Tartan Pro Tour victory on home turf for Peebles golfer Darren Howie

Peebles golfer Darren Howie with the Tartan Pro Tour's Schloss Roxburghe Masters trophy (Picture: Tartan Pro Tour)Peebles golfer Darren Howie with the Tartan Pro Tour's Schloss Roxburghe Masters trophy (Picture: Tartan Pro Tour)
Peebles golfer Darren Howie with the Tartan Pro Tour's Schloss Roxburghe Masters trophy (Picture: Tartan Pro Tour)
Borderer Darren Howie has notched up his first Tartan Pro Tour victory on home turf at Heiton’s Schloss Roxburghe golf course, near Kelso.

The 24-year-old bounced back from missing the cut at the tour’s fourth round, at Newmachar, near Aberdeen, at the end of June to win its fifth, the Schloss Roxburghe Masters, yesterday, July 4, after carding rounds of 68, 71 and 69 for an eight-under-par total of 208.

That victory was decided by a play-off against West Dunbartonshire’s John Henry, also on 208 after rounds of 67, 70 and 71, and the first extra hole went Howie’s way, landing him prize money of £3,785.

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His previous highest finish on this summer’s tour had been joint-17th, on 212 following rounds of 70, 70 and 72, at mid-June’s Cardrona Classic near his home-town of Peebles, won by East Lothian amateur Sebastian Sandin with a score of 202.

Craig Howie, left, with brother Darren as a caddie, during the Rolex Challenge Tour's grand final at T-Golf and Country Club in Mallorca in November 2021 (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)Craig Howie, left, with brother Darren as a caddie, during the Rolex Challenge Tour's grand final at T-Golf and Country Club in Mallorca in November 2021 (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Craig Howie, left, with brother Darren as a caddie, during the Rolex Challenge Tour's grand final at T-Golf and Country Club in Mallorca in November 2021 (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

His caddy for this week’s win was his elder brother Craig, the 29-year-old returning a favour after his sibling caddied for him at 2022’s Challenge Tour grand final in Mallorca as he earned promotion to the DP World Tour.

“It’s a relief, to be honest,” the younger Howie told our sister paper the Scotsman after winning.

“It was windy on all three days and today was the worst of the lot.

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“You just had to know where your ball was going and, thankfully this week, I’ve hit the ball well enough to feel I could have been a few shots better, and it would have been easy to let your score slip away in the wind.

“I holed a 20-footer on six after hitting a poor pitch shot and that kind of got me going after playing the first five holes really well.

“I also birdied the seventh and that really helped me get off the ground, so to speak, and I realised the golf I was playing was good enough to allow me to keep plugging away.

“I was trying to get to ten or 11-under as I thought that was going to win, with the leaders having started out on nine-under.”

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Hawick’s Callum McNeil and Bedfordshire’s Harry Boyle were in joint possession of pole position at the 36-hole stage but were overtaken by Howie, ranked 2,614th in the world, on the last day of play as he rediscovered the sort of form that prompted him to go professional.

“I can take a lot of confidence from this,” he added.

“I’ve put in a lot of work this year and, unfortunately, it’s not been the start to the season I’d hoped for. Even last week, I hit the ball solid enough, but I was about 70th.

“It felt like I could have gone down a rabbit-hole trying to search for what was going wrong, but I had a lesson last week with my coach, Daniel Flannery, and the chat we had convinced me that what we are doing is working and I’ve just got to be patient. For it to happen this week is rather sooner than I expected.

“This is my third full year as a pro, and for me it’s just about being patient and trying to make progress.”

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Asked about having his big brother on his bag, Howie said: “I’ve caddied for him a few times, so it’s nice of him to pay me back for that.

“On a serious note, though, he was saying that I am playing well enough that I should be able to win these events or at least that I hit it well enough and my game is good enough to compete.

“I didn’t have everything going this week, but certainly tee to green, I’d probably have been not the best this week but certainly top three.”

He was glad to have improved on his last display in his home region, saying: “We should play in the Borders more often.

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“The course was in amazing condition and, in my opinion, the best by far we’ve played this year.

“It’s a shame it’s so deep into the Borders as there should be loads of events there.”

Howie is now ninth in the tour’s order of merit, on 4,428 points, so he’s got a lot of ground to make up on leader Sam Locke, on 12,182.5, and runner-up Graeme Robertson, on 7,762, to be in with a chance of landing one of the two cards for next year’s Challenge Tour on offer, but he’s confident that’s achievable if he carries on playing at the level he hit at Heiton.

“Obviously Sam has got off to an absolute flyer, but that second Challenge Tour card is up for grabs and also the chance to get through to the second stage of qualifying school,” he said.

“If I can keep plugging away, I can hopefully catch Sam.

“I’ve just got to try and replicate this week, and if I can hit it like I did this week for the rest of the season, I’m certainly going to have a chance.”

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