Just champion! Mark Bookless (Sandyhills) with the Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship trophy at Blairgowrie (image by Rob Eyton Jones).

All-the-way leader Mark Bookless
is Scottish boys' stroke champion

Glasgow's Mark Bookless led throughout - no mean feat over 72 holes of the Lansdowne course at Blairgowrie Golf Club - to win the firstpointusa.com Scottish boys' open stroke-play golf championship today.
The 18-year-old Sandyhills Golf Club member opened his campaign with a course-record 67 and built on that with rounds of 70, 75 and 70 for a six-under-par total of 282.
He won by one shot from Sam Binning (Ranfurly Castle) who put together rounds of 68, 75, 71 and 69.
In third place was the Scottish boys' match-play champion Michael Stewart (Troon Welbeck), bidding to join the small band of players who have won both the match-play and stroke-play Under-18 titles.
Stewart had a roller-coaster ride over the final day's 36 holes. At halfway he was a yawning six holes behind Bookless but Stewart's third-round 70 to the leader's 75, slashed the deficit to only one stroke with 18 holes to play.
That was as good as it got for Stewart who is off to East Tennessee State University on a four-year golf scholarship next month. He signed off with a 74 for 287.
It was Sam Binning who gave Bookless most to think about. Sam produced the best outward half of the three days, four-under-par 32, just when he needed it but he could not keep the birdies flowing after the turn. He got one more, at the 11th, but sandwiched it between bogeys at the 10th and 15th and 37 home for a 69 seemed somehowe less than he deserved.
But Binning set the clubhouse target of five-under-par 283. Bookless was well on course to beat that with something to spare when he turned in three-under 33 with birdies at the sixth, eighth and ninth.
Then it went a little bit pear-shaped for Mark with a double bogey 6 at the 12th.
Bookless showed he was made of the right stuff by birdieing the 13th, only to drop a shot at the 15th. He needed a minimum of one birdie and two pars over the last three holes to catch Binning and take the title for which he had led the chase so long.
And Bookless did just that. A par at the 16th, a birdie at the 17th and a par at the 18th - and Mark was Scottish boys' open stroke-play champion 2008.
Binning's total of 140 for the final two rounds was matched by only one other player, Adam Dunton (McDonald Ellon). Adam shot a pair of 70s to pull himself up through the field and into fourth place on 290.

FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE:

Binning looked as if he might have the title in the bag as Bookless hit his tee shot from the 17th too far left and was destined for the trees before his ball hit a bystander, club member John Sievewright on the forehead, to bounce back on to the fairway.
A concerned Bookless was asked to play on as officials attended the casualty and an ambulance was called to assist. Bookless commented, “I was waiting to check to see if the guy was okay, but officials were looking after him and I was asked to play on. It was very much on my mind when I hit my next shot, but I got it to just short of the green then two putted for a birdie.
“I am obviously relieved that he is okay and also grateful as that shot resulted in what secured the title for me.”
The plus 1 handicapper, coached by Adam Hunter, held his nerve at the last for a par which maintained his one-shot lead over Binning for Bookless to become the 38th Scottish boys' stroke-play champion.
The Sandyhills player said afterwards, “I am delighted to have won this tournament, it has been a long, tiring week and I was under a lot of pressure because I was leading from the first day.
“However it was a good position to be in and I am pretty pleased as apart from reaching the quarter-finals at the Scottish boys' match-play championship, I have not had a great season. I am hopeful that this title will now be a launchpad, as it has given me a lot of confidence to hold together four rounds to win this title among this field.”
Binning, carding the best final round score of 69, was forced to settle for the silver medal, finishing on 283 for the tournament, with Michael Stewart taking bronze.
A disappointed Stewart said: “I just couldn’t pick up the shots this afternoon, but I don’t feel that I lost this tournament, it was won by Mark (Bookless). Full credit to him for his performance. He deserved the win."
He added: “I am gutted not to have pulled off the double, but I don’t have time to dwell on this as I have the Scottish amateur championship next week which I will look forward to, as I like the one-on-one match-play format.”
Elsewhere, Ian Redford ( King James VI), Ross Storrier (Downfield) and Evan Markley from the US were all in contention as the leading Under-16 players in the field, but the George McDonald Memorial Bowl was awarded to Markley for the better score of 73 over the last 18 holes.

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+Switch over to our sister website, www.kirkwoodgolf.co.uk for news of Kelsey MacDonald's come-from-behind victory in the Scottish Under-21 girls' open stroke-play championship at Powfoot and how the Scots boys and girls are faring in the European Young Masters in France.