Ewen Ferguson joins professional ranks

NEWS RELEASE FROM SCOTTISH GOLF

Ewen Ferguson, the 2013 British boys' champion and a Walker Cup team  winner last year, has turned professional and will make his debut this week on the European Challenge Tour in France.

The 20-year-old from Bearsden, pictured, who enjoyed a successful amateur career at individual and team level, is relishing his start to life in the pro ranks in the Cordon Golf Open from Thursday.

“It's been my long-term goal to become a professional golfer and it’s really exciting to be making this move after just turning 20,” said Ferguson, who has gained valuable pro experience in 2016 as part of Scottish Golf’s initiative with Bounce Sports to help smooth his transition to the paid ranks.

“In Bounce Sports, I've signed with a great management company, have starts guaranteed and sponsors on board, so it’s a really exciting time for me, my family and everyone connected to Bearsden Golf Club. I would like to thank Scottish Golf, sportscotland and sponsors such as Aberdeen Asset Management for all their support, having started in the national set-up when I was 13.”

The 2015 Scottish Amateur Golfer of the Year, who helped Scotland win the European Amateur Team Championship last summer before missing out on this year’s successful title defence due to a hand injury, has already made two Challenge Tour appearances as an amateur this season, making the cut in both the Turkish Airlines Challenge in Belek and the Montecchia Open by Lyoness in Italy.

“I learned so much from my two Challenge Tour appearances as an amateur, realising how good the professionals are and what I need to do to compete with them,” added Ferguson.

Earlier this year, Scottish Golf joined forces with Edinburgh-based management company Bounce to build a tailored competition programme for the nation’s top amateurs intending to turn pro.

The move followed new regulations that allow amateur golfers to earn points on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Oman Order of Merit, while a number of the country’s female amateurs have also benefitted from starts on the Ladies European Tour and LET Access Series.

Ferguson has now joined the likes of European Tour players Stephen Gallacher, Craig Lee and Andrew McArthur in Bounce’s stable of professionals.

“We’re delighted to be involved with Ewen as he starts this exciting new chapter in his career,” said Iain Stoddart, one of Bounce Sports’ founding partners. “He has enjoyed an excellent amateur career and we hope the Challenge Tour experience he gained earlier this year will stand him in good stead.”

Steve Paulding, Scottish Golf Performance Director, added: “Ewen has been a role model for aspiring young players and has developed through the Scottish Golf Academy, and then into the national squads, since he was 13.

“Working with Bounce Sports since March, Ewen has been part of a competition programme to help amateur to professional transition. Bounce has managed Ewen and other Scottish players during Challenge Tour events, working closely with Scottish Golf’s performance team, who have continued to oversee players’ preparation for major events on the amateur calendar.

“Having been positioned inside the top 100 of the World Amateur Golf Ranking for the last two years, it’s a natural progression for Ewen to try and succeed as a professional.”

Ferguson became the first Scot to win the Boys Amateur Championship in almost a decade in 2013, before becoming the first player to hold that title and the Scottish Boys’ and Scottish Boys’ Stroke Play crowns at the same time the following year.

One of three Scots involved in the record-breaking GB and I Walker Cup victory last September at Royal Lytham and St Annes, he beat Maverick McNealy, then ranked World No 2, in the opening day singles.

"Scottish Golf has been fantastic for me,” said Ferguson, who recently competed in the US Amateur Championship for the second successive year. “It was through Scottish Golf that I started working with my coach, Gregor Monks, while Ian Rae, the National Coach, has also helped me enormously in recent years, as has the sportscotland institute of sport.

“I wish the Scotland teams soon heading to the World Amateur Team Championship in Mexico all the very best.”