Blasts from the past to make impact at Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship By MARTIN DEMPSTER Published on Friday 1 June 2012 00:00 HOPES of a home victory in the Carrick Neill Scottish Open Stroke Play Championship, which starts today at Kilmarnock (Barassie), may not necessarily rest with the obvious suspects. While the likes of Fifers Brian Soutar, the South African Amateur champion, and James White, one of the joint-backmarkers off plus five, can certainly get in the mix on the Ayrshire coast, the Caledonian contingent also includes two blasts from the past. Graham Gordon and James Bunch both have national titles to their name, the former winning the Scottish Amateur Championship in 2003, ten years after the latter succeeded Stephan Gallacher as the Scottish Boys" Stroke-Play title holder. Gordon's triumph - he beat Stuart Wilson in the final at The Duke's - earned the Newmachar player a winning Walker Cup appearance the same year at Ganton, after which he subsequently turned professional. His spell in the paid ranks, alas, proved unsuccessful and, earlier this season, the 32-year-old from Aberdeen was reinstated with a handicap of +2.5, having played off +4.5 at his peak nine years ago. "I'm a far better player now," said Gordon at the time, proving that was no idle boast by marking his first appearance in the Lytham Trophy in almost a decade by claiming a share of sixth spot last month. Bunch, a St Andrews New member when he won his title at Powfoot but now at Prestwick, also made a name for himself four years later, beating Justin Rose in the Amateur Championship at Muirfield, where another teenage prodigy at the time, Sergio Garcia, claimed the title. A whole host of players, including Bernard Gallacher, Colin Montgomerie, Stephen Gallacher, Alastair Forsyth and Richie Ramsay, used wins in the Scottish Stroke-Play event as springboards for professional careers and some future stars could be lurking in this year's field. With the handicap cut-off having been made at +1.8 - the lowest recorded for a Scottish Golf Union event - it is certainly brimming with quality. It also contains some talented young South Africans who will be renewing rivalries with the Scottish squad players who spent eight weeks in the Rainbow Nation earlier this year, when Soutar succeeded Michael Stewart as SA champion and Paul Shields also shared the Northern Open title. Spearheading the Springbok challenge is the highly-rated Brandon Stone, who lost to Soutar in the final and shares the backmarker status in this event - as does Australian Daniel Nisbet - as well as Haydn Porteous, Shaun Smith and Charles du Plessis. Australian Jake Higginbotham, the world No 6, is the top-ranked player in the field, which also includes rising Kiwi star Vaughan McCall, who has family roots in Scotland. Indeed, his ancestors are buried in a graveyard at nearby Newton-on-Ayr.