Seven Scots keep DP World Tour card hopes alive after avoiding 'banana skin'

Over the past seven weeks, a total of ten First Stage qualifiers have taken place around Europe, including four separate 72-hole shoot-outs at venues in England and the majority of them involved Scottish hopefuls.

The last of those shoot-outs took place this week at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil in France, where Gregor Graham and Calum Scott were both among a total of 18 players to book berths in the Second Stage.

Graham, who played on the HotelPlanner Tour this season as a rookie through the Global Amateur Pathway, followed an opening 67 with three 70s to finish joint-fifth on 11 under par in an event won by Argentina’s Andres German Gallegos on 21 under.

It was a praiseworthy performance from Blairgowrie man Graham, who missed a chunk of the season due to a wrist injury before making the cut in four of his last five starts on the DP World Tour’s feeder circuit.

“It was a good week,” said Graham, winner of both the South African Amateur and Brabazon Trophy last year. “I flew over with Calum Scott and we had an apartment together for the week. So it was good that we both had a good week and got through to the Second Stage.

“I played well. It was my first taste of the Q-School, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It’s obviously tough to get through three stages, but I am just trying to do the little things right and keep the big numbers off the card.

“I had a great first round and that helped massively as it took the pressure off and, therefore, I was able to go out feeling a bit more stress-free thereafter. I played nicely the last three days as well.

“Overall, it was a really good week and I’m looking forward to heading to Spain for the Second Stage. I’ll find out soon where I’m going for that and the plan is to stay as sharp as possible. I’m looking forward to giving it a go again.”

Since turning professional in the summer, Scott has mainly been playing on the PGA Tour Americas, where he’d been hoping to emulate his big brother, Sandy, by securing a step up to the Korn Ferry Tour but ended up well short of making the top ten in the Fortinet Cup Standings.

Taking a quick turnaround into account, though, he did well to adjust to a change of conditions on this side of the Atlantic, giving himself work to do after an opening 71 but then adding scores of 69-71-69 to finish joint-12th on eight under.

The duo joined Michael Stewart, Seb Sandelin, Calum Bruce, Craig Howie and Sam Locke in progressing to the Second Stage, which takes place at four venues in Spain - Desert Springs, Isla Canela Links, Golf Las Pinaillas and Fontanals - from 30 October-2 November.

Stewart finished joint-fifth in his First Stage test at Hulencourt in Belgium while Sandin and Bruce finished joint-tenth and joint-14th respectively at The Players Club in Bristol.

Craig Howie, who is bidding to regain his DP World Tour card after sitting at the top table in 2022, finished second at The Northumberland Golf Club in Newcastle while Locke claimed third spot at Frederikshavn Golfklub in Denmark.

‘It can be a bit of a banana skin’

“It was job done as it can be a bit of banana skin,” admitted Locke of keeping alive his dream of becoming a DP World Tour card holder in 2026 and, at the very least, securing a HotelPlanner Tour category for the second year running.

“So I was glad to get through. You’ve just got to go and do a job, be professional about it. I was glad to get through and give myself a chance of trying to save my season. I think my game has been getting better as the season has gone on and, hopefully, it can keep trending in that direction if I keep working hard.”

Meanwhile, David Law and Euan Walker both sit in the top ten at the halfway stage in the Hainan Open, the first leg of a HotelPlanner Tour double-header in China, with Grant Forrest lying in the top 20 at the same stage in the DP World Tour’s Open de Espana presented by Madrid.

In the amateur ranks, a Scotland side containing Graham’s younger brother, Connor, sit joint-tenth but 21 shots behind leaders South Africa with a round to go in the Eisenhower Trophy in Singapore.