Fife school now ranked in top four for golf in UK

That ranking follows a fourth-place finish for the Fife team at the HMC’s golf championships, held south of the border at Staffordshire’s JCB Golf and Country Club last month.

Leading the way for the young golfers was Ewen Farquhar. The 16-year-old, of St Andrews, won the HMC boys’ order of merit for UK schools with a second-place finish in the competition and is now ranked number one boy in schools golf in the UK for the last year.

That accolade follows Ewen winning his home-town’s R&A gold medal last year, awarded annually to the best young golfer the home of the sport has to offer. Fellow St Leonards pupil Emil Hoffman, 17, finished 16th in April’s competition.

The team then travelled on to Slaley Hall Golf Club in Northumberland to compete in the Independent Schools Golf Association’s national finals, having won the area finals once again. They finished 11th out of 20 schools in those finals and 76 all told.

Fintan Bonner, director of golf at St Leonards and a senior instructor at the St Andrews Links Golf Academy, said: “It is fantastic to see our six-tier golf programme continue to go from strength to strength.

“Not only do we have record numbers enrolled this year, but these recent successes for our high-performance squad have secured a number-four national ranking for St Leonards.

“I am incredibly proud of all our young golfers and in particular of Ewen and the team for their latest achievements.”

Simon Brian, headteacher at independent day and boarding school, named as Scotland’s school of the year of its kind in 2019, added: “This is a truly impressive achievement for the St Leonards team and shows that they are reaping the rewards of their hard work.

“All our elite golfers train regularly at the golf academy in St Andrews and I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the team.”