Scottish tennis star to be among hopefuls in The Open qualifying

Former Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finalist Colin Fleming is swapping his tennis racket for a set of golf clubs in a bid to qualify for The 154th Open at Royal Birkdale.

The 41-year-old is among more than 2,100 golfers who will compete in this year’s Regional Qualifying for the Claret Jug event at the Southport venue next month.

Fleming, a two-time club champion at Kingsfield on the outskirts of Linlithgow, where he lives, will be among the hopefuls at Kilmarnock (Barassie) on Monday, 22 June.

Colin Fleming, right, pictured playing a doubles match with Andy Murray in the 2016 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California | Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

The former Davis Cup player, who has entered as an amateur, will face an 18-hole shoot-out at the Ayrshire venue as players battle to progress to Final Qualifying the following week.

Fleming’s rivals at Kilmarnock (Barassie) are set to include Michael Stewart, who played in The Open three years ago at Royal Liverpool, as well as Sam Locke, the Silver Medal winner as leading amateur in the 2018 event at Carnoustie.

After calling time on his glittering tennis career - he won eight ATP Tour doubles titles - Fleming has become an accomplished golfer, beating some decent players to win the Kingsfield club championship in both 2022 and 2023.

He’ll now be aiming to come up with one of the best rounds of his career to give himself a chance of clearing the first hurdle in the scramble for spots in golf’s oldest major.

Three brothers teeing up in Craigielaw shoot-out

Due to the number of entries, Regional Qualifying will now take place at 16 venues in Great Britain & Ireland, with Chart Hills having been added to the list that had already been planned by The R&A.

The vast majority of Scottish hopefuls will be involved at Kilmarnock (Barassie) and Craigielaw, which is staging one of the shoot-outs for the first time after replacing Goswick as one of the two venues either in Scotland or close to Scotland.

Among those teeing up at Craigielaw are the Mukherjee brothers - Ollie, Sam and Cameron - and, though Gullane is now their home club - the trio all cut their golfing teeth at Craigielaw.

Former DP World Tour card holder Craig Howie is also in the field at the East Lothian venue, where a strong local contingent is set to include Renaissance Club players Daniel Kay, Neil Henderson, Kieran Cantley, James Morgan and Dominic McGlinchey, as well as Gullane amateur Archie Cook.

A number of Americans are also in the line up, as well as players from Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Canada, Sweden, South Africa, Germany, Iceland and Spain.

Michael Stewart, who played in The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool, will be among Colin Fleming’s rivals in one of the Final Qualifying events later this month | Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Stewart, who is attached to Kilmarnock (Barassie), will be the first man out on the Ayrshire coast, where he’s set to be joined by a posse of fellow former Scottish Amateur champions in Callum Macaulay, George Duncan and Alexander Farmer.

Graeme Robertson, a beaten finalist in Scottish Golf’s marquee men’s event, is heading to Kilmarnock (Barassie), too, as are two other experienced campaigners in Craig Lee and Scott Henry.

The line up also includes rising Tartan Tour star Dominic Bradburn, Blairgowrie teenager Fraser Walters and Aidan Lawson, the 2024 European Young Masters champion.

A number of Scots are also set to be involved at the other venues, with those successful at Regional Qualifying progressing to Final Qualifying at Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald, Royal Cinque Ports and West Lancashire on Tuesday, 30 June.