Julie aiming to turn the clock back

Julie Otto admits she will be rolling back the years when she plays in the Golfbreaks.com PGA Fourball Championship Scottish qualifying event at Musselburgh Golf Club.

Otto is a former Great Britain international and has played in five Curtis Cup matches against the USA, but now her focus is more on coaching after starting a family.

However, Otto, representing Fife’s Elie Links club will be making her debut in this event when she teams up with Fraser Robertson, of Lundin Golf Club, at the Edinburgh on June 17.

They will be hoping to seal a place in the £33,250 SkyCaddie and BMW-supported final, which is being held at Carden Park in Cheshire.

After retiring from international amateur golf she moved into administration and rose to the position of Assistant Director - Rules at The R&A.

But she also underwent three years of PGA training which she completed last year and now Otto admits she is looking forward to getting back on the course.

“I spoke to Fraser who I worked with at Elie before he moved to Lundin, and we decided to enter this year,” she explained.

“It’s the first time I’ve played in it and I’m looking forward to some competitive golf again, it’s been a while now.

“My priority is more towards coaching now that I have a family but it will be nice to get out there, even though we have a very early start time.

“I’ve not even thought about the possibility of qualifying for the final yet.”

Also set to play in the event are brothers Martyn and Oliver Huish of North Berwick Golf Club.

Martyn is the head professional at the East Lothian club after taking over from his father David in 2009 after 20 years as Assistant.

Oliver turned professional in 2010 after a successful amateur career.

“Golf runs in the family, I didn’t get a lot of choice in the matter!” joked Oliver.

“But this is event is nice as it means I can play alongside my brother.

“And it’d be good to qualify as the final is at Carden Park. I went there to caddy for my dad in a seniors event about 10 years ago when I was maybe 14-15 - I also got to play in the Pro-Am event.

“But I like these events, the pressure is off a little bit when you’re playing.”

Other pairings competing in the Musselburgh regional qualifier include: Graham Fox (Clydeway) and Alan Reid (West Lothian), Scott Grieve (Turnhouse) and James Dick (Duddingston), Peter Scanlan and Anthony Mackrell (both Playsport Golf) and Christopher Campbell (Trump International) and James Erskine (Dumfries and County).