Stirling’s leading student golfers pitted their wits against a field with an international flavour at the third annual Stirling Golf Invitational.
The 54-hole event at Dundonald Links featured a plethora of the best men’s and women’s golfers from across the UK as well as teams from Ireland, Canada and the USA.
Stirling’s own Cormac Sharvin collected the men’s prize, carding a 68 in wet and windy conditions at the pristine Ayrshire course for a 218 total.
Irish Amateur Close Champion Sharvin finished two shots ahead of Connor Syme, representing a Scottish Golf Select side, with Stirling captain and current Scottish Amateur Champion Zander Culverwell a further shot behind in third.
“It was a good feeling to shoot a good score on a tough golf course,” said Sharvin, who is now off to compete at the European Universities Golf Championship in France before representing Ireland at an invitational tournament in the USA.
“I was very much on my game on a nice course which provides a good test. The Stirling Invitational keeps getting better and better and the things planned for the next one sound unbelievable. It’s as strong a university field as you will play in so it was good to come out on top.”
Londonder Ashleigh Greenham, 17, representing The Independent Schools Golf Association (ISGA), took the women’s title, the Forest School pupil finishing six shots ahead of Sinead Sexton from the National University of Ireland Maynooth in second and fellow ISGA representative Ellie Goodall, from Yorkshire, in third.
Greenham said: “It’s a nice to play a tournament at the end of the season. It was a good challenge as the course played really long there were some nasty pin positions. I came here wanting to win, but obviously the field was really strong so to have come and won it is fantastic.”
Team titles went to the Stirling men’s side comprising Sharvin, Culverwell, Mathias Eggenberger, Craig Howie, Jack McDonald and Henry Tomlinson, whilst Greenham, Goodall and Gee won Park ensured ISGA took the women’s prize.
The Stirling Invitational was first held at Gleneagles in 2011 and is currently being considered as part of proposals for a revised programme of elite British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) golf.
Dr Rob Macpherson, chair of European Universities and British Universities Golf (EUSA), said: “Dundonald Links is a fantastic test of golf and the winners should be very proud of their achievements in overcoming exceptional fields. The performances of the two individual winners highlights the standard and calibre of British University golf. The University of Stirling, and its Head Performance Golf Coach Dean Robertson, have put on a real show over the last three days and are to be commended for their innovative and inclusive approach to taking student golf forward.”
Golfers competing at the Stirling Invitational were representing: University of Aberdeen; University of Birmingham; Bournemouth University; British Universities and Colleges Sport Select; University of Central Lancashire; University of Exeter; University of the Highlands and Islands; Humber College (Ontario, Canada); The Independent Schools Golf Association; National University of Ireland Maynooth; Northumbria University; PGA Select; Queen’s University Belfast; Roberts Wesleyan College (New York, USA); Scottish Golf Union Select; University of St Andrews; University of Stirling; University of Stirling Futures; University of Strathclyde; Trinity College Dublin and the University of Ulster.
The Stirling Invitational was kindly supported by the Stanley Morrison Trust.
Background information
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