Scottish golfer breaks own course record by shooting magical 59

Darren Howie carded nine birdies and an eagle in his record-breaking round at Peebles. Picture: Ernest Blignault

Rising Scottish star Darren Howie has joined golf’s ‘59 Club’ after trimming two shots off his own course record at Peebles.

The 20-year-old carded nine birdies and an eagle in his blistering 11-under-par effort in a club medal at the Borders course.

Howie, a Scottish squad member, set up his magical number by storming to the turn in 29, following four birdies in the first eight holes with an eagle-3 at the ninth.

He started for home with a birdie, reeled off three in a row from the 14th before signing off with a birdie-4 at the last.

“It was a fun round,” he told The Scotsman. “There was a score out there, to be honest, as the pins were all in okay positions.“Peebles is a course where you can hit a lot of drivers as long as you keep them straight and I had a lot of wedges into greens.“I was also six-under at the turn in my 61 and, when I was out in 29, I thought to myself, ‘I need to beat that’.“I started to think about a 59 after making the eagle at the ninth and I had to hole a testing six-footer at the last to do it.”

Howie’s historic round at his home club came hot on the heels of his older brother, Craig, finishing joint-fourth in the Austrian Open at the weekend.

“I hope I’ve managed to steal a bit of his thunder,” joked Howie, who also has his sights set on a switch to the pro ranks in the next couple of years.

In the meantime, he’s working at Sainsburys in Peebles to put some money in his pocket as he waits to see what he’ll get to play in this summer.

“I’ve entered both the Amateur Championship and Brabazon Trophy, but my world ranking isn’t the greatest, so I will need to keep my fingers crossed,” he said.

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