'No reason ...': Amateur tipped as contender in Scottish Challenge

He’s taking it all in his stride, though, and, according to one of the favourites in this week’s £250,000 HotelPlanner Tour event at Schloss Roxburghe, there is nothing to stop Graham getting himself in contention at the Borders venue.

“The opportunity is great and it’s not just an opportunity,” said David Law, the 2018 winner at Macdonald Spey Valley in Aviemore of a total of 21 Scottish players being in the field for Thursday’s opening round. “They can go and compete, they can go and win the golf tournament. There is no reason why they can’t do that.

“I’m sure someone like Connor won’t have any fear going out here and trying to do that. The French lad, Martin Couvra, won out here as an amateur and he’s gone on to do great things. You can see someone like Connor going down a similar route and there’s no reason why he can’t win this week. If not, he can still take a lot from the week.”

As well as a fellow amateur in local man Jack McDonald, Graham is being joined in the line up by his big brother Gregor, who is in his rookie season as a professional after securing his HotelPlanner Tour card through a new Global Amateur Pathway.

“It’s been a busy summer,” admitted Connor, who was in with a chance of making the cut at Royal Portrush before seeing his week unravel on the back nine in the second circuit on the Antrim coast. “Yeah, this is the only event we are playing in together this year and it is nice for it to be in this tournament.

“It helps that you are playing in such big events as that makes it quite easy to get ready for them and have the energy to play in these events. Yeah, I know that if I play well enough that I can compete and that is the goal for this week. I’ll get a good look at the golf course the next couple of days and get as ready as I can.”

Gregor’s season has been hampered by a wrist injury, which, frustratingly, flared up again just after he’d recorded his best finish so far in the paid ranks when tying for 15th in the Interwetten Open in Austria.

“It was after Abu Dhabi (in April) when it first happened,” said last year’s South African Amateur champion. “I then had eight weeks off before playing again and it flared up again over in the Czech, but hopefully after a couple of weeks rest it will be ok now for the rest of the season.

“It feels good now so I am ready to play this week. I was pushing hard to make it, to be honest. I could have taken this week off and played a bit more in the coming few weeks, but I wanted to be here playing in my home event.

“It is pretty cool (to be teeing up on this stage with Connor). We were talking about how we’ve not played in the same event since the St Andrews Trophy last year.”

Connor, who picked up three points from four games, and Cameron Adam, who won four out of four, helped Dean Robertson’s Great Britain & Ireland side win that event against the Continent of Europe in Madrid last weekend.

“We all played really well and to beat the Europeans the way we did was pretty fun,” said Connor of a thumping 16.5-8.5 victory at Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro in Spain, meaning Great Britain & Ireland now hold the Curtis Cup, the Vagliano Trophy and the St Andrews Trophy after a hat-trick of successes inside the last year.

“Dean did a really good job prepping us and getting us ready for the week. That definitely helped us perform the way we did.”

It now looks as though Graham and Adam will borh be playing for Great Britain & Ireland again in the Walker Cup at Cypress Point in California in early September, though, not surprisingly, Graham has another big event on the horizon before that exciting assignment

“After this, I’ve got a week to practice before I go over to the States for the US Amateur then straight back to college after that,” he said, smiling.

‘It would be great to use this to really push on’

After a run at Newmachar, Schloss Roxburghe is staging the Scottish Challenge for the first time, with Law being joined by fellow former DP World Tour players like Eddie Pepperell, David Horsey, James Morrison, Renato Paratore and Adri Arnaus.

“Having a good week in any of these tournaments can be big for your season but especially this one for the Scottish lads,” said Gregor Graham. “There are still plenty of events to come and it would be great to use this week to really push on.”

As for the venue, which staged the Scottish Seniors Open in the past and was also where Bob MacIntyre produced one of his best performances as an amateur when destroying the field in the 2013 Scottish Boys’ Stroke-Play Championship, he added: “I walked it for the first time on Monday night. It looks amazing and I am excited to play it.”