FOUR days from now, far, far away in Melbourne, Peter Whiteford's amazing adventure will begin. Three months on from the point of golfing despair that saw him applying for a job outside the game - he was not even granted an interview - the 27-year-old Fifer will reap the reward of his 13th-place finish on last season's Challenge Tour money-list, and tee up in the Mastercard Masters at Huntingdale in his first start as a fully-fledged European Tour member.
Whiteford's visit to what is perhaps the greatest golf destination on the planet - surely no other city can offer so many top-quality courses - is the beginning of a four-week run of events that will take the former Scottish Boys and Youths cap to Au
stralia, New Zealand and South Africa before Christmas. The fields in all four tournaments are hardly the strongest that he is likely to face in the months to come, so he has an immediate opportunity to make the sort of start that can relieve much of the pressure later in the season.
"I can't wait to get out there and play with the top players I've been watching on television all my life," he enthuses. "That's my aim really. If I'm out there with a big name, it probably means I've made the cut and am playing well. But I know the courses will be tougher, so that will take a bit of getting used to."
Whiteford's arrival in the big leagues comes after two years spent on the EuroPro Tour and four more on the European Challenge Tour, during which time he experienced most of the highs and lows that are typical on professional golf's less glamorous circuits. Lowest of the low, however, came as recently as August...
Frustrated by a run of results that were doing little for his bank balance, Whiteford took a deep breath and began imagining a life away from professional golf. In Madrid for the OKI Mahou Challenge de España - Challenge Tour events tend to sport exotic titles - he made what has turned out to be a fateful phone call looking for alternative employment.
"I had reached the stage where I wasn't quite depressed, but I knew that something had to happen soon," he confesses. "Although I knew within myself I was capable of making it on to the tour, I hadn't proved it to anyone. So I have to admit the doubts were creeping in.
"I couldn't have gone to my parents [who own and run the Wellsgreen Golf Range in Fife] and asked for more money. I have always hated doing that. They have never really said anything to me about how much I was costing, but I can't imagine how much they have given me over the years.
"On the other hand, if I had given up, all that money would have been wasted. Now we can look on it as a good investment!"
Back from the brink, Whiteford suddenly found himself playing well. Or to be more precise, putting better than he had ever done in his golfing life. After a tie for 24th in Spain, he posted four top-tens in his next five events, including victories at The Dutch Futures and the doc Salbe PGA European Challenge. Another tie for 24th in the Challenge Tour's Grand Final cemented his precious promotion place.
He smiles: "Everything just clicked on the greens, and as every golfer knows, the whole game is easier when you know you can make putts. I have been so much more relaxed over shots. And that's the biggest reason I am where I am. If my putting had stayed where it was, I'd still be on the Challenge Tour.
"Actually, that isn't strictly true - I might have been out of golf completely. Although, judging by the reaction I got when I made that call, finding a job wasn't going to be that easy. They didn't want to know because I have no experience. All I've ever done is play golf. But maybe it was the best thing that could have happened. Making that call brought it home to me that I wasn't making it as a golfer, so maybe I scared myself into playing well!"
But fear is not an emotion that Whiteford - whose life-long coach, Donald McKay, teaches at his parents' range - can afford to feel as he steps on to the first tee on Thursday. Indeed, having served such an in-depth apprenticeship, he feels more than ready to make his mark among the big boys. Plus, he has had some limited experience of the European Tour as well as the odd 'double card' event that counts on the European and Challenge tours. Whiteford teed up in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and though he missed the cut, he recalls the experience with some relish.
"I loved the atmosphere, and being part of a bigger occasion. I even enjoyed signing all the autographs after my rounds. It was nice to be on a wee pedestal, if only for a few minutes."
That sort of attitude will serve him well on tour. Feeling as if you belong is perhaps the highest of the many initial hurdles faced by a newcomer. And Whiteford has noticed some of the material differences that his new status brings. Now handled by Edinburgh-based sports management company Bounce, he will be using a shiny new set of Mizuno clubs. Like banks that give out loans only to those people who can prove they already have money, professional golf doles out most of its goodies to those least in need of them.
Happily, the modest Whiteford is hardly the type to let new stuff go to his head, and his newly-found success certainly has not affected his mature attitude towards what lies ahead.
"I have some goals for the season, most of which I'd like to keep to myself. But I obviously want to keep my card. That is the first target for every rookie. Once that is achieved, I can think about bigger targets.
"I'm in category 11, which means my exemption position will be re-ranked in May, and again in August. The second one is more important, given the big-money events towards the end of the season, but a solid start is important for anyone in my position.
"I know I have a big year ahead. I'm not scared, though. I have enough confidence to think that I can succeed if I play as well as I have over the last few months."
The full article contains 1101 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
