ALL eyes at the Effingham qualifier were on 15 year-old Curtis Griffiths.

The talented teenager smashed the Effingham course record at the club's junior open championship just over a month ago and the youngster is hotly tipped to become a big name in the sport.

Griffiths, who plays at Wentworth, didn't disappoint scoring a solid round of 70 to make it into the top 10 and keep his hopes of becoming the youngest ever player to qualify for the Open in the modern era alive.

He now heads off to Glasgow for the Local Final Qualifying at Kilmarnock next Monday and Tuesday.

Only the top four from the two rounds will go through to the Open, at Turnberry, and the competition is likely to be a little stiffer than Griffiths encountered at Effingham.

"Apparently in the group ahead of me are Jose Maria Olazabal and Barry Lane," said Griffiths. "So I'm just going to go up there not expecting too much and aiming to enjoy the experience.

"It feels great to have got this far. It's a huge honour to be playing with guys of that caliber."

And just by getting to this stage Griffiths has already entered the record books.

"People have told me that I'm the first 15-year-old to get through regional qualifying since the late 1800s, so I guess that's a pretty good achievement," he laughed.

"I was right on the mark to scrape through.

"Last month I shot a 63 at the junior championships and had a great day with the putter, everything went in.

"The course was set up a bit more difficult this time, with harder pin positions and longer rough so I was pretty pleased with how it went. I played pretty much as well as I could."

The teenager has set his sights on a long career in the world of golf. He has finished school and is spending as much time as possible on the course.

"I'm down at Wentworth most days," said the talented youngster. "I definitely want to make a career out of the game, that's my aim at the moment."

And he has been getting some good advice from Wentworth's own Ross Fisher, who finished fourth at the US Open two weeks ago.

"I've played the par three course at Wentworth with him," said Griffiths. "It was weird seeing him on the TV then seeing him down at the club a week later."

But, if Griffiths is successful at Kilmarnock next week he won't be watching the next major on the television, he'll be playing in it.