Junior Tour shake-up will widen scope in search for new talent

EVENTS aimed primarily at providing more opportunities for Scotland’s top young golfers to sharpen their competitive teeth on some of the top courses in the country are to be opened up next year as part of a new sponsorship.

The Scottish Golf Union, which had been criticised in the past over spots in Junior Tour events being handed out on an invitation basis, is changing that process after securing a three-year deal from Scottish Hydro to back the event.

The Junior Tour series is part of the SGU Boys Order of Merit, which the new sponsorship also covers, and, though the full 2012 schedule is still being finalised, it will definitely consist of three 54-hole events in addition to the national championships.

Speaking at snow-covered Dalmahoy, where the five-figure deal with the energy company was announced yesterday, SGU marketing manager Ross Duncan said: “The Junior Tour was launched seven years ago to provide more competitive golf on challenging courses.

“Until now around 40 players per event were invited on a rotation basis and it has been used primarily to let selectors watch the young players in action.

“In 2012, these events will be open to all the top junior players in the country and will provide a great platform as they bid to follow in the footsteps of former Boys Order of Merit winners such as Scott Henry, David Law and James White.

“However, I wouldn’t say this change is being made on the back of any criticism. [SGU performance development manager] Kevin Cademy-Taylor has been reviewing the structure and it’s about getting the best players into the fields for these events.”

The sponsorship takes Scottish Hydro’s involvement in golf down to grass-roots level, having already built up a portfolio that includes backing of the Scottish Challege, an established event on the European Challenge Tour at Macdonald Spey Valley, and the ground-breaking Team Scottish Hydro.

Having provided valuable support for five players on the Challenge Tour this year, it is hoped that the likes of Greig Marchbank and Anthony Blaney, both of whom attended yesterday’s launch, can progress through the SGU ranks and benefit from that initiative as well in the future.

“Scottish Hydro has been a supporter of emerging talent in golf for a number of years now and this partnership with the SGU provides us with an excellent means of developing that talent,” said Jon Petrie, the former Scotland back-row who is the company’s sponsorship manager. “We hope to see a stream of young players from across Scotland coming through the ranks to forge successful careers – for us to be part of that is hugely exciting.”

Craig Lee, the most successful Team Scottish Hydro member this year, having secured his card for the European Tour next season, came through the amateur ranks, winning the Scottish Boys’ Stroke-Play Championship in 1995.

Adding his support to yesterday’s announcement, he noted the marked difference in the opportunities being offered to young players these days after hearing that Marchbank and Blaney had just returned from a ten-day training trip in Abu Dhabi as part of a Scottish squad.

“I don’t remember anything like that or a Junior Tour series – it is phenomenal,” said Lee. “Golf clubs are struggling to fill memberships at the moment and anything that is going to encourage the game to grow has to be welcomed as it could help youths go on to become full members.”

Asked about the current figures for golf club membership, Duncan revealed that active steps being taken by clubs were continuing to have a positive effect. “There has been a drop of 1.6 per cent overall this year, but that figure is getting less every year,” he said. “Clubs have changed their approach. For instance, at some clubs full adult membership doesn’t kick in until the age of 30 and, at Pollok (in Glasgow) it’s not until someone turns 40.”

The new sponsorship takes the SGU’s total package per annum to £470,000, though that figure includes an element of “in kind” deals, including the one with Yas Links that enabled the Scottish squad to use the facilities there recently, with a return trip pencilled in for early in the New Year.

“This is another excellent addition to a portfolio that includes RBS, Highland Spring, Aberdeen Asset Management and Belhaven Best,” added Duncan. “We are not so reliant on members’ subs as we once were. In fact, the split between that and sponsorship income is almost 50-50 now.”

It was also announced yesterday that the Scottish Hydro National Competition, an event open to every club golfer in the country, will be held again next year. Winners will earn spots in the Scottish Hydro Challenge Pro-Am in June.