Scottish Men's Elite Squad heading to South Africa

Scotland's Men's Elite Squad will return to South Africa for the second year running as part of their winter training programme ahead of the new amateur domestic season.

The seven-man squad will fly to Johannesburg on Monday 23rd January for an eight-week camp thanks to the support of the national team sponsor, Aberdeen Asset Management and South African businessman Johann Rupert.

The programme will include four major events on the South African circuit as well as a Test Match against South Africa and an intensive training camp.

It follows on from the success of the 2011 tour of South Africa, which produced a number of impressive performances and results.

The players in the squad will begin their competitive action at the Gauteng North Open before playing in the South African Stroke Play at Glendower Golf Club.

They will then fly to Cape Town for the South African Amateur, after playing in the Test Match and working with the South African Golf Development Board.

The Northern Amateur Open will mark the end of the programme with the event being held in March before the squad returns to Scotland on March 17th.

National coach, Ian Rae, said: "This is much more a performance-based trip than a training trip. We're going to play the two main amateur events and a warm-up tournament, the Gauteng North Open, which is a strong event.

"The last event, the Northern Amateur Open is a great competition as well, with quite a few of the top players travelling from France and Italy for these events too."

Scottish Men's Elite Squad:

Scott Crichton (Aberdour) Daniel Kay (Dunbar) Fraser McKenna (Balmore) Conor O'Neil (Pollok) Paul Shields (Kirkhill) Brian Soutar (Leven GS) James White (Lundin)