A Monifieth golf professional who is plying his trade in Dubai has dedicated a recent tournament win in the Gulf to his late mentor back home.
Malcolm Young played his junior golf at Monifieth Golf Links before becoming assistant professional at Panmure Golf Club, where he spent six years in the role before moving to Portugal.
He arrived in Dubai in 2007 and has worked at Arabian Ranches ever since.
Last month Young won the UAE PGA Championship and he was keen to pay tribute to Monifieth professional Ian McLeod, who died in February.
He said: ”The first professional I took lessons from was Ian McLeod at Monifieth Links, who really was an inspiration for me to take up the game.
”I know he recently passed away. He was a big influence on me pursuing a career as a professional along with many others at Monifieth who did the same as me.”
The UAE PGA is a 36-hole event which is the local tour championship. The event took place at Yas Links in Abu Dhabi and Young won by four strokes.
He said: ”The victory was especially pleasing for me as I have struggled since last October with an injury problem in my shoulder, which was misdiagnosed. I had a long period of recovery with my sports clinic osteopath and physio, not to mention some frustrating rounds of golf.
”But in the last three weeks I have made big strides and although not 100% I felt more confident on the course but with a much more open attitude to the outcome. So it’s fair to say a distinct change in my mental attitude because of the injuries contributed to this win.
”I have no real ambitions to pursue a playing career these days as the game has changed too much. I have a busy coaching schedule in Dubai and enjoy developing our junior and ladies academy programmes.
”One of the benefits of winning the event is a qualification for the Unicredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe taking place in Bulgaria this September and I would be aiming to play this provided I can gain sponsorship to travel.”