Haydn McCullen has been making a name for himself recently on the amateur scene, and the young Englishman admits he has been blown away by this week’s National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, his first experience on the Challenge Tour.
The young amateur received a sponsor’s invite for the penultimate event of the 2014 season, just as compatriot Nathan Kimsey did last year before winning the prize as highest amateur. Kimsey has since put that experience to good use, recording two top ten finishes in his rookie season on Europe’s second tier this year.
McCullen thoroughly enjoyed the experience of taking on some of Europe and the world’s talented up and coming stars and, despite missing the cut, he felt comfortable as he dipped his toes into the paid ranks.
“The tournament is fantastic, it couldn’t be any better,” said the 21 year old, who won two prestigious events in the non-paid ranks earlier this year – the Carris Trophy and the Peter McEvoy Trophy.
“I much prefer this to an amateur event. It’s a good course. If you play well, you can score well as proven by a couple of the lads going a few under par today.
“The standard out here is good and the guys just know how to get the best out of themselves. Even when they’re not playing very well they can still get the ball in the hole and get a score, whereas a lot of the amateurs, once they have a bad hole or a bad shot they let the head go and before you know it you’re shooting in the 80s.
“This week I’ve not felt out of place at all, on the range and out on the course, I’ve felt comfortable. I just need to work on my short game and putting, you can always improve that. That’s one of the big differences between the amateur game and the professional game.
“This is my first time being out anywhere like this, it’s hot! I’m not used to playing in this much heat, in trousers too.”
