Martin Dempster: SGU must hold on to Coltart’s expertise

It is encouraging that the “options in other areas” where the man from Thornhill in Dumfriesshire, though now a resident of East Lothian, feels he can contribute more positively than ploughing on as a Tour player include some work with the Scottish Golf Union’s national squads.

What would be even better, though, is if the national body took the bull by the horns and appointed Coltart, one of many fine ambassadors the Royal & Ancient game has produced in this country, in an official role that enabled him to pass on his vast experience properly. It’s a gap in Scottish golf that has been way too apparent in recent years as our leading amateurs, talented as they are, have struggled to secure a foothold in the professional game, finding the switch more difficult than many imagine. Ian Rae, the national coach, has the respect of every player he has worked with during his tenure with the SGU and the fact the likes of Richie Ramsay, Steven O’Hara, George Murray and Callum Macaulay, to name but a few, have stayed loyal to him speaks for itself.

But it’s not just technical advice that players need when they leave the cossetted environment of modern-day amateur game and enter the lion’s den that is professional golf.

As Andrew Oldcorn, the former PGA champion, pointed out recently, a player can win a string of titles as long as their arm as an amateur, yet that counts for nothing to the man marking his scorecard in the paid ranks.

Which is where someone like Coltart could be such a useful asset over the next couple of decades while still pursuing other opportunities, notably the media work that has opened up to him in what have proved to be the final few years of his playing career.

He’s “been there and done it”, both as an amateur and professional. As an emerging talent, he won the Scottish Boys Championship in 1987, the year before he lost to Jim Milligan in the final of the Scottish Amateur Championship. He represented Scotland at every level and in every event that mattered. Great Britain & Ireland, too, including a Walker Cup appearance in 1991 at Portmarnock.

His professional CV is just as impressive, the highlights being two wins on the European Tour, a Dunhill Cup success at St Andrews alongside Colin Montgomerie and Sam Torrance in 1995 and a Ryder Cup appearance four years later.

In truth, it’s shocking that someone with so much talent has been forced to call it a day due to golf at the top level having become a bomber’s game, but at least Coltart has had the stomach to make what has surely been the toughest decision of his life.

Having done so, the important thing now is that someone, probably Hamish Grey, the SGU’s chief executive, pulls out all the stops and comes up with a role that ensures Scottish golf makes the most of the experience that is crying out to be utilised.

It’s been great to see the likes of Monty, Ramsay, Paul Lawrie and Stephen Gallacher involved with SGU squads in recent years and now an opportunity has arisen to take things to another level by having a full-time mentor, if you like.

During a visit to Glasgow just before Christmas, Jean Van de Velde revealed he was employed by the French Golf Federation in such a role and, for my money at least, Coltart’s credentials are even more impressive than his Ryder Cup team-mate at Brookline 13 years ago.

At long last, you really do sense that everyone connected in Scottish golf has started to pull in the same direction and that’s imperative. It’s not about individual organisations trying to outdo one another in a bid to claim bragging rights.

In the final European Tour event of 2011, we had Lawrie challenging for the title in Dubai and now the new season has started with Alastair Forsyth and Craig Lee giving a good accounts of themselves in South Africa, as well as Martin Laird making his presence felt in Hawaii.

There’s a feelgood factor starting to brew and that can be added to if the chance to turn the end of Coltart’s playing career into a real positive isn’t squandered.