Marc is battling back after stateside agony

Scottish Assistant Marc Owenson has gone back to his roots after seeing a bright future in the USA wrecked by red tape.

Owenson, of Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian, is preparing for his second appearance in the Galvin Green PGA Assistants’ Championship Final.

But the 24-year-old knows it could have been so different had he not unwittingly fallen foul of the rules while based at South Western Georgia State University in the States.

Owenson, who was joint winner of the qualifying event at West Linton Golf Club in May, will play in the £32,000 Assistants’ final which takes place at Coxmoor Golf club in Nottinghamshire between August 2-4.

And the second year trainee has taken the PGA route after an unexpected return to Scotland.

“It was a strange one, I lost my eligibility while playing for the college team, I ended up coming home sharpish, but I’d already planned to do PGA training so it just came a bit earlier than I thought it would,” he said.

“I’d been working prior to going to the States and you’re only allowed one gap year when you’re playing in NCA golf and when they found out I’d had two and a half years, they pulled all my eligibility and I lost my scholarship because of that.

“I went back to my roots really and got a position at Gullane. It was definitely a surprise what happened in the States, I was 12 hours away from taking a bus to Miami to play with the rest of the guys when I was told. It all came tumbling down.

“After that, I practised harder than I’ve ever practised, made sure I finished my degree, then came home to play more golf. Who knows whether I’d have stayed out there had this not happened. If I’d had the opportunity to stay out there and play golf in the sunshine, why wouldn’t I?

“But the path I’m on now, I have no regrets about coming home. I’ve packed a lot in since leaving school at 17.”

Owenson will hope for a better performance at Coxmoor than the one he produced last year at Little Aston Golf Club near Birmingham when he missed the cut.

“I scored terribly, it wasn’t too great, but I hope I can do better this year, I used it for experience and I hope I’ll have improved 12 months on but I haven’t played Coxmoor before,” he said.

Other Assistants from Scotland taking part at Coxmoor include: Chris Curran (Bathgate Golf Club); Graham Forbes (Mar Hall Hotel & Resort); Ogilvie Robinson (Panmure Golf Club);  Steve Maxwell (Eastwood Golf Club);  Rory Tinker (Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort); Steve O’Hara  (North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd) and Thomas Higson (Gleneagles Hotel Golf Courses).

For more information about the Galvin Green PGA Assistants’ Final click here.