Tartan Tour is no longer a circuit

where club pros rule

FROM THE SCOTSMAN.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
The world of Scotland's home-based professionals has been thrown into turmoil by the playing bans handed out to David Orr, the Scottish champion, and Mark Kerr, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, one of the Tartan Tour's emerging talents, and, as a seasoned professional noted over the weekend, it's an intriguing tale that's certainly not done and dusted just yet.
The pair were punished for not spending enough time in the golf shop as part of their PGA training but, before weighing up whether or not the punishments fit the crime, it is interesting to note exactly how this has all came about.Orr and Kerr won't be allowed to play on the Scottish circuit until 1 July because, quite simply, they were reported by a fellow PGA professional.
Why? Well, certainly in the case of Orr, he's paid the price for his success, the 35-year-old, who is attached to East Renfrewshire, having pocketed £36,000 last season, the highlight of his year being the win in the Gleneagles Scottish Championship.
Someone didn't like him enjoying such success at a time when he wasn't putting in the same hours as the 1000 or so others on the PGA training programme at the moment and, sorry if you disagree, but what's the point of having rules and regulations if people aren't going to be punished if they break them.
Orr is a very likeable man and certainly can't be accused of being a slacker. After all, he drives a taxi in his spare time in a bid to earn a little extra money for his family. But we are not talking here about a player who is just starting out in his career. He's been a professional since 1997, won the British Assistants' Championship in 2002 and has chalked up a whole host of successes on the Tartan Tour.
He should be playing on the European Tour but, in waiting for that opportunity to come around, should have negotiated the PGA training long ago.

It's a three-year course that most people pass in four years, though don't for one minute be fooled into thinking that they're being trained how to simply sell Mars bars or Titleist ProVI balls in the club shop. They're being taught a proper profession, the programme these days including topics such as business management, sports science and coaching.
On the face of things, it appears that Orr hasn't been too fussed about securing his PGA qualification and has used the Tartan Tour to get his competitive golf. That's where the root of this situation lies.
He's not the first player to break the rules and, in fairness, I'm told that he made no attempt whatsoever to deny the fact he hadn't been putting in the stipulated hours.
The PGA are challenged by matters like this throughout its seven regions and, in the Midlands, one player, believed to be of a comparable standard to Orr, was hit with a year-long ban. The punishment handed out to Orr and Kerr, who has paid the price for being unable to secure a post he thought was on offer at Dalmahoy after a short spell at Bathgate, has been described as "draconian" by some but the point they are missing surely is what the Tartan Tour is all about. When I first started to cover Scottish pro golf, the leading lights on the circuit were the likes of Russell Weir, John Chillas, Ian Collins, Kevin Stables and Alastair Webster, all club professionals who could play a bit but could only tee it up in events when their club commitments permitted.
In recent years, the likes of Orr, Craig Lee, Chris Doak, Greig Hutcheon and Jason McCreadie have been the dominant forces and, in contrast to their predecessors, they're all players who harbour ambitions to be on the European Tour. They've all enjoyed an opportunity to cut their tournament teeth on the Scottish circuit and long may that be the case.
But, if you want to become a Tour professional, you surely have to be moving on to a higher level. They'll say it's about earning a living. Of course, it is. But, if you are trying to do that without adhering to rules and regulations and, what's more, hundreds of others are, then you are simply asking for trouble.