16/04/12
Graeme Robertson shrugged off the disappointment of failing to close out victory in last weekend’s Scottish Champion of Champions curtain-raiser to bounce back and enter the winner’s enclosure at the Craigmillar Park Open yesterday.
In the opening SGU Men’s Order of Merit event over the Edinburgh parkland layout, Robertson edged home by a shot to claim his first 72-hole success on the Men’s merit circuit.
The SGU National Men’s Squad player, who plays out of Glenbervie, held off a strong finish from veteran Craig Watson to add his name to a winners’ list that includes Sir Nick Faldo, Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson.
The previous weekend the 23-year-old squandered a four-shot 36-hole lead to finish joint-second behind Fraser McKenna (Balmore) in the season’s first competitive action at Leven.
But there was no hard luck story for Robertson in the capital as the University of Stirling student headed a quality field.
Robertson was locked at the top with East Renfrewshire’s Watson and Allyn Dick (Kingsknowe) after the opening 36 holes on Saturday, before firing rounds of 66 and 67 on Sunday for a 13-under-par total.
It was especially sweet for Scotland international Robertson, given his maiden merit success came in the South East District Open at Musselburgh last season which was reduced to 36 holes by bad weather.
Robertson went on to finish second in the 2011 Order of Merit standings behind James White (Lundin).
Watson, the former British Amateur champion and Craigmillar Park winner in 1994, came up just short after a blistering final round 64 for a 12-under total. Dick was a stroke further back, with White and Matthew Clark (Kilmacolm), winner of the title in 2010, sharing fourth spot on 10 under par.
"I tried to motivate myself by thinking how I felt when I let victory slip out of my grasp at Leven last weekend," said Robertson. "I also focused a lot better at Craigmillar Park than I did the previous Sunday when I had a big lead at one time and got ahead of myself."