Scotland’s Penelope Brown and Alan Fahy from Ireland have been crowned Order of Merit winners of the inaugural R&A Student Tour Series.
After the cancellation of the Tour Series Final due to the COVID-19 pandemic – previously scheduled for St Andrews and Carnoustie in Scotland in April – the pair have topped their respective standings from events previously played.Launched last September, the student golf initiative saw players compete at four championships in Scotland, Ireland, Spain and Portugal – all at world-class courses, including hosts to The Open Qualifying Series and the European Tour. The aim of the new Series is to enhance high performance competition among the leading student golfers across Europe.
Summit success
Players earned points on the Tour Series Order of Merit, with the leaders due to progress to the Tour Series Final, at what was previously The R&A Scholars Tournament.The cancellation means Brown, from the University of Stirling, and Maynooth University’s Fahy can celebrate success at the summit of the women’s and men’s rankings.After her first Student Tour Series win in blustery conditions in Spain in November and top-five finishes in the other three events, Brown proved a model of consistency.The Scotland women’s team player amassed 275 Order of Merit points, with countrywoman and fellow University of Stirling player Hazel MacGarvie runner-up on 200 points thanks to her wins in Ireland and Scotland. Chloe Goadby and Louise Duncan sealed a top-four sweep for the University of Stirling, with another Scot, Lorna McClymont, sharing fifth with France’s Emily Mollard.
Fahy triumph
Meanwhile, after top-10s in the four events, Fahy took the honours in the Men’s standings on 315 points. Fahy just edged out Laird Shepherd (University of Stirling) into second place on 295 points, after the Englishman’s victories in Spain and Scotland.Another Maynooth University student, Allan Hill from Ireland, finished third on 267.5 points, with Scotland’s Jack Broun and Irishman Josh Mackin fourth and fifth respectively.The R&A Student Tour Series extends The R&A’s support of student golf. Each year, The R&A invests over £500,000 in student and university golf through the Foundation Scholars programme. Currently, the organisation supports golf programmes at 17 universities and in the 2019/2020 academic year awarded 152 individual Foundation scholarships.The R&A has supported university and student golf for over 35 years with former scholars including: 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year Shane Lowry (University College Dublin); 2018 Champion Golfer of the Year Francesco Molinari (University of Turin); five-time PGA TOUR winner Hideki Matsuyama; and Catriona Matthew (University of Stirling), the winning 2019 European Solheim Cup Captain and former Women’s British Open Champion.View final Order of Merit standings.
