There were four winners when the sun set on the 2024-25 R&A Student Tour Series over the Old Course at St Andrews.
Halmstad University student Elice Fredriksson and Lucas Martin of UCLAN were crowned winners of the Final, while University of St Andrews scholars Judy Joo and Judd Sundelson achieved an historic double by being crowned Order of Merit winners.
It is the first time University of St Andrews students have topped either the men’s or women’s table.
Fredriksson ran away with the tournament by six shots over Joo thanks to a closing three-under-par 71 to finish on a total 10-under-par 213. However, Joo’s second-place finish ensured she finished atop the points race, taking the Order of Merit by 10 points over Fredriksson. Fellow St Andrews student Lucy Jamieson placed third on the points table, the same position she finished in the sun-kissed Final.
Joo is a worthy winner of the season-long race. Making her STS debut this season, the Korean kicked off the campaign by winning in Sweden, before adding the STS – Spain to force her way to the top of the table heading into the final event.
“I’m really happy to have won the Order of Merit,” Joo said. “It was my goal at the start of the season. I know I was a rookie this season but I thought why not set my sights high? So, it’s really satisfying to have pulled it off. I’ve loved every minute of my first year on the Student Tour Series.”
"So I’m just glad to have finished number one, especially considering the talent on this tour.”
Judd Sundelson
Sundelson’s coronation as season-long winner proved to be a nervous wait. All he had to do was finish inside the top-13 at St Andrews to win the Order of Merit. However, he finished joint 18th and topped the table with 359 points, just one more than the University of Stirling’s Ross Laird. The Scot placed joint second at St Andrews with teammate Will Coxon and Joel Eliasson of Halmstad University. Laird would have finished as season-long champion if he had placed second on his own.
“I really thought I’d blown it,” said Sundelson, a South African who finished third, fourth, fifth and lost in a play-off in his four previous events. “I wanted to win the Order of Merit so badly and the nerves just got to me, especially on the front nine. So I’m just glad to have finished number one, especially considering the talent on this tour.”
Sundelson and Joo’s names will go forward for consideration for places in the International team to play this year’s Arnold Palmer Cup at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina. The top five players on both Orders of Merit are eligible for selection.
Joo earns spots in The Women’s Amateur Championship and St Rule Trophy, while Sundelson earns berths in The Amateur Championship and St Andrews Links Trophy.
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