US COLLEGE GOLF MADE MONTY THE PLAYER HE BECAME

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com
During his visit to Aberdeen last week, Colin Montgomerie was made an honorary member of Deeside Golf Club (Paul Lawrie, who lives not all that far away from the Bieldside course, is also a honorary member of the club).
Monty, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency on the Deeside driving range, gave a little talk to the Deeside junior members - although quite a few seniors slipped in there as well! - about his golfing career.
"Being a tournament professional has its downside," he said. "You spend an awful lot of time away from home. One year I worked it out that I spent only about 130 days at home - that breaks down to two-thirds of the year on the road.
"I was sent to boarding school at an early age so I was used to the concept of being away form home for most of the year. But for guys who come on to the European Tour and have had a 'normal' upbringing at home, it can take an awful lot of getting used to.

"I was a good enough golfer (he won the Scottish men's amateur stroke-play in 1985 and the Scottish amateur match-play championship at Nairn in 1987) before I went to university in America (Houston Baptist University) on a golf scholarship but it was there that I laid the foundations for a golf game that has stood me in good stead ever since. I took the opportunity to develop my potential."
+Colin Montgomerie was first capped for amateur Scotland in 1984. He played for Great Britain and Ireland  in two Walker Cup matches - 1985 and 1987. He turned pro in 1987-88 and went on to win eight European Tour Order of Merit titles in succession in the 1990s. He will be eligible to play on the European Seniors Tour on June 23, 2013 - his 50th birthday!