Record entry set for East Lothian

US Kids Golf European Championship: A record entry of more than 500 is guaranteed for next month’s event in East Lothian, where players have been visiting for practice rounds in recent weeks, writes Martin Dempster.

One youngster, for instance, turned up recently for a game with his father at Longniddry, where he will be back on 5-7 June when it stages the growing event along with Gullane No 2 and No 3, Craigielaw and Luffnes New.

It is the fifth year in a row that East Lothian will be staging the event and Gullane head pro Alasdair Good, the tournament co-ordinator, reckons it is starting to breed a new generation of world players. “Such is the strength of the platform provided by the competition that we are beginning see some of the winners from our first event go on to to bigger things on the world stage,” he said. “That is a superb endorsement of the good work the tournament has achieved.”

That is also the case with the Wee Wonders, an excellent junior flag event that was Good’s brainchild and, since being launched in 1995, has helped spawn the likes of Ewan Scott, the newly-crowned Scottish Youths’ champion, and Lauren Whyte, another promising youngster from St Andrews.