Calum Scott (The Scotsman Photo)
Calum Scott is playing in his first professional major championship this week. The rising senior at Texas Tech had to travel 4,565 miles from home to develop his game. He’ll play an Open Championship just 205 miles from where he grew up and fell in love with the game.
Nairn, Scotland, is a small town in the Scottish Highlands. It has a population of just under 10,000 and a rich golfing history. Nairn Golf Club hosted the 1999 Walker Cup and the 2012 Curtis Cup.
It’s where Greg Sands first saw Calum Scott hit a golf shot, but he wasn’t there to see Calum on that particular trip. It was Scott’s brother, Sandy Scott, who was on Sands’ radar during that trip.
“I remember a couple of things,” Sands said, “One, he was tiny. Two, he played fast. I liked that he actually played the game like a kid. I could tell he was really emotional, but he was going to develop into a very good player.”
The Hall of Fame coach followed his instincts, and Calum Scott arrived at Texas Tech years later as a raw, young freshman.
There seem to be two schools of thought these days regarding amateur golfers. They either turn pro early, like an Akshay Bhatia, Nick Dunlap, and Jordan Spieth, or they remain in college and round out their game like Ludvig Aberg, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Gordon Sargent.
There’s no right way to do it, but for Scott, who is a young senior at just 20-years-old, the time to mature and grow as a player physically and emotionally led him to Royal Troon this week.
“Physically, he's a freak. He's probably six-two or six-three, and really long and lean and just creates a lot of power,” Sands said. “His cruising driver is probably carrying 320 and he's got another gear if he needs it.”
In the St. Andrews Links Championship, Scott hit a 2-iron onto the 18th green at The Old Course.
That 2-iron might be a weapon at Troon as Scott plots his way around the tricky course lined with gorse and bunkers.
“He's hitting a little over 80% of his fairways with his two iron,” Sands said. “He hits it about 285, so when he’s looking at these golf courses, and how to strategize, a lot of times he's trying to figure out, where that 2-iron is going to go and then deciding if he can carry driver over trouble.”
That length has made Sands and his assistant coach James Vargas think a little harder when talking to Scott about how he’s going to attack a golf course. It’s why Scott asked Vargas to caddie for him in the Open Championship. He knows his game and has been a vital part of Scott’s development over his three years as a Red Raider.
The journey Scott has had at Texas Tech feels similar to how many college kids experience college.
“He was ready to take on the world and believe he had everything under control,” Sands said. “He thought he could just beat it with his talent. And swing for the fences.”
That freshman season was a solid one for Scott; he made an immediate impact, playing in all 12 events and finishing in the top-20 six times. But there were growing pains, especially on the mental side of the game and learning how to tame his competitive juices.
“He's just very competitive. I think that got in the way of his performance early on,” Sand said. “And so we're trying to figure out how to dive into that and and make it a positive instead of sometimes being a negative.”
Scott was maturing, but not fast enough; last spring, in his junior year, the poor attitude crept back in and impacted Scott’s play.
“We had a moment last spring where I don't think he realized how bad it was getting,” Sands said. “And you know, I would tell him, I'd try to talk to him in individual meetings, and I don't think it was clicking.”
So last February, Sands utilized something that other coaches in the Texas Tech athletic facility frequently use.
He went to the film.
Now, let’s be clear: golfers watch swing videos to hone their moves and check positions.
Sands wasn’t interested in Scott's swing; he was interested in what Scott was doing after the swing and how he reacted to poor shots and bad breaks. The level of trust that has formed between Scott and Sands allowed this coaching tactic to land properly. Handled the wrong way or by the wrong person, it could end poorly.
“I wasn’t trying to humiliate him,” Sands said. “He came over for dinner, and he asked to see the video. I told him it wasn’t the right time, but he insisted.”
It made quite an impact.
“He ended up looking at it and said, ‘I can't believe that's me.’ He had this moment where he realized it was worse than he thought.”
The results started to improve after that film session. He finished second in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and followed that up with an 11th place finish in the NCAA National Championships.
Sands is comfortable coaching high achievers. Ludvig Aberg was a Red Raider with Scott for a few years, and now both of them are playing in the Open Championship.
Scott earned his spot in the Open Championship through the Open Amateur Series, a new initiative launched in 2023. The three events that count in the series are the St. Andrews Links, Amateur Championship, and European Amateur Championship. He recorded a second, quarter-final, and fourth-place finish in those three events, respectively.
“There’s no easy way to get into The Open,” Scott said this week to the Press and Journal. “I knew what was at stake playing in those three amateur events and I knew consistency was going to be key.”
The decision to have Vargas on the bag this week also demonstrates Scott’s desire to play well. Sometimes, it’s easy to pick a friend or parent to join them for this momentous occasion—an opportunity to enjoy the week, create memories, and remain focused.
That’s not to say a player can’t succeed with a friend or parent as a caddie. Scott’s decision was because he felt like it was the best chance he had to compete. Vargas knows his game and understands how to harness his length, talent, and competitiveness.
Troon will provide a test of patience, and Vargas is the man for that job to keep Scott in the right frame of mind, even when he’s sharing a driving range with the greatest players in the world.
“I’ve earned my way into this and I’m meant to be here. For the most part, I feel like I belong here. But then I see Tiger on the range, and I think, ‘wow, am I at the right tournament?’. I was a bit starstruck.”
With such a short journey from Nairn to Troon, about four hours by car, it’s certainly going to be a week Scott will remember as he plays his first professional major in his home country in front of family and friends. If the Walker Cup at St. Andrews in 2023 is any sign, he’ll have quite a fan base watching.
“I can hear them all, and I can see them with the hats,” Scott said at the Walker Cup. “They've got yellow hats on to signify who they are, and they've got Team Cal on the back of the hats. It's really cool to have the home support. Incredible.”
ABOUT THE British Open
The most coveted trophy in the game and one
of the most iconic in all of sport: more
commonly referred to as the Claret Jug.
Within
minutes of winning the British Open, the
"Champion Golfer of the Year" gets his name
engraved on that cup, and a place in golfing
history.
Amateurs have played an
important role in the tournament over the
years, with players like Sergio Garcia, Justin
Rose, and more recently Alfie Plant stepping
into the international limelight with their
golfing
performances.
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