The young man in the white visor is trooping up the ninth fairway at the San Roque Club, a few miles west of its illustrious neighbour Valderrama. A couple of months previously, he'd booked his ticket on to the PGA European Tour - on the same course - and, now, he was again back at school, for the MacGregor training week, preparing for the biggest year of his career.
He has a Scottish name, and an English accent that is hard to place. But Cameron Clark considers himself very much an Irishman and will be the latest recruit to the Irish contingent on tour this season. He's confident he can leave his mark, too.
"I was born in the Cottage Hospital in Ballymena," says Clark, "and I always said if I ever made anything of myself I would stick with Ireland." He's being true to his word.
His father, Ian, a Scot, was one of the original "Button Boys" - along with Tommy Horton and Brian Barnes - and spent eight years on the European Tour before spending 13 years as a club professional in Ballymena and Lurgan. Cameron's mother, Heather, is a native of Belfast, and he was just five when the family moved firstly to Austria, for a year, and then to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England.
Golf may be in his blood, but it wasn't Cameron's first love. He had ambitions to play professional football, and played with Newcastle Boys. "If you're not
picked up by the time you're 15, though, it's unlikely you will make it, so I started to play more and more golf from when I was 16," he says. By the time he turned professional in 1993, as an 18-year-old, he was a scratch golfer. Clark then undertook his training with the PGA at Hagley Golf Club, south of Birmingham, as assistant to his father who is now based there. "I wanted to get it out of the way before attempting to go out on the tour," says Clark.
Clark's first attempt at the Tour qualifying school in 1996, when he missed the cut, brought no joy. However, there were indications last year that he had the ingredients and temperament required to succeed as a professional golfer: he won the HIPPO Championship (with a winner's cheque for £5,500), and also emerged from the qualifying rounds to compete in the British Open at Royal Troon. So, it was with a degree of confidence that Clark made the trip out to San Roque and Guadalmina last November for the Tour Qualifying School. He'd booked his trip when, after missing out at Pre-Qualifying I, he shot a last round 65 in P-Q II to gain a coveted ticket. But his visit to the school finals proved to be a draining affair, physically as well as mentally.
"I caught some virus and lost three-quarters of a stone in weight," he recalls. "I wasn't able to have any practise all week and just went out to play my rounds. The first day at Guadalmina I said to my caddie that I didn't think I could carry on, but I finished birdie-birdie for a 74 and that gave me the inspiration to go on."
As things turned out, heavy rain ruined the qualifying school week and curtailed the event from six rounds to four. All week, tournament director David Garland received flak from disgruntled competitors. Clark, battling to overcome his sickness, didn't join the chorus and, when play was eventually limited to four rounds and he'd made his card, his parting shot to Garland was, "Thanks Dave, see you on tour next year". He had won the 31st card.
Clark's ranking means he won't get into the opening couple of tournaments on the European Tour - next week's opener in Thailand, the Johnnie Walker Classic, has too much prize money - and, in fact, he doesn't envisage making his debut until the Moroccan Open at Royal Agadir in March. His main priority for the early part of the season is to make enough money to move up when the school qualifiers' reranking takes place at the end of April.
The 23-year-old is also hoping to gain sponsors' invites to the Murphy's Irish Open and the Smurfit European Open later in the season.
"I know it is tough out on the tour but I'm looking forward to the season. I believe I can do well. There is money out there to be won and I want to give myself a chance," he says.
