Marc Warren: Sponsors are so crucial for young players

Marc Warren is an ambassador for Aberdeen Standard Investments.

“Aberdeen Asset’s contribution to Scottish golf has been second to none,” said Marc Warren of a company that is now, of course, called Aberdeen Standard Investments following a merger between Aberdeen Asset Management and Standard Life.

It remains to be seen if that link up will have any effect on the company’s long-term sponsorship activity in the game after deals struck separately for the Ryder Cup and the Scottish Open end in 2018 and 2020 respectively.

For the time being, though, it looks as though the new Aberdeen Standard Investments logo is set be every bit as prominent in Scottish golf as the old Aberdeen Asset Management one and brand ambassador Warren reckons that is fantastic news for players at all levels in the game.

“It’s incredible, really,” said the three-time European Tour winner of the company’s  widespread backing of golf in its birthplace. “They have been key supporters in my time all the way through to professional level.”

In addition to Warren, the likes of Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, Catriona Matthew, Pamela Pretswell Asher, Kelsey MacDonald and Kylie Walker all fly the company’s flag on main Tours around the world while a number of others, including rookies Connor Syme and Robert MacIntyre, are also getting valuable support at important stages in their careers. “One of things I’ve noticed since I came on board is how faithful they are to people they support from amateur level. Guys and girls who haven’t quite made it on to the main Tour yet, Aberdeen have still supported them,” added Warren.

“It’s quite easy for a sponsor to keep a player for a year or two and leave them on the wayside when results have not been quite what they wanted. (Challenge Tour card holder) Ross Kellett is a good example of that. He’s still got potential to be a very good player but hasn’t got on to the main tour yet, for whatever reason.

“One of the constants in his career so far is that Aberdeen have always been there. If he didn’t have that support he might not be able to continue his progress he has been making. They’re great supporters and I’m sure they will continue to be.”

Next year will be Warren’s 17th season in the paid ranks and the 36-year-old is looking to build on chalking up four top-15 finishes in a row towards the end of the 2017 campaign when he gets back down to business in the BMW SA Open in the second week of January.

“A lot of things came together at the end of last season,” he said, speaking at an Aberdeen Standard Investments golf clinic at the Braid Hills Golf Centre in Edinburgh. “I started playing injury-free (after struggling for large part of the season with a serious shoulder problem) and felt as if my game, technically, was getting to a place I was really happy with. In fact, I feel technically I’m getting to places I’ve never been before in my golf swing and I feel as if this will stand me in good stead next year onwards.”

While his clubs were put away for a bit following a company day for Callaway at Archerfield Links last week, the World Cup winner in the company of Colin Montgomerie in 2007 is getting himself ready for that new campaign by working on his fitness. He’s taking more care handling weights, though, after a mishap caused that shoulder injury.

“I work with Alex Woods at Braid Hills and, after having a great six-week programme last winter that left me feeling great, I was working with weights, let it go and tried to grab it back and that caused the injury,” he recalled. “Now I’m trying to get as much strength as I can in my right shoulder before going to South Africa. It’s mobility stuff at the moment and we’ll then do some speed stuff as part of a daily routine.”

Despite the weather having turned bitterly cold in recent days, Warren is happy to stay at home as he waits to crank thing up again on the course. “I’ve tried to go to Florida for the winter, but they were probably the worst starts I’ve had to years,” he said. “I thought I was giving myself an advantage, but it had the opposite effect. So I think for me, mentally, physically, the best thing is just to have some down time.”