Rising Scottish golf star makes sensational start to 2026 on Turkey trip

Not for the first time, the 16-year-old, a Queensferry High School pupil who is a member of Bruntsfield Links in Edinburgh, underlined his potential during a warm weather training camp in Turkey organised by the Paul Lawrie Foundation

Held at Gloria Golf Resort in Belek, the trip saw Lawson and fellow up-and-coming players Cormac Sharpe, Fraser Brown, Kai Laing and Ollie Robertson join 1999 Open champion Lawrie and Calum Scott, the 2024 Open Silver Medal winner, for a mix of practice and competition play.

After 54 holes, Scott, who turned professional last year, led by a shot from both Lawson and Lawrie on eight under before Lawson signed off with a three-under 69 while Lawrie and Scott closed with scores of 77 and 78 respectively.

“I played really well over the four rounds,” admitted Lawson, who only found out about the trip just before Christmas but jumped at the chance. “I only made six bogeys the whole week, kept it in play off the tee the whole event and had 16 birdies.

‘Yeah, it was pretty sweet’

“It felt really nice as I played with Paul and Calum the last two rounds. When you are standing there on the first tee with an Open champion and a guy who has won the Silver Medal, it can feel a bit daunting. But I got off to good starts in both rounds and kept it and ended up winning by eight shots. Yeah, it was pretty sweet!”

Lawson underlined his talent when winning the European Young Masters in 2024, becoming just the second Scot after Barry Hume to land that title and also follow in the footsteps of the likes of Sergio Garcia, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he replied to being asked if this sort of performance was an indication of where he feels his game is. “I know I can play at the level these guys can as I feel I am on a good path at the moment. Hopefully, there are good things to come for me in the future and this certainly gives me confidence that I can go on and have the Paul had and the career Calum is having.”

Lawson’s first big event this year is set to be next month’s Portuguese Amateur Championship and the player who was part of a title-winning Scottish side in last year’s Boys’ Home Internationals in Cork is excited about challenges like that.

“Last year was a different year for me,” he said. “Obviously the schedule changed a bit in terms of me playing in more of the bigger men’s events. It probably didn’t go the way I wanted to but, at the same time, I gained so much experience and I feel like I learned so much from it and can hopefully use that to my advantage going into this season.

‘Not scared’ about taking on older players

“I think every golfer goes through that phase where they have a tough couple of weeks or a difficult season where nothing really clicks. But I think if you can find learning curves within them, then you are going to grow as a person and a golfer and I am really grateful for the chances I had last year and the experiences I gained along the way.

“Hopefully with a year’s experience behind me, I can record some good results and see where I end up. I am competing against men who are 22 and 23 years old, but I think having big ambitions and being realistic at the same time is okay. When I go to these tournaments, I’m not scared as I am there to compete and I believe I am capable of doing that.”