Chris Robb, who plays drums for relaxation, was quickly into his rhythm yesterday in his bid to add the Scottish Boys title to the Scottish Schools crown he already wears by holing a 40-foot birdie putt across the first green of the Royal Aberdeen links.
"I play in a group with some friends. We don't have a name but we perform at parties for fun," said the 18-year-old, who, at 6ft 3in., is one of the tallest boys in the 256-strong field. In cold, windy conditions, Robb, who plays at nearby Inchmarlo where he won the schools tournament, raced into a five-hole advantage after five holes against his startled opponent, Neil McGregor of Bridge of Allan, and ended up a winner by 6&5 with a performance that was worthy of a drum roll.
The Scottish Boys Championship is held during the Easter holidays to enable most of the youngsters to play, but Robb left school last summer and has the advantage over most by playing and practising full-time while others are in the classroom.
"It helped in the winter when it gets dark early and I wouldn't have been able to practise after school," said Robb, the form horse this week after capturing the first Junior Tour event of the year at Kingsbarns last week by a clear four shots with a three-under-par aggregate of 141 despite dropping three shots in his last two holes.
Robb's parents are Irish and he was born in Dublin. Having lived in Scotland since he was two, however, he regards himself as Scottish and has already been capped six times in the Scottish boys team.
He is also a member at Murcar that adjoins Royal Aberdeen and is playing this week almost by default.
"I had been hoping to take up a golf scholarship in the US last September but I was late in contacting the coaches and it will be next year before I go. There has been a lot of interest," he said.
Robb lost last year in the third round to north-east rival David Law, of Hazlehead, another full-time boy, and if he is to gain revenge it would be in the semi-finals.
That scenario remained alive yesterday as Law eased through by 5&3 against Kirkhill's Stuart Houston, notching three birdies in the first five holes for a lead he never relinquished. Law, at +2 the lowest handicapper in the field, is a protege of Paul Lawrie and the pair took to the course three weeks ago to discuss a game plan.
Ian Redford, 16, of the New Club at St Andrews, was a 4&3 winner over Williamwood's David Aitken in a bid to make up for having to withdraw during his third-round match last year because of a back injury.
"I thought I was going well enough to get to the latter stages and I'm aiming to do that this year," said the two-handicapper. "There are a lot of quality players in the field and I would like to test myself against the best."
The first seed to go out was No.8 Colin Baird of Bothwell Castle, who exited by 2&1 to Dalmahoy's Tom Blennerhassett.
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