DP World Tour caddie Scott Carmichael bags club title in Capital

Missing out on a pay-day in his job as a DP World Tour caddie allowed Scott Carmichael to pick up his own clubs and become a club champion.

Carmichael, who worked for Grant Forrest in the past but is currently on Frenchman Freddie Lacroix’s bag, landed the Baberton title by beating Matt Kaye 9&7 in the 36-hole final.

“As a result of my boss missing the cut in the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, I was able to make it home on the Saturday to play in the first round of qualifying, so that was quite lucky,” said Carmichael.

Three up at the halfway stage, he lost the opening hole in the afternoon before winning six holes in a row, including a burst of four straight birdies.

DP World Tour caddie Scott Carmichael reveives the Baberton Club Championship Trophy from captain Jim Downie.

“I have really had any past success and I’ve not actually played in it that often,” added Carmichael, who is back at his day job this week in the Horizon Irish Open at Mount Juliet. “It’s quite hard with the job and getting three weekends off, but, overall, I played well throughout the week.”

As did Australian Lloyd Dunlop as he landed a first title triumph at Murrayfield, where he joined soon after moving to Edinburgh in 2016.

“Buzzing,” said Dunlop, a chartered accountant who works for tech company NCTech Imaging, of beating Alan Smith in the final.

“Leading up to the championships I’d been playing fairly well and the challenging conditions in the Dispatch Trophy the week prior was good preparation for the club champs.

Graham Robertson, now a three-time Silverknowes champion, after receiving the trophy from club captain Alex Renton.

“Upon seeing the draw I could see that if I was to make it all the way I would have to get past some tough competition, the likes of defending champion Grant Edkins (2020 & 2021 winner) and Stuart Thurlow.

“I went on to play progressively better throughout the week and played some great golf in the final to come out on top.”

Before moving to Scotland, Dunlop won the club championship at Duntryleague Golf Club in Orange, New South Wales.

“I won the 72 hole stroke play championship there in 2006 as a junior and then again two years later,” he added: “Having my name up on the board not only at Duntryleague but also at Murrayfield is special and something that I’m proud of.”

Allyn Dick won the Carrickvale Club Championship for the fifth time, helped by a burst of six birdies in a row in the final.

Graham Robertson’s name is going up on the board at Silverknowes for a third after he added to title triumphs in 2014 and 2018.

“Our championship is special for me because I had a tough time winning my first one,” said Robertson, who beat his Dispatch Trophy partner, Connor McWatt, 3&2 in a keenly-contested title-decider.“I was a perennial contender from around 1999, but couldn’t seem to get it done. I would always run into someone playing very well and not just Keith Reilly or Tam Caldwell (although they were the main culprits!).”

In his semi-final, Robertson recovered from being two down with six to go to beat Jimmy Keggie before laying the foundations for his win in the final by reaching the halfway stage five up.

Kenny Walker is the new Royal Burgess champion, claiming that prize at just the second attempt.

Duddingston finalists Gary Thomson, left, and Jamie Duguid.

Twelve months after losing to David Miller in the final, the former world junior champion made no mistake this time with a comfortable win over Varun Varadharajan.

Grant Fleming came out on top at Craigmillar Park, where he shot a 59 last year, with the winners there also including club captain Craig Murison (seniors) and Alan McAlpine (B section).

“Alan is disabled and, to the best of my knowledge, is our first-ever disabled champion,” said Murison. “We are delighted about this and keen to support EDGA (European Disabled Golf Association)."

Bill Buchan’s brave bid to land back-to-back titles at Mortonhall was denied by Harry Carruthers as he landed the title there for the first time with a 5&4 win while Euan Chancellor beat Alan Mackay in the final at Kingsknowe.

In a thrilling decider at Duddingston, Gary Thomson, son of previous winner Ewart, was three up after 18 before having to wait until the 39th hole to eventually shake off Jamie Duguid.

It was title triumph No 5 for Allyn Dick at Carrickvale, where, helped by six birdies in a row, he beat Josh Cullerton in the final.