Master and apprentice set for Gleneagles date

Dorset amateur and prospective golf pro Paul Rickard is set for his first appearance in a national championship final.

Rickard (left), 18, only picked up golf three-and-a-half years ago, yet he will tee up alongside his Parkstone PGA Professional Martyn Thompson (right) in the grand final Europe’s largest pro-am, the Lombard Trophy, starting tomorrow (September 2-3).

The £43,600 showpiece will take place over Gleneagles’ King’s Course just three weeks before the Ryder Cup visits the same venue.

And it gives Rickard, who wants to train to become a fully-qualified PGA Professional once he completes The PGA’s retail apprenticeship he is undertaking at Parkstone, the opportunity to sample playing alongside a past champion.

Thompson’s record in this event is among the very best. He’s appeared in the final for the last two years and claimed the crown in 2003.

“It’s going to be a great experience to go and play Gleneagles,” Rickard enthused.

“Obviously I’m aware of Martyn’s great record, but to be honest it’s not something that
I’m thinking about too much.

“It doesn’t really matter how many times he’s won it in the past, we’ve just got to go there and do our best this time around.

“It’s a big competition, and of course I feel nervous, but I’m confident we can do well.”

Should Rickard and Thompson finish among the leaders at the Perthshire venue, it will go a long way to helping the former achieve his dream career.

“In the future I do want to become a PGA Professional, and I want to do the foundation degree programme,” he explained.

“I’m enjoying working at Parkstone and that sort of seems like the next logical step for me.

“For that I need to get my handicap down to four [from eight] so I’m just spending as much time as I can out on the course practicing.

“It’s weird really, because I’ve gone from someone who had never picked up a golf club a few years ago, to now where it has taken over my life.

“If I’m not working in the club shop then I’m out on the course playing.

“Growing up I always had a big interest in sport, and like a lot of lads I played a lot of football and rugby.

“But I remember just sitting there three or four years ago watching the Masters and thinking ‘that looks quite cool’.

“I decided to go down to Parkstone and give it a go. I really enjoyed it and have never looked back since.”