Student dominates Tain Golf Club championship to win trophy for first time
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SEAN Kennedy celebrated becoming Tain Golf Club champion for the first time in his career after a dominant performance.
The 20-year-old from Loandhu, who studies golf management at UHI in Dornoch proved too good against Scott MacDougall in the final and secured victory by five up, with four holes to play.
Kennedy was delighted with how he performed in the final to secure the trophy early against a tough opponent.
“Scott is a good golfer and he was coming into the final with an underdog mentality with not as much to lose,” he said.
“He is a good golfer and he put me under pressure in the first few holes. After the second hole, he was one up and usually it’s sort of me who goes one up after the first few holes, so I had to keep my cool.
“But I was three up at the ninth and after the 10th I felt my confidence growing.
“It was good having a fairly comfortable lead at the 14th as all I had to do was hit par and that would be good enough to take the win.”
Kennedy, who was born in Thailand, took up golf when he was 13 after moving to Scotland from Singapore.
On his way to the title, he beat Gus Gurney in the last 16, Stuart Thomson in the quarter final and then Graham Mackintosh in the semi final.
“I played good games in the earlier rounds and had fairly comfortable wins, I was fortunate enough to play some good golf during the tournament,” he said
“It means a lot to be named among previous champions who I looked up to as a junior.”
Kennedy’s ambition is to become a professional golfer and believes if he puts in the hard work, he can achieve his dream.
“I think I am good enough but still need to put in the hard work and practice more because it is tough to play competitive golf and make a living out of it.
“But it is something that I want to give a try.”
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