DERRY Hill ace Jordan Smith believes his game is in fine fettle as he tries to follow in the footsteps of the sport’s most famous names next week.

The 20-year-old Bowood player has jetted out to Massachusetts to fine-tune his preparations for the US Amateur Championship, which gets under way on Monday.

Wiltshire county team member Smith has soared up the amateur rankings in recent months and goes into the game’s top amateur event at Brookline, near Boston, at number 13 in the world.

Before jetting out on Tuesday, Smith told the Gazette & Herald: “If I play my best (at Brookline), I know I can do well.

“It’s a new experience for me because I’ve never even been to America before, but I’ll just go out there and do my best.

“I’m expecting the course to be pretty tough. I think they set it up like a US Open course so that means tight fairways and thick rough so it will be really important to just keep the ball in play.’’

Smith, who is coached at Bowood by professional Simon Shanks, said: “The best 50 players in the world are going to be there so it really is the biggest tournament there is for amateurs.’’

He will play for the Havemayer Cup, previously won by the likes of Tiger Woods (three times), Open champion Phil Mickelson, 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus and fellow golf legend Arnold Palmer, and which Bobby Jones won in 1930 to complete the ‘Grand Slam’ of all four major events available at the time.

But Smith, who was knocked out in the last 16 of the English Amateur Championship by eventual winner Callum Shinkwin last week, also hopes to cement his place in Great Britain and Ireland’s team for the Walker Cup – the amateur equivalent of the Ryder Cup – back in the United States next month with a good display.

Selection is finalised after the conclusion of the championship a week on Sunday.

He said: “I think it’s going to be very tight.

“I’ve picked quite a tough year to do it in because there are a lot of good players.’’ Smith, the reigning English strokeplay champion, will play two rounds of strokeplay at Brookline on Monday and Tuesday, with the top 64 progressing to the first of six rounds of matchplay.

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