Castle Stuart Links Local Open champion proves he is king of the castle to win tournament
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Andrew Gow was crowned the winner of the Castle Stuart Golf Club Local Open Championship.
The mechanical estimator from Muir of Ord won the tournament by one shot to lift the title for the first time in his career.
Gow (32) reached the final for the first time in three attempts and rose to the occasion to come out on top last weekend.
“It was the first time that I have qualified for the final so I was quite surprised to win,” he said.
“I think this is my third time that I have competed and during the final I didn’t think the golf was up to scratch.
“I didn’t think I was in contention to win with the level that I was playing.
“It is the best win of my career, I don’t have anything else to compare it to, so I was delighted.”
Gow says after a poor first nine holes, he felt he pulled his game back on the back nine.
But it wasn’t until towards the end of his round that he believed he had a chance of winning.
“Everybody was in the same boat,” he said.
“Nobody was making any great scoring in my group, it was only until I birdied the 17th I felt I could maybe post a winning score.
“The back nine was better for me, I had a good start but in the last third of the front nine I felt I fell away and I didn’t score that well.
“In the back nine I felt like I had nothing to lose so I definitely played more aggressively.
“If it wasn’t for the birdie at 17, I wouldn’t have had the chance to win.”
Gow doesn’t expect to play any more tournaments this year.
Bur after the disrupted season due to coronavirus, he is looking forward to more golf after the new year.
“I am just looking forward to playing in 2021,” he said.
“After Covid-19 the calendar was disrupted in 2020, I just want to play golf and club competitions across the Highlands.”
