Monty was in Hawick for the day visiting one of his sponsors Peter Scott, and as soon as his tour of the factory was over he headed to the Vertish Hill where he hosted a clinic, before answering questions and signing autographs.

"I can see that clubgolf is working in Hawick because of the amount of kids that have come here today," he said. "It's fantastic to see this level of enthusiasm."

Hawick was one of the first clubs to support the programme, and its junior convenor David Wilson and fellow club member Dougie Crawford became its first fully-qualified PGA level one volunteer coaches.

In addition to teaching youngsters at the club, both help out active schools coordinator Karen Cornwall by rolling out the programme's introductory game, firstclubgolf, in local primary schools.

More than 200 children from Burnfoot, Drumlanrig, Hobkirk, Newcastleton, Stirches and Wilton had firstclubgolf coaching in 2007. And with every local primary signing up this year the number of budding golfers wishing to further their skills on the club's stage one course is set to rise.

Montgomerie continued: "It's fabulous to get this incentive going because it's not always easy and the coaches are working seamlessly in Hawick to make it a success.

"What we are after is providing the opportunity for every child to play
the game. I was very fortunate to be part of a golfing family and having been given the opportunity I found I could play the game.

"There are thousands of youngsters out there with ability who will find out about their fantastic talent if they're given the chance to play."

After the clinic, the young golfers needed little encouragement to practise all they been shown. "It was class," enthused 11-year-old Greig Middlemass, who plays golf at least four times a week. "I learnt how to relax my hands to make it nice and easy for my swing. I'm going to practise that this afternoon. After today I just want to keep practising and improve my game."

With hundreds of local children learning golf at school this year, the Vertish Hill club's junior programme is expanding this summer. And to accommodate this expansion, two more club members, Stuart Hunter and Graeme Tinlin, have been trained on the PGA level one course, while David Wilson and Dougie Crawford have earned an advanced level one qualification. Local professional Keith Morgan is also on board and will teach stage three of the programme.

Speaking to the Hawick News, David Wilson said: "We are quite a young junior section with the bulk of the children being 15 or under.

"However, our players are really flourishing and I have already seen a huge improvement in a number of our younger guys with their handicaps tumbling."