The new breed

LOOK up ‘amateur’ in a dictionary and you’ll see words such as non-specialist, layman and even dilettante.

As an adjective it’s even less gratifying — inept, unskillful, inexpert, clumsy, maladroit, bumbling.

None of these words comes even close to describing the new breed of amateur golfers blazing a trail in the game nowadays. Take England’s Tom Lewis, who shared the lead after the opening round of the recent Open Championship at Royal St George’s and finished a creditable 30th alongside the likes of 2009 champion Stewart Cink or this year’s Masters and US Open runner-up Jason Day of Australia.