Elgin Golf Club’s Billy Devine says becoming Scottish Boys’ Amateur Champion is beyond his golfing dreams.
Devine defeated defending champion Fraser Laird, of Kemnay, at Lanark in Sunday’s final to become the 2023 champion.
He said: “It feels amazing. It’s not quite sunk in yet.
“I could never have dreamt of winning something like this, so it’s really great. It’s a proper confidence boost.
“I’ve struggled a little bit this season – it’s been up and down. So I just came into this week with a clear mind and hoping to do better.
“My scores in qualifying weren’t amazing, but I know with match-play it can go anyway so I still kept that positive mindset going into the match play and that’s done me well.
“There were a lot of holes where I had to dig deep in pretty much every match I played.”
Devine qualified for the match-play stages in tied 44th position after rounds of 76 and 77 for a 13-over-par total in the stroke-play part of the event.
Meanwhile, reigning champion Laird finished the stroke-play section in second place on -2 after rounds of 71 and 67. The latter round was one which included four birdies, and meant he went into the match-play part of proceedings 15 strokes better than Devine.
However, there was no stopping Devine in the match-play stages of the competition.
He defeated Luca Smith (Baberton) 3&1 in the opening round, before edging a tight tussle against Cameron Twynholm by one hole.
Devine then defeated Elgin clubmate Corey Edgar on the 19th in the third round, before a 2&1 success against Gullane’s Fergus Brown took him to the final four.
In the semi-finals, the Elgin youngster defeated his friend, Nairn’s Alex McGillivray – who had aced the seventh in one of his earlier ties – by two holes to set up a showdown with Laird.
Laird triumphed at Edzell last year, and had come through his semi against Gullane’s Harry Bent one-up.
Ultimately, Devine prevailed in another tight contest – winning by one hole in a match that went all the way to the 18th and which had been all-square through 10.
