IF Scotland's amateur golfers thought they could bask in the glory of a European success then they can think again.
It can be easy to rest on the laurels of fleeting glory but Andrew Coltart is on hand to administer the robust boot of reality to any backsides that may be tempted to snuggle into comfortable acceptance.
It may only be March but the early signs on the Scottish front, dare we say it, have been encouraging and bode well for the coming months as the amateur season gets into full swing.
Fresh from a series of impressive competitive performances during a winter training trip to South Africa, the quartet of Bradley Neil, Jack McDonald, Graeme Robertson and Scott Borrowman upped the ante by winning the European Nations Cup on the Costa del Sol last weekend.
It was Scotland's first victory in that particular event since 2008, the year the trio of Callum Macaulay, Wallace Booth and Gavin Dear claimed the ultimate team triumph by landing the Eisenhower Trophy.
The challenge now is to carry this momentum into the new campaign and ensure that the Scottish flag is hoisted high at some of the unpaid game's biggest championships.
The failure of their players to make any sort of impact in the amateur 'majors' last season ultimately led to there being no Scottish representation in the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. That had not happened for 64 years and prompted the kind of pained howling and wailing usually reserved for the set of the Hound of the Baskervilles.
Coltart, part of the Scottish Golf Union's performance committee, is desperate to make sure it does not happen again and is eager to keep cracking the whip. "I don't want to throw a big damper on what was a very good win in Spain but boys have made great starts to the year before and have failed to kick on," said the former Ryder Cup player.
"It's encouraging, but let's not blow it out of proportion. We have a trophy in the cabinet but I'm certainly expecting much more. I want to see the bar being raised this season and these boys must now be looking at nailing a 72-hole strokeplay event of great distinction."
It has been a while since that has happened, of course. The first significant senior international event on UK soil is May's Lytham Trophy and you have to go back to 2007, when Lloyd Saltman conquered the rigorous Royal Lytham links, to find the last Scottish winner of that prestigious prize.
Saltman also remains the last home hopeful to win the Brabazon Trophy in 2005 while Keir McNicoll's victory in the 2008 St Andrews Links Trophy has not been repeated. Tartan triumphs in the Scottish Open Strokeplay Championship, meanwhile, have been as rare as a sow in full flight since Wallace Booth tasted victory six years ago.
"The minimum requirement has to be a Lytham Trophy or a St Andrews Links Trophy win," added Coltart, who will never tire of hammering home to players the importance of discipline, dedication and desire. "The world is a smaller place, there are more golfers than 20 years ago. It's harder to succeed now but we have to work harder, it's as simple as that.
"There is talent here but they have to be willing to learn. Kids have to appreciate what they have, they have to be professional in their approach and exploit what's there.
"There's some fantastic knowledge available and they have to drink that up. We've had a good start to the year but I don't want it to be another false dawn. Now it's up to the guys to prove that it won't be."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article