Amateur John Gough was delighted to make the most of his opportunity as he carded an opening 68 at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo.
The 24-year-old invite is playing just his second DP World Tour event as he approaches the end of a highly successful career in the unpaid ranks.
After five years at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he came back across the Atlantic and quickly won the English Men's Amateur Championship in 2021.
He claimed the Lytham Trophy in 2022 - the same season he made his DP World Tour debut at the Hero Open - and has this season added the Australian Master of the Amateurs and Irish Men's Amateur Open Championship to his trophy cabinet.
Amateur John Gough with a dart at the 16th 🎯
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 29, 2023
He's currently at four under.#BetfredBritishMasters pic.twitter.com/62iCMlD1mL
With a Walker Cup appearance on the horizon, 2023 could be a year to remember for the Englishman, and he is delighted to be able to showcase his skills on the big stage of The Belfry.
"It's very important to be able to take the chances because there are thousands of fantastic golfers out in the world and they are all dying for spots," he said.
"Whether it be pros or amateurs, they are all dying for starts and potential chances to showcase themselves, so I feel like for not only for yourself but for the rest of the great golfers out there, you need to take your chances when you can.
"It's great seeing a lot of guys I played with in the amateur game and there's a lot of big names here as well, which is nice.
"Getting treated great is great. It's a lot nicer coming to events, professional events, when you get a few days of practice rounds, rather than cramming it all into one or two days.
"It's all great, well-run, so I'm looking forward to finishing the week off well."
The man at Number 13 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking is currently on course to represent Great Britain & Ireland at the Walker Cup at St Andrews in September, and he believes that would be the perfect goodbye to his amateur career.
"I'm obviously looking forward to that," he said. "Team golf is a completely different game altogether but hopefully we get in that and go well and finish my amateur career off pretty nicely, hopefully."
