Barriers down as rookies are given access to Tartan Tour

A CLEAR vision of the importance of giving aspiring Tour professionals ample opportunities to cut their competitive teeth has paved the way for a ground-breaking development for the Optical Express Pro Golf Tour, the Scottish-based circuit launched two years ago by Alan Tait.

Instead of being run independently, the Tour’s six events – at Dundonald Links, Spey Valley, Tain/Brora, Duddingston, Rowallan Castle and the Duke’s at St Andrews – are being bolted on to the Tartan Tour schedule this year and will be managed by the PGA in Scotland. Continuing the ethos of the original Tour, non-PGA professionals and leading amateurs will still be able to play in the tournaments, giving them the valuable experience that Tait and his fellow founder, Nigel Scott-Smith, felt was lacking at crucial stages in the careers of Scotland’s potential next generation of European Tour players.

It means EuroPro Tour players like John Gallagher, Shuan McAllister and Zack Saltman, as well as rookie professionals such as Michael Stewart, David Law and Ross Kellett, will be able to compete on a regular basis against the leading Tartan Tour players, including Greig Hutcheon, Scott Henderson and Stephen Gray.

“For some of our members, this might not be to everyone’s taste, but we have a responsibility for golf in general,” said Michael MacDougall, secretary of the PGA in Scotland, in announcing at Gleneagles yesterday that Tait and Scott-Smith were handing the reins of their Tour over to his organisation.

The six events – all bar one, the three-round opener at Dundonald Links next month, are 36-holers – will count towards the 2012 Tartan Tour Order of Merit, which will also comprise the Gleneagles Scottish PGA Championship, Deer Park Masters, Aberdeen Asset Northern Open and Kerr Investments Classic.

Asked if this constituted barriers coming down within the PGA, MacDougall added: “The PGA is an association that is more than 110 years old. It is steeped in tradition, but there is also a recognition to open up and this is an opportunity to do that.”

It is hoped the events, which cost £100 to enter, will attract fields of around 100, a third of which is likely to be made up of non-PGA members, including both amateurs and women, though unlike last year they will be playing for the same pot getting a 10-14 per cent reduction on the length of course.

“Nigel and I had a long chat before Christmas and we felt that we did everything we possibly could in the last two years to make an independent tour work in Scotland, but unfortunately average fields of 40-45 over that time is not sustainable,” said Tait, the director of golf at Marriott Dalmahoy.

“Instead of saying goodbye to such an important sponsor as Optical Express, we felt that the next best thing to do for professional golf in Scotland – and its future – was to hand it over to the Scottish PGA, who will undoubtedly take it to the level it needs to go to.”

Alan White, chairman of the PGA in Scotland, sits on the board of Scottish Golf Support Ltd, the body set up to administer a £1 million funding package from the Scottish Government. “I think there has been a feeling in the past of barriers being in place [within the different bodies in Scottish golf] but I definitely believe we are all now pulling together.”

His counterpart at Panmure, Andrew Crerar, was a European Tour player himself at one point but ended up in debt as he tried to hold on to that card. Now captain of the PGA in Scotland and a regular on the Tartan Tour, he is ready to play his part in helping young professionals in their bid to climb the ladder.

“It is great to see Andrew Coltart, someone who was affected by perceived barriers in the PGA in the past, involved in helping young Scottish amateurs and hopefully the non-PGA members playing in the Opitcal Express Tour events will be able to tap into the experience of guys like Greig Hutcheon, Scott Henderson and myself,” he said.

Though not yet finalised, this year’s Tartan Tour will boast a total prize fund of more than £700,000, an increase of around £100,000 on 2011. It includes a £50,000 pot for a new event, the Tomatin 54-hole Pro-am, at Castle Stuart, Nairn and Royal Dornoch at the beginning of October. Similar to an event held in the past at Carnoustie, most of the 75 spots have been sold already, with close to 20 teams coming from abroad to enjoy a ‘festival of golf’ in the Highlands.