There’s no pressure on Ewen Ferguson and Grant Forrest at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship this week – but the system that has brought the two young Scots through to this stage is under intense scrutiny.
Ferguson (21) and Forrest (23) have had outstanding amateur careers including big roles in GB&I’s Walker Cup win last year and a host of top titles across Europe, and both make their debuts as fully-fledged professionals with invitations to the Dunhill with its monster $5 million prizefund.
The scrutiny comes as the duo are the first two players to come through the agreement of management company Bounce Sports and the amateur governing body Scottish Golf aimed at easing our best young prospects through the traps between the amateur and pro games that have snared so many.
Over the past year the pair have had Challenge Tour starts and guidance from Bounce – Stephen Gallacher’s management team – as they prepared for the pros.
Ideally, of course, they’d like to do what Rory McIlroy did in 2007 – finish third on an invitation and make all the cash needed to secure their tour rights in one bound. But perhaps directly comparing our prospects with the likes of Rory is part of the problem.
Neither Forrest nor Ferguson are thinking about tour rights, even if these courses are probably the most familiar they’ll see in their first years in the pro ranks.
“We’ve played the Old Course every year in the St Andrews Links Trophy,” pointed out Forrest, who won that event in 2014. “And I obviously played Carnoustie quite a bit last year in the Amateur Championship (where he reached the final), so it definitely helps ease us into it.”
Ferguson, from Bearsden, has also played the Dunhill before as an amateur, so he knows what’s expected. But he has no aspirations this week other than learning from yesterday’s practice round with Masters champion Danny Willett, and soaking up the experience.
“I’m not thinking about the money side of this at all,” said Ferguson, who like Forrest is already through to the second stage of the European Tour’s Qualifying School. “I’m just trying to enjoy my golf and get the hole in as few shots as possible, and learn as much as I can.
“It’s a long road, and while I hope to play well, I’m not thinking about anything more than that.”
Forrest, who hails from the heart of East Lothian golf country, had planned to turn pro after the Walker Cup last year, but believes the year since will strengthen him.
“I struggled a little with my game in the second half of last year and you have to turn pro when you are playing well,” he said. “So with Bounce and Scottish Golf we put together a great schedule with Challenge Tour and top amateur events, and I feel I’m in a much better place than I was last year.
“Both of us are just gearing up for the second stage of Tour School. We’ll just keep our heads down and keep working, stick to what has got us here now, and just keep trying to improve on the little things going forward.”
