Reigning Amateur Champion Scott Gregory is looking to make a dream debut when he tees it up at this week’s Bridgestone Challenge in his first European Challenge Tour event.
The 21 year old won the 2016 Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club after overcoming Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre 2&1 in the final in South Wales.
The Portsmouth player, who was four under par after 10 holes at this year’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, comes to Heythrop Park Resort in good form after making the last 32 in the U.S. Amateur.
The promising amateur is now hoping to replicate the recent performances of his fellow countrymen on Europe’s top developmental tour and in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
“We all look up to players who have been in the England squads, as they have been in our position before,” he said. “It is good to see those guys winning on the Challenge Tour and also seeing Justin Rose winning Olympic gold for Great Britain inspires you, and makes you think you can go out there and do it.
“Playing on the Challenge Tour does not phase me as I have still got to hit the golf ball around the golf course – so the actual event doesn’t change things too much.
“Compared to last week at the U.S. Amateur, the course is quite different. I have watched people hitting shots out there and the fairways are a lot firmer, so you should be able to get a bit of roll on the drive, which will be nice.
“This week is about testing the waters to see where I am in relation to the Challenge Tour guys – so I will take it as it comes.”
The young Englishman has twice been a runner-up as an amateur, most recently missing out to current Road to Oman Rankings Number One Romain Langasque in the final of the 2016 Spanish Amateur Championship in March.
“I met Romain in Spain and he messaged me after I won to say well done – that was pretty nice,” he said. “It has been really good to see someone like him doing so well this year.
“I am not too sure how long how I will stay as an amateur for. I want to turn professional at the right time and make sure that I am ready to do it.
“I will see how the next six or seven months go, then I have got The Masters at the start of next year – which will be a good test of where I am! I haven’t set a date on turning pro – I will just do it when I am ready to go.
“I really enjoyed playing at The Open. It was nice to get to top of the leaderboard early on, and it shows that if I play my best golf I am not far off where I need to be.
“But it also showed me that when I don’t play well there’s a lot of room for improvement. I have done quite a bit of work on that, so it will be interesting to see this week how I fare.”
Joining Gregory in Oxfordshire are compatriots Jordan Smith, Gary King, James Heath and Sam Walker, who have all won on the 2016 Road to Oman.
South Africa’s Dylan Fritelli comes into the tournament in red hot form. The 26 year old has been the stand-out performer on the Challenge Tour in recent months, following up four top 15 finishes in five events with a dramatic two-shot victory at last week’s Rolex Trophy.
