Grace Crawford lines up with Major winner Henrik Stenson

Grace Crawford, from North Berwick, was one of three teenagers given the chance to play alongside Henrik Stenson, who won the Major at Royal Troon in 2016, during the abrdn Scottish Open pro-am.

Crawford, who was joined by 17-year-old Ruben Lindsay and Calum Scott, also 17, was given an insight into the challenges of golf at the highest level, teeing it up alongside Stenson, who has featured in five Ryder Cups and won 21 times around the world during his illustrious career.

The young trio, who are all part of Scottish Golf’s Performance programme, played 18 holes with Stenson to represent the Scottish Government and VisitScotland’s support of the tournament at The Renaissance Club, near Dirleton.

Grace Crawford was given the chance to join Henrik Stenson for a round of golf at The Renaissance Club. Also pictured are 17-year-old Ruben Lindsay and 17-year-old Calum Scott

Grace, 14, who plays at West Links Junior Golf Club in North Berwick, said: “The experience was unreal.

“It has been such a great opportunity and I have taken so much away. It has been a great day from start to finish.

“It definitely ranks really high in my golfing career and I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in giving us this excellent opportunity.”

Stenson also plays an active role in the development of junior players in Sweden.

The 45-year-old said: “The next generation of golfers are our future. I’ve got to experience so much through the game so of course I wanted to give back and give others the opportunity to do the same.

“It was one of the first pro-ams I’ve got to play with a junior group and I really enjoyed it.

“All three are great ambassadors for junior golf and great players with lots of potential.

“I tried to give them a few pointers and hopefully they’ll take up on that and come back even better players in the future.”

The pro-am was played at The Renaissance Club ahead of the four-day competition.

Min Woo Lee won the tournament, which was played in East Lothian for the fourth consecutive year, following a play-off (see story on back page).

Karin Sharp, chief operating officer of Scottish Golf, said: “It is a great opportunity for these young players.

“It aligns with the wider approach we try to take with our performance players at Scottish Golf where we look at wider input and opportunities, such as taking part in events like this to learn, grow and fulfil their ambitions as players.

“There are lots of technical skills that coaches can help them with but to have the opportunity to come and play in an event such as this and to speak with an Open champion like Henrik Stenson gives them a completely different perspective and hopefully some really valuable insight to develop them as individual golfers.”