Golf: Drake's fine finish a credit as his family comes first

The 36-year-old forklift driver shot rounds of 69, 68, 70 and 75 for a two-under-par aggregate of 282 – seven shots behind the winner, Downfield's Ross Bell. It was a great effort from Drake, who earned his place in the select field after leading the qualifying for last year's Lothians Championship, given he'd played very little golf in comparison to most others in the line-up.

But the plus two man left Fife believing he could actually have lifted the title in one of the top events on the Scottish calendar.

"While I've surprised myself on the one hand, on the other it was there for the taking," said Drake. "I just couldn't get a grip of the greens at all and if I'd managed to two-putt more of them, I could easily have been level with the winner."

Drake played with Tommy Fleetwood, the eventual runner-up in the last two rounds, and admitted he was hugely impressed by the 19-year-old Englishman. "It was nice to play alongside someone like that," he added. "Just watching him play golf was pretty impressive."

While Fleetwood has been honing his skills for the new season in places like Australia and Spain, Drake's preparations have hardly been straightforward, making his effort at the weekend all the more praiseworthy. "My four-month-old son, Paul, was born nine weeks premature and was in the Sick Kids for a while," revealed the former Lothians Order of Merit winner.

"As a result, this was only the fourth time I've played golf in the last two months and I'll probably be playing less for the rest of the year than normal."

Asked if the performance would give him a lift for the rest of the campaign, he added: "I don't need any boosts – I just turn up at an event and see if it works."

After opening with a promising one-under-par 70, Kingsknowe's Allyn Dick shot 78, 77 and 73 to finish on 298, while Olly Huish from North Berwick showed signs of being ring rusty as he finished on 317 (79, 85, 76 and 77).

Mark Hillson, Craigielaw's former Lothians champion, retired after an opening 74, the Amateur Championship quarter-finalist from last year having been unwell in the build-up to the event and feeling he'd be unable to complete the 72 holes.