Londoner Andrew Johnston enjoyed the champagne lifestyle in the first round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open after holing his tee shot at the 11th hole at Castle Stuart Golf links.
The prize was a bottle of Laurent Perrier champagne for each yard of the 168 yard hole, leaving the 23 year old with an ear-to-ear grin after receiving his prize from John Cleary of the sponsors.
But the feat was all the more remarkable for the fact that it was witnessed by Johnston’s playing partner, Phil Price of Wales – who, by coincidence, aced the same hole in the same round 12 months ago and also went home with 168 bottles of bubbly in his car boot!
Johnston, a Challenge Tour Graduate from 2011, went on to shoot a creditable opening 69 and admitted that he couldn’t believe his eyes when the ball dropped. The man from Middlesex, whose grandfather is Jamaican and who carries the Jamaican flag as the identifying feature on his golf ball, laughed: “I knew my eight iron was good but I just kept urging the ball to keep going.
“When it dropped I just jumped around a bit and enjoyed the moment. It was funny when Phil then turned round and said: ‘I did that last year’. It’s an incredible coincidence, but we can both take away great memories of the 11th hole.
“It’s brilliant to win all that champagne, but I’ve asked Laurent Perrier for some bottles of pink champagne to help celebrate my girlfriend, Louise’s 21st birthday next month.”
