Ross reigns as Scotland's amateur of the year AS reward for a steady rather than spectacular season, Edinburgh man James Ross has been named as the 2013 Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year. The 23-year-old Royal Burgess player has climbed above compatriots Graeme Robertson, Grant Forrest, Jack McDonald and Bradley Neil to be the highest-placed Scot - 97th - in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) at last Friday's cut-off. Having seen his game steadily improve since reaching the semi-finals of the 2011 Scottish Amateur, Ross was a consistent performer on the amateur circuit this summer. He finished third in the Welsh Open Stroke-Play and also gave a good account of himself in the Scottish Stroke-Play (ninth) and St Andrews Links Trophy (12th). The bulk of his world rankings points, however, were picked up in two European events. He led the stroke-play qualifying for the Team Championship in Denmark, where Scotland won the silver medal, then finished 11th in the Individual Championship in Spain. "To win this award is a great accolade and definitely caps off my year," said Ross, who succeeds McDonald and joins a list of illustrious former winners including Andrew Coltart, Dean Robertson and Richie Ramsay. I had a good year, particularly the most competitive summer I've had. I played well in big European events, like the European Individual, and jumped up the rankings on the back of that. The University of Houston team member added: "Coming close in Wales kind of set me up for the year. I had a chance to win there, but ended up third to Rhys Pugh and Garrick Porteous, who both went on to play in the Walker Cup. I was also very proud to play for Scotland. It was a big achievement to do that, as I've always wanted to play for my country.