Doug survives pier pressure ahead of Portugal final

Elderslie Golf Club amateur Douglas McGregor has already had one result during his preparations for this year's Lombard Trophy Final in Portugal.

The 45-year-old managed to avoid a drenching while on holiday in Turkey.

McGregor will team up with PGA Professional Scott McGrenaghan for the National Pro-Am Championship event in the Algarve.

The duo qualified by winning their Regional Final at Blairgowrie Golf Club in June when they shot a 10 under par round of 62.

Now they will be aiming to win the £41,450, Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts supported, showpiece which is being held at the Vila Sol resort between September 20-21.

And 11-handicapper McGregor, an electrical engineer from Renfrew who only took up the game three years ago, has been fine tuning his game in the Turkish sun.

‘It was a holiday that I’d had booked anyway, before we won at Blairgowrie,” he explained.

“So it was a bit of a co-incidence that it came just a couple of weeks before the Lombard Final.

“I played on a few courses out there and it’s worked well for me, although I underestimated the heat at first. I was pleased with the way I played so I hope that’s good preparation."

And even though McGregor was there to relax, his competitive spirit rose to the surface.

“I played out there with a couple of English lads, Travis and Chris, and we played a round on a points system - the forfeit for the loser was to jump off the pier at the hotel into 10 feet of water!

“Travis lost and he was the one who had to jump. So we all had a good laugh about that.”

McGregor admits he has got the golf ‘bug’ and is determined to iron out his mistakes before the event.

“Someone said to me that if I’m like this after three and a half years, think where I’d be if I started 10 years ago, golf’s a wonderful thing, I put the practice in and try hard to improve, concentration is my main problem, so I need to have a look at that,” he said.