The elbowing and jockeying for a place in the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team for this September's match continues in the north of Scotland this weekend when the Carrick Neil Scottish Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship takes place over the Old Course at Lossiemouth.
Bearsden teenager Ewen Ferguson may not have been included in the initial GB&I training squad, from which the majority of the side to face the USA at Royal Lytham will be picked, but the 18-year-old is making a decent job of impressing the selectors as he tries to barge his way into the reckoning.
Ferguson, the former British Boys' champion, has made a purposeful start to the campaign and has already won the Scottish Champion of Champions and the Craigmillar Park Open on the domestic scene while claiming an impressive third place finish in the Irish Open Strokeplay Championship.
"The Walker Cup is definitely a possibility and my game is in a good place right now," said Ferguson, who has slowly adapted to the rigours of the senior game after making the step up from the junior ranks. "Last year, in men's events, I felt that even when I had played well, I was finishing 20th or something. But I'm a lot stronger this year and my goal was to compete in every event. I feel I'm doing that now and that for me that is the most satisfying thing."
There hasn't been a Scottish winner of the strokeplay title since Wallace Booth claimed the honours back in 2008 but a host of home hopefuls, including South African Open winner Danny Young, Walker Cup squad member Jack McDonald and SGU order of merit leader Connor Syme will all be looking to bridge that yawning gap.
An international field has gathered in Moray for a 72-hole contest that has been won by the likes of Bernard Gallacher, Colin Montgomerie and Stephen Gallacher down the seasons.
Lucas Herbert from Australia is the highest ranked player at No 20 on the world rankings while his compatriot Anthony Murdaca, the winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur by seven shots in 2014, played in last month's Masters at Augusta National.
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