HE ONLY took up golf three-and-a-half years ago but now Dorset amateur Paul Rickard is set for his first national championship final.

The 18-year-old will tee up alongside Parkstone professional Martyn Thompson in the final of Europe’s largest pro-am, the Lombard Trophy, which starts today.

The £43,600 showpiece will take place at Gleneagles’ King’s Course just three weeks before the Ryder Cup visits the same venue.

Rickard will line up alongside one of the competition’s most successful players in Thompson, who has appeared in the final for the last two years and claimed the crown in 2003.

“It’s going to be a great experience to play Gleneagles,” said Rickard.

“I’m aware of Martyn’s record but it’s not something that I’m thinking about too much.

“It doesn’t really matter how many times he’s won it in the past, we’ve just got to go there and do our best this time around.

“It’s a big competition and of course I feel nervous but I’m confident we can do well.”

Should Rickard and Thompson finish among the leaders at the Perthshire venue, it will go a long way to helping the former achieve his dream career.

“In the future I want to become a PGA professional and do the foundation degree programme,” he added.

“I’m enjoying working at Parkstone and that seems like the next logical step for me. For that I need to get my handicap down to four (from eight) so I’m just spending as much time as I can out on the course practising.

“I’ve gone from someone who had never picked up a golf club a few years ago, to now, where it has taken over my life.

“If I’m not working in the club shop then I’m out on the course playing.

“Growing up I always had a big interest in sport and like a lot of lads I played a lot of football and rugby. But I remember just sitting there three or four years ago watching the Masters and thinking, ‘that looks quite cool’.

“I decided to go down to Parkstone and give it a go. I really enjoyed it and have never looked back since.”