Golf Juniors: Gullane boost for Scottish Boys’ hopefuls

SGU Junior Tour: Some of the favourites for the Scottish Boys’ Championship, which tees off at Murcar Links on Monday week, will get a perfect warm-up on Gullane No 2 over the next two days in the opening event on this season’s Scottish Hydro Junior Tour.

These events have drawn criticism in the past for being closed-shop affairs – an invitation process was used to allow SGU selectors to assess performances with a view to then picking national teams – but, in a welcome change, the doors have now been opened.

Another boost is new support from Scottish Hydro, which is sponsoring all three Junior Tour events – the others are at The Roxburghe (26-27 May) and Rowallan Castle (16-17 June) – as well as the Scottish Boys’ Order of Merit this year.

Greig Marchbank, the Dumfries & County player who followed in the footsteps of Scott Henry, Michael Stewart and David Law when he topped the order of merit last year, spearheads a 42-strong field for the event in East Lothian.