Gleneagles set to host Junior Masters final

Oct 7 2011 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

THE race to be crowned Highland Spring Junior Masters champion reaches its conclusion on Sunday when a host of young hopefuls tee-up in the Grand Final at Gleneagles.

The Perthshire resort, home to the 2014 Ryder Cup, will welcome up-and-coming players from across Scotland for the finale over the much-loved Queen’s Course. In total, 51 boys and 30 girls have come through local and regional qualifying to book their place at Gleneagles.

Local talent tee-ing off will be Strathmore’s Michael Brodie and Kirsty Brodie, Muckart’s Neil Jubb, and Kinross’s Jennifer Saxton.

They are all bidding to follow in the spike marks of last year’s respective winning pair, Dalbeattie’s Tom Niven and Charlotte Munro of Gullane, who put in superb performances to triumph at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian. But the event, which has been staged for over a decade, returns to The Queen’s this year, where it has previously been regularly held.

The Highland Spring Junior Masters is Scotland’s largest and most exciting free-to-enter golf event for young golfers. After club qualifiers, four regional finals took place at Whitecraigs, Loch Ness, Turnhouse and Loudoun Golf Clubs in the school summer holidays during July and August.

Qualifying was opened to both boys and girls aged under 16 on 1 January 2011, who are a member of an SGU or SLGA affiliated golf club. The handicap limit is 28 for boys and 36 for girls.

The event is run by both the Scottish Golf Union and the Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association, in association with clubgolf, Scotland’s national junior golf development programme. Perthshire-based Highland Spring are sponsoring the competition for the first time in 2011.