In-form James Wood wins Lothians Boys and Carnoustie Junior Open

In-form James Wood joined Bernard Gallacher and three others to win the Lothians Junior Championship flying the Bathgate flag.

Bathgate's James Wood after receving the Lothians Junior Championship trophy from LGA president Neil Anderson after his win in the final at Murrayfield. Picture: LGA

Wood landed his title triumph at Murrayfield, where the final was played after being delayed due to rain hitting the match-play phase at Braids.

Dunbar’s Kiron Gribble qualified as top seed after carding a 68 to win the stroke-play stage by five shots from Prestonfield’s Sean Gallacher.

Gribble then beat Bathgate’s Corran Fraser by one hole and Own Melrose from Turnhouse 4&3 to book his place in the final.

James Wood shows off the Carnoustie Junior Open trophy after his four-shot success in Angus. Picture: Carnoustie Golf Links

In the other half of the draw, Wood defeated Duddingston’s Ben Kelly 9&7 in the opening round then produced an equally-impressive display to beat Gallacher 5&4 in the last four.

Maintaining the form that had seen him win the Carnoustie Junior Open a few days earlier, Wood then finished off the job in style by winning 4&3 in the title decider.

He joins Ryder Cup-winning captain Gallacher (1965), Bryan Shields (1983), Kurt Mungall (1986) and Ross Callan (2017) on the list of Bathgate players to have claimed the crown.

Wood’s win at Carnoustie was secured with a stunning one-under-par 71, which earned him a four-shot victory over Ben Frost from Wentworth.

He also landed the Lothians Boys Champion of Champions earlier in the year and looks set to continue Bathgate’s proud tradition of producing top players.

Eric Brown, Bernard Gallacher and Stephen Gallacher all came off the West Lothian club’s conveyor belt of talent before they went on to become Ryder Cup players. In recent years, both Callan and Joe Bryce have made their mark both as amateurs and now professionals.