Dan Lawrence and Fiona Gilbert will represent Carnoustie in the R&A’s 9-hole Championship following their respective victories in the Gents and Ladies Links Championships.
The 9-hole Championship will be played over the opening five and last four holes of the Championship Course, on Saturday 14th June, the day before the week of The Open begins.
It wasn’t just the Links Championship that was won by Lawrence, he also picked up the Ben Hogan Trophy after qualifying rounds of 78 and 70 on the Championship and Buddon Links Courses, before a 76 in the final Hogan Trophy round on the Championship gave him a total of 224 and a 13-shot margin over 2nd placed Ralph Wardlaw on 237, with Scott Mann one shot further back on 238.
Lawrence continued his impressive performances as he headed into the Links Championship matchplay rounds – beating Bruce Merrilees 4&3 in the opening round before finishing 1up against Scott Nicoll in the quarter-finals and overcoming Scott Graham 2&1 in the semi-finals. The final, unsurprisingly, provided the toughest test as it wasn’t until the 21st hole that Lawrence won against Alan Kennedy.
In the Ladies section there were wins for Fiona Gilbert in the Links Championship and Susan Sneddon in the Rosebowl. Gilbert led the field in the qualifying round over the Championship Course with a fantastic gross 72 and kept it up in matchplay as she defeated Chris Healey 3&1 in the semis before a 2&1 victory over Mary Summers in the final.
Sneddon’s nett 73 in qualifying booked her a place in the semi-finals of the Ladies Rosebowl, where she finished 1up against Margaret Brown before repeating the same score in the final to overcome Pat Sawers.
In the Gary Player Salver, played on the Buddon Links Course, Mercantile Golf Club were the winners, bringing an end to three victorious years for Carnoustie Golf Club.
Matchplay results were as follows;
Links Championship Matchplay
Final
D Lawrence bt JA Kennedy at 21st
Semi Finals
D Lawrence bt S Graham 2&1
JA Kennedy bt G Finlay 6&4
Quarter Finals
D Lawrence bt S Nicoll 1up
S Graham bt N Dyce 2&1
G Finlay bt P Drummond 2up
JA Kennedy bt N Moncur 2&1
1st Round
D Lawrence bt B Merrilees 4&3
S Nicoll bt R Wardlaw at 21st
S Graham bt A Fyfe 2&1
N Dyce bt S Robertson 2&1
G Finlay bt S Mann 3&2
P Drummond bt R Dallas 3&1
N Moncur bt I Reid 2&1
JA Kennedy bt D Wood 2up
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Ladies Links Championship
Final
F Gilbert bt M Summers 2&1
Semi Finals
F Gilbert bt C Healey 3&1
M Summers bt F Millar 1up
Ladies Rosebowl
Final
S Sneddon bt P Sawers 1up
Semi Finals
P Sawers bt C Orr at 19th
S Sneddon bt M Brown 1up