Elliott armed for shot at Foxhills glory

• Campbell Elliott to tee up for fifth consecutive shot at Senior PGA Professional Championship
• Elliott has been based at Haggs Castle for the last 12 years, and worked in Dubai and Qatar for five years in the nineties
• A keen player, he has his sights set on qualification for the ISPS HANDA Seniors Championship in June

Long-term Haggs Castle PGA Professional Campbell Elliott is set to tee up the new season with his fifth consecutive shot at the Senior PGA Professional Championship.

Elliott, 54, has been based at the Glasgow-club for the last 12 years after returning from a five-year spell spreading the golfing gospel in Dubai and Qatar in the mid-to-late nineties.

While others may have lamented the lack of sunshine on their return to the Scottish capital, Elliott got to work moulding the club’s junior offering and returning to competitive action.

A regular on the PGA national and Scottish schedules, the Senior PGA Professional Championship marks a first national start of the year for lifelong-golfer Elliott.

The event, which carries a total prize fund of £37,190, will take place at Foxhills Resort in Surrey from May 13-15.

The 20 leading players will go on to qualify for the ISPS HANDA PGA Seniors Championship which will take place at Close House in June.

“This is a really important event and one I have made every effort to play in since I turned 50 [the age at which players are eligible to enter],” he stressed.

“I enjoy competing at this level, it’s nice to go out and compete with guys of a similar age and make no mistake the competition is just as fierce as it is among the younger lads!

“It really is the start of my season and I’ll be going to win, and there’s the added incentive that I’ll be able to qualify for the European event at Close House.”

Elliott, a proud Scotsman, has represented his country at every level since taking up golf as a young boy.

He played for Scotland as an amateur and served a term as the captain of The PGA in Scotland.

“It’s been amazing to be able to do that,” he admitted. “I love playing golf and it was always what I wanted to do.

“At first I wanted to play and then I went through, got my PGA qualifications, became a club pro and with that got the opportunity to travel and see new parts of the world.

“I class myself very lucky to have had such a rewarding career doing something I love. To still be doing it at 54 is amazing really.”

Other players from Scotland competing in the Senior PGA Professional Championship at Foxhills include: Ian Butcher (Kings Acre), defending champion Kenny Hutton (Downfield), Fraser Mann (Carnoustie) and Nick Walton (Glasgow).