Golf: Testing times ahead as teen Grant Forrest gets call-up

SCOTTISH Boys' champion Grant Forrest admits it was a "pleasant surprise" to get his first Lothians six-man chance in this weekend's Moneygate Scottish Area Team Championship at Kinross.

And the Craigielaw teenager is aiming to make the most of his appearance in the revamped event to climb a few places up the amateur world rankings.

Forrest, a pupil at Stewart's Melville, is in the middle of exams and pulled out of last weekend's Scottish Youths Championship at Monifieth so he could give the first of those his full attention earlier this week.

But, with the next one not until a week today, he's decided the chance to represent Lothians in the showpiece men's team event on the domestic calendar is something he can't miss.

"It was a pleasant surprise when I found out as I haven't played for the men's six-man team before," he said. "Lothians have a lot of players to pick from and it is always going to be tough to get into that team.

"It is a good field and with world ranking points as well that will add extra spice to it. For me, it is a good chance to get some points to get up the rankings."

Under its former guise, Lothians lifted the title a record 13 times. In tandem with Steven Armstrong, Allyn Dick, Mark Hillson, David Miller and Mark Timmins, Forrest is hoping to add to that haul this weekend.

"We have a bit of a reputation (in this event]," he added. "Everyone takes it seriously and that has obviously paid off when you look at the number of times we've won it. Hopefully we can keep up our good record."

Dick, the newly-crowned Lothians champion, will be hoping he can take up where he left off at Royal Burgess last weekend, while Hillson will certainly have a role to play if he can recapture the form that saw him reach the last eight in the Amateur Championship almost a year ago.

Armstrong, Miller and Timmins are all useful players on their day, too, and captain Keith Nicholson will be hoping he's come up with the right blend for an event that will involve both stroke-play and match-play for the teams that reach the last four.

Renfrewshire are defending the title with the same six players that won it at Crail last October, while the in-form Kris Nicol is in a strong-looking North East team that will be looking to capture the crown for the first time in 18 years.

Simon Fairburn, fresh from his second-place finish in the Scottish Youths' Championship, is part of a Borders side looking to win the event for the first time, while Ross Kellett, the second highest ranked Scottish amateur in the world, will be hoping he can lead Lanarkshire to their first victory since 1998.

The revamped event consists of two rounds of stroke-play qualifying over the Montgomery and Bruce courses tomorrow, with the leading four Areas competing in the semi-finals the following morning for a place in the Sunday afternoon final.