Jack McDonald: ‘Amateur changes needed’

• Jack McDonald wants more amateur events on inland courses
• “You have to change your mindset,” said the 23-year-old
• The Ayrshireman is one of ISM’s Class of 2016

Newly turned professional Jack McDonald has admitted he would like to see more inland courses feature on the amateur circuit to better prepare players for the professional game.

The 23-year-old, who signed with ISM on March 31 and made his Challenge Tour debut two weeks ago in the Turkish Airlines Challenge, gained his EuroPro Tour status early last month – but only one of the tour’s 15 events takes place on a links course.

And having played the majority of big tournaments as an amateur on links courses, McDonald conceded that playing in the professional ranks will take a bit of getting used to.

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“I’d probably agree ,” Jack McDonald told bunkered.co.uk. “The scores that you need to shoot to be winning or at least get into the top ten are nearly always under par in the professional ranks, whereas in the amateur game you’re playing tough courses like Lytham and Royal Dublin where a top ten could be about five or seven-over because of how tough the courses are.

“So you’re having to change your mindset because pars are very good in amateur golf, but in the pro game you need to be shooting under par pretty regularly.

“But I’d only like to see a few tournaments . The amateur game has helped me massively and playing a lot of links golf has helped me shape shots and grind out good scores on tough days. There’ll be days like that as a professional I’d imagine.

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We've just launched #classof2016. It's going to be fun! #golf

A photo posted by ISM (@teamism) on May 16, 2016 at 9:20am PDT

McDonald was speaking after the launch of ISM’s Class of 2016, a pioneering sponsorship scheme to help prestigious businesses support five of the up-and-coming management company’s stars: McDonald, Garrick Porteous, Thriston Lawrence, Haydn McCullen and Billy Spooner.

ISM CEO Chubby Chandler said: “We believe this is a great way to connect new partners with our best young talent. They will be involved in every step and share the highs and lows of what promises to be a memorable year for these young lads, who have bags of potential.

“The boys are really buying into the ethos of the whole thing and who knows? In years to come these companies may be able to boast about having been involved with one of the world’s leading players at the very start.”

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Jack McDonald :: Do you agree?

Do you agree with Jack McDonald that some of the game’s more high-profile amateur events need to be taken away from links courses? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.