SCOTT Gregory will never forget his visit to Jack’s place for the rest of his golfing career, despite the disappointment of missing the cut on his PGA Tour debut in America (writes Andrew Griffin).

The scorecard read that the current British Amateur champion shot 76, 72 – four over par for 36 holes – and one too many to make the cut in just his fourth appearance in a top professional event, after receiving an invitation from the legendary Jack Nicklaus to play in his Memorial Tournament in Ohio.

But while that was disappointing for the 22-year-old Corhampton ace, the week spent at Muirfield Village – the club synonymous with the legendary Nicklaus – will live long in the memory, no matter how many cuts he gets to make when he finally turns pro later this year – nor how many events he goes on to win.

Scott tweeted after coming off the course on Friday night: “Gutted to miss the cut by one, but plenty learned. The time I got to spend with Mr Nicklaus is something I will treasure forever.”

Although competing as an amateur, Gregory is quickly learning about playing on tour on both sides of the Atlanic, having qualified for The Open at Troon last summer and The Masters in April.

As soon as the Memorial event was finally won by Jason Dufner, having been twice halted by storms on Sunday, the Hampshire man was packing his suitcase ready for the flight to Wisconsin where he began his preparations for next week’s US Open debut at Erin Hills.

Gregory took time out while waiting for his plane on Monday to reflect on his meeting with still the world’s greatest player of the modern age, despite Tiger Wood’s achievements.

He said: “We managed to arrange to meet up the Saturday before the tournament for a couple of hours. We were just talking and I asked him questions and we had a very good chat about lots of things.”

The chance to pick the brains of the Golden Bear, who holds the record of 18 Major victories, plus a remarkable 19 runner-up finishes, in golf’s big four tournaments between 1962 and 1986, is something no sane golfer of any level would pass up.

Nicklaus also won 73 times on the PGA Tour and his worldwide golf course design business helped him amass a fortune estimated at $300million. He has to have the best advice for Gregory in a fledgling career which has already taken him to the top 10 amateurs in the world.

“I really wanted to talk with him at Augusta, but with his media commitments being so heavy at the Masters, I could not make it happen,” continued Gregory. “Speaking to Jack was inspirational. It changed the way I prepared for this tournament. I was definitely more sensible out on the golf course.

“We had a great conversation about his career, his preparations, and how he coped with pressure and winning all of those tournaments.

“It was incredible and I used a lot of the things he told me this week – and for the most part they worked. It was one of those things not many people get to do.

“If you see him in the clubhouse, he just comes up and says, ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ It’s incredible. You would never know he has achieved what he has done in golf if you met him and did not know who he was. He is just a real quality, nice guy.”

Gregory reflected on dropping five shots in his first seven holes. “I don’t mind admitting I was nervous. I hit some shaky shots at the start of the first round that cost me making the cut. I had two three-putts and a couple of pulled iron shots which all came from being a bit tentative.

“However, for my last 29 holes I was one under par, so that shows I have what I need to compete.”

• Blackmoor’s Mark Burgess will fly the East Hampshire flag at the 111th Hampshire Amateur Championship, which takes place at Royal Jersey this week.

The 36-hole qualifier is tomorrow (Friday) and Burgess, the tallest player on the county circuit at 6ft 7ins, will be hoping to book his place in the final 16 who will contest the matchplay over the weekend.

Having won the Courage Trophy – the Hampshire strokeplay championship – twice and been a regular in the county league team for the past eight years, winning the Sloane Stanley Challenge Cup would be another major coup for the only Blackmoor player to have ever won the prestigious Selborne Salver.