Scott Brown reaps the benefit of playing with Sergio Garcia

SCOTT Brown, a 19-year-old from Girvan, has been working hard on his short game since playing with Sergio Garcia in a pro-am and reaped the benefits on a blustery opening day of the Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths' championship at Monifieth.

As scores soared on the Angus course, Brown was the only player to break par, a two-under 69 giving him a three-shot cushion at the end of a day which saw the home-based competitors cope better in the testing conditions than a sizeable continental contingent in the field. Along with everyone else, the Turnberry player found the opening stretch troublesome, so much so that the sixth was the first green he managed to hit in regulation. But Brown chipped close at the opening five holes, holing two of them from about 40 feet at both the third and fifth.

"I have been concentrating on my short game since I played with Sergio Garcia in the Dubai Desert Classic Pro-Am last year," he revealed afterwards. "It's in pretty good order as a result of that and, after chipping so well during a scratchy start, I felt I might be in for a decent day."

Spearheading the chasing pack after respectable 72s are a group of nine fellow Scots – William Bremner of Edzell, Longniddry's Michael Bacigalupo, Scott Gibson of Southerness, Crieff's Daniel Harrison, Fraser Thain from West Linton and Torrance House's Alan Welsh, Jack McDonald of Barassie, Wigtownshire County's Kyle McClung and Greg Smail of Craigielaw.

Bremner, almost a local boy, finished third last year, having also been runner-up in the Scottish Boys' Championship at Dunbar in 2007. "It would be nice to add a gold medal to my collection," admitted the 21-year-old after one of the steadiest rounds of the day.

After holing a 30-footer for a birdie at the first, he then dropped three successive shots before getting it back to just one-over for the round with a two-putt birdie at the 16th. "It was tough out there – indeed, that was some 69," added Bremner of the leader's effort.

Bacigalupo, the son of well-known former Scottish rugby referee, Johnny, recovered well after being four-over after five holes, the highlight of his round being an eagle-3 at the last, a feat matched later in the day by 16-year-old Thain.

McClung was two-under after ten but let things slip with the wind at his back. "I played the hard bit well and the easy bit badly," said the 19-year-old.

• Prize money for the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open, to be played at Fairmont St Andrews on 20-22 August, will be 250,000, an increase of 25,000 from last year, when Englishman Glenn Ralph claimed the title at the same venue.

The event will be held over the Torrance Course.