but Dalmahoy's Murray Naysmith, who tied for fourth at Auchterarder, is in the line-up again. Aberdour staged its first Tartan Tour pro-am earlier in the year, when Murrayfield's Mark Kerr won the top prize with a seven-under-par 60. For this event it will measure 5447 yards and have a par of 67 for the boys while the girls, with a par of 68, will tackle a course at 4872 yards.