In-form Scottish golfer lands first US college win as Nordic Golf League sees rare tartan triumph

The California-based Scot, a junior playing in his first season with University of North Carolina, claimed his breakthrough victory in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate after carding scores of 64-67-67 at UNC Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill.

Finishing with a 12-under-par total, Shiels Donegan won by two shots from one of his UNC team-mates, Grant Roscich, with Duke’s Bryan Kim two strokes further back in third.

With Shiels Donegan, a two-time Hawaiian State Amateur champion, leading the way, UNC stormed to a 20-shot victory over Duke in the team tournament.

The individual win capped a purple patch for Shiels Donegan, who joined Cameron Adam and Connor Graham in providing a three-strong Scottish presence in last year’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point in California.

He closed with a 62 that included eight birdies in row to finish joint-tenth in last month’s Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Florida last month.

Buoyed by that effort, Shiels Donegan then signed off with a 65 to finish joint-third, which was a college-best effort at the time, in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational at Forest Hills just before the Masters. UNC also won that team event.

A semi-finalist in last year’s US Amateur, Shiels Donegan will now be aiming to maintain his sizzling form when the ACC Championship gets underway at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Florida on Thursday.

The 20-year-old will be hoping to be on Walker Cup duty again this year, when GB&I will host the US at Lahinch in September as the biennial event moves to even years to avoid a clash with the World Amateur Team Championship.

Eric McInrosh lands rare Scottish success in Nordic Golf League

Edinburgh man Eric McIntosh landed a rare Scottish success in the Nordic Golf League in the middle leg of three straight events at Sand Valley Golf Resort in Poland.

A former Scottish Boys’ champion, McIntosh pulled off a play-off win over Swede Oliver Gillberg in the ECCO Tour Sand Valley Masters after the pair finished locked together on 15 under par following 54 holes.

McIntosh, a Bruntsfield Links man, opened with eye-catching rounds of 63 and 65 to lead Gillberg by three shots heading into the closing circuit.

Four birdies and one bogey in a final-round 67 then left the Scot in a sudden-death shoot-out after Gillberg covered the last six holes in four under to sign for a 64.

It was mission accomplished, though, for McIntosh as he prevailed in the play-off, landing his maiden professional victory in the process.

He’s played mainly in Asia over the past couple of years while also competing on the Tartan Pro Tour in Scotland.

In the first event on his Polish trip, McIntosh shot rounds of 72-69-72 to finish T23 in the Sand Valley Open before ending it with scores of 72-69-72 as he ended up T17 in the Sand Valley Spring Series Final.

Commenting on the fact he only made two bogeys in his win, he said: “I was limiting the easy mistakes and that’s where my scoring came from and then birdied some holes as the rounds went on.”

The greens were hard to hit and then challenging if missed, but McIntosh added: “Coming from Scotland, I play a lot of bump and runs anyway. A lot of the time, I was putting or bumping them into the slope and just trying to give myself a good chance of making par.”

Battle Trophy triumph for first-timer Jamie Duguid

Dunbar’s Jamie Duguid lifted the Battle Trophy at the first attempt in another cracking edition of the Crail Golfing Society event on Craighead Links.

In what David Roy, the Fife club’s manager, described as “very typical Crail conditions”, Duguid posted a 72-hole total of 284, four under par, to win by a shot from Glenbervie’s George Cannon.

As cool conditions and a stiff breeze greeted competitors during the opening two rounds before the weather softened for the final day’s play, +4 handicapper Duguid posted scores of 70-70-71-73.

After dropping a couple of shots on the front nine of the third round, Duguid responded superbly, producing a highly impressive run of five consecutive 3s from the 10th hole.

The two‑time Scottish Order of Merit winner then showed great composure in the final round to secure the title.

“It’s the first time I’ve played in the Battle, and I can see why it’s so highly rated,” said the 2023 South East District Open winner and last year’s Craigmillar Park Open winner “The event is really well run and the course was in great shape.

“I work full time and it’s tough to find the time to play in as many events as I would like, but I’ll certainly be back.”

Chris Somers, the reigning Scottish Amateur champion from Murcar Links, finished third on 290, one shot ahead of Fife stalwart James White (Lundin).

Stirling student Grace Bowen claims Helen Holm Trophy at Troon

University of Stirling student Grace Bowen followed in the footsteps of Solheim Cup players Catriona Matthew, Mel Reid and Leona Maguire by winning the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open at Troon.

After opening with polished rounds of 71-69 at Troon Portland, Bowen added a 71 in the closing circuit on the Old Course at Royal Troon to finish with a five-under-par aggregate.

The Englishwoman won by two shots from Ireland’s Jessica Ross (70-75-68), with French challenger Emilie Knai (73-73-74) seven further back in third place.

“I’m just so happy to have won,” admitted Bowen, who finished runner-up in the English Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool. “To win a stroke play event of this importance is the best victory to date.

“It’s been a great week in challenging conditions and Jess made it really difficult for me today, but I’m so proud to have won.”

Bowen is the third successive English player to land the coveted title after Sunningdale’s Ellie Monk and Woburn’s Roisin Scanlon triumphed in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

Blairgowrie 13-year-old Stella Walters was the leading Scot, giving a great account of herself, particularly with a closing 71, as she finished ninth on 11 over.

Andrew Davidson is top Scottish performer at Sotogrande

Crail Golfing Society’s Andrew Davidson produced a solid performance in an otherwise disappointing Scottish effort in the European Nations Cup in Sotogrande.

In an event which produced a tartan triumph in 2014, the Scots finished 13th on this occasion, with only Belgium and a Sotogrande side ending up below them at the end of four rounds.

Doing himself proud, part-time golfer Davidson carded rounds of 70-72-72-75 to finish T16 on one over in the individual event, which was won by England’s Eliot Baker with a record 15-under-par aggregate.

Ross Laird (74-73-77-74) was next best among the Scots in T40, closely followed by Dominic McGlinchey (73-74-75-77) in T43 then Alexander Farmer (76-75-77-76) in 50th.

With three out of the four scores counting in each round, Scotland finished on 21 over par - 52 shots behind winners England, who were represented by Baker, Kris Kim, Ben Bolton and Tom Osborne.