How son's smile has helped Scottish golfer cope with 'funny game'
Grant Forrest may have won on DP World Tour this season but his overall game has left him disappointed
Grant Forrest reckons the smile on the face of son Spencer will ensure his final week of the 2025 DP World Tour season is a happy one in Dubai this week.
The 32-year-old joins Bob MacIntyre, Calum Hill, Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme in flying the Saltire in the $10 million DP World Tour Championship, which starts on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates on Thursday.
It is Forrest’s fourth appearance in the season finale, having looked a certainty to be in the 50-man field after winning the Nexo Championship on Scottish soil in August before finding himself in a bit of a sweat heading into last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“It is a good sign being here,” Forrest told The Scotsman. “I just missed out last year, but that probably worked out for the best with the wee man coming along. Yeah, it is nice to be here, although it was a little bit stressful last week.
“Going into it, I was probably 20-30 points away from being certain to be here but, thankfully, the top of the leaderboard worked out well for me after I didn’t have my best stuff, but I had a decent finish on Sunday to do enough.”
Forrest landed his second DP World Tour triumph with an impressive four-shot victory at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire, securing, in addition to a video call straight afterwards from US President Donald Trump, a two-year exemption. By his own admission, though, Forrest’s end-of-season report card will include the words ‘room for improvement’.
“Every year is going to have its ups and downs, but I really don’t feel I’ve played well enough this year compared to what I know I am capable of,” he declared. “Obviously the win was amazing and it was great to have a week like that. But, if I look at it all round and consistency-wise, I don’t think I’ve had a top ten other than that week.
‘I feel I am getting back on track’
“It’s a funny game. The way it is, you’d probably rather have it that way in one sense than finishing 20th every week. If you got a win every season, you’d obviously be delighted. Yeah, my game has not really been where I wanted it to be this year.
“But I feel like I am getting back on track and getting the two-year exemption as well was a big relief as it allows me to pick a schedule again for the next couple of season that I feel works best for me and, hopefully, I can get my game in a better shape so that I can give myself more chances next season.”
In the build up to the two end-of-season Play-Off events in the Middle East, Forrest was joined by wife Christy and son Spencer, who celebrates his first birthday next week and has helped his dad appreciate that there’s more to life than playing golf.
“It’s massive,” he said of being a parent. “It is hard to describe actually. But it is hard to imagine life before him now. Yeah, it just changes the way you see things, especially away from tournaments or even at tournaments because you miss him all the time as he is learning new things every week and even every day. Yeah, I think it really hammers home how tough it can be being away as much as we are.
“But, equally, we are fortunate to be in a position where I can have them out here for a few weeks at this stage of the year and really enjoy it. It’s also cool that Spencer will be out here for his first birthday on Monday.”
‘His face helps you forget about poor golf’
Forrest is the first to admit that he can be hard on himself at times, so has having Spencer around helped in that respect? “A little bit,” he said, smiling. “I will always be that way, I think. But, when you go back to wherever you are staying and you’ve not had a great day on the golf course, it’s great because he’s delighted to see you coming back and the smile on his face helps you forget about it all.”
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