Scottish amateur golfer teeing up in British Masters has DP World Tour card in sights

The Royal Burgess player, who has just been selected along with compatriots Connor Graham and Niall Shiels Donegan for next month’s Walker Cup in California, is the sole amateur in the field at The Belfry.

“I found out about it a week or so ago and it’s a nice wee bonus,” Adam told The Scotsman at the Sutton Coldfield venue. “I played in a lot of Faldo Series stuff growing up and I am grateful to Sir Nick, who has been amazing.”

The left-hander, who won the St Andrews Links Trophy earlier this year, is set to turn professional for next year and is just waiting to discover if he’ll be playing his rookie season on the DP World Tour or HotelPlanner Tour.

He currently tops the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings and, if the current 20th player on the World Amateur Golf Ranking can climb inside the top 20 by mid-October, then he’ll have a DP World Tour card in his hand next year.

‘Thrown in at the deep end for The Open’

“If I don’t get inside the top 20, I will end up with a HotelPlanner Tour and I am feeling pretty good about having that locked down, so it’s just that last push to secure a bit of this instead,” he added.

Adam, who has his Scottish team-mate Gregor Tait caddying for him at the Sutton Coldfield venue, is hoping his appearance in last month’s 153rd Open at Royal Portrush will stand him in good stead this week.

“I kind of got thrown in at the deep end for The Open with the amount of people that were there and the amount of stuff that was going on and it is just preparing me well for the next stage in my career,” he said.

“I went to the Western Amateur (in the US) a couple of weeks later and started playing well and when people started watching me there, it felt normal and that was down to my experience in The Open. Without that, I think I would have felt more nervous than I did, so it is great to get experiences like this.

“It puts you in great stead for the future and I am feeling a lot better about this week than I think I would have been without that experience.”

Adam will have Richie Ramsay, who tied for third three years ago, for company in the opening two rounds while Nexo Championship winner Grant Forrest is also among a total of eight Scots in the line up.