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Welcome back to Linked by Golf, 
the podcast exploding the 

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journeys of people linked by the
game. 

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I'm your host Ross McGuire, and 
today's episode is a special one

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as I'm joined by John Gallagher,
Scottish Amateur Champion, 2005 

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British Amateur finalist and one
of the most distinctive players 

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to come out of Scottish amateur 
golf in recent decades. 

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We talked about his run to the 
final at Royal Birkdale in the 

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Amateur Championship, the night 
he couldn't sleep for dreaming 

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about Augusta and what it really
takes to compete at the top 

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level of the amateur game, from 
county golf with the Lothians to

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representing Scotland in 
international stage. 

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But more than that, this is 
about the field journey from a 

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teenager falling in love with 
the game on the Pennland House 

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to the grade of Professional 
Golf, to still competing and 

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still loving it. 
Today. 

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Let's go over to John. 
John Gallagher, how are you 

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doing? 
Great to have you on the show. 

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Across Good to see you mate. 
It's been a while. 

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Only 20. 
Years now, about 20 years since 

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we were down. 
Obviously we were talking about 

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11 trophy there. 
Even the news 4 summers was a 

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special moment when we first 
met. 

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That was pretty special as well,
but no good great to obviously 

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be on the show. 
I really enjoy your stuff. 

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I've watched all your, you know,
mostly all your episodes. 

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I love to speak like looking at 
all the old guys and their 

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stories and and I guess I'm one 
of the old guys now, right so. 

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And then and then John, you were
playing, it's a privilege of 

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playing Thumbry yesterday. 
So what's the course like? 

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No versus what it used to be. 
I felt the changes are very. 

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Good. 
Yeah, we sort. 

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No, it wasn't actually. 
We were on the baguette. 

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We weren't on a big course 
yesterday, but I was through I 

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was through supporting a really 
brilliant charity and the John 

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Hudson Foundation. 
I've been going to this event 

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now for the past 10 years. 
I think the the clothing come 

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there that helped me out with 
1977 names been helping me for 

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quite some time. 
They sponsor the event and and 

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through that I've got to meet 
like John himself and not just 

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John, all the other guys and 
better the mix. 

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There was Rangers players back 
in the day and and Celtic 

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players and I do love football. 
So it's great for me to go and 

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the probably last thing they 
want to talk about is football. 

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But I'd be over there chatting 
about what was this like? 

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What was that like? 
But no, we had a great day 

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yesterday would have Douglas was
was in our team, who was the ex 

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Celtic goalkeeper and then just 
a great day, just a brilliant 

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day. 
So Brown, Brown to be able to go

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through Robert the Bruce is it's
a beautiful order. 

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It really is. 
It's an amazing golf course. 

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It's a tough golf course, 
Robert, the press say is really 

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hard with all the golf bushes 
and stuff for. 

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That yeah, it's tight. 
It's a lot tighter than I 

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remember. 
We've done the British Amateur. 

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They are. 
Let me see. 

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I think it might have been 2009 
and I struggled on the recourse,

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to be honest with you, and done 
probably better on a big course.

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But yeah, it's a really tight 
golf course. 

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But I have to say the condition 
of it yesterday was was 

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exceptional. 
I've been very fortunate. 

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I've played, I've played some of
the big links courses this year 

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already. 
I've been up to Kings Barns, 

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I've been on the Old Course and 
Dumb, Dumb Bars in beautiful 

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order and I've been and Castle 
Shoot as well for that. 

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And yeah, just growing to play. 
We've got some great lengths, 

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golf courses in Scotland, Ross, 
so we're very fortunate, you 

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know. 
Absolutely, I'm a jump straight 

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into pleasant time John, but how
did you get into the game but 

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got you're going? 
I got into the game and my dad 

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worked on golf courses and he 
was a green keeper course 

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manager and I was young. 
Let me see, I think I was quite 

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late to playing golf. 
I was 14 when I started playing 

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and it was like golf course on 
the side of the Penitent Hill 

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Swans. 
Then. 

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That's where I kind of grew up. 
And yeah, I remember the summer 

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I was playing football for North
America at the time and I was 

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kind of in and out the team. 
And I remember my dad saying to 

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me said, son, if you don't, if 
you don't play golf this year, 

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I'm not going to bother renewing
your membership because you've 

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been a member for two years and 
you've never played yet. 

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And I went up there at the time 
and it was a pile of juniors. 

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It was, it was a great junior, 
like like probably most people 

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from our generation, there was a
lot of juniors at the time at 

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golf courses. 
And I just fell in love with it.

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And that summer holiday, it 
just, I just kind of just got 

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the bug. 
Did I say? 

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And there And yeah, I was just 
constantly up there. 

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My mom, my mom and my dad would 
drop me off. 

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And I was there from like 7:00 
in the morning until like dark. 

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It was just amazing. 
You know, it really was. 

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It was a great upbringing and 
playing playing golf as a 

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youngster. 
Brilliant And then what was your

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progression like? 
Because I mean I know you're a 

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professional now, of course you 
have been for many years, you've

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had some great achievements. 
But what was your progression 

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the game like I. 
Did pick up the game quite 

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quickly at just kind of started,
started going up to Swans then 

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and my hand, it was all 
handicapped at the time. 

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And I have to be honest, we know
Ross, the new handicap system, 

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something that I've not mastered
or did US even want to get in 

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because it's just too 
complicated for me. 

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No, but, but yeah, I just, I 
remember the first handicap I 

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got, it was 18 and by 16 I'd won
the junior championships, or 

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within two years I've won the 
junior championship and I was 

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down at 5:00 and I can actually 
remember the time when I got cut

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to scratch and which at the time
was a big deal on the old 

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handicap. 
Yeah, UPS, absolutely. 

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It was a. 
Group of guys, I was 18 and we 

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went up to Royal Dornoch and 
we've done a 36 will open. 

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And I was actually talking about
this just last week because we 

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were up there playing an event 
and it was one round on the 

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street and one round on the on 
on the Royal Donic itself. 

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And I was like 5 or 6 over 
around the so-called recourse. 

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But it was really tricky and I 
shot level part on the back 

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course. 
So I was up .1 on the recourse 

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and then I got absolute 
annihilated. 

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It was like standard scratch was
like 3 or 4 above par and from 

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like I don't know, it was maybe 
like .9 or one one dead to like 

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a we don't scratch, which was 
great. 

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I remember it. 
Yeah. 

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It was good. 
It was a good feeling, Yeah. 

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So I think that. 
Especially door knocking. 

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What you make of the courses up 
there? 

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How do you find? 
It's amazing like that. 

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I just think that the landscape 
up there, like I think the drive

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up is probably the best 4 hour 
drive we have, you know, and 

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I've done a lot of driving down 
South and the bigger roads, not 

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one that I care for too much, 
but the drive, the drive up to 

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Avi Moore is just about up 
through Avi Moore. 

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It's beautiful, right? 
And you got there I had a great 

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Sunday. 
I I drove up there stopped and 

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are they more than a bit of 
practice? 

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Probably the best back backdrop 
in practice facility if you're 

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going to hit some balls there 
and then went up to cap Cabal 

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Highlands had eighteen holes 
around that golf course and got 

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to door and I can played the 
golf course the following day. 

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And I mean, it's just, yeah, 
it's a beautiful place. 

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It's I mean, it's up there for 
me. 

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It would be. 
It's definitely one of the top 

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five links golf courses that 
I'll have played probably, I 

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think. 
Absolutely and I just circling 

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back on your I guess your 
amateur golf John. 

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So you got to 18 you're off 
scratch. 

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Where did it go from there? 
Were you playing like county 

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team and then starting to play 
back opens and. 

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Stuff So I broke into and I 
watched Jennifer with Scott 

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Knowles and he was my captain 
when I got at the both ends team

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and it was an amazing. 
It was an amazing because it was

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a big deal for for me to play in
the county and I really enjoyed 

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it. 
And yeah, I got into that team. 

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I wasn't really in the Lothians 
boys at the time because I just 

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there was guys just better and 
they've been playing more and I 

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kind of got in a little bit 
later Tennessee. 

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But when I got into the county 
men's team out of it, I think 

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that I made my debut at 
Northumberland, which is like a 

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12 man team. 
And Oh yeah, it's like it's a 

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great, it's a great competitive.
It's a great day, a couple of 

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days, but you go down there and 
I quickly realized Scott being 

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the captain and all the other 
guys, that was more of a social 

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for the guys. 
They were in for a better social

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and golf, but and they were 
competitive, but I kind of got 

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into and we had a great. 
I remember them having a great 

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conversation with Scott about 
four in the morning coming back 

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along the road. 
But but no, we had a great, we 

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had a great team that the guys 
weren't brilliant. 

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We had some brilliant players, 
guys that Scott touched on, you 

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know, guys that maybe never 
wanted to play take their golf 

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down on the level on regards to.
It wasn't through ability. 

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It was probably just time or 
family. 

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But we had some brilliant 
players and Simon McKenzie, who 

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was my partner, he was, he was 
exceptional amateur golfer them.

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So it was great to play with 
him. 

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And I still play with them. 
I'm still still, I still catch 

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up with Simon, you know, 
probably 3 or 4 * a year. 

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We'll catch a game. 
And, and obviously like that, 

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Keith Nicholson and there was 
guys from Silver knows, you 

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know, Tom Caldwell, Keith Riley,
these guys were, it was just 

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brilliant for me to be in that 
environment and playing with the

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older guys and learning from 
them because that's what I was 

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doing. 
I was just picking up Nuggets 

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from these guys every time I got
up, you know, and it was like, 

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it was good. 
Yeah. 

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And also it was brilliant. 
And the Lothian is a great set 

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up. 
I was at Dalmhoe for what, three

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years? 
Oh, a huge amount of time. 

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But we played, you know, some 
really good league formats in 

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the winter and the summer. 
Then the championship was always

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good courses. 
So in What's Your memories are 

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just playing golf across the 
Lothians. 

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Yeah, just I mean we played, I 
mean I played we we were one 

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county championships when the 
area team championships a couple

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of times. 
And at the time it was a it was 

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a six man team, you know, 7 in 
the squad. 

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One was sub and and I it was 
just a great comradery. 

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You know, we had brilliant trips
away and playing against really 

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good players and and it was just
I just seen it. 

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For me, it was just a natural 
regression because I was doing 

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quite well at the Golf Club that
I was growing up. 

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I was I'd won the club 
championships and I'd won the 

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the men's and then you went away
clean audience and I didn't I 

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didn't. 
I mean I didn't win bro it I 

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don't win loads of opens, but I 
want a few of them. 

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And yeah, the six man team 
events, the match play stuff was

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stuff that I really liked and I 
really enjoyed. 

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And as I say, I think just being
round even till this day, like 

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when you're playing you it's 
great to play with great golfers

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because you're learning off 
them, you know, and I think 

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that's one thing that I would 
say young people now is if you 

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get the opportunity to play with
better golfers, take it, you 

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know, even if you feel a little 
bit uncomfortable about first, 

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because that's only going to 
help you in the end. 

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You know, playing around guys 
that are great chippers or good 

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drivers of the golf ball or 
people who've managed the golf 

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ball really well. 
And that's that's all right 

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benefit for for young people. 
And that and that's what I took 

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from being in the Lothians. 
I just, you know, I had great 

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foursomes part. 
I said Simon McKenzie had Scott 

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Walker, who was another W London
member, and our record was 

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really good at the two ball 
foursome. 

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So and it was, it was, it was 
good. 

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We had a good time. 
We won. 

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We won quite a lot actually. 
We've done quite well with that.

223
00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,560
Yeah, it was good. 
Absolutely. 

224
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,400
And then John, your, your, your 
golf obviously continued to 

225
00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,640
improve and you won the 2005 
Craig Miller Park Open, which 

226
00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,480
led to some incredible runs over
the next few years. 

227
00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,440
So talk us through that stage 
and how you got through that 

228
00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,520
progression and what things 
happened next. 

229
00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:36,920
At the time, Ross, I was green 
keeping at the time at Merchants

230
00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,280
of Edinburgh and I approached 
the Golf Club. 

231
00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:42,960
So we were, I've been green 
keeping since I'd like school at

232
00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,880
16. 
And we approached the Golf Club 

233
00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:47,360
because my form was getting 
quite well. 

234
00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,440
I was doing quite well on the 
load and said we we wanted to 

235
00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:50,680
go. 
We wanted to try and test 

236
00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:54,280
ourselves at the next level and 
went to the golf course and 

237
00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:56,160
asked them if we should go down 
a three day week. 

238
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,360
And the club agreed to it, but 
they kind of said that we need 

239
00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:00,600
to work. 
You know, it was like, I think 

240
00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,320
it was like 36 hours in the 
three days or something like 

241
00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:05,920
that. 
And we kind of quickly decided 

242
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,000
that that probably wasn't going 
to benefit me. 

243
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,120
I would be probably pretty spent
by the time I got to the 

244
00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,400
Thursday, Friday, because our 
tournament started on the Friday

245
00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,040
and the amateur golf, as you 
know, you would go down, yeah, 

246
00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,960
you'd go down sometimes in the 
Wednesday night for the Thursday

247
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,400
practice or Thursday morning for
the Thursday afternoon practice.

248
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:23,320
And then, and then it was like a
Friday, Saturday, two runs on 

249
00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,320
the Sunday. 
So my parents at the time, they 

250
00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,160
decided to, you know, they, 
we've got a plan in place. 

251
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:33,400
We said they're going to support
you for the for the two years. 

252
00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:37,520
So that was at the start of 
2004, and I'll be honest, we're 

253
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,280
off the first year off I had had
from not working. 

254
00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:43,800
I can't I wasn't wasting my 
time, but I wasn't utilizing my 

255
00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:45,360
time as well as I probably 
should have. 

256
00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:48,720
Was I put the golf course 
playing with my friends a lot, 

257
00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,960
maybe not practicing as hard and
just having a bit of a almost 

258
00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:54,120
like about my jolly, but 
probably not doing it because 

259
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,240
it's just doing it because I 
probably didn't know how to get 

260
00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,200
the best of my time. 
Yeah, in 2004 there was some 

261
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,600
good results. 
I was third in the Scottish top 

262
00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,040
plate London links, which was a 
it was a big tournament. 

263
00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,720
It was an international 
tournament and Richard Ramsey 

264
00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:15,120
actually won it that year and at
London and I was I was tied 3rd 

265
00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:16,680
at the time. 
So that was that was my first 

266
00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,800
kind of big result in amateur 
golf. 

267
00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:21,400
But there wasn't really a lot to
follow up. 

268
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:25,480
But then at the start of 2005, 
I'd kind of worked hard over the

269
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,840
went art and they probably 
learned from a mistakes a little

270
00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,480
bit from the previous year and 
was just an update our place. 

271
00:12:33,520 --> 00:12:37,080
So by the time Kigmar Park came 
round, which was our first kind 

272
00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:42,360
of 72 hauler, I was playing. 
I was playing really well and it

273
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,320
was a really tough day. 
The weather was really rough in 

274
00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:46,760
fact, and the winning score 
wasn't all. 

275
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,320
I think I might have been 8 or 9
on the par for the four rounds, 

276
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,800
but it was really windy and they
probably shoot me at the time 

277
00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:54,480
with the way I played golf 
because I was quite. 

278
00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,400
I would hit a quite low grown up
on the countenance and low shots

279
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,680
and punches. 
Just keeping the ball is low and

280
00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,720
yeah, I went out at the time 
with the in the last day, the 

281
00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:09,600
last day, six holes was with 
Jimmy Mccleady who he was an 

282
00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,120
established amateur played in 
the Scotland team at the time. 

283
00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,560
I think Jamie had maybe won the 
Scottish Youths as well. 

284
00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:18,280
So he was very well established 
and I went out and I managed to 

285
00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,920
manage to went over the last, 
you know, 36 holes which got me 

286
00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:24,880
out of the winning a back 
tournament and the amateur game 

287
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:26,960
which was great. 
It was, it was at that point was

288
00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,040
the biggest thing I'd won, 
right. 

289
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,120
Obviously some county stuff, you
know, when in the at when the 

290
00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,160
county championships not won the
champion champions and 

291
00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,280
Edinburgh, which was great. 
But yeah, that was certainly the

292
00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:39,520
the first of the first of a big 
one, you know? 

293
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:43,440
Yeah, and your form obviously 
continued. 

294
00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:48,320
So you go to the 2005 Price 
Amateur at Royal Barton, but I'm

295
00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,120
having to open this year, so 
talk us through that. 

296
00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:51,640
Week that was that was an 
amazing week. 

297
00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,800
So what I mean, what happened 
was after Jay Miller Parker was 

298
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:59,360
on a bit of a high with and I 
felt a little about the dip. 

299
00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,440
Actually after that I didn't. 
I kind of lost a little bit of 

300
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,440
form and we had the Saint 
Andrews Links trophy the week 

301
00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,160
before at Parkdale and my 
parents said we'd entered all 

302
00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:14,920
the tournaments and I went up to
Saint Andrews and I'd had a 

303
00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:18,600
really bad, I'd played poorly 
and I'd shot 5 over. 

304
00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,600
And I don't think I've ever done
this before or since till this 

305
00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:24,440
day. 
But I signed for fall over and I

306
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:29,400
walked out the tent and I'd say 
to my and he was like, no, son, 

307
00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,200
I think you are, you are 5 over.
So we actually stood and we went

308
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,480
through the scores and then I 
went back in and I'd said, Oh, I

309
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,200
think I've made a mistake. 
And I actually hadn't really 

310
00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:39,680
even left. 
There was a little packet fence,

311
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,720
but they're like, oh, you're DQ 
D, you can come back tomorrow 

312
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,280
and play, but you can't play in 
a competition. 

313
00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,960
I was, I was, so I wasn't in a 
great frame of mind. 

314
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:48,880
I was just like, oh, this is 
this is not good. 

315
00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,520
And I didn't go back. 
And so I did. 

316
00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,520
I was DQ D And I said to my mom 
and dad, I was like, oh, I'm not

317
00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,000
sure if I'm going to bother 
going to Parkdale. 

318
00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,840
And my dad was like, well, with 
energy, so you're gonna have to 

319
00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,240
go down. 
Amazing, honest. 

320
00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,080
It was amazing. 
Also, I was like, right, OK, 

321
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,160
Dad, right. 
So kind of went down there, went

322
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:08,920
down with my friend Mark Kerr at
the time. 

323
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,880
We drove down in his car and 
they arc. 

324
00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,720
I mean, the whole week was quite
chaotic because when I think 

325
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:16,960
about how we prepared at the 
time, you know, we weren't 

326
00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:20,120
prepared and properly. 
We were out the night before, 

327
00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,680
you know, the practice rounds 
and enjoying Southport, what 

328
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,680
Southport has to offer. 
And when we had a great time, 

329
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,960
played the practice round at 
Southport feeling particularly 

330
00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,160
poor and then got to Birkdale 
and it just really switched on. 

331
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,720
Like it was just something that 
can't I enjoyed the land. 

332
00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:37,640
I mean the like the golf course 
is absolutely amazing. 

333
00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,000
That was pristine. 
It's probably changed a lot 

334
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,160
since when we were there in 
2005, right enough. 

335
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:49,000
But we went and we played and I 
got, I think I was maybe 1 / 1 

336
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,600
or two over in the first round 
at Birkdale. 

337
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,560
And then I shot level part of 
Southport, which got me into the

338
00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,960
match play. 
And I think Andrew McArthur at 

339
00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:58,560
the time, he'd shot the course 
record, the amateur course 

340
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:03,600
record, which was 66 for under. 
And I think I was maybe 72. 

341
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,960
And so it was a good start to 
the week to get in the match 

342
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,720
because that was the goal. 
And like anything, like any 

343
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,120
match player event, Ross, like 
when you get in, you know, it's 

344
00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,200
like if you're any of these big 
tournaments when there's like 

345
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,640
200 and odd people playing, 
yeah, you're going to have to 

346
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,680
have luck. 
You're going to have to play 

347
00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:23,880
well and you're going to have to
take your take your chances when

348
00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:25,920
they come. 
And I kind of done most of that 

349
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,960
most of the week. 
And it was a great week for me. 

350
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:31,360
I was actually recently down 
there, but it's not not at 

351
00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:32,760
Birkdale. 
I was next door at Hillside. 

352
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,480
And the feeling of even just 
going down there after, you 

353
00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:39,000
know, 20 years, 21 years, it 
does come back to me because I 

354
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,240
look at the street that we 
stayed on, I was, I was checking

355
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,160
into places and going, I'll get 
beat. 

356
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,240
I'll just check in for one night
because I'll be getting probably

357
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,400
beat today. 
And when that first game in the 

358
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:51,760
morning you'd be, you'd win the 
afternoon you'd go no got a 

359
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,920
place to stay and you'd be 
drivers to streak trying to 

360
00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:56,600
look. 
I was going to say back in the 

361
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,560
days with the Airbnb. 
On your. 

362
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:00,080
Book and talk, calm and all 
that. 

363
00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,640
It's like, so you're on a Lord 
St. trying to find and I stayed 

364
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,319
in some really questionable 
places, to be honest with you, 

365
00:17:07,319 --> 00:17:08,880
some of the places were not 
great. 

366
00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:11,280
I'm sure they would have told 
some stories that the wolves 

367
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:12,319
could talk. 
They would have told some 

368
00:17:12,319 --> 00:17:17,119
stories, but I I was, I was 
definitely, when I think about 

369
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,040
it, people, the people at 
Southport really embraced me. 

370
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:24,520
So I was kind of down the Ramone
and a tease mark about it, a 

371
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:26,280
tease mark about at the time, 
but I wasn't happy. 

372
00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:29,760
But he would agreed that he was 
going to stick around in Caddy 

373
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:31,480
or I was going to stick around 
in Caddy for him. 

374
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,160
But he ended up billing the 
first right. 

375
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,080
So that that was there. 
That was a bit of a conscious 

376
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,640
moment, but but now we we had a 
we had like we had a good 

377
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,240
weekend there. 
By the time I got to the final, 

378
00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:47,920
which was obviously an 
unbelievable achievement for for

379
00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:50,400
someone, you know, two years 
prior was winning county 

380
00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,880
championship or, you know, just 
to represent the Lothians, to be

381
00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:56,560
in that, that, that a tournament
and then the final. 

382
00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:59,240
It was amazing. 
And we had gathered up a lot of 

383
00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,080
support from the guys at 
Southport, the people the 

384
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,600
members of like Southport were 
coming out and carrying for me. 

385
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:06,280
They were pulling my bag and I 
didn't know them. 

386
00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:08,000
They were really why it was 
amazing. 

387
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:12,480
It was amazing and I had a lot 
of great support and just really

388
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:17,040
fond memories of that week 
because it ultimately the goal 

389
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:20,400
when my parents decided to 
support me, the goal was to play

390
00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,520
for Scotland. 
That's what we were trying to 

391
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:23,520
do. 
We were trying to get to the 

392
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,360
Scotland team, which at the time
I probably thought was was 

393
00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:30,920
achievable, but I knew I needed 
to kind of do some really good 

394
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:34,240
stuff to get in there. 
Because I think being in the 

395
00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:36,960
Scotland team for five years, 
for four and five years, it's 

396
00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:40,520
once you're in you're you're in 
there and you're playing well 

397
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,880
and the eyes are on you. 
But if you're if you're not in 

398
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,680
the team or you're not and 
you've got to be doing really 

399
00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,960
good stuff to get in there. 
And they obviously get into the 

400
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:52,120
final in British Amateur and 
that would achieve that because 

401
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,760
that opened up a few doors and 
we ended up going on some great 

402
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,640
trips and now represent Scotland
for for four years, you know. 

403
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,880
Yeah, and I mean, just talking 
more about the Amateur 

404
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,280
Championship as well. 
Of course, he does lose in the 

405
00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:07,280
final eventually, which is an 
incredible result. 

406
00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:11,000
John T Even just, well, first of
all, get there, then qualify, 

407
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,480
get through all the match play 
rounds, all the guys you'd be on

408
00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:16,840
the way. 
Did the Masters, did it come 

409
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,040
into your mind before the night 
before anything or what was it 

410
00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:20,720
like? 
Well. 

411
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,880
I mean, we had a we had data say
it was a good runner. 

412
00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:25,760
It was a bad run probably when 
you think about it. 

413
00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,200
We had a lot of Scottish guys 
that were got beat in the final 

414
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:32,000
of the British Amateur. 
There was there was a few, you 

415
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:33,520
know, in quick, quick succession
and all. 

416
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:35,640
Sure. 
Wilson when I think in 2000 and 

417
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,040
maybe four, I think he won it. 
Saint Andrews. 

418
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:40,760
Yeah. 
So it was the year after and I 

419
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,800
didn't speak to Michael shoot 
about this, that that night I 

420
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,080
was on such a high when I got to
the final, I couldn't, I 

421
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,560
shouldn't, I couldn't sleep. 
I never slept a wink. 

422
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,200
I never slept before the final 
of the British Amateur. 

423
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,040
And when I spoke to Michael, I'd
shut my eyes. 

424
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,160
I just think about playing at 
the Masters or I think about 

425
00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,640
playing the old court. 
And it was, it was mental. 

426
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,400
It was absolutely mental. 
And I couldn't, and I just 

427
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,720
couldn't relax and. 
And a guy from Edinburgh came 

428
00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,200
down, came down to help me, 
Jimmy, Jimmy Finley, who used to

429
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,720
manage the Craigal team that I 
played and, and he came down and

430
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,880
caddied for me in the quarters 
and the semis and he was 

431
00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:21,400
brilliant. 
And an e-mail and I goes, John, 

432
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:22,840
I'm going to treat us tonight. 
We're going to, I'll get you 

433
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:24,400
somewhere nice. 
And we stayed in like a really, 

434
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,160
really nice place. 
It was like I'd been staying in 

435
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:31,200
these kind of like little like 
pokie B rooms like that would 

436
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:34,120
tell you that we're a bit mental
and certainly I'm staying on 

437
00:20:34,120 --> 00:20:36,280
this beautiful big bed. 
I've got a bath and like, oh, 

438
00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,640
this is amazing as I meet and I 
just couldn't relax. 

439
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:40,960
I couldn't relax. 
I was just I'd shut my eyes. 

440
00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:42,760
I think Master shut my eyes. 
Thank you. 

441
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,480
Open, yes, open. 
I mean Brian, Brian who ended up

442
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,600
going on it obviously to beat me
in the final. 

443
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,400
He was an established he was a 
top amateur at the time. 

444
00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:55,600
He'd won the European Amateur 
and he. 

445
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:01,200
If you've been enjoying the 
show, please do remember to 

446
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,720
follow on your favorite podcast 
platform and share it with a 

447
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,880
friend. 
Now let's get back to the pod. 

448
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,080
He he obviously, well, he just 
dealt with the situation a lot 

449
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,000
better than I did. 
But I remember the final, it was

450
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,520
at 5:00 and 4:00. 
It was I was probably never 

451
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:19,600
close enough, but there was a 
couple of pivotal moments in the

452
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,800
game. 
I I3 parted 17 and Brian made an

453
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,400
unbelievable birthday. 
So I ended up looking like 

454
00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:31,200
going, you know, back to two 
ended up going 4 three-part the 

455
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,080
last and the first round. 
And yeah, I went went in and 

456
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,200
four down and I just couldn't 
really get in the game. 

457
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,240
But it was AI like I like rough 
weather and went but the wind 

458
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,120
was really tough and and he 
obviously enjoyed the wind as 

459
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:44,920
well. 
He's from, he's from Ireland and

460
00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,440
I know he played a lot of links 
golf growing up. 

461
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,200
So he dealt with the situation a
little better than me. 

462
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,600
But it was probably just 
probably just experience, you 

463
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,320
know, it was experience. 
He was an experienced amateur. 

464
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,600
I was at, although I was 26 at 
the time, I was quite late, late

465
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:00,760
to the game. 
So I was probably an 

466
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,200
inexperienced amateur and but 
nonetheless, it was a great 

467
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,600
week, man, it was a great 
weekend. 

468
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:12,000
It took after after losing I and
I was so I was, I was proud of 

469
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,640
what I'd achieved because I'd 
played some brilliant players on

470
00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:18,680
the way. 
That the guy, the guy who was 

471
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:20,960
probably the most impressive 
would have been Julian Garrier. 

472
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:22,800
I played him in the fourth 
round. 

473
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,200
Oh. 
Yeah, and he won it the 

474
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,800
following year. 
And I remember, I remember 

475
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:33,720
playing Julian and you know, 
I've actually met him since when

476
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,080
we were playing. 
I met him when I was worth 

477
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,800
playing an eventual in 2015. 
I hadn't seen him for a long 

478
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:39,120
time. 
But we spoke about the British 

479
00:22:39,120 --> 00:22:41,720
Amateur and I said to him, you 
know, I kind of robbed them a 

480
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,640
wee bit because like I'd said at
the start about talking about 

481
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,360
this week, you need to be lucky 
and you do it, take your chances

482
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,400
and you've got to be good. 
I got all my think. 

483
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,560
I used all my luck against him. 
He was an amazing golfer. 

484
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:59,600
He was just, he hit it so well, 
he hit it so far and he kept on 

485
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:01,960
looking out and I lost the first
one. 

486
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,880
I was never, I got a square on 
17, but I was never squared 

487
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:07,120
until 17. 
I was one down after one. 

488
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,960
I was at 21 and then I squared 
on 17. 

489
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,600
I'm birthday 17 and Julian made 
he made a six down the last he 

490
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,520
made he double boogie the last. 
I won the last toll with a 

491
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:21,640
boogie and and and and and 
that's what I'm saying. 

492
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:23,880
Ross like that was probably my 
lucky more. 

493
00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:26,280
But we had had some unbelievable
games. 

494
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,320
I played Kate Watson and I 
remember being I think I was 

495
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,960
maybe 4 or five up with six to 
go and I had to last 6 foot in 

496
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,840
the last two in the game. 
And I remember that was the 

497
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,040
first time I'd actually remit. 
That was the first time I'd 

498
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:41,520
actually physically shaked try a
part and I hold this part like 

499
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,360
don't ever do that to me again. 
And I mean, I don't know these 

500
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,920
guys at the time, I just met 
them, but I unbelievable and 

501
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,640
and, and in the semi final, 
obviously I played against Lloyd

502
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:53,680
Scotland, who he was, he was 
absolutely number 1. 

503
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,440
He was top man, not just in 
Scotland, He was one of the best

504
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:00,080
players in the world, if not the
best at the time. 

505
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:03,360
Absolutely. 
He was an exceptional golfer and

506
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,320
got over 18 holes on match play.
Anything can happen. 

507
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,880
And you know, I managed to 
manage to see off Lloyd and get 

508
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:11,840
to the final and that opened the
door. 

509
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,600
I mean, I'm not sure if I'd got 
to the semi finals. 

510
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,840
That probably wouldn't have 
paved the way for me to play for

511
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:16,640
Scotland. 
They might not have. 

512
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:18,360
I'm not sure if it would or it 
wouldn't have. 

513
00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,600
But it was a great week for me. 
Ross. 

514
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:22,800
It really was man. 
And I'll look back on it now. 

515
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,360
Probably still afraid, but 
that's that is the one that 

516
00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:26,680
hurts the most. 
It's the Masters. 

517
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,080
Like it took a we never go over 
that. 

518
00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:31,280
It really did. 
And I spoke to Mike well, 

519
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,640
because, you know, we have the 
opportunity every year. 

520
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,280
If you want to, you can go and 
dream and play in the open. 

521
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:37,760
You don't get that with a 
master. 

522
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,480
Just like, you know, to say 
you're one game away from that 

523
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,160
was, I mean, it was good effort.
It was a good effort for me, 

524
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,200
yeah. 
Yeah, and you said to open up 

525
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,120
some doors, so that got you and 
a ticket that did. 

526
00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:52,320
I get in the Scotland team for 
the moment and National was out 

527
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,840
here. 
That the so I remember having a 

528
00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,480
chat with Ian Ray at the time 
who I didn't not not really met 

529
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:03,480
Ian and even though I was flying
at the time, I was sick in the 

530
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,640
Northern America. 
The ranks have just came out and

531
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,440
I was ranked well and the world 
rankings and he was a kind 

532
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:14,000
intimated. 
He said we've got 9 definites 

533
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,440
and there's six. 
There's two from sex and you're 

534
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,720
in that sex. 
And I was thinking bloody 

535
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,600
hellman, like if you know, but I
remember being a bit shocked 

536
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,160
when he said that. 
But you know, I can remember 

537
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,760
like thinking right, OK, I still
need to keep going here. 

538
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,000
And they asked. 
I did. 

539
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,280
I've done well for the end of 
that season and I think I 

540
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:33,400
finished the Norden matter. 
I think it was second in 

541
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,720
Scotland in order I met it and 
that that the time that was when

542
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,760
like, I mean everybody was 
playing in the event. 

543
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,600
So you'd go to the Tenant Cup 
and like Scott Jameson be 

544
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,520
playing or Richard Ramsey be 
playing and Lloyd. 

545
00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:49,080
So there was loads of guys 
playing. 

546
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:50,920
So you're ordinance. 
I mean it was kind of like a 

547
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:52,720
true reflection and I'm not sure
how it is now. 

548
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,760
I mean, from what I'm going to 
believe, a lot of guys don't 

549
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,400
play in the 72 hours because 
it's bad for their handicap or 

550
00:25:57,400 --> 00:25:59,640
they're all drankens and it kind
of fame. 

551
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:01,800
Yes. 
Crazy. 

552
00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:05,720
It's a shame that you know, your
best players don't feel that 

553
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,800
they can play, you know, because
they're wanted. 

554
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,800
If they go and play, they drop a
few points in the ranking and 

555
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,760
then they can't get any A 
tournament. 

556
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:14,560
And that that just doesn't make 
sense to me. 

557
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,480
But that's the way it's went. 
But, but I was second in 

558
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,640
Northern America and we got 
picked for Royal St. 

559
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,920
George's, which was an extremely
crowded moment for me. 

560
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,320
We went down there, we had that 
great team we had, we just had a

561
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,200
great team we had, I roomed with
Andrew MacArthur. 

562
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,480
I mean he was, he was top 
player, great ball striker 

563
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:38,360
obviously by Lloyd. 
We had Richie Ramsey, we had 

564
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,720
Jamie Mccleady who who was an 
exceptional golfer, we had Eric 

565
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,720
Ramsey who had a great run in 
the Open and we had to get well,

566
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,200
the great team and I just fitted
in well and I think I won 2 1/2 

567
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,840
out of five points for the 1st 
for my first moment Nationals, 

568
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:59,240
which was which was I was really
happy with and we won it. 

569
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:00,560
We won it. 
We won it down at Saint George, 

570
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:01,840
which we had won it for a long 
time. 

571
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:06,400
We got we got a tanking off. 
I think it was Wales beat us in 

572
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,040
the first game and then we we 
turned it on against England and

573
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:11,640
we we've done well against 
Ireland. 

574
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:13,400
So it was, it was a great week. 
It really was. 

575
00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,880
It was a great week, yeah. 
Absolutely. 

576
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,280
And I think we haven't even 
touched the point, John. 

577
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,280
And I do think this is true, but
I think you're probably the best

578
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,840
candid goal from the world. 
So how did that shape your 

579
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,320
development as you went through 
from being a junior all the way 

580
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,600
through to point for Scotland 
and get into the amateur? 

581
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:36,040
Finals and all. 
Obviously we hadn't touched on 

582
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,520
that, but the grip is something 
that is actually probably more 

583
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,360
popular now, dare I say, because
Matt Fitzpatrick's using it for 

584
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:47,480
the chipping and stuff. 
And and me, you know, it's it's 

585
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,440
funny, the mass short game 
probably isn't as good as it 

586
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,320
used to be, right? 
And that's probably just an age 

587
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,480
thing or whatever. 
But it's I remember playing at 

588
00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:02,560
the time with a Kev McAlpine and
Kevin and I got really, really 

589
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:03,720
well when we were in the 
Scotland team. 

590
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,720
There was a few guys that I 
could gravitate to and Scott and

591
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,720
the Scotland squad and Kev was 
one of them. 

592
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,440
I really got well with them and 
we played at the Tennant Cup one

593
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,400
year and he was striking the 
ball amazing. 

594
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:15,360
He came back from America and 
he's just like Daphani's chip 

595
00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:18,960
shots and not playing very well.
And, and I was playing, I was 

596
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,360
hitting the shorts and petting 
wedges and was like, oh, so a 

597
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,280
couple of weeks later I've seen 
him at one of the events and 

598
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,240
he's like, oh, I'm chipping cat 
candid. 

599
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,280
And I was like, really? 
I had a look at him and he was, 

600
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,320
he was clipping them lovely. 
And I'm like, it's amazing. 

601
00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,400
Like I think I've got a bit 
steep when he was holding it 

602
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,400
conventionally, so he'd come 
into a wee bit steeper and yeah.

603
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,240
And the foot like that year he 
went and he played in the 

604
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:43,920
Scottish Amateur and he won it 
and he was chipping cat 

605
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,840
candidate, which was amazing. 
Like he totally just changed his

606
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,080
chip and with really, yeah, with
within like 3 or 4 months he 

607
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,160
went up to there and the Tenant 
Cup might have been maybe during

608
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:54,520
that. 
So it may be two months, three 

609
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:55,600
months later. 
And that was him. 

610
00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,320
And by all accounts, he did play
well that week. 

611
00:28:58,320 --> 00:28:59,840
So he probably never had to chip
too much. 

612
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,080
But when he was chipping, he was
chipping from 50 yards and then 

613
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,120
he would be put hold. 
Nick I candid which was amazing 

614
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:05,960
and. 
I doesn't know that. 

615
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:11,320
No, no idea. 
It was amazing and I art, you 

616
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:15,120
know, he was he was a great guy.
He really was and surely missed 

617
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:20,240
actually, But you know the great
the grappy they came about. 

618
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,760
I just picked up Ross really 
naturally, just picked it up and

619
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:26,720
swinging away and and I remember
going and getting a lesson. 

620
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:28,920
It wasn't even a lesson. 
My dad knew and young at the 

621
00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,160
braids when I was like 15, my 
dad just to treat me like it was

622
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,560
a treat right when I was young. 
You want to go up to the braids 

623
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,880
and we'll hit some shots on. 
And it was amazing because 

624
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,080
you're like, Oh, this is class, 
right? 

625
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:41,600
And I remember my dad going to 
get Ian and said, Ian, will you 

626
00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:44,080
come and have a look at John? 
So I was hitting shorts and Ian 

627
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,480
said, if you're going to hit it 
like that, son, just you work 

628
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:47,480
away at that. 
You'll be fine. 

629
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:48,800
Because I was hitting the ball 
quite straight. 

630
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:50,880
I've always hit the ball 
relatively straight, right. 

631
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,800
So so I just stuck with that and
on. 

632
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:59,800
I remember when I get I got into
Loathe's junior coach and and I 

633
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,520
think it was Alan Pete from 
raffle. 

634
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:03,960
I don't think I think Alan maybe
just left there in the last 

635
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:05,960
maybe four or five years. 
But I remember he was giving us 

636
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,560
lessons and he'd went Oh well, 
why don't you? 

637
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,000
Why don't we try it and we and 
we try and get. 

638
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,400
So he got me and they got up and
he got me holding it normal and 

639
00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,080
day or conventionally and lasted
about a week. 

640
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,360
Ross, I was like, this is 
there's no power, but and I 

641
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,400
can't had it. 
So I need to I need to get back 

642
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,520
to the the cross handed cat 
candy grip. 

643
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,640
Yeah, but I mean, I've I've it's
amazing like the social 

644
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:28,480
obviously social media. 
Now there's a couple of guys in 

645
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:30,360
America. 
They were over at the Masters 

646
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,480
and are not, not, not not 
masters tournament the the 

647
00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:35,520
junior masters, you know, like 
these events where they're head 

648
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,280
and drive pitch and putt and 
stuff and they're ripping it cat

649
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:42,760
candy and everybody's sending me
what check this out. 

650
00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,560
But what is what is sad, what is
very sad. 

651
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:51,080
And and you know, you read the 
comments about people when 

652
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,000
they're like, someday I'll have 
a video of a young kid, maybe 15

653
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,200
head and a cat counted. 
And he's obviously very good 

654
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,760
because he's at this event and 
focus slagging him off and 

655
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,040
ripping in the arm. 
And and it's a shame because you

656
00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:04,720
know, you'd like to think 
society nowadays would be a 

657
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,360
little bit more like, you know, 
if you're good enough, just 

658
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,840
whatever you want. 
But you know, I can remember, I 

659
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,000
can remember at the time, I 
think it was my kick, my kickin 

660
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,440
was the guy's name. 
And he wrote for, I think it 

661
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,840
might have been, it was the 
Telegraph maybe. 

662
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,600
And he wrote an article. 
And at the time my girlfriend 

663
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,600
actually, she wrote to him 
saying how disappointed she was 

664
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:25,920
because we're reading the 
article. 

665
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:30,080
And it was like it came. 
The angle was, you know, G1 at 

666
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,120
the British Amateur. 
Because you know, if we'd had 

667
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,360
someone like holding the club at
this play. 

668
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,840
And the article was it was 
pretty scathing. 

669
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,400
And we actually seriously, it 
was bad. 

670
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:42,720
It was bad. 
And my dad will definitely have 

671
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,400
the article because my dad kept 
everything. 

672
00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,600
So all the cutouts and all the 
pictures and all the magazines 

673
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,480
all kept. 
But he actually wrote back to us

674
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,480
and he was like, oh, it never 
meant to chemical. 

675
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:52,880
It doesn't mean it come across 
like that. 

676
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,880
And to be fair, he came, he 
smoothed it over, but it was a 

677
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:57,880
rough. 
It was rough. 

678
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,280
It was like the golf impudist 
will be happy that Brian anyone 

679
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,600
or something like that, you're 
like, but you know, that's it. 

680
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:05,480
I mean, people are sometimes 
scared of what's different, 

681
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:06,600
right? 
Or they'll look at something 

682
00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:08,360
ago. 
That's that's not going to work.

683
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,240
And I think I think it was true.
Now each on what's really nice 

684
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:17,000
for the most part in golf is 
that coaches have changed their 

685
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,080
philosophy. 
A lot of them, loads of them, 

686
00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:22,720
you know, they don't necessarily
have kind of formula based 

687
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:24,760
coaching anymore. 
It's pretty much look at the 

688
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,960
person, how's their body shape, 
how's their rotation. 

689
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,840
Figure out what things you can 
maybe amend rather than 

690
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,560
completely change. 
And you have done things like I 

691
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,960
put left-handed now and I love 
it. 

692
00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:37,480
Can imagine me doing that back 
in the day. 

693
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:42,040
I did get the absolute back 
wrapped right at me, a chip cat 

694
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:43,960
candid and I love it is 
brilliant. 

695
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:49,040
So yeah, and I just don't feel 
any, I guess. 

696
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:52,440
I don't feel any concern about 
people. 

697
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,120
Sometimes guys don't even know. 
So I put left hand, didn't tell 

698
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:56,520
him on what the 10th hole no go 
but. 

699
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:58,960
Left hand. 
You put left-handed, not go I. 

700
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,320
Yep. 
One of a funny one actually, 

701
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,680
when I was up playing it, I 
played at the Scottish Open from

702
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:06,680
winning the Scottish Amateur we 
got at the time. 

703
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,080
We got invited up to Loch Lomond
to play in the Scottish Open and

704
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,760
it was a great week man. 
I mean the just brilliant, 

705
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,360
beautiful week weekly. 
I had great people. 

706
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:16,000
My dad carried for me and all 
that was amazing. 

707
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,120
And David Howell actually came 
came along and he'd watched me 

708
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,600
hitting shorts and he says, do 
you mind if I watch and some 

709
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,040
shorts John and I says I'm from.
So I was hitting these shots 

710
00:33:25,040 --> 00:33:26,840
right and I was hitting it quite
well. 

711
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,840
And he's looking at and he goes 
goes deep, deep conventionally 

712
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:33,880
and I went no puck handed in the
laughter. 

713
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:35,760
He went, imagine if you put 
eventually that would have 

714
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:37,760
everybody up and they say monkey
simple. 

715
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,680
It was funny, honestly. 
And he kind of laughed and he 

716
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,440
walked off. 
It was it was so funny. 

717
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:43,840
It was funny. 
It was a great week, man. 

718
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,920
It was a great week that it was.
It was really good, yeah. 

719
00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,040
As brilliant and it's teed up, 
we'll go back a wee bit in 

720
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:52,600
history. 
So that was, I think you said 

721
00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:57,560
the 2008 Scottish Open, but you 
won a 2007 Scottish Amateur that

722
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,240
press pick no less. 
What a place to want it. 

723
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:04,240
So talk us through that week. 
So again, probably a really 

724
00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:08,719
strange year of 2007 for me had 
been represented to play for 

725
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,080
Scotland over in Spain. 
So we went over there was like 4

726
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:13,120
of us went to play the Spanish 
amateur in the Portuguese 

727
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,320
amateur, which he Portuguese 
amateur was first. 

728
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:18,320
And I remember playing my young 
guy in the qualified who never 

729
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,480
qualified at the time. 
It was an exceptional goal for 

730
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,080
Victor Dubison and he was only 
16 at the time. 

731
00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:26,320
But oh wow, he was he hit it 
really well. 

732
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,800
And I remember playing moment 
and he was a really nice guy. 

733
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:32,719
He was good as a young guy. 
I remember thinking you're 16 

734
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,320
man, in your head and like this 
and you're the way you are. 

735
00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:38,239
And so we'd been over there, 
played Portuguese, played the 

736
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,360
Spanish, and that was a place 
called Desert Springs. 

737
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,000
And I don't know if you've been 
at Desert Springs Ross, but it's

738
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,840
like the fairways are nice. 
If you go off the fairways, it's

739
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,400
like chaos, man. 
There's like rocks, boulders and

740
00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,440
sand and it's a bit rugged. 
This it's, it's a nice golf 

741
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,520
course, but I'm, I was playing 
one of the holes and I had a 

742
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:59,760
shot and I kind of Jarred off a 
stone at the time and I thought 

743
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:00,960
nothing of it and played out my 
round. 

744
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,920
It was fine and then I woke up 
the following day and I felt 

745
00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,840
like someday was like stabbing 
my hand like constantly. 

746
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:10,480
It was unbelievable. 
And I broke a bone in my hand. 

747
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,080
Actually I broke The Who can ham
it. 

748
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:14,640
That's what it was called, 
right? 

749
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:15,880
A little bone and end of your 
hand. 

750
00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:20,680
So went and got X-rayed. 
This was like so that was 

751
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:24,080
Spanish amateur came back, 
played a couple of events in 

752
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,400
Scotland, played the played the 
champion of champions and 

753
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,120
managed one round to kick my 
park and was like I can't play 

754
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:33,280
that had to come away. 
Never touched that never touched

755
00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,680
the club waited for it to heal 
and went down open qualifying 

756
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:40,120
and like maybe late June, early 
July, I think it was. 

757
00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,640
And the nine holes after nine 
holes felt it and I was like 

758
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:48,520
this is not peeled off. 
So went got another X-ray and 

759
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,160
the crack had still it was just 
kind of still hanging about. 

760
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:52,960
So what they'd said was they 
were going to we're going to 

761
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,840
have an operation. 
So we're going to have an 

762
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,360
operation and the operation was 
going to take place like late 

763
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,080
August. 
This was like maybe the July. 

764
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,960
So we booked them for that at 
Ross Hall in Glasgow. 

765
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:10,240
And, and what happened was I'd 
said to the doctor, I says, 

766
00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:12,560
well, can I play golf now 
because I've rested all year, 

767
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:14,800
can I play golf? 
And they said, yeah, you can 

768
00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:16,760
play golf, but you're probably 
going to be in a bit of pain. 

769
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:19,160
So just obviously just be 
mindful that you're going to be 

770
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:20,360
hurt. 
I was like, right, fine. 

771
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,640
So went up and all I'd done all 
year was just chipping pot. 

772
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:26,320
I hadn't had any really fool 
shots. 

773
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:27,840
I'd played like a couple of 
rounds, right. 

774
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:30,560
So we get to prospect. 
Never, never had a practice 

775
00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:32,400
round. 
Went away and played played my 

776
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:36,280
first round 1-2 and one right. 
So I was like, oh, that's great,

777
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,120
Nice to win a game, you know, 
because that's that's what 

778
00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:41,520
ultimately we're at. 
We're like, well, if we run a 

779
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:43,760
game, that's brilliant. 
So we've won a game, we're 

780
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,920
playing away. 
And I mean, I didn't play great 

781
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:48,640
that weekend. 
I didn't bowl. 

782
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:50,320
I wasn't, I just wasn't hitting 
the ball that great. 

783
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:52,920
But my chipping and putting at 
the time was just unbelievable, 

784
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:55,520
man. 
I mean, and then obviously as as

785
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,560
you, as you start chipping and 
putting better, the confidence 

786
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,920
grows and you just you do start 
playing some good stuff and 

787
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,840
place where I'd never played, 
I'd never played before up until

788
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,520
that week. 
And yeah, we had some, we had 

789
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,440
some unbelievable games. 
You know, obviously I remember 

790
00:37:12,440 --> 00:37:15,200
like a few games and we still 
remember, we still talk about 

791
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,040
them now. 
I think it was like I was 4 down

792
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,960
with six to go against Alan 
Thompson who was from Prestwick 

793
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,640
who had easily 100 people out I 
would say. 

794
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,760
And I managed to be on the 1st 
text for all that was a big 

795
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,200
game. 
I remember being one down with 

796
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,360
one down with one to play, 
playing the last that Prestwick 

797
00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,360
haven't not played the golf 
course and it was against a guy 

798
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:39,840
a Les McLaughlin from Glasgow. 
I don't know if you know Les. 

799
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,120
Oh yeah. 
The character he was, he was he 

800
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:47,320
was top man and I remember him 
pulling out a driver and I'm 

801
00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:48,920
looking I'm going can he be a 
driver? 

802
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,320
Can he be a driver? 
Like this is somebody that like 

803
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:55,320
it says pure luck, right? 
It was lucky that and like I 

804
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:57,040
said, Anthony went somewhere she
need a better luck. 

805
00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,360
But my luck was this moment and 
I remember going to my dad is 

806
00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:03,200
going it's never a driver. 
I'm going to have three wood. 

807
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,480
So I've stood up and I've 
absolutely leathered this 3 wood

808
00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:07,360
and it's add on towards the 
green. 

809
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:08,920
I'm thinking, Oh, that's good 
then. 

810
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:10,760
And it kind of just can goes a 
wee bit past. 

811
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,080
I'm like, oh, right, OK, it's no
one that practice patent between

812
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:14,680
that prospect. 
So it's through the game onto 

813
00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:17,480
the button green and it's going 
towards the clubhouse. 

814
00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:20,280
But it was almost like as soon 
as I had the shot, I just seen 

815
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,960
layers pretty driving away 
through it like a 2 hour site 

816
00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:25,280
and I'm looking at my ball and 
I'm going, Oh, is that all 

817
00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,600
right? 
And and honestly, Ross, my ball,

818
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:30,280
I was one down point the last 
stage and my ball was about a 

819
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:34,440
yard and bounce. 
My ball was a my ball was a yard

820
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,000
and bounce. 
I had to go off the apron of the

821
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:40,680
practice partly on like a 
fairway and on the green 18 it 

822
00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:43,760
was about, it was maybe 150 feet
or something. 

823
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,120
And I managed up and I managed 
up and down it. 

824
00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,360
And then we have the first extra
and he made a mess of the 

825
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:52,040
second. 
But I mean that that was like 

826
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,560
round three, you know. 
So if you know, if that doesn't 

827
00:38:55,560 --> 00:38:57,680
happen and I knocked my ball and
it goes another yard, I'm out of

828
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,360
bounce lasers and he might go 
on. 

829
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,440
I mean, run or they make it put 
out, but then there's no, 

830
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,000
there's no experience in me 
going up to the Scottish Open 

831
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,480
and playing. 
And that was that was amazing. 

832
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,960
And obviously to win the 
Scottish Amateur, that was a 

833
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:11,640
proud moment. 
I mean, that's, it's probably 

834
00:39:11,640 --> 00:39:15,320
not there in regards to, I think
the British Amateur run was 

835
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,000
probably more impressive for me 
because it was just an 

836
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,600
international field. 
But there's no doubt about it. 

837
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,840
To win that, to win the Scottish
Amateur and have your your name 

838
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:25,920
on that trophy, which is going 
to be there forever. 

839
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,160
That was that was a big deal for
me and my family. 

840
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:32,320
It really was. 
Especially when you look at 

841
00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:35,240
names that on it before you turn
some incredible golfers come. 

842
00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:37,120
Straight. 
And won the Scottish arm. 

843
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,160
And the guys now obviously we've
got Robert McIntyre who's who's 

844
00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,720
just doing unbelievable. 
He what he went on a winner and 

845
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:46,720
it's not, it's not easy because 
there's, there's, there's a lot 

846
00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:48,680
of people playing in it. 
There's always only going to be 

847
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:52,160
1 winner. 
So now it was, it was an amazing

848
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:53,000
week. 
It really was. 

849
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,360
And that opened up not so much 
the doors because I was already 

850
00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:00,680
in the Scotland team at that 
time, but again at the Scottish 

851
00:40:00,680 --> 00:40:02,800
Open and I played the Johnny 
Walker that year as well. 

852
00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:10,040
And, and I ended up, I ended up 
putting off my operation to play

853
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:13,560
in the Home Internationals, 
which probably looking back 

854
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,320
spoke, spoke to Andrea about 
this at the time. 

855
00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:19,840
At the time it was a good idea 
and I just won the match play. 

856
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:22,040
So they weren't keen for me to 
play and I was keen to play 

857
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:25,640
because I was flying and I was 
extremely confident at the time.

858
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:28,440
But ultimately there was a big 
come down after that because you

859
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:30,280
win it and then you stop 
playing. 

860
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,840
And my hand was in bets and I 
went down and put and I 

861
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,280
shouldn't have played because I 
had this this broken one of my 

862
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:39,400
hand. 
But we got that removed and the 

863
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,360
hands fine. 
The hands absolutely fine, you 

864
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,040
know, but but yeah, at the time 
I probably put, you know, an 

865
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:47,760
experience John would have 
probably went less than I need 

866
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,520
to go get this operation rule. 
I'll be back next year. 

867
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,320
But the time I just wanted to 
play because I just won the 

868
00:40:54,320 --> 00:40:57,600
Scottish Amateur and Scotland, 
the selectors wanted me to play.

869
00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:00,400
So it was again, at any time I 
paid for Scotland. 

870
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,040
I was always delighted to play 
because I was, I was. 

871
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:04,240
I'm a proud Scotsman you know 
of. 

872
00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,960
Course, absolutely. 
And then you talked about that 

873
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:12,920
maturity you would get, I guess 
we're years of experience, so 

874
00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:15,600
you didn't turn pro. 
So what was that process like 

875
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,200
and how's it going I guess from 
then until now? 

876
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:22,760
Yeah, I would say running pro at
the time off the back of a 

877
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:28,040
through an amateur season, which
was probably I'd got back from a

878
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:32,440
turn through in 2009 and I'd got
back from the operation in 2008.

879
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,880
So I was fine playing but I was 
I'd missed out on the Scotland 

880
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:37,840
team and confidence a little bit
low. 

881
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,120
It's still and I'd still chucked
in some decent results but I 

882
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:44,720
wasn't, you know, I wasn't as 
probably sharp as I was the 

883
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:50,320
previous couple of years. 
But you know, obviously I'd done

884
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:52,600
quite well at Scottish Open. 
All that Mister cut I'd opened 

885
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:54,920
with a six day. 
I was lying, I think 12th or 

886
00:41:54,920 --> 00:42:00,360
13th after round one and I'd had
some good moments and I felt 

887
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:03,000
like I did feel like the time 
was probably right. 

888
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:05,960
I just wish I'd maybe played 
maybe a little bit better when a

889
00:42:05,960 --> 00:42:08,320
Professional Golf with a little 
bit more confidence. 

890
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:12,440
And at the time we were playing 
on the Euro Pro Tour and I 

891
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:15,920
quickly realized that that is 
that's a tough place to play. 

892
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:20,120
It's you go from the extreme or 
you go from monster, well, you 

893
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,720
go from playing likes like the 
Royal Bark Deals, Elevens, the 

894
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:27,600
Saint Andrews Links, you're 
playing beautiful golf courses 

895
00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,600
and you go down to the Euro Pro 
and all our Scots. 

896
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,040
We were at disadvantage because 
we were going down at their back

897
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:34,120
garden. 
You know, we were having to 

898
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,920
drive 7 hours or fly down and 
playing golf courses that 

899
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:42,360
weren't, they weren't great. 
And, and I think it was probably

900
00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,520
more of a mental thing. 
Like if you went down there and 

901
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,680
you were looking at and you 
could almost, you could lose 

902
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:49,400
yourself before you even got 
even going because you'd be 

903
00:42:49,400 --> 00:42:50,880
like, this is rubbish. 
That's rubbish. 

904
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:55,520
And again, that was, that was, 
that was a tough upright, that 

905
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:57,360
was a tough upbringing and 
actually playing on that too. 

906
00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:01,080
And I played in it for a few 
years and not particularly not a

907
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,440
lot of success. 
You know, I would say, you know,

908
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:05,880
there's a few top 10s in there, 
but not, I wasn't close to 

909
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:08,480
winning anything. 
And I ended up going to play 

910
00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:13,360
Napster, which was amazing 
because of the what was good 

911
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:16,920
about that as it integrated the 
travel and you were traveling 

912
00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:18,960
around the world and you weren't
well, you were traveling well. 

913
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:19,680
We did. 
We did. 

914
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:21,960
We went quite far, but we were 
mainly in Europe. 

915
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:27,120
A tour that we will run felt 
felt more for the players like 

916
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:30,320
fairly, the Europe pro was a 
little bit more like we're not 

917
00:43:30,320 --> 00:43:32,480
bothered. 
Just give us your money and just

918
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:33,880
get on there. 
And if you didn't like it, then 

919
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:35,720
they come back like it was a it 
was a tough. 

920
00:43:35,720 --> 00:43:37,840
It really was Ross. 
It really was. 

921
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,400
And we were maybe pampered as 
amateurs, but we probably were 

922
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:42,800
pampered. 
You know, I know been in the 

923
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:44,120
Scotland team and I've spoken 
about this. 

924
00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:48,480
It was amazing because you would
rock up with your golf clubs and

925
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:50,840
at the airport and they come up 
bag for you with your stuff and 

926
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,640
they be like your balls, there's
your clothes, there's this and 

927
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:55,440
you're like, this is amazing. 
And then you turn pro. 

928
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,240
And I played in a few, the big 
I've played in some of the 

929
00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:00,560
European tournaments and it's 
totally different. 

930
00:44:00,560 --> 00:44:03,320
Like it's unbelievable. 
Like you're there for the 

931
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,200
weekend or you're getting 
shuttled about America or BM. 

932
00:44:07,080 --> 00:44:09,280
What would you like? 
What, what clubs would you like?

933
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:13,200
They're prepared to just try 
anything and, and your food's 

934
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:16,280
free and, and you know, you get 
accommodation rates and stuff. 

935
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,680
But when you're playing on the 
Europro, it's like, I don't know

936
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:20,200
man. 
It's just a really, really tough

937
00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:24,160
place. 
And I probably, I lost a little 

938
00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,640
bit of love for the game, to be 
honest with you when I was when 

939
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,200
I was playing on that, because a
lot of traveling up and down, 

940
00:44:29,480 --> 00:44:30,920
you know, you missed the cut by 
a shot. 

941
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:33,960
You've got 7 or 8 hour drive up 
the Rd. from my way down middle 

942
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:38,040
England or way down to London. 
Tough men, tough mentally. 

943
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:44,320
And yeah, I think, yeah, I 
thought I was probably gonna do 

944
00:44:44,320 --> 00:44:46,400
a lot better than I did. 
I just didn't, I didn't deal 

945
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:48,320
with it very well. 
And that's all right. 

946
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:51,920
You know, I've tried, you know, 
I mean an amazing story. 

947
00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:55,800
Scott Jamison, who obviously was
in the Scotland team with me, he

948
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:58,120
actually went to the first stage
in the European and didn't get 

949
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:02,400
through first stage, which which
at the time was probably was a 

950
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:05,160
disaster. 
It was he never got through 

951
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,440
first stage and then it got an 
invite like a couple weeks later

952
00:45:08,440 --> 00:45:10,960
and he ended up finishing 
second. 

953
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:14,480
So once you're second, you've 
got enough points and then and 

954
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:16,880
then and then he won an event 
and then Scott's like, are we 

955
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,400
under the Challenge Tour? 
And obviously just he's like 

956
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:21,640
he's a great player. 
He's a top player, you know, 

957
00:45:21,760 --> 00:45:23,760
and. 
Yeah, absolutely. 

958
00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:25,680
Look at the clear that he's 
carved out and I'm like, that's 

959
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,800
amazing, Richard Ramsey amazing.
But then on the flip side, there

960
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,600
was guys like that, you would 
have thought he'll do well and 

961
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:33,920
he didn't because golf is 
difficult. 

962
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,280
It's really difficult. 
It's such a tough sport. 

963
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:39,640
You're playing against the 
hardest, hardest thing, probably

964
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:42,080
playing against yourself. 
And then then you've got the 

965
00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:44,360
golf course. 
And is the golf course suited to

966
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,400
your game? 
And then you've got another 150 

967
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:48,880
people who are, I beat you, 
right? 

968
00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:54,280
So it's hard, right? 
So like I always think like you,

969
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:56,680
football went late. 
We touched on I played football.

970
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,360
Like you could be having a bad 
day at football, but you'd have 

971
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,680
like another 9 outfield players 
that help you put in a tackle 

972
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:03,920
set. 
Yeah, yeah. 

973
00:46:04,600 --> 00:46:07,240
When you're on the golf course, 
it's, you know, it's quite a 

974
00:46:07,240 --> 00:46:09,240
lonely, even if you've got a 
caddy, it can be quite long late

975
00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:13,560
types. 
And yeah, I mean, I was young. 

976
00:46:13,560 --> 00:46:17,680
I was young, but I was older 
than most, but I was young in 

977
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:22,000
regards to hadn't done a lot of 
mileage on and playing like from

978
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,080
a young age. 
So I like when I think about 

979
00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:26,440
when I was playing in the 
British amateur, I was 26. 

980
00:46:26,680 --> 00:46:29,360
There was a lot of guys that 
were like 2122. 

981
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:31,840
Rory McIlroy was there. 
Rory was like 16. 

982
00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:34,040
Ollie Fisher was 16. 
Ollie Fisher was in the same 

983
00:46:34,240 --> 00:46:36,720
time or the he was in the other 
semi final in the British 

984
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:41,040
Amateur, but he was only I look 
at the baby when I'm like just a

985
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:43,960
young boy, like 16 year old and 
the the semi finals of the 

986
00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:48,280
British amateur, right. 
But I, it was, it was, I mean 

987
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:52,200
the game of golf is as a 
professional, I thought I would 

988
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:55,600
have done better. 
Ross and I still enjoy playing. 

989
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:57,840
I really do enjoy playing and I 
love the fact that we can play 

990
00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:03,320
in Scotland now we've got time 
Pro Tour here and it's not as 

991
00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:05,000
expensive as the Euro Pro used 
to be. 

992
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,400
So the expense was a big thing. 
You know, we'd be going around 

993
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,520
and you'd be paying a back in 
the knee, maybe be spending 

994
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:11,720
eight or £900 a week in order to
play the golf. 

995
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:16,360
And which was I was fortunate I 
had a lot of support from from 

996
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:18,200
from companies who had sponsored
me. 

997
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:23,920
And that that is that is the the
burden of competing. 

998
00:47:24,200 --> 00:47:28,880
But but certainly not it's it 
was tough that, but there were 

999
00:47:28,880 --> 00:47:31,880
some good moments in there. 
And I think somebody I love 

1000
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:33,200
playing. 
I'd play golf every week. 

1001
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:37,080
I would play golf every every 
other day if we could play for 

1002
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,160
money, right? 
If we could just play for money,

1003
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:42,240
like have a game and get a 
better competitive juices going.

1004
00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:45,760
I do enjoy that. 
And unfortunately I we just 

1005
00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:47,200
don't have enough of that. 
There's not enough. 

1006
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:50,520
Alan Tate tried to run something
and he's no longer doing it. 

1007
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:54,080
And I know I'm going to suffer 
for that because I would play 14

1008
00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,520
or 15 of them and although you 
weren't winning a lot of money, 

1009
00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:57,760
give you a little bit of 
sharpness. 

1010
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:01,160
So you could go and you'd maybe 
win 3, but you go play a nice 

1011
00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:03,720
golf course and it was great and
I loved it, but the numbers 

1012
00:48:03,720 --> 00:48:05,520
weren't there. 
And there's just, and I get 

1013
00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,440
other people like if you're 
teaching, you don't want to give

1014
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:12,040
up a day to go and play to pay 
maybe £70 to go and play a golf 

1015
00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:14,520
tournament if you can go and 
make the underprived teacher. 

1016
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:17,840
So I understand that it's just 
not for everybody, but I'm 

1017
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,560
trying to squeeze in as many 
people as I can and try and keep

1018
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:23,320
myself sharp because obviously 
we've got 16 events this year in

1019
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:26,520
Europe, a Time Pro Tour and the 
last one didn't go very well. 

1020
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:29,320
I missed the cut out Rawal 
Darnik so I need to need to try 

1021
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:30,600
and get my game a little bit 
sharper. 

1022
00:48:32,120 --> 00:48:34,920
I'm sure you'll be fine, John. 
So last time we get some quick 

1023
00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:37,960
fire ones to get us out here. 
Favorite golf course in 

1024
00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:39,480
Scotland? 
What moment? 

1025
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,400
Loman's beautiful. 
The greens that the teaser lock 

1026
00:48:43,400 --> 00:48:45,600
Loman for the tournament are 
like greens. 

1027
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,280
I remember taking a divet and 
going. 

1028
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:49,560
They were absolutely amazing. 
Yeah, brilliant. 

1029
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:56,240
Most underrated course. 
Hey, I was a member. 

1030
00:48:56,240 --> 00:48:57,840
I'm out for a while. 
That was good. 

1031
00:48:57,920 --> 00:48:59,200
I'm out. 
Really good. 

1032
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,440
Underrated. 
That's good, really. 

1033
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:03,960
Brilliant. 
One of the best parties in 

1034
00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:05,160
Scotland over the ocean. 
Amazing. 

1035
00:49:05,440 --> 00:49:08,040
So I would probably. 
I'm also like Fort Rose and Rose

1036
00:49:08,040 --> 00:49:11,120
Marquis, they managed to have 18
hole right, They had eighteen 

1037
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,000
holes and a golf course that you
could probably throw a blanket 

1038
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:14,080
on. 
It's amazing. 

1039
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:18,560
It's really, really quirky. 
Part of Scotland as well. 

1040
00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:21,560
So 4 Trolls is up there as well,
but I most would probably be #1 

1041
00:49:21,640 --> 00:49:24,600
underrated for me. 
Brilliant. 

1042
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:26,600
Hardest conditions you've ever 
played? 

1043
00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:33,600
Definitely the British Amateur 
and 2006 the year after in the 

1044
00:49:33,600 --> 00:49:37,600
final we played St. 
George's and we played Princess 

1045
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,240
and at Saint George's, believe 
it or not, Ross probably had one

1046
00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:41,800
of my best rounds of golf I'd 
ever played. 

1047
00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:46,640
Played with Paul waiting and and
he said to me after the round 

1048
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:48,360
event, that's probably one of 
the best rounds of golf I've 

1049
00:49:48,360 --> 00:49:49,920
ever seen. 
Bearing in mind though, he's 

1050
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:51,320
went on, they went in Dubai and 
all that. 

1051
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:52,880
So you'll have seen much better 
rounds than that. 

1052
00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:56,280
But a short one under, I shot 
one under par. 

1053
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,520
I had three birdies and a double
bogey and I was the next best 

1054
00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:01,800
score was one over par. 
I was the only guy to break par 

1055
00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:06,040
that day. 140 people, 100. 
It was mental when it was like 

1056
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:07,640
30 mile an hour at Saint 
George's. 

1057
00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:09,680
Mental. 
It was tough, yeah. 

1058
00:50:10,240 --> 00:50:12,840
I'll just, I'll just leave it 
that I didn't complete the 

1059
00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:15,280
round. 
So it's very close to you that. 

1060
00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:18,600
It's honestly that was total 
carnage that place it was. 

1061
00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:23,280
It was so tough, yeah. 
Absolutely best shot you've ever

1062
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:27,720
had. 
The best shot, or I mean there's

1063
00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:30,200
been some good ones over the 
years. 

1064
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:34,840
I think I'm trying to think back
to like when I played the 

1065
00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:36,840
British Amateur, it was 
obviously I'd had a lot of good 

1066
00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:39,960
shots, but I can't really recall
a lot of them on regards to a 

1067
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:41,720
specific one. 
But I can remember 1 playing 

1068
00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:47,800
against Alan Thompson press work
and we had driver down 15. 

1069
00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:51,240
Now 15 is probably about, I 
don't know, 20 yards wide 

1070
00:50:51,240 --> 00:50:54,360
fairway and bushes and bunnies 
and rough and horrible stuff. 

1071
00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:57,720
And I'm probably the straightest
club in my bag would probably be

1072
00:50:57,720 --> 00:50:59,880
our driver, Ross. 
Like see if you give me like, I 

1073
00:50:59,880 --> 00:51:02,760
don't know, like I mean 3 woods.
I'm not really keen on a three 

1074
00:51:02,760 --> 00:51:07,240
would know, but I found a waste 
quicker than I found a three 

1075
00:51:07,240 --> 00:51:08,920
would that I love Seriously man,
like that. 

1076
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:12,600
It's tricky, but we're still 
trying with the three woods. 

1077
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:14,640
But we'll get there. 
Maybe when I'm 50 we'll get 

1078
00:51:14,640 --> 00:51:19,440
there, but but not the driver. 
I hit down, I mentioned that was

1079
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:24,920
4 down with six to go, and I 
think I smashed that down 15 

1080
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:26,960
right to the front, the Green 
Party. 

1081
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:31,280
So that would be in regards to 
the momentum and the shot being 

1082
00:51:31,280 --> 00:51:33,040
tight. 
And it was one of the ones do or

1083
00:51:33,040 --> 00:51:34,880
die. 
If it doesn't work out, it's I'm

1084
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:35,960
probably down the road, you 
know? 

1085
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:40,960
So that was a good one, yeah. 
Best goal for you've ever played

1086
00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:48,560
with? 
Probably, I would probably say, 

1087
00:51:49,560 --> 00:51:50,640
well, I played the practice 
room. 

1088
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:52,800
I played the practice room. 
Roden McElroy, actually, he's 

1089
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:55,920
the top man, but I mean, he is. 
That would. 

1090
00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:57,600
Work, you know. 
That. 

1091
00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:01,720
He he bro, that is a really 
funny story, Ross. 

1092
00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:05,200
That's right. 
So my friend shirts Nathan, 

1093
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:08,240
who's sadly no longer with us. 
He asked a caddy farm in the 

1094
00:52:08,240 --> 00:52:12,280
practice days, right. 
So that's a really funny story, 

1095
00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:16,760
right? 
So he comes up on the Monday and

1096
00:52:16,760 --> 00:52:19,200
he comes up with his girlfriend.
Now my sponsor at the time has 

1097
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,080
given me his friend's house in 
Helensburgh. 

1098
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:23,440
So we're up. 
So his girlfriend comes to the 

1099
00:52:23,440 --> 00:52:25,760
house in the morning and we go, 
we'll be up. 

1100
00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:27,720
We're just going to go have a 
game of golf or we're away all 

1101
00:52:27,720 --> 00:52:30,360
day, right? 
So she wasn't happy by the time 

1102
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:32,960
we got back, right? 
But we've got back just like 

1103
00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:35,080
going mental and we've been 
away. 

1104
00:52:35,080 --> 00:52:37,760
If we've got like 6 O clock or 
something, he's furious. 

1105
00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:39,080
But we're just loving life, 
right? 

1106
00:52:39,080 --> 00:52:41,160
So we're playing. 
So we've managed to settle that 

1107
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:42,920
down. 
Sure, he was such a great guy. 

1108
00:52:43,000 --> 00:52:47,120
Next week for Captain the Army, 
life and soul at any party that 

1109
00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:48,800
you'd ever be to was just a 
brilliant guy. 

1110
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:51,960
But on the Wednesday we're going
out for a practice round and 

1111
00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:53,240
it's the last. 
I'm going to go ahead and have 

1112
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:55,600
one more eighteen holes because 
it's just, you know, I feel like

1113
00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:57,560
I could just get a even more out
the golf course. 

1114
00:52:57,920 --> 00:53:00,400
So I've put 6 balls up, I've 
marked the balls, put them in 

1115
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:03,280
the bag and I'm playing around 
the frontline. 

1116
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:07,640
It's just me on loan and I get 
down 10 and I hear a whistle on 

1117
00:53:07,640 --> 00:53:10,360
a turn around and it's Rory. 
So I'd never played against them

1118
00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:11,480
as an amateur because you're 
why. 

1119
00:53:11,480 --> 00:53:13,560
But he's 18 maybe at this time 
or 1718. 

1120
00:53:13,560 --> 00:53:16,200
So he's like waving. 
And so he comes out and joins me

1121
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,240
and he's had one down and it was
his cadre was with them at the 

1122
00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:20,440
time. 
It wasn't it wasn't hard. 

1123
00:53:20,440 --> 00:53:23,680
It was was a JP or kind of 
memories or Caddy's name. 

1124
00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:27,440
But Oh yeah. 
So the tense a dog legs woman, 

1125
00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:30,880
she hit down and I'm in the 
middle fairly and I say 6 hour 

1126
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,920
pull the six and into the water 
and I go to my goal. 

1127
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:36,920
Stan's gonna get me another ball
mate. 

1128
00:53:36,960 --> 00:53:39,560
And he goes into my bag and he 
goes, he chucks one. 

1129
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:42,320
Now I've only lost one ball and 
he goes, that's your last ball. 

1130
00:53:42,880 --> 00:53:46,480
And I've went what do you mean 
he's like, what's your last? 

1131
00:53:46,640 --> 00:53:49,200
No, I'd seen him, I'd seen him 
going over to kids, right. 

1132
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:52,320
Stuart was going over to the 
kids and given them balls, 

1133
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:53,360
right? 
Given them balls. 

1134
00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:56,160
He'd given 4 balls of me and 
I've lost the ball. 

1135
00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:59,560
Last 8 balls were ordered the 
lock woman. 

1136
00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:03,840
I don't know what it's our next 
neurotic on scramble for about 

1137
00:54:03,840 --> 00:54:05,120
you. 
Honestly, I was absolutely 

1138
00:54:05,120 --> 00:54:07,040
mortified. 
So I'm just like checking it 

1139
00:54:07,040 --> 00:54:10,320
round and putting and like, oh, 
it was honest. 

1140
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:14,000
It was hilarious. 
But oh man, that another funny 

1141
00:54:14,000 --> 00:54:16,480
story before before we move on 
from that and we're doing quick 

1142
00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:18,760
fire questions was snared and 
right. 

1143
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:21,400
So my dad came up to caddy from 
the tournament Ross right. 

1144
00:54:21,640 --> 00:54:26,240
So he says like, well, they are 
ready to go and I've walked to 

1145
00:54:26,240 --> 00:54:28,360
the tee and at the time you'd 
leave the punt green, it was 

1146
00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,520
like a bit of a kind of walk up 
to the tee, maybe 100 yards. 

1147
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:32,440
And there's lots of people 
there. 

1148
00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:33,520
There was loads of people 
watching. 

1149
00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:36,120
It was great. 
And I've walked up the tee, 

1150
00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:39,560
turned around that I can't see 
my dad and I'm like looking and 

1151
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,600
I'm like, it's my dad. 
And he comes running up my dad 

1152
00:54:42,600 --> 00:54:44,160
and he's like looking all like 
embarrassed. 

1153
00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:45,840
And I've went your nightmare. 
He's went. 

1154
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:50,160
I'll tell you after what should 
I done my offense to it went to 

1155
00:54:50,160 --> 00:54:52,280
my dad. 
Pretend I'm a player and stay 

1156
00:54:52,280 --> 00:54:54,920
here and I'll sign a autograph 
my dad was standing with. 

1157
00:54:55,840 --> 00:54:58,480
But the understanding was sure, 
and he's signing autographs 

1158
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:00,360
right now. 
He's like a neat handicapper, 

1159
00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:02,560
right? 
But he looks like a professional

1160
00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:07,000
golfer because he's like and my 
dad told me. 

1161
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:09,280
He's got a gear. 
Well, he looked amazing. 

1162
00:55:09,280 --> 00:55:12,200
He's odd, like dressed amazing 
and he's like, ah, saying and I 

1163
00:55:12,200 --> 00:55:13,600
went, what were you signing 
shirt? 

1164
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:16,240
I said Bell. 
He said I was signing Belmont 

1165
00:55:16,240 --> 00:55:19,720
Fontaine and I'm like, why? 
I just thought it was. 

1166
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:20,840
I just thought it sounded 
funnier. 

1167
00:55:21,480 --> 00:55:24,440
So there'll be kids out there 
were like McElroy, Michael said,

1168
00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:28,000
all these guys and belt on the 
flags and I was just Ned and he 

1169
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:29,320
was just. 
It was so honestly, it was 

1170
00:55:29,320 --> 00:55:31,000
hilarious. 
Ross, he was so funny. 

1171
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:39,160
He was so funny, man, so funny. 
Oh, that's awesome, right? 

1172
00:55:39,240 --> 00:55:40,960
One course you'd love, another 
Go out. 

1173
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:45,320
So really lucky, I mean I'd love
to have another game at Bartel 

1174
00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:49,160
say, and Barkdale was good. 
I've been lucky to play some of 

1175
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:51,360
the golf courses in Europe, but 
Barkdale would probably be, I 

1176
00:55:51,360 --> 00:55:53,960
mean it's changed a lot since 
I've been down and had a few 

1177
00:55:53,960 --> 00:55:56,440
games since the British Amateur.
But I've not been down in the 

1178
00:55:56,480 --> 00:56:00,320
probably the past 10 years. 
So I'm probably to go there 

1179
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:01,360
because I know they've changed 
that. 

1180
00:56:01,600 --> 00:56:03,480
And when I was at Hillside, I 
was down at Hillside for a 

1181
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:08,200
couple of days this this year 
and Liverpool just next door and

1182
00:56:08,240 --> 00:56:09,960
had a quick look over. 
I mean, it's just amazing. 

1183
00:56:10,080 --> 00:56:12,280
So it's a beautiful by a land. 
Like you've got Birkdale, 

1184
00:56:12,280 --> 00:56:15,080
Hillside and then Southport all 
in a blanket. 

1185
00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,000
It's just amazing. 
But Barkdale would probably the 

1186
00:56:17,000 --> 00:56:18,200
one I'd like to have a game on, 
yeah. 

1187
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:22,080
Fantastic. 
Oh John Lesson has been 

1188
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:23,880
brilliant having you on. 
So great to hear all these 

1189
00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:27,760
stories and let's hope it's not 
20 years before I see you again 

1190
00:56:27,840 --> 00:56:28,320
all. 
Right. 

1191
00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:30,800
If we can, if we got a chance, 
let's try and catch up, we'll 

1192
00:56:30,800 --> 00:56:32,520
get a game or something else. 
That'd be brilliant. 

1193
00:56:32,520 --> 00:56:35,520
That'd be so good, man. 
Absolutely. 

1194
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:36,960
Thanks so much, John. 
Cheers. 

1195
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:42,960
I'd like to. 
Thank John for his time and how 

1196
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:45,000
open he was and sharing his 
experiences. 

1197
00:56:45,520 --> 00:56:48,080
If you enjoyed this episode, 
make sure to follow or subscribe

1198
00:56:48,080 --> 00:56:50,280
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And if you know someone who 

1199
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:52,360
loves the game, please share it 
with them. 

1200
00:56:53,240 --> 00:56:55,680
You can find the show on 
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1201
00:56:55,680 --> 00:56:58,240
Podcast for future episodes, 
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1202
00:56:58,760 --> 00:57:01,280
And if you have a moment to 
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1203
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:03,120
help us reach more golfers just 
like you. 

1204
00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:05,640
I'm Ross McGuire. 
Thanks for listening. 

1205
00:57:06,320 --> 00:57:08,640
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1206
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:11,600
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1207
00:57:12,200 --> 00:57:14,720
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1208
00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:18,080
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1209
00:57:18,080 --> 00:57:21,680
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1210
00:57:21,680 --> 00:57:24,920
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1211
00:57:25,520 --> 00:57:27,880
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1212
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,000
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1213
00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:33,720
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1214
00:57:33,720 --> 00:57:35,320
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1215
00:57:35,800 --> 00:57:39,200
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