Gregor Graham targets South African success after boost from Tartan Pro Tour win

Blairgowrie player starts trip with Scottish Golf squad by claiming second spot in Gauteng North Open

Blairgowrie's Gregor Graham started his trip to South Africa as part of a Scottish Golf squad by finishing second in the Gauteng North Open. Picture: Golf RSA

Gregor Graham is feeling quietly confident that he can add to a lengthy list of South African successes by Scottish amateurs over the past decade or so after hitting the ground running on a warm weather training trip funded through the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

In the first of four events on a trip being undertaken by a five-strong Scottish Golf squad, the Blairgowrie player finished second in the Gauteng North Open, which was held at The Els Club on Copperleaf Golf Estate in Centurion.

Graham, who was due to be accompanied on the trip by his younger brother, Connor, before he picked up a hand injury that requires rest, opened with a 72 before adding three successive 67s to finish with a 15-under-par total.

Gregor Graham shows off the trophy after winning the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters on Paul Lawrie's Tartan Pro Tour last year. Picture: Tartan Pro Tour

Home player Louis Moolman landed the title by two shots after posting four scores in the 60s but, on a leaderboard otherwise dominated by South Afrians, it was a splendid opening salvo from Graham.

“It’s great to be back out in South Africa to play some tournaments so early on in the year and it was good to start off with a solid performance,” he told The Scotsman. “My strong point was definitely my driver. Hit the ball really well, hit a lot of fairways, which just made the golf play so much easier, having wedges into the greens and I was able to take advantage of getting the ball close to the hole a lot. My game is trending in the right direction and I can’t wait for the next event to try to get the win.”

Graham made the same trip 12 months ago and has been joined on this occasion by Matthew Wilson (Forres), Gregor Tait (Aldeburgh), Jack McDonald (Schloss Roxburghe) and James Morgan (Longniddry). As has been the case for nearly 15 years, it has been made possible by support provided to Scottish Golf by the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation.

“It’s such an amazing opportunity to be out here with the Scottish Golf team,” said Graham. “I can’t thank the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation enough as I feel so lucky to have such a good group of guys out here with me, playing and practice every day in the warm weather. Being here last year is definitely helping me a lot because at the first event, for instance, I knew what to expect from last year. I understood how to play out here in the warm weather and how the courses get set up.”

Next up for Graham and his compatriots is the South African Stroke-Play Championship, which starts on Tuesday at Mount Edgecombe Country Club in Durban. The South African Amateur Championship, which has produced no less than four Scottish successes since the trip started, then takes place at Royal Johannesburg and Royal Kensington Golf Club on 4-9 February before the GolfRSA International Amateur, which is being held on 13-16 February at Houghton Golf Club, is last up for the Caledonian contingent.

“I think we all push each other on and inspire each other to do better out here because, at the end of the day, we are all pushing each other to go get a win! So it’s great friendly competition,” declared Graham, who secured a place in the record books last year when he became the first amateur to win on the Tartan Pro Tour.

“I gained a lot of confidence from that,” he admitted of making home advantage count as he upstaged some proven winners in the paid ranks by landing the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters presented by the St Andrews Brewing Co. “It has just given me the belief that I can go out and do well in tournaments and win. So I’m very excited for the next few weeks as I try to get some more wins under my belt.”