Man of many tours Aidan O'Hagan lands maiden professional win at Newmachar

O’Hagan, who played his amateur golf as a member of Old Course Ranfurly, competed on the resurrected MENA Golf Tour over the winter months before turning his attention to the English-based Clutch Tour over the past few months.

He’d got himself in the frame a couple of times on those circuits, notably when finishing second in an event in Portugal, and so a winning seasonal debut on the Tartan Pro Tour in the Newmachar Classic presented by Barr Demolition certainly wasn’t out of the blue.

O’Hagan followed an opening 70 on the Hawkshill Course at the Aberdeenshire venue with a 64 that contained an eagle and eight birdies. He then signed off with a 68 for a 14-under-par total, winning by a shot from John Paterson (67-68-68), with Robbie Morrison and Cameron Johnstone both two shots further back in joint-third.

“It’s lovely to get my first pro win,” admitted O’Hagan, who picked up a cheque for £4125. “I feel it’s been coming for a while as I’ve been knocking at the door over the last few weeks. And it feels amazing to finally get it done and get a win under my belt.”

‘It was great to be at Newmachar’

O’Hagan joined double winner Michael Stewart, Craig Howie, Mitchell Cowie and Sam Locke in landing title triumphs this season, with the seventh event of the campaign - Cardrona Classic presented by Martin Gilbert - being held at the Pebbles venue this week.

“It was great to be at Newmachar,” added O’Hagan. “It’s a course I’ve always enjoyed going back to the last couple of years. The Tartan Pro Tour guys ran a great event and the course was in wonderful condition, as it always is.”

In the battle for two HotelPlanner Tour cards next season, Stewart is out in front in the Order of Merit with just over 12,000 points, with in-form John Vogelphol - he narrowly missed out in Tuesday’s The Open Final Qualifying at Dundonald Links - leading the chase on close to 11,000 points.