Paul Lawrie tees up Spanish trip for talented Scottish youngsters

Trip to Desert Springs aimed at getting group to hit ground running at start of new season

Paul Lawrie Academy members Koby Buchan (Cruden Bay), Boyd Gray (Duff House Royal), Jack Mann (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), Oli Blackadder (Deeside) and Ollie Robertson (Deeside) pictured at Desert Springs in Spain. Picture: Paul Lawrie Academy

A group of talented young Scottish golfers have been in Spain this week through a “world-class” programme that has been set up by Paul Lawrie as the former Open champion continues to make a significant contribution to the game.

Paul Lawrie Academy members Koby Buchan (Cruden Bay), Boyd Gray (Duff House Royal), Jack Mann (Fortrose & Rosemarkie), Oli Blackadder (Deeside) and Ollie Robertson (Deeside) headed to Desert Springs in Almeria as part of their preparations for the new season.

They were accompanied by Spencer Henderson, Scottish Golf’s men’s performance coach but wearing his Paul Lawrie Golf Centre senior instructor hat in this instance, with former Scottish amateur star and now rookie pro Rory Franssen also joining the group.

“Paul I sat down last summer and looked at doing a programme for six under-18s that were from the North and North-East Districts. It’s basically a year-long programme that we are running involving me managing it and developing the training plan etc,” said Henderson.

“We’ve got a psychologist involved, with Dr Will McConn, who also works with Scottish Golf, helping them deal with the challenges they can face on and off the golf course as teenagers, as well as mental strategies that can help them compete when they get under pressure.

“And the big one is that we have Paul, who attends all the sessions and is passing on experience of coming down the stretch in The Open or chatting to them about Medinah (where he helped Europe win the 2012 Ryder Cup). Also how he worked with Adam Hunter, his coach, for years and what he was looking for from him as a coach.

“Having his experience from the playing side is invaluable and he’s brilliant with the lads. They’ve all got his phone number and can contact him whenever they want, which is pretty cool when you are talking about a major winner, Ryder Cup player and DP World Tour winner.”

The group are gearing up for next month’s Scottish Boys’ Open at Irvine while other big events on their 2024 schedule include the Barrie Douglas Scottish Junior Masters at Strathmore and Paul Lawrie Junior Jug at Newmachar.

“A couple of the lads have their own personal coaches and the key thing for Paul and I was that we weren’t necessarily looking to change their swings as that’s a decision for their technical coaches,” added Henderson. “Our focus was getting them practising more productively, especially in Scotland when the weather can be poor during the winter.

“As we move towards the summer, we’ll look more at course strategy and we are also really big on statistics. We get them all to keep their stats on Up Game, which is a great stats platform we use and part of my job I suppose is looking at those stats and working out how best the guys can practice based around those stats.

“Another big one for me is having a good relationship with the parents as well. So sitting down and chatting to them about tournaments, as well as balancing school and exams with their golf and even looking into things like some of the guys having aspirations to go out to the States and the opportunities available to them out there.

“On top of that, all the guys get free use of the facilities any time they want to come into Paul Lawrie Golf Centre and Titleist have been kind enough to support us with shoes and apparel. The aim for us is to give them a world-class programme in 2024 and let them grow in 2025 then get more players involved and we’ve already had people asking how they can get into the programme, which is really positive.”

The trip to Spain has been aimed at getting the group ready to hit the ground running when the competitive action begins back on home soil. “We are out at Desert Springs for a week to really get prepared for the season by getting a scorecard back in their hand,” said Henderson, who was also in South Africa with a Scottish Golf squad earlier in the year. “One of the things we’re doing is having a four-round tournament to get them prepared as they would for a 72-holer as they’ve probably not played a tournament since September last year and Paul has been kind enough to put up a prize of a spot in the Scottish Par 3 Championship alongside the pros, which is fantastic for someone’s development and shows we are already thinking about that transition to the pro ranks as it’s a good opportunity to not only play with better players but also chat to them about their careers as well.

“Paul was kind enough to invite Rory Franssen, someone I work with personally and turned pro last year and is playing on both the Alps Tour and Tartan Pro Tour this year. Rory is only 24, so he’s not much older than some of the boys and he’s been able to share his experience of playing for Scotland from under-16s through to the Eisenhower Trophy.

"He also had four years at college out in Missouri and I think it’s good for the guys to get a chance to ask him about the pros and cons of college. A lot of people go out there thinking it’s just going to be four years of playing golf all the time, but Rory has been explaining to them the balance of academics and competing and making sure your grades are high enough because, if not, you won’t be playing on the team.”