Zander Culverwell ready to put up Battle at Crail

DUNBAR’s Zander Culverwell is looking to bounce back from a “blip” when he defends the Battle Trophy in the second Scottish Order of Merit event of the season at Crail this weekend.

The Lothians man, who was the only player to break par on the Gil Hanse-designed course last year, tied for fourth in the nScottish Champion of Champions at Leven a fortnight ago but then missed the cut in last weekend’s Craigmillar Park Open.

“Minus that blip, I’ve been playing nicely, so I’m looking forward to this weekend,” said Culverwell. “Last year I was coming off a poor run, which included a poor result in the BUCS [students’ championship] at West Lancs. But this year, I finished third there and have lots of positives about my game.

“I won’t be putting any pressure on myself to go out there to win it, just to go out and play golf and keep trying to improve. Ifthe result ends up the same as last year, I’ll be delighted.”

Hanse was recently awarded the design of the 2018 Olympics course in Rio de Janeiro and others competing over the first layout he designed in the UK this weekend include Graeme Robertson, who has finished in the top two in both 72-holers so far this season, as well as South African Amateur champion Brian Soutar.