Isabella is to the fore to pick up Dunhill title

The tournament is a prt of the build up to the Dunhill and again proved to be popular amongst young golfers.

Cormac Sharpe, aged 14, an S3 pupil at Blairgowrie High School, was the overall scratch winner of this year’s tournament shooting an impressive 70.

Josh Dolzanski of Breadalbane Academy, won the Senior Boys title, and Lucy Hall from George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh who took the honours in the Junior Girls competition.

Isabella took the Senior Girls title with a net score of 69.

The 14-year-old from Dusseldorf plays off a handicap of 19.

She has played golf for five years, competing regularly for her home club near Dusseldorf before moving to Scotland to attend St Leonards.

This year’s event was even bigger and better, featuring an expanded field of young golfers, from across Fife, Tayside and the east of Scotland.

It included competitors from as far afield as Aberdeen, Moray and Glasgow.

A total of 31 schools took part in the tournament.

Playing off one handicap, Cormac, whose net score of 69 also won him the Junior Boys title, began playing golf at four, completing his first round of 18 holes before entering primary school. He competed for the Scottish Boys team in the Under-16 Quadrangular event in Netherlands earlier this year and has been named for the Scotland junior squad for 2019.

The winners will be invited to receive their Alfred Dunhill Schools Golf Challenge prizes at the Old Course, St Andrews on the final day of this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday, October 7.

All the participants will also be invited, together with their parents and a school representative, to attend an exclusive golf clinic on the Championship practice ground given by the internationally renowned golf coach Robert Baker.

Baker said: “It’s great to see a growing number of youngsters competing in this year’s Alfred Dunhill Schools Golf Challenge, underlining the health of the game amongst school-aged players.

“The event is encouraging young people from Fife, Tayside and many other parts of Scotland to participate in competitive golf.

“Getting the right direction and coaching early enough in their career can really help young golfers develop their game and maximise their full potential.

“I congratulate all of the competitors and look forward to meeting these talented youngsters at this year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship where they will participate in our annual coaching clinic.”