TOP PORTLETHEN PROSPECT SAM KILOH LEAVES AMATEUR RANKS TO BE A TOUR PRO

     Sam Kiloh ... turned down US college scholarship offers

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Colin@scottishgolfview.com

First Craig Lawrie, now Sam Kiloh, another of
the North-east's best teenage amateur prospects, has turned pro to seek some of the fame and fortune that Paul Lawrie has achieved over the past two decades.
The main difference is that Paul was trained as a PGA assistant by the late Banchory Golf Club pro Douglas Smart. Craig and 19-year-old Sam are both sidestepping that route so that they can start playing golf for money immediately.

Kiloh made his debut as a pro in Wednesday's North-east Alliance at Inverallochy where he finished joint fifth, two shots behind the amateur winner, John Duff.
Sam is working at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre until the end of January but will not have a playing attachment to the Centre.
"I'm going to be playing on a mixture of the Europro Tour and the EPD Tour," said Kiloh whose first hurdle in the pro ranks will be get through the EuroPro Tour Qualifying School at an English venue in March.
"My original plan was to go to an American college on a scholarship but I turned down the offers I had. I decided that I wanted to play golf professionally instead because I would enjoy it more and that's what I want to do in the future - play golf around the world which the EPD Tour especially will allow me to do."
Sa had his 19th birthday at the end of last November.
Sam had a +1 handicap as he left the amateur ranks. Career highlights so far?
"Winning the North-east District Order of Merit in my last year as a junior and winning the Portlethen Golf Club junior championship twice.the last," said Kiloh whose family home is at Portlethen.
"Also winning the North-east boys' stroke-play championship at Auchmill and finishing
runner-up in the North-east youths championship at my home club, Portlethen, with rounds of four-under-par 68 and 72."
Kiloh holds jointly the Alford course record of seven-under 62 which he achieved in a junior open tournament.