THREE years ago, Chelmsford amateur golfer James Allan was at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic as a spectator.

Three years later, the 21-year-old player was on the other side of the ropes mixing it with some of the world’s best golfers.

He showed that he was not there to make up the numbers either, as he carded a first round of 69, which put him three strokes off the lead.

The following days were marginally less impressive, as Allan carded rounds two, three and four at 70, 72 and 70 to finish on a very respectable five under par and tied 45th after making the cut.

This finish would have seen him pocket more than 13,000 euros had he been classed as a professional.

Allan had only good words to say of his experience in Dubai and said: “It’s just a fantastic experience and I’m loving learning off the guys I’m playing with, asking them a few questions and enjoying the whole atmosphere.

“I’m pleased to be in the position I am and just loving it, really. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do and it feels fantastic to be here.”

The improvements in Allan’s game are definitely visible, as the same time last year, he missed out on the cut to get into the same event.

He saw this as a big learning curve and something which aided his development.

“Last year’s experience helped massively with my amateur golf,” Allan added.

“I dealt with all the pressure and expectation from here and found it a lot easier to cope, and that has kind of shown in my results.”