Stott is hoping Whittaker packs a punch at Gleneagles

Nigel Stott hopes Whittaker Golf Club can continue to punch above its weight at the Lombard Trophy final at Gleneagles.

Rochdale amateur Stott will partner PGA Professional Jon Cheetham, from Manchester.

The duo hope to repeat their dominant performance in the qualifying round when they tee off at the £43,600 final played over the PGA Centenary Course at the Ryder Cup venue between September 1-2.

They recorded an impressive 10-under-par round of 62 at Dunham Forest Golf Club in Cheshire to seal their Gleneagles place.

And six handicapper Stott, who is a stock controller for a company that makes carbon fibre bodies for Formula One cars, says his club have achieved a lot for their size.

“We’re a nine-hole moorland course with perhaps 140 members, it’s a small club,” he said.

“But we’ve produced some decent results over the years so we tend to punch above our weight at times.”

Stott is looking forward to teaming up with Cheetham again after their display at Dunham Forest.

“We gelled well on the day,” said Stott.

“We backed each other up and it worked for us. He talked me round the course.

“Over the past few weeks we’ve been chatting on the phone a lot in preparation for the event so I hope we can go there and play well again.”

Cheetham admits that Stott’s form may be a key factor in the final.

“It could be that Nigel is the stronger one of the pair!” he said.

“But I always think that golf is 99.5 per cent what happens on the day itself, so we’re going up there feeling hopeful.

“And if we play as we did at Dunham Forest then who knows what might happen.

“Whatever happens, we’re both really looking forward to going to Gleneagles and playing at the Ryder Cup venue. I’ve never been there before so it means a lot to us both.”