We all know there’s no tried and tested recipe for golfing success. Trying to mould a winning golfer, after all, requires more ingredients than a shopping list for one of Mary Berry’s elaborate high teas.
Calum Hill is still savouring that sweet taste of victory but don’t ask the Scot how he managed it. “I’m not sure how it’s all worked out but it has,” said the Kinross golfer as he reflected on his maiden Challenge Tour win in the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday. “There’s no one way to do it. You just have to stick in and see where it takes you.”
The 2018 campaign has been a breakthrough year for Hill and having developed largely in the shadows he continues to barge his way into the spotlight.
Of course, qualifying for one of golf’s biggest events, and featuring in the top 20 after two rounds, helped on that front. Having earned a place in June’s US Open, Hill thrived on the main stage.
While many of the global stars huffed, puffed and capitulated over a Shinnecock Hills course that was as brutal as a bare-knuckle fight, Hill followed an opening 75 with a robust 69 to sit in a tie for 14th at halfway. It was quite the eye-opener. It was also a door opener too.
His exploits that week caught the attentions and led to a series of invitations to the Challenge Tour. Five events in, the 23-year-old is a winner.
“The US Open opened the doors,” said Hill, who has been based in America for the past six years having studied at Western New Mexico University. “If I hadn’t qualified for that then these invitations to play on the Challenge Tour wouldn’t have arrived.
“Being able to capitalise on an opportunity makes me feel pretty lucky and fortunate. Looking back on that US Open, the fact I was playing so well alongside the best players in the world, and to see where I was positioned at halfway, gave me a huge lift in confidence.”
Hill has continued to feed off that feel good factor. His closing 64 on Sunday was a charge that would have got him honorary membership of the Light Brigade although compatriot Scott Henry’s late collapse – he leaked four shots over his last three holes when three ahead – did aid Hill’s quest considerably. In this game, though, you’ve got to seize the opportunities that come along.
“It’s not my lowest round but in terms of timing, it couldn’t have been better,” added Hill, who has signed on with Scottish management company Bounce. “It was the performance in a position of opportunity which really pleased me.
“The back nine must be up there as one of the best nine holes of golf I’ve ever played in terms of quality of shots and the amount of those shots in a row I produced from tee to the green.
“It was a tough finish for Scott. I did apologise and said sorry to him as he was top class up until the last couple of holes. He took it well. He’s a great guy and was very complimentary despite his own disappointment.”
Now with a full category for the Challenge Tour, and with a shot at promotion to the main European circuit, it’s very much a case of onwards and upwards for Hill.
“I’d always planned coming back here for the European Tour qualifying school and my student visa had ran out anyway,” he said. “The aim now is to try to bypass the qualifying school and earn a tour card from the Challenge Tour rankings. I’m in a position now where that is not out of reach.
“The standard on the Challenge Tour is very, very good. You can’t afford to slack off and that pushes you on. The other Scots are going well too and that’s pretty promising. I’d expect a few of them to get promoted this year.”
Those other Scots, like David Law, Grant Forrest and Robert MacIntyre all had fine amateur records. “I didn’t do anything spectacular as an amateur but I went out to the US at 17 and have progressed year on year,” noted Hill.
He is certainly making a name for himself now although another Scottish golfer called Calum Hill – same spelling to boot – added a degree of confusion to the unwary.
When Hill qualified for the US Open, pictures of the other Calum Hill were printed in one particular outlet. “The other Calum mentioned it on social media and was stressing that it wasn’t him who had qualified,” said Hill with a chuckle.
There shouldn’t be any mistaken identity now.
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