Dougray Scott's Dunhill blog - day one

Published on Thursday 2 October 2008 11:09

Film star Dougray Scott writes from the Dunhill Links Championship.

The day started for me at 6.30am. As I looked out of my hotel window, the Old Course came to life. I am very excited about this week. I've done some work in the gym to get in shape and I hope I can play well.

In my practice round today, I played well into the wind, then ironically when I turned and came back with the wind behind me I lost my swing for a few holes. However I soon recovered and finished quite well and just missed a birdie at the 18th.

I've been working on a tip I got from professional Mark Roe who has been telling me to keep the same rhythm on my backswing as on the downswing.

That's going to be my theme for the week

I was born in St Andrews and brought up 20 miles away. I first played golf when I was nine and played in Fife until I was 16. I played golf with my dad a lot. He was a salesman and he often organised his day so that we could get nine holes in the evening. We played a lot on the Eden and Jubilee courses. I'll never forget my first ever round with him on the Old Course when I was 12.

I think I know the place quite well. You have to be able to play every kind of shot around the Old Course, especially chip and runs. If the wind gets up, I think I will have more of a chance of making the cut.

I had a pretty good championship last year and I was disappointed to miss the cut. I had a poor round at Carnoustie which ruined some good play.

I am playing wth Andrew Coltart this week which is good. I have never played with him before, but I believe he is a nice guy so I am looking forward to it. We have the American actor Luke Wilson in our group, who I have met, so I think we will have fun.

One thing for sure, I am going to enjoy the experience. The most important thing I will be telling myself is not to get het up if I play a bad shot.

My game plan is to be calm and keep my rhythm and tempo.