St Leonards shares an insight into its Tom Morris golf scholarship.
INTRODUCED in 2017, the St Leonards Tom Morris Scholarship recognises talent, achievement, and dedication to the game of golf. The prestigious award is named after four-time Open Champion Tom Morris. The chosen recipient is automatically enrolled onto the high performance squad, the top level of our leading five-tier golf programme, delivered in conjunction with the St Andrews Links Trust. The golf programme is led by Fintan Bonner, St Leonards director of golf and senior links instructor.
The scholarship is designed to set the standard and inspire high-achieving young golfers. It is also viewed favourably by university and college scholarship applications across the globe. The Tom Morris scholar has the opportunity to compete in tournaments internationally, as well as access to excellent coaching and world-class facilities, which are also enjoyed by every golfer on the programme.
The first recipient was Ben Caton, who was then awarded a golf scholarship to Houston Baptist University, following in the footsteps of golfing great Colin Montgomerie. Ben’s golfing game continues to go from strength to strength. His most recent success was at this year’s Royal & Ancient Gold Medal, in which he secured first place with a 36-hole aggregate scratch score of 134.
This year, St Leonards is delighted to welcome sixth form pupil Daniel Bullen as the current Tom Morris scholar. In 2019, Daniel won the Scottish Junior Tour and was also a quarter finalist in the Scottish Boys’ Amateur Championship. Earlier this year, he was named the under 16 champion and top male competitor at the prestigious Faldo Series Event, and was also selected to represent Scotland in the Quadrangular 2020. He is currently ranked 29th in the Under 16 European Amateur rankings and, over the summer months, moved up more than 1,000 places in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Later this year, Daniel will represent the UK in Dubai.
Reflecting upon his successful application to be the new Tom Morris scholar, Daniel said: “I applied for the Tom Morris Scholarship because I think that there is no better place to improve your golf in Scotland than St Andrews. The courses and facilities are phenomenal and the coaches are world-class. St Leonards relationship with the Links Trust is very important to me, as I am now able to practise and play whenever I have free time. I am really excited to get going and start practising for the remaining tournaments of this season, and to come out strong at the start of next season.”
We are impressed with Daniel’s recent achievements and very much look forward to watching him progress and develop as a golfer over the next few years.
Read more stories on Scottish Field’s education pages.
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