“I just holed a lot of putts” – Matthew Wilson on his Craigmillar Park Open victory

The Scottish Golf Order of Merit got underway over the weekend, with Forres golfer Matthew Wilson claiming the biggest victory of his career at the Craigmillar Park Open.

Wilson, who plays to a handicap of plus-four, went into Sunday’s final 36-holes trailing by ten shots, but rounds of 63 and 66 eventually gave him a two-shot victory in the Scottish Golf event, on a total of eleven-under par.

“I didn’t feel I did anything amazing,” said Wilson, “I just holed a lot of putts from around 20 feet. I got to the turn on Sunday morning at one-under, but after that the putter just got hot and I made a lot of birdies coming in.

“I actually had a pretty good look at 62 on the last green from about six-feet, but that just missed, sadly. But still, I was delighted with that in the morning.”

Wilson recorded six birdies on his back-nine of 29, which put him three shots behind the leader going into the final round. After lunch, he picked up where he left off, making the turn in two-under.

“I didn’t know how it stood coming in at the end,” said the Moray amateur. “I made an eagle on the tenth when I holed out from the greenside bunker, but I actually finished with two bogeys on the last four holes.

“I had a three-putt on the last green and I thought it might cost me. It was a long wait in the clubhouse to find out how it had finished, so it was a relief to find out I had won by two.”

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Wilson has had success in north of Scotland events, however he regards this as being the best achievement of his career. The victory will give him a boost in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), which could prove important as he plans the rest of his 2022.

“It’s a national field here, so that’s the first time I’ve won at this level. It’s definitely the best win I’ve had so far. When you see the other names that have played and won here, that’s really good to see.

“To know I’m following players like Craig Howie and Ewen Ferguson who played here before and have had success, that’s brilliant. I actually saw Nick Faldo won here back in 1976, so that was pretty cool to find out too.”

Wilson now has a season of Scottish Golf events to look forward to, including this weekend’s Battle Trophy at Crail Golfing Society.

“This victory probably doesn’t change much in terms of my year going forward. I’m planning most of the Scottish Golf events, plus hopefully some other events, particularly the British Amateur.

“I’m planning to turn pro at some point, but probably not until after another couple of years. I feel you can learn a lot in the amateur ranks, and I can still gain a lot of experience playing at a really high level.”