Don't be fooled by the self-deprecation.
Craig Watson remains a canny competitor. "I'm still playing off plus two . . . which shows how bad the handicapping system is," admits the 46-year-old, with a delivery that's as dry as a mouthful of crackers.
In an amateur game dominated by the young guns, Watson is one of the old guard and, having seen it, done it and procured a wardrobe full of T-shirts along the way, the East Renfrewshire member has earned his right to have a good grumble.
"It's this stupid world rankings nonsense," says the former Amateur champion, Walker Cup player and Scotland team captain of a system that is increasingly influencing the make-up of the fields for the leading events on the circuit.
"They try to get the fields as good as possible by going with these world rankings. The handicap ballot for the St Andrews Links Trophy last year was something like plus 2.8. So everybody in the field was plus 3? If you looked at the scores you'd say 'aye, right'. I won the Links Trophy twice but I don't bother entering now."
With his rant over, Watson can get on with reflecting. And there's plenty he can mull over. An Amateur Championship final triumph over Trevor Immelman at Royal St George's in 1997, an Open appearance at Royal Troon the following month, a Walker Cup debut later that season and an invitation to the Masters in April 1998.
Despite individual success and the glitz and glamour of the major championship arena, this career amateur, who divided his competitive crusades with full-time employment in the cut-and-thrust world of electrical appliances, will always cherish that one Walker Cup call-up. A GB&I team, featuring five Scots, may have lost 18-6 to the USA at Quaker Ridge, but the sense of occasion that comes with reaching the pinnacle of team golf in the unpaid ranks left a lasting impression.
"We got business class flights to Baltimore and then two private jets to New York, it was fantastic," added Watson, who was unbeaten in his two singles ties and faced a daunting introduction to the fray on the Saturday afternoon. "I didn't play the foursomes, we were 4-0 down and I was first off in the singles. It was, by far, the most nervous I've ever been. I don't know why but I teed my ball up about five minutes before my name was called to the tee. Looking back it was fortunate because I probably couldn't have teed it up when I was called as I was shaking so much. It was a wee heely drive up in the air, it wasn't bad but it was about 100 yards shorter than everybody else's. Up until I'd won the Amateur, the Walker Cup was never on the horizon for me but here I was involved in it."
Watson still has his ambitions as he looks forward to the 2013 campaign. The amateur game at the top level may be something of a closed shop for those who are not full-time – Watson will stick to the more traditional weekend events like the Tennant Cup and the Battle Trophy on the domestic circuit – but he maintains that there still should be open doors for those of a certain vintage. "You always like to think you'd get a wee chance of playing in the national team again," added Watson, who earned the last of his numerous Scotland caps in 2004. "The focus is very much on the young boys, whether they're any good or not.
Could someone in their mid-30s or older get in the Scotland team now?
"You'd have to win a few tournaments, but even if you were consistently getting top-fives I don't think you'd get in. If the older players are still playing in the same events, they should have the same chances as everyone else. You never know, though . . . I'm quite friendly with one or two of the selectors."
Don't be fooled by the self-deprecation. Craig Watson remains a canny competitor. "I'm still playing off plus two . . . which shows how bad the handicapping system is," admits the 46-year-old, with a delivery that's as dry as a mouthful of crackers.
In an amateur game dominated by the young guns, Watson is one of the old guard and, having seen it, done it and procured a wardrobe full of T-shirts along the way, the East Renfrewshire member has earned his right to have a good grumble.
"It's this stupid world rankings nonsense," says the former Amateur champion, Walker Cup player and Scotland team captain of a system that is increasingly influencing the make-up of the fields for the leading events on the circuit.
"They try to get the fields as good as possible by going with these world rankings. The handicap ballot for the St Andrews Links Trophy last year was something like plus 2.8. So everybody in the field was plus 3? If you looked at the scores you'd say 'aye, right'. I won the Links Trophy twice but I don't bother entering now."
With his rant over, Watson can get on with reflecting. And there's plenty he can mull over. An Amateur Championship final triumph over Trevor Immelman at Royal St George's in 1997, an Open appearance at Royal Troon the following month, a Walker Cup debut later that season and an invitation to the Masters in April 1998.
Despite individual success and the glitz and glamour of the major championship arena, this career amateur, who divided his competitive crusades with full-time employment in the cut-and-thrust world of electrical appliances, will always cherish that one Walker Cup call-up. A GB&I team, featuring five Scots, may have lost 18-6 to the USA at Quaker Ridge, but the sense of occasion that comes with reaching the pinnacle of team golf in the unpaid ranks left a lasting impression.
"We got business class flights to Baltimore and then two private jets to New York, it was fantastic," added Watson, who was unbeaten in his two singles ties and faced a daunting introduction to the fray on the Saturday afternoon. "I didn't play the foursomes, we were 4-0 down and I was first off in the singles. It was, by far, the most nervous I've ever been. I don't know why but I teed my ball up about five minutes before my name was called to the tee. Looking back it was fortunate because I probably couldn't have teed it up when I was called as I was shaking so much. It was a wee heely drive up in the air, it wasn't bad but it was about 100 yards shorter than everybody else's. Up until I'd won the Amateur, the Walker Cup was never on the horizon for me but here I was involved in it."
Watson still has his ambitions as he looks forward to the 2013 campaign. The amateur game at the top level may be something of a closed shop for those who are not full-time – Watson will stick to the more traditional weekend events like the Tennant Cup and the Battle Trophy on the domestic circuit – but he maintains that there still should be open doors for those of a certain vintage. "You always like to think you'd get a wee chance of playing in the national team again," added Watson, who earned the last of his numerous Scotland caps in 2004. "The focus is very much on the young boys, whether they're any good or not.
Could someone in their mid-30s or older get in the Scotland team now?
"You'd have to win a few tournaments, but even if you were consistently getting top-fives I don't think you'd get in. If the older players are still playing in the same events, they should have the same chances as everyone else. You never know, though . . . I'm quite friendly with one or two of the selectors."
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