Ross Brain

It may be his first major but that won't daunt Dubai-based golfer Ross Bain as he lines up alongside 155 others for the British Open next month.

Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els is nothing new for the 31-year-old Scotsman who has lived in Dubai since 1983.

"I know the guys who play at these events anyway; I have competed with them before and I am not going to be intimidated or anything like that. It should be fun," said Bain, who qualified for the British Open through the Asian International Final Qualifying event in Singapore where he shared second spot with Australian David Gleeson and Singapore's Chih-Bang Lam.

"I think I played a Desert Classic when I was 17 or 18 so I've been doing it for a while. This is just a bigger stage really," he said of The Open which will take place at Carnoustie from July 19-22.

Tricky course

"Obviously it will be the biggest event I have played yet. It's my first major but I am quietly confident I can play pretty well to be honest.

"It's a golf course I really like. I played it quite a lot when I was younger. Obviously it's a major and they'll set the course up a little more tricky. It should be challenging from tee to green so we'll see," he added.

Bain has been putting in his final preparations at the Arabian Ranches golf club and splits his practice time to beat the heat, training from 7-10am and then around 4-6.30 in the evenings. With a possible place at the Scottish Open just a week before the British, Bain will head to Europe on July 8 and is confident of a good showing at Carnoustie.

"My expectations are to go and have a good time really and to enjoy my first major. It's hopefully the first of many. It will be interesting to see how my game holds up on a bigger stage because I have played big tournaments before but not that big. I'm just looking forward to it. It's in Scotland, where I am originally from.

"I don't think it will be anything but a great week no matter what really because I think I can do alright."

Looking beyond the British Open, Bain is hoping to progress past the Asian Tour and a good showing at Carnoustie could be the ticket to do just that.

"My aspirations are obviously no to play the Asian tour for the rest of my life," he explained.

"Asia has been great. It's been a great learning ground and it's worked in the past. My plan is to go to European tour school this year and America is even an option as well depending on how I play in the British Open."

New role

"You can get exemptions from the British Open through to the later stages of tour schools. I won't go into all the complicated details of how it works but there are benefits of playing well in the British Open and that can maybe open doors to American tour schools which has always been a goal so I'll have to try and give that a go this year."

Apart from that, Bain also has his new role as one of Golf in Dubai's global ambassadors to focus on after recently being named alongside the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Henrik Stenson, Thomas Bjorn, to form part of the team promoting the sport in the city.

"It's basically marketing Dubai as a golf destination and representing the talent in Dubai - to go out and play professional golf as well as possible and to obviously take Dubai as a brand and show it off around the world," said Bain who will also be involved in developing junior golfers in Dubai.

"It's a great honour. I didn't expect it to be honest but I'll grasp it with both hands and take every opportunity that comes along with it."