Scottish golfer lifts lid on 'new lease of life' after tough spell and playing in 'bonkers' conditions

David Drysdale excited to secure crack at earning Champions Tour card in US

He was in Florida last week, is now adjusting to a 12-hour time difference in Hong Kong and will be facing a 15-hour bodyclock change when heading to Arizona in a fortnight’s time. It sounds utterly exhausting and involves travelling thousands of miles yet David Drysdale is still relishing life as a golfing globetrotter. 

The Cockburnspath man, who has been playing on the Asian Tour after losing his DP World Tour card two seasons ago, turns 50 next March and is aiming to give himself options for the next chapter in his career. He’s exempt for the European Legends Tour, where long-time friend Greig Hutcheon landed a breakthrough success this year and is excited to see it really starting to take shape.

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Drysdale’s big goal, though, is to be playing on the Champions Tour in 2025 and, having cleared his first hurdle last week in Tampa, he will now be teeing it up in the Final Stage in Scottsdale, where Stephen Gallacher will be joining him in a battle for just five coveted cards if he can come through another pre-qualifier in California this week.

David Drysdale pictured playing in the Kolon Korea Open on the Asian Tour this year. David Drysdale pictured playing in the Kolon Korea Open on the Asian Tour this year.
David Drysdale pictured playing in the Kolon Korea Open on the Asian Tour this year. | AFP via Getty Images

“It was quite a nice week and I enjoyed it,” said Drysdale of posting a seven-under-par total to finish joint-seventh behind Chilean Felipe Aguilar at Buckhorn Springs in Florida. “It was a bit bizarre as it was all on buggies, which I found really weird. That was the first time I’d played any seniors’ golf and it was interesting listening to the old boys on the range complaining about their sore feet or sore back and lots of other ailments (laughing).

“It was kind of a weird feeling thinking you are the youngest there effectively and you are almost like a rookie. It was a nice golf course, great weather and I kind of cruised really. There were 18 spots up for grabs last week and it didn’t matter if you finished first or 18th. You were there to do a job, which was to get through to the final stage and it was nice to do that.”

Even more so when he’d only played competitively once before in the States, having teed up in the Barbasol Championship when it was staged as a co-sanctioned event by the PGA Tour and DP World Tour opposite the Genesis Scottish Open two years ago. 

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“Obviously the standard is going to step up a bit at the Final Stage,” added Drysdale, who made 575 appearances on the DP World Tour, of his next hurdle, which takes place on 3-6 December at TPC Scottsdale. “Yeah, five cards is not many and I also don’t know Scottsdale or the Champions Course there, so it’s all going to be a new experience for me.

“I also didn’t really know many of the names of the guys playing in Tampa. Felipe Aguilar, who won it. played on the European Tour for a number of years and Maarten Lafeber was also there. Matt Cort, too, and actually the first time I got my European Tour card at Q-School in 2011, Matt did as well. I played a practice round with him then ended up playing in the final round with him as well and that was pretty cool.”

Cool isn’t something that Drysdale has found very often when he’s been playing on the Asian Tour, which he turned to in a bid to try and keep himself competitive for a couple of seasons in preparation for joining the senior ranks.

David and Vicky Drysdale celebrate the Cockburnspath man clearing his first hurdle in a bid to secure a Champions Tour card in 2025David and Vicky Drysdale celebrate the Cockburnspath man clearing his first hurdle in a bid to secure a Champions Tour card in 2025
David and Vicky Drysdale celebrate the Cockburnspath man clearing his first hurdle in a bid to secure a Champions Tour card in 2025 | Contributed

“I mean, the heat is just unbelievable,” he said, almost groaning just thinking about it, speaking as he prepared to tee up in this week’s Link Hong Kong Open in a field that is being spearheaded by Ryder Cup stars Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer along with Korean Tom Kim. 

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“It’s been pretty busy the last couple of months. We were in Thailand for two weeks then Jakarta. I shot four under at Black Mountain in 35 degrees with 95 per cent humidity, with the cut falling at six under. It was the same the next week in Bangkok then Jakarta was just unbearable. 

“You are allowed to wear shorts out here, but you are literally drinking a bottle of water every hole and taking either rehydration tablets or powders. There’s some rounds of golf where you get through 12 or 13 holes and you are thinking ‘I can’t give a stuff where the ball goes’. 

“You are just trying to survive the weather and that’s a huge disadvantage any European has playing out here. I look at some of these Thai lads and there’s not even a bead of sweat on them yet I am wandering about with a towel around my head all day long. Some of the weather is bonkers - it really is.”

Even though he won four times on the DP World Tour and played in the Ryder Cup, Gallacher surprisingly found himself involved at the First Stage as well and, according to Drysdale, the recently-turned 50-year-old will have been encouraged by sharing the lead at Soboba Springs in California after signing for a five-under-67 in the opening circuit.

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“Stevie would probably say himself that he’s not played his best golf over the last couple of years in Europe, but he’s gone out there and shot a good first round,” he said of his compatriot. “It’s a new window of opportunity for a few years to try and kick on again after turning 50.

“Listen, no-one wants to wish their life away, do they? But, after a tough couple of years since I lost my card at the end of the 2022 season, I’d like to play some seniors’ golf for a handful of years. It’s a new lease of life. I know it’s not going to last forever, so it’s just about trying to enjoy it while I can keep going.”

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