'We're getting there' - Connor Syme opens up on state of Scottish golf

Along with Bob MacIntyre, Grant Forrest and Ewen Ferguson among others, Syme gained valuable experience from playing in Challenge Tour events through an amateur-to-professional initiative involving Scottish Golf and Edinburgh-based Bounce Sport.

Coupled with playing in events around the world thanks to support he received as a Scottish Golf squad member, that gave Syme the platform to hit the ground running when he made the switch to the paid ranks in 2017.

The 31-year-old is now teeing up alongside some of the world’s top players in this week’s Genesis Scottish Open as the KLM Open winner after landing a maiden DP World Tour triumph, handling a pre-event press conference at The Renaissance Club in the same polished manner as the final round in Amsterdam last month.

“Good question,” he replied to being asked if he felt that Scotland as a professional elite golfing nation punches above or below its weight in the modern-day game, with MacIntyre, helped by his double win on the PGA Tour last season sitting 14th in the Official World Golf Ranking but only Ferguson being the other player flying the Saltire sitting in the current top 150. “I guess we are probably kind of getting it back. Certainly when I was coming through amateur golf, the talent that we had in Scotland for whatever reason didn't end up making it on tour at that point.

“I think a few of those guys probably still could do it, but it's obviously nice that from my age group growing up, quite a lot of us have managed to get on tour and have won on tour, which is awesome. But, yeah, obviously with the home of golf, it definitely carries its pressures and trying to live up to that. Bob is obviously doing absolutely brilliantly and we are all trying to get, hopefully, to where he gets to.”

The likes of Denmark, which has produced a whole host of DP World Tour winners in recent years, and Sweden are nations that seem to keep producing talented players on a constant basis, with Syme being asked if he had seen anything those countries do that Scotland doesn’t.

“I'm not too sure,” he replied to that one. “I think certainly from my point of view and I guess I can only speak about it from my experience with Scottish Golf, I think I got it really, really good. We had such amazing support, and if I'm honest, I didn't go to college in America because of the support Scottish Golf offered us. We'd spend eight weeks in South Africa and four weeks in the Middle East. In 2016, I won the Australian Amateur when I was out there for four weeks.

“I think that was a real exposure to what professional golf is like. I don't even play four or five weeks in a row now. But having that experience of being away for long periods of time helped me so much. That was definitely something I look back on as going, wow, that has really, really helped me to get on tour and understand what it's like.

“After I won the Australian Amateur, I played in the Joburg Open on the DP World Tour. These were all little milestones I wanted to try and expose myself to before turning professional. I played in The Open and Walker Cup and stuff like that. That was all stuff that I drew on to then turn pro and then start off quite well.”

Due to a lack of funding, the aforementioned amateur-to-pro transition scheme is no longer in place, meaning the likes of Graham and Adam, both of whom have qualified for next week’s 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, and Darling, who is set to turn professional after this week’s European Women’s Team Championship in France, are not as well prepared when the time comes to make the switch.

“It's obviously difficult because I don't know enough about what's happening, but I think I definitely benefitted a lot from that, for sure,” continued Syme. “I know, there was SportScotland support and we had support from Johann Rupert (through the Alfred Dunhill Links Foundation) to be able to do what we did back then. It's all money-related, really, what they can afford to do. I definitely did benefit from it.

“Obviously I had support from my parents as well and, when I didn't go to college in the US, my dad was like ‘right, we're going to do this for four years like you're at college almost’. I was almost serving my apprenticeship of a wee amateur kind of trying to be a pro almost through that. Although I was still working at the range (Drumoig Golf Centre), I was practising and preparing like I would be like I am now. But definitely the funding and support that we had at that point was amazing and it would obviously be brilliant for the guys and girls coming through if they can get that back.”

Syme has made the cut in all six of his Genesis Scottish Open appearances so far, finishing joint-15th behind MacIntyre last year as the Oban man became the first home player since Colin Montgomerie in 1999 to pick up the trophy. “I guess it shows it's possible,” said Syme, one of six home players in this week’s line up on Scotland’s Golf Coast, of how MacIntyre has blazed the trail for his compatriots over the past couple of years. “It's very inspiring. Being Scottish, The Open, Scottish Open and The Masters are the stuff you dream about. Obviously having got a win, it's definitely given me a lot of belief that I can do that.”