Ireland’s Maynooth University has a rich history in the R&A Student Tour Series. That history just got richer as Maynooth scholars Kate Lanigan and Ryan Griffin were crowned women’s and men’s order of merit winners after the final event of the 2023/24 season, the STS – St Andrews, in sodden conditions over the Old Course in Scotland.
It is the first time that Maynooth, in County Kildare just west of Dublin, has swept the men’s and women’s orders of merit.
Women’s STS – St Andrews winner Lucy Jamieson was shivering noticeably when she stepped off the Old Course’s 18th green, the St Andrews student trying to stop her body trembling from the cold that seeped into every core of her being.
Lanigan and Griffin were also seeking the solace of hot baths. What warmed all three was the joy of success on golf’s most iconic course. Griffin’s delight was doubled by winning the final event of the 2023/24 season, a victory that gave him his second straight order of merit title and his third STS win.
Lanigan, order of merit leader by 25 points over Halmstad student Elice Fredriksson heading into the final event, pipped the Swedish golfer to the title by just three points.
The 180 points Griffin picked up gave him a 104-point advantage over Halmstad’s Hugo Stark, who finished in joint seventh.
“This is the most special moment I’ve had on a golf course . ... And to win around St Andrews doesn’t really get any better. It’s unbelievable.”
Ryan Griffin
Lanigan and Griffin head back to Ireland with automatic places in the Amateur and Women’s Amateur championships.
Only seven points separated Griffin and Will Coxon at the start of the day. The Maynooth student just needed to finish ahead of the University of Stirling player. The psychology student not only did that by eight spots, he headed the field by three strokes over teammate Eoin Murphy and St Andrews student Trevor Binau thanks to a closing level-par 72 that gave him a 2-over 218 total. Coxon placed equal ninth to place third on the order of merit with 350 points, one behind Stark.
“This is the most special moment I’ve had on a golf course because I knew I needed to win to guarantee the order of merit,” said Griffin, who earned Maynooth its 10th STS victory. “And to win around St Andrews doesn’t really get any better. It’s unbelievable.”
Lanigan looked dejected when she stepped off the 18th green with a closing 8-over 83. She bogeyed the home hole when she failed to get up and down from the left of the putting surface, her final stroke a 7-foot putt. Had she missed, Fredriksson, who finished fourth, would have won the order of merit. Lanigan's joint fifth-place finish with Royal Agricultural University student Darcey Harry proved to be the difference.
“I wouldn’t say that putt won me the order of merit; I think it saved it,” Lanigan said. “It just goes to show the phrase ‘every shot counts’ is true.
“It was a brutal day. On the 11th tee, I lost all feeling in my hands. They were completely numb. It was insane.”
Lanigan took the order of merit thanks to a consistent season in which she won the STS – Italy and recorded two runners-up and a fourth place.
“It feels a bit weird to win the order of merit because I didn’t have a good tournament here, but it shows consistency is rewarded,” she said. “My results gave me a cushion, and it’s a testament to all the hard work from September.”
Lucy Jamieson backed up an outstanding 6-under 68 over the Jubilee Course with a best of the day, level-par 75 in the windy, wet conditions. That score was two better than 77s for Lorna McClymont and Fredriksson. Stirling student McClymont, playing in her final STS event after dominating the series with seven wins, finished solo second, in front of St Andrews pupil Ellie Monk.
Jamieson’s 5-under 218 gave her a third STS title by eight shots.
“I’ve been absolutely freezing since the 10th hole,” Jamieson said. “It’s probably the worst conditions I’ve ever experienced. That was hard and mentally quite gruelling, especially over the back nine.”
Jamieson placed fourth on the order of merit with 313 points, 17 behind third-place McClymont.
Scoring / Orders of merit
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