How do you fancy your chances heading into the Northern Ireland Open?

I’m feeling very good about my form. I had a really good week in Scotland a few weeks ago. My best score in relation to par on a demanding course. I’m feeling good because I know my good golf is very good right now. I know the course well. I’ve played it plenty of times before. I’m excited to play.

What does this event mean to you?

It means a lot. It’s brilliant to have a home tournament, obviously with the support it gets, the spectators, the media attention, everything that comes along with it is brilliant. I live only 20 minutes away or so it means that it allows my friends, family and supporters to come watch, which you don’t get that much on the Challenge Tour. It’s massive too for the Northern Ireland industry and golf, it’s so key for the development of young players. I know the players love it, people around my club will be talking about it for months, it’s great for the community. There’s benefits in all areas for the event running taking place.

You played well at the event last year, and headed into the weekend in contention. Have you learned from that experience of playing in front of home crowds?

Yeah, I played very nicely on Friday and then on Saturday and Sunday I just wasn’t at my best, maybe missed a few putts and made a few silly mistakes, it all comes from experience too. It was cool for me to be in with a chance to win, I’d only just turned pro as well.  You have to learn from your experience to be the best going forward. If it was as easy as some people think it is, it really wouldn’t be that much of a challenge. That experience of playing in front of big crowds is priceless for your development.

You are currently just outside the automatic spots on the Challenge Tour in the race for a European Tour card. What do you need to do?

I need to just keep playing on the Challenge Tour, keep progressing in the rankings. To win would be nice but you need to finish in the top 15 to get a full European Tour card for next year. So that’s my goal as such. Just keep playing good golf, keep taking advantage of good opportunities when I do play well. I’ve a busy schedule but that’s the way it should be. This is the busy time of the year, you get your weeks off in December.

Now that you’ve spent a bit of time as a pro, how does life on tour compare to amateur golf?

The travel is a big deal, last night we were in Slovakia, spent the night in a hotel, wake up at half 3 and fly to Tenerife. That’s standard for the Challenge Tour. Comparing to amateur golf where you could just drive, be there in a couple of hours or so. The Challenge Tour you play all over the world. This year I’ve been in China, Dubai, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Egypt, everywhere in Europe playing, that’s another great thing about Galgorm, that’s only 20 minutes from home so you appreciate that. The key is to keep practising, don’t get distracted by other things going on, just keep sticking to your process.

Q: You have been linked with the Northern Ireland Open as the face of the promotion and of the event for a while now. Does the growth of the event surprise you?

A: No, not at all. It’s a well-run tournament. We are very close to a co-sanctioned event this year so hopefully that will be the case next year. The government have also been interested, putting big money into the tournament. So it has gotten bigger and better. They do things properly in Galgorm. They’ve got restaurants, garden centre, the par 3 course, lots of other businesses. They’re not like some courses that just have golf, which is not really sustainable.

Q: What makes it a special event for you?

A: I suppose the struggle trying to the get the tournament going to start with. Three or four years ago they needed a tour play to start the tournament and get the government behind it. So I feel like I contributed towards that, which was nice to be able to do, definitely. They would have struggled if I hadn’t been able to. Gary Henry and the team at Galgorm have been very helpful. They’ve helped me a lot, to get exposure, I get great benefit.

Q: As a European Tour veteran, how does the Northern Ireland Open compare with regular European Tour events?

A: Yeah well all the players have said that it has a main tour feel. It has a lot more spectators than a lot of main tour events we go to. Places like Morocco and China have basically no spectators whereas at Galgorm there could be 50,000. The atmosphere is great and it is by far the best attended Challenge Tour event. The standard is very high, the cut was -3 last year and I thought I’d made it.

Q: You know Galgorm well as a course. What challenges does it present?

A: The reason that the scores are so low on the Challenge Tour every week is that there’s not much rough because your average tournament on Challenge Tour has members playing it close to the tournament. But in Galgorm, they try to get rough. They grow it out and there’s a premium on hitting fairways more than a Challenge Tour event. It’s quite narrow, there’s a bit of rough, you’ve got to drive it well. The greens are very, very good. The greenkeeper does a very good job. So if you drive it good and putt it good then everything else can be average. Although that’s generally the way, drive it for dough, putt it for more dough, you know?

Q: The event has been described as a stepping stone for young professionals. How important do you think it is for them to get the experience?

A: I played a Challenge Tour event in 2003 in Northern Ireland and nearly won it. For me, I was just starting out. It was really big to start playing in that then. For some of the young guys starting out, they could finish second or third and have a bit of a category on the Challenge Tour after it so that’s a big thing. There’s a good selection of former Walker Cup players, a lot of those guys, Cormac Sharvin and Gary Hurley etc. It’s a good opportunity for them.