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Portlethen Golf Club member wins oldest open amateur strokeplay trophy in the world

Ben Murray broke a course record in the process of claiming the prestigious Tennant Cup.

Portlethen Golf Club member Ben Murray won the Tennant Cup. Image: Alan Brown.
Portlethen Golf Club member Ben Murray won the Tennant Cup. Image: Alan Brown.

Portlethen Golf Club member Ben Murray carded a course-record final round of nine-under-par 61 to clinch the oldest open amateur strokeplay trophy in the world.

Ben, 28, left Scotland’s top amateur players trailing in his wake as he lifted the Tennant Cup at Glasgow Golf Club.

The tournament – restricted to one-handicap players or better – featured two rounds on Gailes Links before the final 36 holes on the parkland Killermont course the following day.

Ben, who reached the final qualifying stage for The Open at Fairmont St Andrews two years ago, opened with back-to-back one-under-par 70s and a two-over-par 72… before producing the fireworks in his final round.

Tennant cup: Portlethen Golf Club member’s ‘biggest win’

Ben said: “It has been a big goal of mine to shoot a course record and become part of history and finally achieving it is surreal.

“I’d have never thought it would be at such a prestigious place and in the past has probably really got the better of me due to the difficulty of the course, especially the greens,” added Ben, who works as a spray painter in a car body shop and is a member of Portlethen Golf Club.

“It’s definitely my biggest win. I’ve won a few north-east events, but my previous best finish was third in the Scottish Men’s Open two years ago.

“The greens were flawless, which helped me save a few more shots than usual.

“I was surprised by the scoring as early rain softened conditions, but I was happy to be just one shot off the leader after the first two rounds.

“The weather forecast on the second day was not good so the plan was to grind my way round.

“However, after two double-bogeys in the first five holes I knew I had ground to recover.

“Eventually posting a two-over 72 round gave me hope that I wasn’t out of the race yet.

“Playing with Jamie Roberts, of Muckhart, was a pleasure, which made all the difference in keeping a positive mindset throughout.

“Towards the end, it felt like it was just between the two of us as we continually shared birdies and I was fortunate to prevail by just one shot as Jamie closed with an impressive seven-under 63.

“Looking ahead, the victory has encouraged me to play in the East of Scotland Strokeplay Championship at Lundin Links, the Cameron Corbett Vase at Haggas Castle and the Scottish Amateur over the Castle Course and Fairmont St Andrews.”

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