Perthshire golfer Gregor Graham gets early year boost from second-place finish in South Africa

Perthshire golfer Gregor Graham has started 2024 with a spring in his step after a wonderful year-opening performance in South Africa.

The Blairgowrie member (20) recorded a second-place finish at the Gauteng North Open, which was held at the The Els Club at Copperleaf from January 19-21.

Graham, who has travelled to South Africa with the Scottish squad, carded rounds of 72, 67, 67 and 67 for an impressive 15-under par total.

He was just pipped to the trophy by Louis Moolman of Pretoria Country Club who finished the tournament two shots clear on 17-under par.

“The course suited me really well with it being wide and long,” a delighted Graham told the PA.

“I hit a load of fairways and the greens were really nice, so I was able to hole quite a few putts.

“I shot level par in the first round with a lot of silly mistakes, but some great stuff as well. I knew I had to be patient for the next couple of rounds and just play my game.

“Maybe a lack of tournament golf cost me the win but it is always going to be that way so early in the year. I’m happy with where the game is at.”

Graham put in the work over the off-season in a bid to further improve his swing speed and right any wrongs from the previous year. He was thrilled that the hours and hours of grind paid off at the Gauteng North Open.

“There was a lot of swing work and working on my game,” he explained. “I was seeing my coach, Fintan Bonner, every couple of weeks.

“And there was a lot of gym work too to try and gain a bit more speed.

“I was lucky enough to head out to Portugal and Spain, so I got away a little to some nice weather and was able to work on the game.

“I was trying to improve what I had lacked in the previous year. It was nice to see that working so early on.