Grant Forrest set to lead home charge at Scottish Open

Grant Forrest on the first tee at The Renaissance during an Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Opens media day. Picture: Kenny Smith

Though he was born in Livingston and lived initially in West Lothian, Forrest has spent most of his life in East Lothian. He came through the junior ranks at Craigielaw and is still attached there, while he also plays and practises at Archerfield Links. The family home is in North Berwick, meaning Forrest faces a journey of less than five miles to the venue for next week’s $7 million Rolex Series event.

“I didn’t get the chance to play in the Scottish Open as an amateur, so I am really looking forward to it. And to have it on my doorstep is even nicer,” admitted the 26-year-old, one of four Scots to graduate from the Challenge Tour at the end of last season and, along with the others, looking very much at home on the main circuit.

That debut in his home Open was denied in 2013. “I had won the Scottish Amateur the year before and traditionally you would have got into the Scottish Open back then the following year, but they [the Scottish Golf Union] wanted me to play in the European Team Championship instead,” recalled Forrest. Though proud to wear the dark blue colours over the years, he turned down that request. “I had qualified for The Open, so I ended up having a few extra rounds at Muirfield instead,” he added.

In his rookie season on the European Tour, Forrest has found himself travelling here, there and everywhere. Until now, the only real opportunity that his mum, Audrey, and younger sister, Ailsa, have had to watch him in the flesh was when they travelled down to Lancashire for the Betfred British Masters at Hillside in May. But the “Forrest Fan Club” will be out in force on the East Lothian coast.

“I will do my best to embrace it,” he said of the prospect of finding himself the centre of local attention in an event that has Rory McIlroy heading a stellar cast that also includes Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, inset, Matt Kuchar and Henrik Stenson. “There will be more hype than any other event this year.

“I’ll have family and friends down watching, so there might be more external pressure. I think I’d be lying if I said, ‘no, that won’t be the case’. At the end of the day I am just trying to treat it the same as any other week, it’s just another tournament and I’ll do my best.”

The event is being played over the Tom Doak-designed course at the Renaissance Club for the first time after the three main partners – the European Tour, Aberdeen Standard Investments and the Scottish Government – opted to keep it in East Lothian for the second year in a row after a second visit to Gullane 12 months ago, when South African Brandon Stone claimed the title after a sensational 60 in the closing round.

“How often have I played here? Probably not as many times as you would think,” said Forrest of this year’s venue. “I played it a couple of times when it opened but, between then and Open qualifying last year, I only played the new layout a couple of times. But I have had quite a few rounds here recently.

“It’s a more modern links. The course I would compare it to is Castle Stuart, it has that kind of feel. It has big and undulating greens and it is challenging, especially if the wind blows. That can make it pretty long. So it really depends on the weather, but that’s the same with most links courses. It looks like the rough is growing as well.

“The second shots are going to be very important. You can hit 15 greens but not go round in par because you could be miles away from the hole all day. It’s about trying to leave yourself as many 20 footers as possible and take your chances on the day.”

Forrest, who won the Scottish Amateur at Royal Dornoch a few months after losing his dad, Graeme, to cancer, heads into the event with two top-ten finishes under his belt this season, having claimed a share of seventh spot in the Mauritius Open in December then backing that up with a tie for sixth in the Hassan Trophy in Morocco in April.

“The biggest challenge about adjusting to the European Tour has been getting to know courses that a lot of the guys on tour have been playing for years,” he said. “You’re going to a course and you are only really playing one practice round before it starts so that has been a big challenge. The travelling is a challenge as well, just being all over the place during the winter months – Hong Kong, Mauritius, South Africa, the Middle East. It’s nice to get back to Europe now and have some shorter flights.”

Not since Colin Montgomerie did the trick in 1999 at Loch Lomond has a home player won the Scottish Open. But, with Stephen Gallacher and David Law both having landed title triumphs on the circuit this season and the Saltire having been prominent on leaderboards in almost every event, hopes are high for the Tartan Army this time around.

“It has just continued on from where we left off on the Challenge Tour last year,” opined Forrest of Scottish golf enjoying its best campaign on the main circuit for a number of years. “It was brilliant for Davie to get the win down in Australia then Stevie in India, and we are just trying to feed off each other and keep it going.”