Ian Redford back on form after illness and horror crash

One of Scotland’s budding young professionals is starting to find his form again after being involved in a head-on car crash earlier in the year.

Ian Redford, a former Scottish Under-16 champion who also reached the final of the Scottish Boys’ Championship at West Kilbride two years ago, was left unconscious and suffered a spate of injuries following the horrific accident close to his family home at Drumoig in Fife.

It’s been a slow and frustrating recovery for the 19-year-old, whose father, also Ian, played for Rangers and Dundee United and is a professional golfer himself these days.

But he’s starting to see light at the end of the tunnel, coming within two shots of making a play-off for the final few spots up for grabs in last week’s Open Championship regional qualifier at Bruntsfield Links.

“It was a pretty awful start to the year,” reflected Redford. “I was in the car with my mum and some other family members. We’d just turned out of Drumoig on to the main road when a car appeared on the wrong side of the road and collided head-on into us.

“I suffered concussion, whiplash and also had facial injuries including some skin being ripped off. It was a horrible experience but at least I’m still here. One of my mates, William Rennie, was killed in a road accident so that made me realise how fortunate I am to have survived a crash like that.

“Even when I started to hit balls again, I was getting sore heads and that was making me feel frustrated, especially after it happened just as I was starting to recover from a year fighting glandular fever.

“Between a combination of the two things, I’d not played well for a year but I’m starting to have some half decent results again, which is encouraging.”

Working with Sandy Smith, the Ladybank professional, is paying dividends and Redford Snr has nothing but admiration for the way his son is battling to overcome adversity.

“He’s showing a great attitude to come back, both from the glandular fever and the serious car accident, and I am very proud of him,” he said.

“Sandy Smith has a good stable of players at the moment [it also includes Carly and Wallace Booth] and there are definitely signs that junior’s game is coming back. That’s encouraging.”