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Eight days after the Ryder Cup, another victory for Matt Fitzpatrick. The Englishman won the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland, with a total of 197 (67 64 66, -19) shots, celebrating his ninth exploit (figure including a Major, the US Open) in his career on the DP World Tour The event, shortened from 72 to 54 holes due to bad weather (it was not played on Saturday or Sunday), saw the 29-year-old from Sheffield protagonist in the second and third rounds, when he made eight birdies, with two bogeys.
Prowess that allowed him to beat his compatriot Marcus Armitage and Matthew Southgate by three strokes, 2nd with 200 (-16) together with the New Zealander Ryan Fox.
Matt Fitzpatrick, results
Double joy for Fitzpatrick, who also won the team event together with mother Susan with whom he shared the success by hugging her at the end of the race.
Nice ending for the two blues. Guido Migliozzi, 37th with 207 (68 72 67, -9), scored six birdies in the last 18 holes played, with one bogey. While Renato Paratore, 44th with 208 (73 70 65, -8), closed the match on a high note with a bogey free round supported by seven birdies.
It is not known when golf was first played on the links at St Andrews. The oldest written record is a license from 1552 that allowed the community to "raise rabbits, play golf and soccer, as well as shoot and engage in other recreational activities" in the dunes.
However, there is some evidence that suggests golf was played in St Andrews before 1552. On the one hand, there was the ban on golf in 1457, which extended to the whole of Scotland. On the other hand, the first university in Scotland, the University of St Andrews, was founded in 1413; Golf has always been very popular at universities.
However, it is not clear where exactly the games were played back then and whether there was even a permanent golf course. The course in Musselburgh, which is also named Old Course (first mentioned in 1672), is considered the oldest continuously played golf course in the world.
The probably first greenkeeping measure in St. Andrews dates back to 1726 and consisted of a proviso that stipulated to the hare breeders in the dunes that the golf course could not be damaged. However, “Rabbit Wars”, conflicts between the (occasionally trigger-happy) golfers and the rabbit breeders, continued for almost a hundred years.
In 1754 the St Andrews Society of Golfers was founded, which is now called the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The construction of the now famous clubhouse did not begin until the centenary, in 1854.