Martin Dempster: Smith takes a year out to boost world experience HE'S a young man going places. Plenty places, in fact. On the back of a batch of good Higher results last term, Ewan Scott, the reigning Scottish Youths" champion from St Andrews, is taking a year out before going to university in America so that he can get a taste of global golf. The 17-year-old is set to be named in the Scotland squad heading to Abu Dhabi soon for some warm weather winter training, which will help him prepare for two events Down Under early in the New Year - the Australian Master of the Amateurs, which will take place in Melbourne and the Australian Olympic Youth Festival, which is scheduled for Sydney. Then, after a spell back home, Scott will be off on his travels again, first to South Africa for some more warm weather training and a couple of tournaments, there then to China for the Faldo Series Grand Final, which is being played at Mission Hills in mid-March. "I got good Higher results - three As and one B - so now I'm going to take a year out for golf and have a very exciting winter coming up," said Scott, who is now, technically, a former Madras College pupil as he waits to move on to the next phase of his education. The groundwork for that has been done before golf gets his full and undivided attention for a few months. "I'm planning to go to a university in America and I've got a pretty good idea which one," he added. I've just been in the States and visited quite a few of the universities to see which one would suit me best. While claiming the Scottish Youths" crown at Ladybank was undoubtedly the highlight of his 2012 campaign, Scott also reached the final of the Scottish Boys" Championship right at the start of it then, at the other end, partnered Marc Warren in the Dunhill Links Championship. "It's probably one of the best weeks of my life," he said of the latter experience. It was great just being involved in a Tour event and letting me see that's the sort of level I want to be at. Marc was a good guy to play with and helped me out a lot. He played pretty decent himself, but it just showed I'm not too far away. The events I've got coming up over the winter will give me an idea what it is like [to be on Tour]. I've been involved in SGU squads for the last four years and every year I've got better. Not just on the golfing side but also the coaching, fitness and psychology sides. It's the complete package. It's like being a Tour pro with all that support staff behind you. It's very beneficial.