Dylan Cairns bidding to land Stephen Gallacher Foundation double on different sides of Border

The 17-year-old Royal Troon member secured a place in the history books by winning the foundation’s first event in England - the SGF Classic at Goswick, near Berwick-upon-Tweed.

He shot rounds of 69-72-70-70-70 for a seven-under-par total, winning by a shot from Scottish men’s champion Oliver Mukherjee (Gullane).

“A relief to get my first win,” said Cairns of his success. “To play against the likes of Ollie at Goswick shows the standard of some of the boys at these events and finally winning one was great.”

Cairns also got his hands on a trophy last weekend when a closing 64 earned him victory in the under-18s section in the Barrie Douglas Scottish Junior Masters at Strathmore.

“That was great,” he added: “The Barrie Douglas is a bit special as it was my first event four years ago while Strathmore and the Barrie Douglas Foundation are also great at supporting junior golf.

“To put in my lowest round of eight under and win was great, though, to be honest, I wasn’t thinking about it during the round as I’ve been working a lot on my process with my coach here and in New Mexico Junior College.”

The coach here is Alan McCloskey, the Bothwell Castle PGA professional who also works with Brodie Cunningham, who was the overall boys’ winner at Strathmore.

“Alan has made a huge difference to my game,” said Cairns. “He’s a great coach and, after a poor season last year, I’ve worked with Alan since last August we have changed a lot.

“The under par rounds were coming back by the end of the season, which gave me confidence for the start of this year. Also, Kenny Monaghan (putting) and Chris Hair (fitness) have been great as all three communicate and know what we are working on.”

The events are coming thick and fast for Scotland’s top juniors, with the Stephen Gallacher Foundation Trophy and Vase starting on Friday at The Schloss Roxburghe, near Kelso.

“Confident,” said Cairns of how he is feeling about that SGF assignment on the north of the Border. “My game is good just now. I’m playing well, having fun and enjoying the game, which is important.”

He’ll be locking horns again with Bothwell Castle’s Cunningham, as well as recent Paul Lawrie Junior Jug winner Jake Johnston (Royal Burgess).

In-form Summer Elliott (Inverness) leads the Vase line up as she bids to make it a hat-trick of wins after recent successes in the Paul Lawrie Junior Quaich and BDF Scottish Junior Masters.