East Lothian brother and sister selected for same Scotland side

The Craigielaw duo have been selected by Scottish Golf for a tri-nations event against hosts Ireland and Wales at Enniscrone Golf Club in County Sligo.

Fraser, 14, and 12-year-old Stella have both been racking up trophy triumphs in various junior events and now they have earned the chance to team up together for the first time at national level.

They will follow in the footsteps of Carly and Jamie McDonald after they also played for Scotland in last year’s Boys and Girls’ Home Internationals.

Before then, the Grahams - Connor and Gregor - became the first brothers to play in the same Scotland team when they played in the Men’s Home Internationals at Ballyliffin in 2022.

They also went on to represent Great Britain & Ireland together in last year’s St Andrews Trophy against Continental Europe at Royal Porthcawl.

“My wife and I are delighted that Fraser and Stella will both represent Scotland in the tri-nations event in Ireland,” said dad Stephen Walters. “The kids, both of whom work very hard on their game, feel very proud to be chosen to represent their country.

“They’ve had a brilliant start to the year. In January, they played the Under Armour pairs tournament in Florida together, finishing tied for sixth with a 13-under total.

“In February, Fraser won the Daily Mail World Championships three-day event for the third consecutive year at Villa Padierna in Spain with a score of six under while Stella finished second in the girls under 14’s.

“Fraser just competed at the Toro Tour in La Canada, finishing third in the mixed amateur and professional section. We look forward to watching them both progress.”

The tri-nations event has been played as a Quadrangular in recent years but it is not involving the Netherlands on this occasion on 16-18 April.

Two of the Scottish boys heading to Enniscrone - Stirling’s Thomas Kelly and Oli Robertson of Deeside - played in last year’s match at Ayr Belleisle, as did Kelly’s clubmate, Erin Huskie.

Fraser Brown (Nairn), Ben Love (Old Course Ranfurly) and Fraser MacKenzie (Inverness) are the other boys’ selections on this occasion while Melissa Keay (Ralston) and Jayla Kepler (Greenock) have secured the two remaining girls’ spots.

“This is always a great way for our juniors to start the season,” said Clare Queen, Scottish Golf’s head of performance and pathways. “I’m sure the matches against Wales and Ireland will be, as always, keenly contested and played in a great spirit.

“The boys and girls have been working hard over the winter period with their own coaches, but some of the team have been involved in the Scottish Golf programme working with the national coaches.

“These sessions in the regions and, for some, at a national training camp in Spain, are designed to help them with all aspects of their game so that when they step outside their comfort zone, they are ready to embrace new challenges.

“Travelling to compete on unfamiliar courses against new opponents is all part of the learning curve. We’re striving to give our most talented young players everything they need to reach their full potential and trips such as this one to Ireland will help them on that path.”

Each nation will play each other twice over the course of the three days in a mixture of foursomes and singles matches.