Martin Dempster: What can Scotland learn from the dazzling Danes?

It always seemed to be Sweden that Scotland found itself casting admiring glances across the North Sea as a growing force in golf, but now that has suddenly shifted to Denmark.

Thomas Bjorn, in particular, but also the likes of Soren Kjeldsen, Anders Hansen and Thorbjorn Olesen had already shown us the Danes could pack a punch in the Royal & Ancient game, but what about these new kids on the block?

I’m referring, of course, to twin brothers Nicolai and Rasmus Højgaard, who, between them, have now racked up five DP World Tour titles before they’ve even turned 21.

Make no mistake, both of them look superstars in the making, with Nicolai up to 67th in the world rankings, but it’s not just them showing that a country doesn’t just need to have strength in numbers to produce success.

Twins Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard have now won five DP World Tour titles between them and they don't turn 21 until next month. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

According to the most recent figures from KPMG’s Golf Participation Report, Denmark had only 149,044 golfers playing at less than 200 courses. At the same time, Scoland’s total was 180,281 at over 500 courses.

Yet, and this is quite an incredible statistic, no less than eight events have fallen to Danish players on the renamed DP World Tour and Challenge Tour since the start of August. For the record, Joachim B Hansen, Jeff Winther and Marcus Helligkilde have also played a part in that purple patch.

There’s no denying that Bjorn, a 15-time tour winner, three-time winning Ryder Cup player and a winning captain in 2018, deserves huge credit for inspiring his nation as golfers, but, with all due respect, the big man is no longer the main inspiration.

Marcus Helligkilde celebrates after winning the Challenge Tour Grand Final at T-Golf & Country Club in Mallorca in November to also be crowed as the Road to Mallorca champion. Picture: Octavio Passos/Getty Images.

“It’s them now,” Helligkilde, speaking to me in Mallorca last year after being crowned as the Challenge Tour’s Road to Mallorca champion, of the Højgaard wins. “They are a big inspiration. They are two young guys who are playing crazy golf and inspiring us to win tournaments.

“They are definitely making a big impact on junior golf in Denmark. It’s the same on the amateur side and in the ladies’ game as well. It’s like a snowball effect.”

The same, of course, has been happening in Scotland on the back of success on the top tour for David Law, Bob MacIntyre, Grant Forrest and Calum Hill in recent seasons.

What was really interesting about what Helligkilde had to say in our chat, though, about why he felt Danish golf was on a roll was that it wasn’t just down to the players themselves, talented though they undoubtedly are.

“I think first of all it’s the coaches over the last 10 years as they seem to have gotten better,” he declared. “They don’t have all the knowledge, but they want to get better and figure out what works and what doesn’t.

“It has never felt as though any of the coaches feel as though they are too good for anyone. They always try to learn from each other and I think that’s where all of this has started.”

Hard work has helped, too. “If you go to a practice camp with the Danish Golf Union, there is a lot of quality from 6 until 6,” added Helligkilde. “At 12, when I was part of the junior academy, I was grinding it and had the perfect plan.”

As, clearly, did the Højgaards.

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