LAURIE Canter vowed not to be blinded by the lights as his European Tour adventure started in earnest this week - and the Cumberwell Park man proved it with his opening competitive round of 2016 this morning.

Teeing up in a field alongside the likes of multiple major winners Ernie Els and Retief Goosen at this week’s SA Open in Johannesburg gave the 26-year-old a reminder - as if he needed it - of the stellar company he can expect to be playing in throughout the next 10 months or so.

Having scratched a living around the lower echelons of European golf for a number of years, Canter’s November achievement of winning a card for the 2016 European Tour season opened the doors to higher-quality fields, more glamorous courses and, of course, the chance of increased riches.

All of which would be more than enough to leave your average golfer starry-eyed, but having worked so hard to earn his new lofty status, Canter has no intention of losing the level head that enabled him to achieve it.

His promising start - two cuts made on the first 2016 tour events in South Africa and Australia late last year and almost 14,000 Euros banked - continued as he fired a first-round 69 to move towards the top of the leaderboard at the SA Open at Glendower Golf Club today in his first start of the new calendar year.

Referring to his sudden rise to European golf’s top table, he told the Wiltshire Times: “I’m still playing the same game, hitting a little sphere around a mown field.

“When you’re playing golf, you are not influenced by anyone else. It’s not like playing tennis when you have an opponent across the net hitting the ball back at you.

“My eyes are wide open to the challenge. You are going to be playing against seasoned pros, some of whom have been playing on the tour for years, but you have to back yourself and love your own game.

“It’s a big wide world and you will be eaten up if you get overwhelmed and underperform.’’ Canter will certainly be going in prepared.

As well as the backing he has received from the Cumberwell Park club in Bradford on Avon - they paid for his fee to go to European Tour qualifying school last year - Canter has also been backed by a number of local businesses, including Bath firms AJ Removals, Redde PLC and Marble Works.

“Their support is fantastic,’’ he added. “It really helps to have that sort of backing when you are starting out on something like this.

“Cumberwell have been great, they’ve supported me all the way along and using their facilities really helps.’’ Family have also played a huge role, especially when it came to raising his spirits during the lower moments of his career.

“With sport and especially an individual sport, your family have to put up with a lot when it’s not going well,’’ he added.

“The first couple of years (as a professional) were tortuous – I was underachieving and my family and friends put up with all of that.

“They were quite emotional (at him earning his Tour card), that’s the nature of the sport.

"I’ve been playing a lot better since the EuroPro Tour event at Cumberwell Park in June (he finished tied fourth in the GRENKE Championship).

“I’d actually been doing a part-time law degree and that finished around about the time of the Cumberwell event. I wanted something else outside golf because I’d had a bit of a rocky patch and I also wanted a degree because I was not a good enough junior to get a place at a US college or anything like that.

“I was really struggling with form up until then, but I had a chat with a few people, including my mum and dad and they said ‘look, golf is what you want to do.’

“I had a good result at Cumberwell and it went from there really. I took a more focussed approach to golf and thought a bit more about it on a daily basis. My form has been really good since then – it’s the best period I’ve had in my professional life.’’

Canter will be accompanied on tour by Shane Rowe, who will caddie for him “I’ve told him he’s mad,’’ quipped Canter. “But it will be good to have someone else on the inside if you are going to make the most of your opportunity.’’