Greig Hutcheon stormed clear to win the Senior PGA Professional Championship at Royal Dornoch and in doing so, bagged a spot at the 2026 Staysure PGA Seniors Championship.
The man from Torphins Golf Club fired an outstanding opening round of 62 at the famous Highlands venue and followed it with two rounds of 72 to win by four shots from Englishman Andrew Willey.
The first 18 holes were certainly memorable for Hutcheon, in which he made seven birdies and a remarkable albatross on the par-5 9th hole to move ahead of the field and tie the course record.
“It was one of these days that don’t come around very often,” he said. “I had quite a good, solid start. I was a couple under par through eight (holes), then got a good drive down the 9th, and I fired a 5-iron towards the green, just looking to climb up on to the green surface.
“I saw the ball run up on to the green, so I thought it looked quite nice, but by no means did I ever expect that I’d holed the shot. I think I had 204 yards, so I was really just trying to get the ball on to the green, the green is slightly raised, and well bunkered.
Pictured: Greig Hutcheon
“I was just trying to thread my ball through the middle of the bunkers, and it was a huge surprise to get there, and it was an albatross.
“All of a sudden, I was 5-under, and I missed a good birdie chance on 10 and I unfortunately three-putted the par-5 12th from 40 feet, then birdies on 14, 15 and 16 put me 9-under. It was kind of dream stuff.”
The weather conditions were tougher in the third and final round for Hutcheon and his competitors. After two early bogeys, he managed to steady the ship with three birdies and protect his lead enough to secure victory at the venue where he has previously won the Northern Open.
“They had some flags today in some of the corners, which really makes Dornoch treacherous. My tactic before I went out was to try and hit the greens and two-putt from distance. I managed to do that most of the time, I got out of position a couple of times today, but I made a couple of nice birdies on the par 5s, which helped, and a nice birdie on number 5.
“By the end, I had a feeling that I maybe had a few-shot lead, so I gave away a couple of shots at the end, so I did give away a couple of shots at the end, but the pressure was on and it was tough conditions."
Pictured: Greig Hutcheon
Hutcheon can now look forward to playing in the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship hosted by Colin Montgomerie, which will be played at Trump International Golf Links near Aberdeen later this year.
This event was won by American Bo Van Pelt in 2025, and Hutcheon is very much looking forward to sharing the fairways with the stars of the game, as well as major champions and former Ryder Cup heroes.
"It’s fantastic,” he added. “You’ll get to walk the fairways with Paul Lawrie, Ian Woosnam, Michael Campbell – major winners. This year at Trump, we’re playing the New Course, which I had the pleasure of playing a few weeks ago and it’s very nice.
“Although the course is brand new, it’s literally been in play for seven or eight months, it’s incredible the condition it’s in. They’re really looking forward to the championship.”
