Nairn golfer ready for world's biggest amateur tournament on home course
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FRASER Fotheringham says he is relishing competing in the biggest amateur golf championship in the world on his home course.
The 31-year-old, who has a handicap of +4, will tee-off against 144 of the best non-professional players in the world at the Amateur Championship which starts on Monday at Nairn Golf Club.
The former professional golfer received confirmation that he had qualified to take part in the tournament last week after being selected from the reserve list.
He has competed at the tournament twice before and is delighted to have the chance to take part again where he is looking to make a big impact.
“I am absolutely pumped for this, I am ready to go and I am in this to win it,” said Fotheringham.
“It is my home course and playing the handicap in the tournament which is supposed to be +5 it will be a tough game for anyone.
“With all the restrictions I have managed to wiggle my way up the list.
“Last year I intended to try and get my world ranking back as I used to play full time but that got sidelined.
“My world ranking got paused, but I thought I would ping off an entry as my handicap was low and I thought I would get on the reserve list and I ended up 52nd.
“With the new restrictions for travelling, a lot of Italian and Spanish golfers couldn’t come over and that is how I got in.”
Fotheringham, who works as a deer controller, left school when he was 16 and played golf full time for a number of years.
He reached the final of the boys version of the Amateur Championship in 2007 and has represented Scotland as well as Great Britain and Ireland at junior level.
Living within a minute’s walk of the course, Fotheringham is hopeful his knowledge of the fairways will give him an advantage over the rest of the field.
“I live a few hundred metres from the course and I have grown up playing it.
“I think that will give me a big advantage, there is the local knowledge part, but it is about being comfortable on the course.
“There is no doubt about bail out spots and things like that, I am going into the competition treating it like a five day open with a stronger field.
“It is nice going into a tournament as an underdog, playing local golf in the last five to six years, people see my handicap and assume I should be winning.
“I’m finally going into a tournament where there is no pressure on me.”
Fotheringham is one of three Nairn golfers competing next week, along with Sandy Scott who competed at the US Open last year and his brother Calum Scott.
