Forrest beats the odds to close in on Scottish Boys championship

IT MUST be something in the Ayrshire air. Eight months after announcing his arrival on the national scene by winning the Scottish Under-16 Championship at Largs, Craigielaw's Grant Forrest is on the verge of another notable victory a few miles down the coast.

He's through to the 36-hole final of the Scottish Boys' Championship at West Kilbride today, when his opponent will be Ian Redford, whose father, also Ian, won four domestic cups with Rangers and was also in the Dundee United side that lost to Gothenburg in the 1987 Uefa Cup final.

Forrest, a 16-year-old fifth-year pupil at Stewart's Melville who is hoping to secure a golf scholarship at one of the leading American colleges next year, secured his place in the title showdown by knocking out Barassie's Jack McDonald, the tournament favourite, as the quarter-finals were fought out on a glorious afternoon.

Helped by back-to-back birdies at the 13th at 14th – he holed from 20 feet at the former after hitting a majestic approach from 200 yards from a tricky fairway lie – Forrest ended McDonald's bid to become only the fifth player to hold the Scottish Boys' match play and stroke play titles simultaneously and, in doing so, set up his own chance of a double.

Burntisland's Colin Fraser is the only player to have won this event after claiming the under-16 title the previous year, having achieved that feat at Dunfermline and Dunbar respectively in 1987 and 1988.

"I'm delighted to have beaten Jack because, in most of the events we've played in previously, he's beaten me," revealed Forrest, who cut his golfing teeth at Bathgate before moving to East Lothian – the family home is next to Archerfield Links – at the age of 12. "It's a big step up from under-16s to under-18s but I've grown quite a bit over the last year, which has helped, and I knew I was capable of coming through here and giving a good account of myself."

After a 3 and 1 morning success against 15-year-old Alasdair McDougall, a member of West Kilbride as well as Elderslie, Forrest was a splendid five-under-par in his match with McDonald and closed out a two-hole triumph in style by holing a ten-foot birdie putt on the last after his opponent had missed from just about the same distance. "I knew I had to produce my best golf and the key was the putting, they went in when they needed to," added Forrest, who is coached by Jonathan Porteous, the head pro at Craigielaw.

Redford, who has gone further in the event each year since he first played in it here back in 2006, beat his Scottish team-mate, Callum Stewart of Brora, by 3 and 2 in the fifth round before finding his putting touch at just the right time against Falkirk Tryst's Jamie Lynch, who had emerged as the dark horse this week, in the afternoon.

Two up with four to play, the 17-year-old St Andrews New player lost the 15th to a par but then, after finding a greenside bunker with his approach to the 17th, holed a 15-footer there for a crucial half before sinking a 35-foot birdie putt at the last to close the door on Lynch. "They are the only two putts I've holed outside ten feet in the whole tournament," he revealed.

In advancing to the final, Redford has apparently shown his watching father that he is developing the sort of attitude required at the highest level in sport.

"I love the pressure and these are the moments you want to be involved in when you are playing competitive golf," he added. "A few years ago I used to give up easily and lose my temper but my dad has always tried to convince me to keep believing and never give in. He has noticed that in my mentality this week."