08/08/11
Downfield’s Ross Bell secured his first SGU Order of Merit victory of the season with an outstanding wire-to-wire victory in the Standard Life Leven Gold Medal.
Bell, who won the 2010 Scottish Champion of Champions event at the same venue, stormed to the top of the leaderboard after a superb seven-under par 64 in the opening round and never looked back, posting further rounds of 69, 71 and 74 as the rain moved in on the Fife coast.
The 23-year-old could afford to bogey the final three holes of his closing round to finish two shots ahead of the Balmore’s Fraser McKenn, who carded an impressive three-under par final round 68 to seal the runners-up spot.
Royal Burgess’s James Ross, a beaten semi-finalist at the Scottish Amateur Championship, continued his good form this summer with a third-place finish, posting a four-round aggregate of 281, three-under par.
Scotland squad member Peter Latimer, who was in second place after an opening round of 67, had to settle for fourth spot on two-under par after adding rounds of 72, 71 and 72, while Dollar’s Scott Borrowman, the former Scottish Youths Champion, was among a trio of players tied for fifth, alongside Alex Main (Thornton) and Stephen Spiers (Portpatrick).
The SGU Order of Merit circuit moves onto Inchmarlo this weekend for the North East District Championship, one of the four events remaining this season.
Click here for final totals from the Standard Life Leven Gold Medal.