Bonallack Trophy glory for James Ross

ON the back of being crowned as last season’s Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year, James Ross has added another notable achievement to his CV after helping Europe win the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy in India.

James Ross. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The 24-year-old from Royal Burgess secured a crucial last-day singles point with a 5 and 3 win over Japan’s Shinichi Mizuno as a team captained by Welshman Andy Morgan beat Asia-Pacific 17½-14½ in Bangalore.

“It has been a fantastic week all round out here,” admitted Ross, who is in his final year of a scholarship in Houston. “Getting written letters from both Rory McIlroy and Paul McGinley to wish us all good luck was great inspiration and some way to start the week. To play against some of Asia’s top players in a completely foreign country to all of us was always going to be a challenge. Just managing to stay hydrated and cool in the average 36 degree temperature was hard enough.”

Ross, whose team-mates included 2013 Walker Cup player Gavin Moynihan, lost his only opening-day game but was unbeaten in three matches over the final two days.

“I feel like my game held up fairly well over here,” he added. “I didn’t play particularly well the first day but the jet lag from Houston may still have been a factor. I was fortunate enough to play well the last two days and I will try to take a lot of confidence from this experience going forward. It has certainly been a fantastic way to kick off the year.”