Countdown begins to 110th Carnegie Shield at Royal Dornoch
THE countdown has begun to the competition for one of the most prestigious trophies in Scottish amateur golf.
The 110th Carnegie Shield will roll out at Royal Dornoch on Sunday and will culminate at the weekend.
The distinctive shield was presented to the club by Scottish-born industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1901 and stands out among the impressive array of trophies on display in the clubhouse.
It has been played for every year since, with the exception of the war years and the pandemic.
Last year’s winner, Ewan Cuthbert, will be looking to retain the trophy but, as ever, a quality field numbering nearly 300 has been assembled.
The former Inverness Academy pupil and student at the University of the Highlands and Island student became one of the youngest ever winners when he triumphed in 2023 at the age of 19.
Chris “Chippie” Mailley, who is a member at Brora and Royal Dornoch, is chasing a remarkable seventh Shield. Playing off +3.3, he is looking to add to a season’s haul that includes the County Cup, Club Championship and the Sinclair Cup.
Incoming club captain Gary Bethune, who won the shield in 1989 and 1991, will be competing along with 1995 winner Neil MacDonald (Muckhart) and 2011 champion Paul Dolton.
Royal Dornoch general manager Neil Hampton said: “We regard the Shield as our very own Major. I’m delighted that the popularity of the event continues to grow. It was greatly oversubscribed again, attracting entries from near and far.
“We are welcoming a large number of plus handicap golfers, 29 in total, with the lowest being Tantallon’s Duncan Searle off +3.6.
“This should make for some great scoring in the qualifying and exciting games in the matchplay. If we are blessed with fine weather, we may even see some records broken on the Championship Course.”
After two rounds of strokeplay qualifying, the top 32 progress to a head-to-head match play with the final taking place on Saturday afternoon.
Competitors are also chasing the low handicap Davidson Trophy and the EC Fraser Trophy for the high handicappers.
