Lee turns back time at Scottish challenge event

THE road and the miles may take up most of his time in his current job, but Craig Lee showed at the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge he can still hit it with the best.

The former European Tour pro, now 45, shot a five-under 66 at Newmachar to lie third after a breezy first round, trailing English duo Nathan Kimsey and Marco Penge.

Lee is one of the few in the field who can recall playing competitively with tournament host Paul Lawrie, but his ventures in competitive golf are few these days as he pursues his “Pros on the Road” business.

In a custom-built van, Lee travels the country visiting clubs and outposts to provide professional services like coaching and club repairs to those who don’t have their own. Clients are as widespread from Falkland to clubs on Skye, Arisaig and Cumbrae.

“My priorities are different now,” he said. “I need to get this business up and running and make it a little more self-sustaining before I think about playing again. ”

It wasn’t a cruise to 66, however. Lee started with four birdies but threw them back by the turn. However, he regathered and bagged four birdies in his last five holes. He added: “I didn’t see that start coming. My longest putt was about eight feet in the first few holes. I’d had a good range session in the morning, but the few times I’ve played competitively recently it’s just been a struggle.

“But I went from thinking about shooting 10-under to thinking level par would be OK. In the circumstances five-under after 18 was a phenomenal score.”

Lee had his first lesson from coach Steven Rosie for two years coming into the week and admitted he had got back into tournament golf mode for the first time in a while.

He said: “I walked the course on Tuesday and made notes, whereas recently I’ve just walked up, smashed it off the first tee and gone after it.

“I know the course quite well, which helps. If it was a bombers’ course I probably wouldn’t have accepted the invitation, but here I can thread a driver up near these boys’ four-irons.”

Lee plans to play the odd event to keep himself sharp for seniors’ golf in five years time.

“I don’t think I’m ever going back out to the Challenge Tour full-time, so this is a one-off,” he said.