Rookie Scot Calum Hill tees-up on Australia’s Gold Coast for this week’s co-sanctioned Australian PGA Championship already focussing on a gleaming silver end to his rookie season.
Just weeks after management stablemate and good friend, Robert MacIntyre captured the European Tour ‘Rookie of the Year’ trophy and Hill admits he would dearly love to add his name to the gleaming silver trophy.
Hill, 25 is competing in far off Australia for a first time in his career after brilliantly finishing second among this year’s secondary Challenge Tour graduates and with the Australian PGA Championship one of the oldest events having first been contested in 1905.
And the Kirkcaldy golfer wasted little time packing his full European Tour card into his golf bag in heading off to commence his rookie season with a pair of top-20 finishes in the Alfred Dunhill Championship and also in last fortnight’s Mauritius Open.
Hill said: “I’ve never been to Australia before. Coming here, I’ve had a great first impression, so I’m looking forward to getting started. I can’t complain with my start to the year. I had a chance in Mauritius but didn’t do well on the final day.
Rookie Scot Calum Hill. (Photo – Bounce Sports)
“As long as you can keep giving yourself chances throughout the year, I’m sure one of them will turn up.”
And it is seeing the likes of MacIntyre, and his fellow Bounce Sports Management stablemate, doing so well along with the blend of the experience from the like of Stephen Gallacher plus this new breed of young Scottish golfers bursting onto the European Tour that is driving Hill.
So much so, Hill is already eyeing the prize ‘2020 Rookie of the Year’ title and we’re still in 2019,
He said: “It’s fantastic having a group of Scottish guys, with Stevie (Gallacher) as the experience and some of the younger guys coming through who are around my age too.
“To have Stevie win, Bob do great and Davey win, it’s good to see.
“My team are great at guiding me and showing me what I need to be doing.
“Of course, the Rookie of the Year Award is on my mind, it has to be. If you’re not looking at that – especially coming from the same management group as Bob.
“You hope to achieve similar to what he has done, if that happens then you’re laughing. Fingers crossed.”
Hill and Kingsbarns Links Daniel Young are the only Scots teeing-up on the Royal Pines course and with the field headed by the Major winning duo of Masters champ, Adam Scott and Open winner, Stewart Cink.
