Scott Henry is a winner again after going to hell and back as he battled two separate injuries and feeling that his game had become “borderline embarrassing”.
The 38-year-old, who was one of Scotland’s brightest prospects when he won the Kazakhstan Open on the Challenge Tour in 2012, returned to winning ways when landing the Scottish Par 3 Championship at the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
In the latest event on this season’s Tartan Pro Tour, Henry carded rounds of 52-52-51 for a seven-under-par total, which was matched by Chris Maclean following scores of 51-54-50.
In a sudden-death play-off on the superb Devenick Course, Henry came out on top with a birdie at the first extra hole to pick up a cheque for £4,500, admitting it was great to feel as though a nightmare period in his career was finally over.
“I’ve worked really hard to get some sort of fitness back and be able to have my golf back to a decent standard again, so I’m delighted, to be honest,” said Henry after joining Mark Young (Montrose Links Masters) and Rory Franssen (Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters) on the list of early winners on Paul Lawrie’s circuit this season.
“I can’t take you through all of it as it is too painful to go back over, if I am being perfectly honest,” he admitted in reply to being asked how difficult things had actually got for him after making around 80 appearances on the DP World Tour and more than 170 on the Challenge Tour, which has now been rebranded as the Hotel Planner Tour.
“I had an issue with my back and I got a poor diagnosis with that early on and I ended up injuring my leg as well, so I had two injuries working against each other over quite a period of time without realising how serious both were.
“So I just couldn’t recover and my game went from being always at a very strong standard to just not being able to compete. For pretty much most of my pro career, the lowest level of standard was the top end of the Challenge Tour competing to get my main tour card.
“Then I got basically to the point where I couldn’t even compete within Scotland, so it feels great to be getting closer to what it should be, though it will never quite be the same physicality that it used to be.
“I’m older now as well and it is nice to feel that I can compete properly again. I have felt better physically for the last year, but it’s just taken time to get my game up to a decent standard.”
Henry, who recorded two second-place finishes - both in the Madeira Islands Open - on the DP World Tour, added: “If I knew it was going to take as long as it has, I probably wouldn’t have done it because I’ve lost a lot of money doing it. I’ve put in a hell of a lot of effort and had a lot of failed rehabs.
“Those were pretty painful experiences when I wasn’t getting the issues fixed and, honest to god, the standard my golf felt was borderline embarrassing. It was genuinely that bad.
“So to have the mental fortitude to grind away at it and be able to get my game to a much better standard now is great, though I still have a long way to go.”
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Rory Franssen put a frustrating 2024 campaign behind him to land an impressive win in the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters presented by Petrasco - the second event of the new Tartan Pro Tour season.
The 26-year-old, who is attached to Auchterarder but is currently based in St Andrews, followed opening rounds of 71-65 with a closing 69 for an 11-under-par total to land a £4500 top prize by three shots.
Former Scottish Boys’ champion Will Porter and Glenbervie’s Fraser Moore shared second spot as Franssen added to a breakthrough win on Paul Lawrie’s circuit almost exactly two years ago at Fairmont St Andrews.
“Yeah, it is always a nice way to start the year,” he admitted of landing an early success, with anyone who can claim three title triumphs this season earning automatic promotion to the Hotel Planner Tour.
Asked what had been the secret behind his victory, he replied laughing: “To be honest, I just retired the driver and 3-wood after the first round! I didn’t have a 2-iron in the bag, but I put it in for the 3-wood for the second and third round.
“I was in play more so had more looks basically. It was really firm and rolling out loads, so you could get away with a 2-iron and still have lots of looks if you got it close.”
Franssen’s second-round effort on the Lansdowne Course contained eight birdies, including five in six holes on the front nine, while he carded five birdies on the final day and three bogeys, including one to finish.
“Not until the last, to be honest, and I made a bit of a mess of it,” he said when asked when he thought it was going to be job done on this occasion. “I never find it comfortable coming down the back nine, but once I was on the fringe and had a few putts for it I was able to relax a bit.”
For the second year running, two Hotel Planner Tour cards are up for grabs on the circuit and Franssen looks as though he is determined to make up for lost time last season.
“This is my third full season as a pro, though I missed half a season last year with a wrist injury,” said the former Scotland international. “I missed seven events on the Tartan Pro Tour, so my goal is to try and stay healthy for the full season this year and give it a good go.
“The more you play professional, probably the more comfortable you become with it. I think I am still finding my feet in terms of that and playing for money is obviously different. Yeah, just gradually starting to feel more comfortable with it all, I would say.”
Franssen, who grew up in Inverness, dabbled a bit on the Alps Tour at the start of his professional career but is feeling a lot happier trying to progress his career on home soil.
“It’s a great chance,” he said of the opportunities that are provided on the Tartan Pro Tour since it became an official Satellite Tour for the Hotel Planner Tour. “It’s such a well-run tour. Yeah, it is just brilliant as the chance is there for you.
“Every year there seems to be something else added in, which is more incentive to stay in Scotland and play. Yeah, you should just play this tour if you are at this level - there is no point in travelling when you have a brilliant tour on your doorstep.”
Englishman Mark Young won the season-opening Montrose Links Masters presented by Montrose Port Authority last week as way more players from the south of the border start to turn their attention to the Scottish circuit.
“They are obviously catching on to how good a tour it is,” noted Franssen, who does a bit of caddying at Kingsbarns Golf Links when he’s not playing. “It is going to be getting better and better so you need to keep trying to produce your best golf and hopefully it pays off.”
Each picking up £2875, Porter started birdie-birdie in last round and went on to add three more gains before dropping his sole shot of the day at the last while Fraser Moore was out in 30 in his second round and started the closing circuit with an eagle.
Former Challenge Tour card holders Liam Johnston and Jack Doherty shared fourth spot on seven under while Tain amateur Sean Kennedy gave a great account of himself by finishing in the top ten.
Link to today’s 1st round Leaderboard
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Tartan Pro Tour Tournament Schedule 2025
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