Scottish talent still flourishing but do they get proper support required?
Women’s game has backing in place for pros but where is something similar for the men?
Let’s not beat about the bush here. The golf world was having a laugh at Scotland’s expense last week and that should hurt lots and lots of people. Why? Well, there wasn’t a single player representing the home of golf in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes and, yes, it was perfectly understandable that eyebrows were being raised about that.
Talk about changed days from Catriona Matthew winning at the same venue in 2009 and even more recently as 2021, when Louise Duncan thrilled the home galleries at Carnoustie by finishing in a tie for tenth as an amateur. Duncan made it through a pre-qualifier on this occasion but then fell at the next hurdle along with Gemma Dryburgh, Lorna McClymont and Hazel MacGarvie. Matthew, meanwhile, has a microphone in her hand at The R&A major these days rather than a golf club.
It’s true, of course, that no-one will be more disappointed than the players themselves that there wasn’t a single Saltire among a field of 144 golfers from all around the world, and that certainly wasn’t a good look at a time when Scottish Golf is putting a lot of time and effort into a Women and Girls’ Strategy.
An inaugural ‘Join The Drive Women’s Leadership Summit’ was hosted by the governing body during the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links a fortnight ago, when Dryburgh and Duncan were also announced as the latest players to benefit from Scottish Golf’s partnership with the Sean Connery Foundation.
Introduced last year, when Darling and McClymont were the recipients of valuable support through the legendary actor’s passion for golf, the latter was warmly welcomed and rightly so, but here’s a question that needs to be answered: Where is something similar for the men?
During last year’s Genesis Scottish Open soon after he’d landed a maiden win on the DP World Tour in the KLM Open, Connor Syme spoke openly about the “invaluable” impact Scottish Golf had on his career and cited that as the reason why he didn’t go down the US college route. Towards the end of last year, I spoke to the likes of Grant Forrest, Ewen Ferguson, David Law, Daniel Young and Euan Walker and they also talked positively about the support they had received as amateurs from the governing body.
Sadly, the same level of funding from sportscotland for golf has long fallen by the wayside and, unfortunately, that is now being reflected in performances. Relegated from Division 1, Scotland competed in Division 2 in last month’s European Men’s Team Championship in Greece and finished fifth out of nine teams behind Czech Republic, Slovakia, Portugal and Croatia. Niall Shiels Donegan and Connor Graham, neither of whom played in that event, are our two stick-out talents at the moment and will hopefully make another Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team at Lahinch next month, but, quite frankly, the World Amateur Golf Ranking makes for very grim viewing indeed once you start scrolling down from them both being inside the top 25.
This week marks the Home Internationals, with the men and women in action at Woodbrook in Ireland while the boys and girls head into battle at Monifieth, and, make no mistake, it would be a much-needed boost for Scottish Golf if one of those titles could be landed in events that, for too long now, have been dominated by England, in particular, but also Ireland.
It should be noted, of course, that only two Scots - Bob MacIntyre and Jack McDonald - teed up in The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale, a disappointing representation and even more so after MacIntyre had flown the Saltire on his own in The Masters, PGA Championship and US Open this year.
On the back of a stellar season in 2025, when four DP World Tour titles fell to MacIntyre, Forrest, Syme and Calum Hill while three players - Law, Young and Walker - all secured step ups from the HotelPlanner Tour, it’s actually been a pretty flat campaign so far, though hats off to Rory Franssen for giving Scottish fans something to shout about as he landed a maiden HotelPlanner Tour victory with a three-shot success in the Infortar Estonian Challenge on Sunday.
As an amateur, Franssen was one of those players who stood out from the crowd and, boy, was it fantastic to see him land the biggest win of his career so far at the age of 27. Originally from Inverness and now based in St Andrews, his game came on leaps and bounds during a spell at the University of Missouri while, yes, Scottish Golf also deserve credit in his development before turning professional.
There are a few hugely-important things, though, that have allowed Franssen to take that next step, which so many others find so difficult to negotiate in the battle to climb that ladder. First and foremost, he had somewhere to cut his teeth competitively in the paid ranks and well done to Paul Lawrie for providing that through his excellent Tartan Pro Tour. Franssen won three times on the Scottish-based circuit last season as he topped the Order of Merit and secured his HotelPlanner Tour opportunity.
In becoming the first Tartan Pro Tour player to win on the DP World Tour’s feeder circuit, Franssen will have instantly inspired the likes of Sam Locke, Will Porter, John Paterson, Michael Stewart, Graeme Robertson and others, which makes this week’s Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A at SCHLOSS Roxburghe near Kelso a very exciting event indeed from a home perspective.
Equally important for Franssen has been backing he has received from both individual sponsors - Orion Group and Stephen Gardiner Construction - and an excellent Kingsbarns Golf Links support programme, with Young, last year’s Scottish Challenge winner, and McClymont also being part of it and something that should be applauded even if Art Dunkley, owner of the Fife venue, isn’t the type to shout from the rooftops.
There’s talent there, no doubt, but, as a country, are we giving them the support they need?
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