Tight Finish to the 2012 Boyd Quaich!
Friday 27 July 2012
The 64th Boyd Quaich Memorial Tournament once again attracted a very high calibre of players from all over the world and resulted in the closest finish of the tournament to date! The tournament began in 1946 and was originally founded in memory of two St Andrews students who were killed during WWII. Over the years, the tournament has welcomed international student golfers from all over the world, with competitors getting the opportunity to play both the New and Old courses. Each university or college is allowed to select two players to represent their institute.
Among the 72-stong field, representing St Andrews, were Conor Gask and Freddie Edmunds. With both players feeling confident about their games and knowing they had the advantage on their home turf, spirits in the clubhouse were high. The draw meant Conor faced the challenges of the Old course first and unfortunately struggled to find his strike shooting a 78 (par 72), pushing him down the leaderboard. Conor entered his second round on the New course early the next morning knowing that he had to shoot a competitive number to make the cut. Unfortunately, the lethal rough and wet conditions meant that Conor missed the cut with an 81 (par 71). Freddie had his first round on the New course, which was proving to be the tougher test for the players. Although getting off to a quick start, the back 6 led to 3 dropped shots and a steady 72 to open the tournament. Annoyed at his poor finish on the New, Freddie knew the Old course offered many chances and ground could be made on the leader, Steven Smith (Western Carolina), who had shot an impressive 69 on the New course. Freddie unfortunately made a disappointingly slow start in the early morning rain, but hit the zone around the loop with four consecutive 3s to start the back nine. A birdie 4 down the 14th then followed and Freddie was really starting to make strides on Smith. He came in with a 3 under par 69 to ensure that he was in the final group after the cut. The low round of the morning came from one of Freddie's playing partners, the Irish Gary Hurley (National University of Ireland, Maynooth), with an impressive 68.
After a great lunch, the top 30 (no ties) played their 3rd round over the treacherous New course. The leader was still Steven Smith sitting at 4 under. Smith shot a steady level par, meaning an impressive sub-par round was required to catch him. This was achieved by Gary Hurley and Stirling's Oliver Roberts with a 69 and 70 respectively. Freddie struggled with the putter over the front nine and was only able to restrict the damage to a 73, with a 2 under par back nine. This unfortunately dropped Freddie out the final group for the last round, which took place the next day around the historic Old. Although the weather was set to continue raining, the rare Scottish sun somehow shone for the final round, allowing the players to attack the Old. Freddie got off to a good start with a 2 under front nine. The whispers around the course, however, were concentrated on Oliver Roberts, who was able to reach 5 under through his first 12 holes. The leader-by-1, Steven Smith, struggled in the final round shooting a 74 to finish 284 (2 under), opening the competition up. Gary Hurley, although striking the ball well, struggled with the putter and also finished on 284 with a 73 in the final round. Unfortunately a lost ball on the 12th led to a double for Freddie, who thought his chances were almost gone. However, a quick bounce-back with 2 consecutive birdies allowed a score of 70 to also take his total to 284. As the players gathered to watch the final group finish, the drama began as Oliver Roberts had struggled on the back nine coming in with 70. This meant there was a 4-way tie on 284, and with the players ready to walk back down the fairway for a play-off, the rules were consulted. Unfortunately the rules stated that the winner was to be decided by countback and with both Freddie and Oliver shooting 70 in the final round, the Quaich was won on second countback by Oliver Roberts due to his lower 3rd round score in comparison. After a highly dramatic finish to the 64th tournament, good fun was had by all competitors and the Boyd Quaich was presented at a great lunch in the St Andrews Club.
Posted under: Performance
