David Law makes his first start as a full European Challenge Tour player this week at the Barclays Kenya Open, the first event of the season, and the Scot cannot wait to get going in the higher echelons of European golf after climbing through the Satellite Tour system.
The Aberdonian, a protégé of former Open Champion and two-time Ryder Cup winner Paul Lawrie, made the shrewd decision to turn down invites on the Challenge Tour last year in favour of gaining full status via the Satellite Pro Golf Tour.
While it was a tough decision to make at the time, Law believes it has been fully justified and now the former amateur star is hoping to make a big impression in his first season on the Challenge Tour.
“I can’t wait,” said the 22 year old. “Obviously I’ve played a few events over the last two years so I know what to expect, which is a good thing because I've always been one to struggle when I don’t know what to expect.
“I know a lot of the guys and a few of the courses and I'm really looking forward to playing week-in week-out, whereas last year and the year before it’s been scattered and there is a lot of pressure on you when you do get the chance.
“I thought it would be a better experience to play the Pro Golf Tour in Europe last year as opposed to playing mostly in Britain, to experience the travelling and all, and I learned a lot through that.
“It was about knuckling down and, while I had planned to get a few more Challenge Tour starts, I decided against it and focussed more on getting my card sorted for this year. I was glad I did that. It was a big decision because it would be easy to keep coming back here and hope for a big result.
“But I sat down with Paul (Lawrie) and my management and I didn’t think it was the right way to go, to skip the Satellite Tour events and hope for the best.”
Having played in Kenya last season, Law thinks it is the perfect place to begin his chase for a top 15 finish in the Challenge Tour Rankings.
“I played pretty good here last so I feel quite comfortable,” he said. “It’s a little bit linksy here too, it can be hard and fast and there has been a bit of wind here in recent days too so it’s a course I like.”
Other Scots in the field include Callum Macaulay, George Murray, who finished third here last year, and Duncan Stewart, who narrowly missed out on European Tour graduation in 2013, finishing 20th in the Rankings.
