Paul Lawrie excited to see 'great' start on cards for 2024 Tartan Pro Tour

Scottish-based circuit attracts its strongest-ever field for Montrose Links Masters and there’s even a reserve list

It was started to provide playing opportunities for Scottish-based players during the Covid pandemic but has been developed by Paul Lawrie into a circuit that is teeing off its 2024 campaign with golfers from much further afield involved and even a reserve list being required.

The new Tartan Pro Tour season gets underway on Tuesday with the 54-hole Montrose Links Masters presented by Gym Rental Company and, helped by the fact it has doubled its carrot of Challenge Tour cards from one to two for next year after becoming an official feeder tour for the DP World Tour’s development circuit for the first time last season, the campaign opener is boasting its strongest-ever field.

Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion and two-time Ryder Cup player, is teeing up himself and will have David Drysdale, a long-time DP World Tour card holder but now playing his golf on the Asian Tour, and Legends Tour player Greig Hutcheon for company in the opening two rounds on the Angus coast, where a field of 99 players will be battling it out for a prize fund of approximately £25,000.

Tartan Pro Tour comissioner Paul Lawrie is looking forward to playing in the Montrose Links Masters presented by Gym Rental Company. Picture: Phil Inglis/Getty Images.

Other home players in the line up include Daniel Young, who has started promisingly on this season’s Challenge Tour and is using a blank week on the second-tier circuit’s schedule to play on home soil, as well as 2023 Scottish PGA champion Graeme Robertson and former Open Silver Medal winner Sam Locke.

Newly-crowned Scottish Par-3 champion Calum Fyfe is out with former Walker Cup player Gavin Moynihan and 2021 Amateur champion Laird Shepherd in an eye-catching group while the likes of Bradley Neil, Rory Franssen, John Henry and Connor Wilson, a new recruit to the pro this year, will be others aiming to make strong starts to the season.

St Andrews-based Laird is among a posse of English players, with the field also including Canadian duo Scott Kerr and Ethan Hurst, Dane Niels Andersen, German Nicklas Blyth and Korean Yeh II Baeg. A reserve list contains 14 players, including eight flying the English flag.

“We’re really pleased with the strength of the field for our opening event of the season,” said Lawrie, who runs the tour through his Five Star Sports Agency. “The second Challenge Tour card having become available to us as an Official Feeder Tour has certainly increased interest in our events and adds an incentive for those aspiring to move to the next level and progress up the ranks. Even with slightly-increased field sizes, we have a reserve list in place, which is a good problem to have.

“It’s been a long winter at home (due to so much bad weather), so we’re absolutely delighted to be able to get going at the Montrose Links Masters presented by Gym Rental Company and I’m looking forward to playing alongside DD and Hutch over the next few days. It should be another great event.”

On the back of his title triumph in last week’s Scottish Par 3 event at Paul Lawrie Golf Centre on the outskirts of Aberdeen, Fyfe is eager to get going as he prepares to play in a mix of Tartan Pro Tour and Challenge Tour events over the coming few months.

“I’ll be playing in as many Tartan Pro Tour events as I can,” said the Glaswegian. “I’ve got seven starts guaranteed on the Challenge Tour, so I’ll be playing in all of those events and, whenever I’m not on the Challenge Tour, I’ll be teeing it up on the Tartan Pro Tour. Hopefully I can have a good year and kick on.

“I’ve got something to play for on both fronts. I can go and try and kick on on the Challenge but, at the same time, I also know I have a massive opportunity back home to try and secure a full card on the Challenge Tour. There’s definitely lots to play for this year and hopefully I can be in a good position come the end of the year.”

This year’s circuit will also take in visits to Portlethen, Cardrona, Newmachar, Schloss Roxburghe, Ladybank, Nairn Dunbar, Blairgowrie, Leven Links, Spey Valley, St Andrews and Gleneagles before the season-ending Tour Championship takes place at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen in mid-October.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Fyfe of the schedule. “For all the guys in Scotland and now from further afield as well, the opportunity is incredible. It’s fantastic what Paul has set up here in Scotland and it’s a great opportunity, especially for the younger guys. They’ve now got something to work towards whereas before there wasn’t much in that respect.

“It’s a good learning ground as you can learn from the experiences as you are talking to these more experienced guys. It’s also very competitive as everyone is out there trying to win and it’s a really good breeding ground for winners. I just think it’s great overall, especially for Scottish golfers.”