For John Henry victory in the Scottish Par 3 Championship justified the hard work he’s put in during lockdown – and now he’s dreaming of a Scottish Open place.
The 28-year-old triumphed in the Tartan Pro Tour event at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre finishing on seven under-par following a round of 52 on Saturday and a score of 49 yesterday, which included five birdies.
Chris Robb was second on five under-par with Kieran Cantley, Paul Lawrie, Ross Kellett and Calum Fyfe tied for third a stroke further back.
Henry has played on the EuroPro Tour for the last four years, although he hasn’t been happy with his form in the last couple of years, and worked hard during the lockdown to make improvements to his game.
After claiming the first prize of £4,000, he said: “It’s brilliant. I’m absolutely delighted to get the win, I’ve played great the last two days so I’m absolutely buzzing.
“I’ve been working full-time since December collecting and delivering cars in Glasgow and worked right through the lockdown.
“I’ve been working hard at my game as well and juggling full-time work with practising is pretty demanding.
“My work have been brilliant with me if I need to finish early or take a day off to play so I really appreciate that.
“I’ve played on the EuroPro for the last three or four years, but I’ve been really poor on it for the last couple of years.
“I’ve used the lockdown quite well to build my game and it’s been great coming out and working hard on my game.
“Off the course as well I’ve been working hard to try to raise some funds to get playing next year.”
The Scottish Par 3 Championship is the second of six tournaments on the Tartan Pro Tour.
The Royal Dornoch Masters, the Pollok Open, St Andrews Classic and Rowallan Castle Championship will all be played in September with the player who finishes top of the order of merit receiving a place in October’s Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club.
Henry added: “There’s a lot to play for and it’s great we’ve got that carrot dangling, I’ll keep working towards that.
“It would be brilliant if I could play in the Scottish Open, to play on the European Tour would be brilliant.
“I think I’ve only played one Challenge Tour event so it would be great to have a go at something on the European Tour.
“I’ve played in the Scottish Open qualifying a couple of times and haven’t managed to qualify, I’ll keep working hard in the next four events and see what happens.”