Dornoch pro to channel Nicklaus advice

Gary Dingwall will have the words of a legend ringing in his ears when he kick starts his bid to qualify for the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Professional Championship final.

The Royal Dornoch PGA Professional shared a round of golf with his hero Jack Nicklaus, below, when the American visited the club as part of a trip to Scotland.

And the Golden Bear, an 18 time major champion and winner of the US Masters on six occasions, shared some pearls of wisdom with Dingwall, who now hopes to use them to his advantage when he plays in the qualifier at Ladybank on April 26.

“The biggest piece of advice he gave me was on the importance of the pre-shot routine,” he recalled.

“He told me about how he would spend hours practising it – and how he would never hit a shot without visualising exactly where it would go first.

“You could tell from watching him that his swing was still exactly the same as when he was winning Majors. You could see from 100 yards away that he was Jack Nicklaus.

“To be honest having the opportunity to meet him was a dream come true. And the best bit of all was that after the round he and his wife came up to the bar for a drink.

“I thought they would jump straight in the car but they ended up staying for an extra couple of hours chatting away with everyone!”

Dingwall is returning to the PGA Professional Championship, the flagship event for club professionals in Great Britain & Ireland, for the first time since 2012.

And he admitted a major factor in that was the potential reward of a trip to the Oxfordshire for the £78,000 final in July.

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Oxfordshire,” Dingwall explained. “My caddie, Ian, is actually an ex-member there.

“The summer tends to be really busy with teaching and everything else going on at the club, but I’ve been really fortunate this year that I’ve managed to fit this event in.

“If we could secure a trip down to the Oxfordshire that would be really nice for both of us.

“On the playing side of things it’s certainly my main goal for the year – that and doing well at the Northern Open which is actually being held at Royal Dornoch as part of our celebrations of 400 years of golf in Dornoch.

“It should be a really exciting year!”

Other players competing in the Scottish qualifier at Ladybank include: Craig Haugh (Cawder), Greig Hutcheon (Inchmarlo Golf Resort), Paul Jamieson (Dunblane New Golf Club), Sam McLaren (Blairgowrie), Christopher McMaster (Wellsgreen) and Craig Ronald (Carluke).