Exploits at Gullane earn Findlay a Scotland call

JORDAN Findlay, the Scottish Amateur Championship runner-up, is among four new caps in the Scotland side for next week's Home Internationals at Ashburnham, near Llanelli.

Joining the Fraserburgh player in making their debut in the four-cornered event are Fifers Brian Soutar (Leven GS) and Peter Latimer (St Andrews New) as well as Kingsknowe's Allyn Dick. Soutar, third, and Latimer, fourth, have earned their places off the SGU Order of Merit, while Dick won the Newlands Trophy at Lanark, a counting event for that, before reaching the last 16 at Gullane. There, he recovered from being four down to take Banchory's James Byrne, the top seed, the full distance and, in doing so, appears to have pipped Hazlehead's David Law, last year's double Scottish champion, for the last of the 11 spots.

The exclusion of Law just a year after he was blooded in this event as an 18-year-old may be considered a touch harsh by some, especially as the Aberdonian took four points out of six at Hillside and, overall, has a good match play record. However, he's not been firing on all cylidners this season and there would seem little point in the SGU having an order of merit if performances in the top 72-holes events weren't going to be considered when selecting sides.

Soutar, for instance, has recorded four top 10s this season, while Latimer won the East of Scotland Open at Lundin before finishing fifth in the Sutherland Chalice at Dumfries & Galloway. The early exits of Scott Crichton (Aberdour), Scott Larkin (Royal Aberdeen) and Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) in East Lothian appear to have cost them, though, and, in the process, left the door open for Dick. The 31-year-old's success at Lanark was his third in an order of merit event in recent years and his performance against Byrne clearly impressed the watching selectors in East Lothian.

The remainder of the team is pretty much as expected. It consists of the six players who represented Scotland in last month's European Team Championship in Sweden, namely Byrne, Stewart, Ross Kellett, Philip McLean, Kris Nicol and Greg Paterson, as well as James White.