Little known outside his native Angus, the left-handed scratch player, coached by Kirriemuir's Karyn Dallas, led the field from the halfway stage of the 72-hole tournament and retained his advantage throughout the final two rounds to claim the national championship by just one stroke.

The 19-year-old, who left Loretto School, Musselburgh, last year, and is currently concentrating on his golf full-time before embarking on a US based golf scholarship, finished with a four round aggregate of 288 (level par).

Speaking after his first ever triumph in a golf event, Cappi said:, "I had a bad start this morning as my front nine was pretty poor but I finished strongly to recover and was only one over - my only round when I didn't finish level or under, so that enabled me to hang on to my lead.

"I was a bit nervous heading into this afternoon's round, but I knew if I could keep it steady I would be fine. Crichton was my nearest rival as the afternoon progressed and he really kept the pressure on, but my birdie at the 17th was a crucial moment for me. It eased things a bit for me going down the last and even though I bogeyed the 18th I knew I had the title in the bag."

Cappi's three birdies helped to counter a bogey at the seventh plus an earlier blight at the second, which he felt was his biggest mistake of the day.

"I was in the middle of the fairway and I hooked my four-iron shot into the trees for a silly bogey, but apart from that I was pretty pleased with my game."

He concluded: "To be honest I really didn't expect to win today as I have never been in contention for a title before so I guess I felt a little less pressure than the others going into the final round. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but it is a brilliant result for me."