Ciaran Paterson sets out to defend Lothians Boys’ Championship title

Jack McDonald will play in the Lindsay Trophy

Last season’s Golf Fit-sponsored event was postponed twice before eventually being decided over 18 holes of stroke-play.

Paterson shot a 70 in that to win by a shot from Kilspindie’s Aaron Hall, with both players among the hopefuls again this time around.

The Lindsay Trophy is up for grabs in an 18-hole qualifying round, which will see the top four progress to the match-play phase for the Spiers Trophy.

Eight others will go forward to compete in separate under-14 and under-16 events, which will also be staged at the Braids on Tuesday and Thursday.

Dunbar’s Jack McDonald, who plays off plus one, is the backmarker in the field, which also includes other low handicappers in Paterson, Hall and Joseph Cookson (Gullane).

Young guns to watch out for include Valdemar Hundeboll (North Berwick), Oliver and Sam Mukherjee (Loretto School) and Cameron Mukherjee (Gullane).

Meanwhile, a promising week for Lothians players ended in disappointment in the Scottish Amateur Championship at Crail.

After Bruntsfield Links duo Stuart McLaren and Eric McIntosh had landed a 1-2 in the stroke-play qualifying, four players from Lothians club were still standing at the last-16 stage.

But, in a third-round wipeout at the Fife venue, McIntosh, Sean Marc (Broomieknowe), Angus Carrick (Craigielaw) and Connor Wilson (Castle Park) all suffered defeats.

Next week’s amateur action includes the Girls’ and Women’s Home Internationals at Downfield, where Grace Crawford (Gullane) and Hannah Darling (Broomieknowe) are set to be involved in the respective events.

At the same time, the boys’ equivalent is taking place at Ashburnham, with Cameron Adam (Royal Burgess) and Cameron Gallagher (Longniddry) both in the side heading to south Wales along with Stephen Gallacher Foundation ambassador Ruben Lindsay.