What is success?

For some of us, merely dragging our increasingly saggy carcass out of bed and shuffling into the office with a matching pair of socks on is an achievement of considerable proportions. For others, anything less than actually owning the global sock industry would be viewed as crushing, miserable failure.

These are times of great expectations, instant celebrity and overnight success stories. In sport, the pressure to succeed is enough to give you the bends. The win-at- all-costs mentality seems to be everywhere, from the under-11s five-a-side at Toryglen to the Husband & Wife 36-hole Salver at Mount Ellen.

In this Royal & Ancient game, there is an increasing number of aims, objectives, pathways and strategies and they're all scribbled down in black and white as part of long-winded performance policies. The phrase 'failed to make the grade' can be tossed about like a cork in a torrent. Then again, it all depends on what you view as 'the grade'.

A lot has been said and written about Scotland's leading amateur golfers. Questions have been asked about ability and application, while the decision by many to plunge into the professional game and jump on board any number of developmental tours that are now available has raised more eyebrows than a plastic surgeon with a backlog of appointments.

Bill Lockie, that well-kent Ayrshire golfing stalwart, is one of life's optimists. He would also, perhaps, call himself a realist and the former national coach of both the Scottish men's and women's set-up is optimistically realistic about the fluctuating fortunes that golf can produce.

"In my opinion, the fear of failure is too strong in this country," said the 66-year-old, who played on the fledgling European Tour in the 1970s and would flourish on the over-50s scene with victory in the Senior PGA Professional Championship in 2008.

"We have to accept, that with the opportunities now, they will turn pro and we have to allow young people to have a go and see what happens. It's a different world now. Youngsters these days may have four or five different jobs in a lifetime so why shouldn't someone spend four or five years pursuing professional golf?

"Of course, not everyone is going to get to the top, but if someone is trying to do the best they can with the talent they have, then why can't we recognise that, let them try it and don't put road blocks on that road. If it doesn't work then do something else. But we have this culture that they are useless and they haven't made the grade.

"I don't like using the word 'grade' as it depends on what the grade is. In the public's eyes, the grade is probably getting on to the European Tour and winning tournaments. The grade for someone else may be at a lower level but they are still following a dream.

"In my opinion we tend to forget just what a positive experience it can be. We can't lose sight of those life skills. Can travelling around playing professional golf help develop a person, make them a better citizen who is more tolerant of other societies and cultures and not as parochial?

"Yes it can, and that is wonderful for an individual, but we focus on this perceived failure."

The old phrase "and it's disaster for Scotland" is now embedded in the sporting vernacular in these parts but Lockie is a firm believer in allowing developing talent to throw caution to the wind.

"We have to let them play with expression and not be shackled by this fear of failure," he added. "It's a cultural thing. Even the very best make howlers but in other places it's not viewed quite as disastrously. It's allowing people to do the best they can, enjoy it and give things a go. There is the pressure thing here."

Lockie - who won the Ayrshire Boys' title as a 13-year-old back in the day and went on to capture the Scottish Boys' Championship of 1964 before turning professional in 1970 and eventually going down the club pro route - has always kept a keen eye on developments in the Scottish scene.

His earlier visions on the game here have come to pass. Speaking in The Herald five years ago, he expressed his desire to see finances made available to aid the amateur-to-professional transition and "harvest talent". Programmes now in place such as Scottish Golf Support Ltd and Team Scottish Hydro are the kind of initiatives that he championed.

At the grass roots, meanwhile, Lockie, through his work with the national Clubgolf junior scheme, is encouraged by what he sees.

"But we have to redouble our efforts," he insisted. "Golf has to be careful and we must keep stimulating the youngsters. Look what the Olympics did for other sports. We've got to do as much as possible at the bottom or we'll lose out to these other sports.

"This summer, Royal Troon opened themselves up for 14 weeks in the summer and put on lessons to local juniors who weren't members. That was a major step forward and hopefully that gathers pace.

"The ground work is there, across the country, and we just have to build on it and improve it. We can't stand still."