Perthshire golfer Gregor Graham has started the year on a high with a third-place finish at the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship.
The Blairgowrie member carded rounds of 70 and 69 for a five-under par total at Leopard Creek Country Club in South Africa. The tournament was reduced to just 36 holes due to weather conditions.
“I was very happy with my performance, it was great to be in contention again after a long time off,” Graham told the PA.
“My game felt really great, I was hitting the ball really nicely and especially my irons.
“I left the ball in the right position on most of the holes. The course was pretty tricky so you had to play really smart.
“I was really looking forward to the last couple of rounds to try and climb up that leaderboard and catch the winner.
“But unfortunately the weather didn’t allow us to play. I was still really happy with the third place finish.”
Graham, who put in the hard work in the gym over winter, is also playing in the South African stroke play and match play championships. The stroke play event started on Monday.
“The full purpose is so that we can come out here and compete with some of the best amateurs,” he said.
“And so we can prepare ourselves for the main season ahead in Britain and around Europe.
“The goal is to just keep improving every tournament, working on parts of my game that I wasn’t able to do in the cold weather back home.”
