Golf: Adam Wills aiming to find the way to step up his game

May 13 2008 by David Jones, Liverpool Daily Post

WHEN Adam Wills steps onto the first tee at Trevose Golf and Country Club on Friday he will know he is facing a whole new ball game.

But the Cheshire Boys champion of last season is certainly up for the challenge.

Wills has a burning ambition to make a name for himself – first in the tough world of amateur golf, then hopefully, a bright future in the pro ranks.

Pitting your skills against some of the top amateur golfers from all parts of the world in the English Men’s Open Amateur Strokeplay Championship for the Brabazon Trophy is both an exciting prospect and a new challenge for the 18-year-old.

“This will be my first year not playing junior golf and I would like to do well in the Brabazon,” said Wills. “I am looking forward to what I hope is a good year. Consistency is required for a lot of good finishes.”

The demands of competing in something like 30 tournaments between now and the autumn could be looked upon as daunting, to say the least, but Wills believes that the more he plays the greater he will benefit from the experience.

Later this month he will get a close-up of the professional approach when he competes in the Oceanico Group Pro-Am Challenge at the Marriott Worsley Park.

Said Wills: “It will be the third time I have played at Worsley. I have missed the cut the last two years, which is down to experience, but the event certainly opens your eyes.

“I know I have still got a long way to go. A lot of the game is the mental approach, but the more I play the better. I have been putting in quite a bit of work recently. My driving has improved over the last few weeks.”

The youngster acknowledges that this season will be very much a learning process as he faces some of the best amateurs around, but he is not just along for the ride.

He wants to make some sort of impact in his first senior season, if he can.

He explains: “Some of the guys are full-time, while juniors are still at college, so they put a lot more into it.

“ I have a little bit of experience and I have the ability to compete with them, but there are so many good players out there. I have suffered a little bit in the past from pressure, but I have learnt from it. At the end of the day, I am not playing for my living.”

Wills underlined his potential last summer when winning the Cheshire title – reward for the efforts he has applied to develop and strengthen his all-round game. As a result of his victory, he qualified for the Daily Telegraph tournament final in Dubai, which proved a terrific experience, although one from which he suffered.

“It went well and I finished fourth,” he recalls. “It was great playing golf for a week. The Dubai Creek course was one of the best I have played. I was leading after the first round, but got sunstroke on the second day because the temperature was over 100 every day.”

Once again, the Oceanico event will give Wills an insight into the standards required to compete in the professional game on the European Challenge Tour.

“Turning pro would be a big change,” he admits. “At the moment there is no prize money to put pressure on myself.

“I would be looking to turning pro in a couple of years. I don’t think I am ready yet. You have to look at your performances against the guys on tour, but I would definitely like to give it a go. The things they do differently is one of the main reasons to look forward to playing against them. There is a lot to learn.

“In a few years’ time I will be believing I can do it.”

Wills, who is a member at Sandiway, started playing when he was about 10 when he went to Portal with his father, David, a golf professional there.

But Wills added: “He’s always quite busy with work so has not been to an event for about a year, but he talks to me about what’s best for me. It will be the busiest season I have had. It all starts this week and pretty well a tournament every week from then on. I can’t wait.”