Getting down to Australia at short notice may sound like an appalling hassle for some but, given that he stays in Motherwell, it will probably take Ross Kellett longer to negotiate the various birls, twirls, twists and turns of those pesky M74 roadworks than it will to travel to the other side of the planet. Then again, with all that hammering, clattering, boring and battering that’s going on, there’s possibly a gaping hole up at the Bothwell Services that eventually brings you out on Sydney High Street.
“£1100 is not too bad for a return to the other side of the world the day before I’m going,” said Kellett, after hastily booking his tickets for a flight down under after getting a late call up to next week’s Australian PGA Championship. “I’m not ready for the business class flights just yet.”
We may still be in 2016 but golfing schedules tend to throw calendars out of the window and having just finished the current campaign, the 2017 Race to Dubai will swing into action in just seven days’ time.
With two events going on – the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa is also taking place next week – there is an opportunity for those lower ranked players to get a foot on the ladder. It’s a heck of a distance to travel but for Kellett the opportunity was too good to turn down.
“It’s as far away as we can play golf from here but I’ve never played on the main tour before and I need to challenge myself,” said the 28-year-old, who will spend a couple of days in Sydney before heading out to the Gold Coast for the championship itself.
Despite missing out on a full European Tour card by three shots in last week’s qualifying school final in Spain, Kellett remains in a sharp, competitive frame of mind and the former Scotland amateur cap is heading down under in a purposeful mood as he makes something of a step into the unknown.
“During my pro career, my focus has always been on whatever tour I’m on at a particular time, whether that’s been the Alps Tour or the Challenge Tour,” he said. “I’ve never strayed from that, despite having chances. I was offered a start in the Scottish Open a couple of years ago but I stuck to my guns, played on the Alps Tour and won that week. Now, the time is right though. Both my coach and myself feel I need to step up and feel what it’s like to play in a main tour event.
“Obviously I was disappointed not to get a full card at the q-school but I made my category on the next season’s Challenge Tour better and I’m now on the bottom rung of the ladder on the European Tour. I’ve not got many playing rights but I’ll get a handful. If it suits my schedule next year, then I’ll do them.”
While the cut-and-thrust of the main European circuit may be alien territory for Kellett, the Scot has some good experiences of golf in Australia to draw on. “I got to the final of the New South Wales Amateur Championship back in 2009 so it’s always nice to return to place where you have done well before,” he said.
As Kellett was shoving odds and ends into a suitcase and heading for his flight, his fellow Scots, Russell Knox and Duncan Stewart were already on Australian soil and getting their challenge underway in today’s opening round of the World Cup of Golf.
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 here