'Nobody knows Carnoustie better than him' - Scottish hopeful reveals secret weapon for Senior Open

Admittedly to a lesser extent, Greig Hutcheon has also produced some eye-catching performances since he turned 50 last March, hence why the Banchory man is heading into this week’s Senior Open presented by Rolex at Carnoustie Golf Links with a proper spring in his step as part of a nine-strong Caledonian contingent.

“I am really pleased about how my senior career has started,” admitted Hutcheon, a three-time Challenge Tour winner between 20 and 25 years ago and a prolific winner as well on the Tartan Tour, topping the money-list on the PGA in Scotland circuit as recently as 2018. “It’s been good and it’s been great to get my foot in the door quickly.”

In just his second event as a so-called ‘golden oldie’, Hutcheon finished second to Richard Green, the Australian left-hander, in the Jersey Legends before adding three more top-ten finishes as he ended up eighth behind former Ryder Cup player Peter Baker on the money-list last season. “It was good to get off and running as it’s made a big difference because there’s still some phenomenal golfers out here and that means it’s a real battle to survive. But I’m enjoying the fact I’m off to a good start,” he added.

Earlier this year, Hutcheon reached the semi-finals of the Paul Lawrie Matchplay presented by Petsure, a new event on the European Legends Tour won by two-time major winner Angel Cabrera at Hanbury Manor, before he then finished just outside the top 20 in the US Senior Open - Englishman Richard Bland recorded back-to-back over-50s’ major victories in that after also landing the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship a few weeks earlier - at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island.

“The US Open was good,” admitted Hutcheon of carding rounds of 68-71-67-73 in the USGA event. “I had a couple of great days and a couple of frustrating days, when I just couldn’t quite keep the bogeys off the card. The course was pretty tough, though I really enjoyed it. I’d have hoped to do a little bit better, to be honest, as I unfortunately three-putted the last from about 50 feet, which was a shame.

“Over the course of the week, though, it wasn’t a bad performance. A couple of the good days were really good, especially the Saturday morning. The two most dangerous greens were the third and ninth and I’d got out of position on them, sitting 30 feet above the flag on both of those greens and managed to two putt both when keeping the ball on the green was the issue and they could easily have three or even four-putts.”

Hutcheon joined Paul Lawrie, Colin Montgomerie, Euan McIntosh, Gary Orr and Scott Drummond in securing exemptions for this week’s event in Angus before the home posse was bolstered as Andrew Oldcorn, Scott Henderson and Doug McGuigan all came through 18-hole qualifiers on Monday. Former DP World Tour Rookie of the Year Henderson birdied the last at Panmure to pass his test.

Twelve months ago at Royal Porthcawl, Hutcheon opened with rounds of 72-68-75 to sit just two shots off the lead in tie for sixth heading into the closing circuit before signing off with an 84 in testing conditions on the South Wales coast to end up joint-33rd behind German Alex Cejka.

“Obviously I was disappointed about what happened the last day, though it happened to everyone, I suppose, as the weather was absolutely brutal,” admitted Hutcheon with a wry smile. “My abiding memory of that day was hitting a really good drive down the first and realising in the yardage book that it had only gone 209 yards! It was tough to stand, to be honest, as it was so windy and also gusting.

“I shot 84 and there was a better score than that out there, so I was wee bit down about it straight afterwards but, at the same time, my overall performance that week was definitely a confidence-booster as far as playing in the senior majors is concerned. I played really nice in places and I was working my way towards the top of the leaderboard until the last round.”

Getting himself back in contention is the goal this weekend. “Absolutely,” he said. “I feel that little bit of pressure of expectation about trying to get into contention, but I’m just going to give it a go. I’ve got a 2-iron in the bag. I normally carry a 5-wood but, with it being a links course this week and some wind set to blow, I’ve decided to try a 2-iron instead.

“I’m looking forward to it as I’ve been playing quite nicely. I feel as if I have reasonable control of my game and, if I can plot my way round here and keep out of the fairway bunkers, which is going to be the key for everyone around here, then hopefully I can do okay. I can sometimes be pretty good at distance putting so I’ll be trying to get it greenside as much as I can.”

Guiding him around the Championship Course as he lines up in a field that includes Paul Lawrie and Padraig Harrington, two Open winners at Carnoustie, will be man Lindsay Mann, a former Carnoustie Golf Club champion who won the Scottish Boys’ Stroke Play Championship in both 1977 and 1979 before adding the Scottish Youths’ title in 1982.

“There will be nobody on the planet who knows the golf course better than him,” said Hutcheon. “He lives overlooking the 18th green and he caddies here quite regularly, so I am looking forward to having him on the bag and hoping that extra little bit of course knowledge will be useful.”