TWELVE months ago, Rob Dinwiddie made his first appearance at the Augusta National. He walked along the blooming azaleas and underneath the giant pines, tucking into the pimento cheese sandwiches that have become synonymous with the US Masters.

It was a sojourn taken out of his love for golf rather than appearing as part of the 94- strong field looking to claim the green jacket that Zach Johnson pulled over his shoulders last April. The latter, though, is certainly on his long term - even short term - radar.

Augusta, with its rich heritage and beautiful surroundings, has been targeted by every top golfer since Horton Smith won the US Masters for the first time in 1934.

Dinwiddie is no different.

After following Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott's second round at the Georgian course in 2007, Dinwiddie's appetite was whetted. He does, however, also possess the confidence that could ensure his dream of arriving on a major stage arrives.

"It was just a fabulous place,"

said Barnard Castle's rapidlyrising golfing talent, after spending the last week in the North-East ahead of his trip to Beijing for the Volvo China Open next week.

"It was fantastic being there, it was my first time and Augusta was just like, many always say, a big garden, with the same sort of tournament atmosphere that you get around the world, with the cheering, the applause.

"There is no reason, either, for me to think I can't be there next year.

I have numerous things that I want to do and a lot of those are dreams, but I have to think that most are achievable."

From ten European Tour events this season, Dinwiddie has made five cuts and, despite an encouraging start to his rookie year, he realises that top ten finishes have to become a regular occurrence if he is to stand a chance of playing in a Masters.

Given how he turns 26 in December however, he clearly has time on his side. And, just a fortnight after claiming a credible career best sixth at the MAPFRE Open de Andalucia by Valle Romano, he oozes a confidence that he will succeed.

Golf has been his life since childhood; not surprising when you consider the Dinwiddies had developed a love for the sport well before Rob, the green jacket or the US Masters were even heard of.

His great-grandfather, Lauderdale Maitland Dinwiddie, was the first from the family to achieve anything decades ago when he represented South West Scotland. While it was his grandfather, Gordon, that introduced him to the clubs.

"It was impossible for Rob to avoid golf," said his father, Alastair, with pride clearly rising across his face. "Golf has been a part of our family for generations of the Dinwiddies.

From the moment his grandfather cut a three iron down to size for him, he has been on the fairways or greens ever since."

It was that three iron which found its way into his father's bag at the age of six which has carried Dinwiddie to where he stands today, ranked 108th on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Born in Dumfries, Dinwiddie recalls chipping from one square of grass to another and over the garden path, which led to the door of the family home in Kippford, Dalbeattie.

Eventually he was deemed old enough to join his father on the putting greens and fairways, and that coincided at the age of nine with a move south of the border to Barnard Castle, Co Durham, where he lives now.

Given how he spent nine years of his life at the school that has unearthed the rugby talents of Mathew Tait, the Underwood brothers and Rob Andrew, it is no surprise to learn that holding the ball rather than hitting also had a place in his heart.

"Right up until the age of 17 I loved rugby and cricket. I played inside centre, although I would never claim to have had a chance of making a success of myself in that sport," said Dinwiddie, also a keen cricketer during his school days. "But then something happened and that was it.

"Golf was always my number one sport and when I dislocated my thumb three times in a month playing rugby, I couldn't swing a club, and that was it for me. I wanted to take golf seriously and rugby would have stopped me doing that."

During his school years, his golfing roots always had Dinwiddie forming a key part of the Barnard Castle golf team, led by coach Andrew Moorhouse.

It was his appearances in those three-man fixtures that made him familiar with the competitive side of golf, before he eventually became Durham County Boys Champion in 1999.

"There was some good players that year, like Simon Robinson, Andy Allen and Martin Lee,"

said Dinwiddie, also an important member of the County team during that period.

"It was a real boost to my confidence to have won and the memory of that has stayed with me."

Robinson, who was on the Challenge Tour last season, and Dinwiddie have become close friends, having taken similar paths to America in an attempt to further their career.

Dinwiddie flew over to Tennessee State University in 2002 to embark on a scholarship.

And, after graduating in 2006, he successfully emerged from the Challenge Tour after claiming a place among the elite mainly through back-to-back wins in the Scottish Challenge and Rolex Trophy.

Nashville, though, was where a desire for glory really started to grow. During his four years in the States, he won 11 titles and a growing reputation.

"It was always my intention to go to America," said Dinwiddie, managed by one of the world's biggest agencies, Octagon, but is still looking for sponsors to help him on the circuit. "I had known Luke Donald and Paul Casey had done it and I wanted to try it. I wanted to stay in education but gear it towards golf. It was great out there and it's where I want to go again.

"It was funny. When I first went out there and stepped on my first tee, I had to ask whether the grass was false. It was just totally different to anything I had played on before. I thought it was Astroturf or something."

The PGA Tour is the level Dinwiddie wants to reach, having had a brief glimpse of what life is like mixing it in that division at the Wachovia Championship last year.

While a 78, 74 total of eight over par meant he missed the cut, Dinwiddie was still given an insight into life on the other tour. "It was incredible, a real eye-opener," he said.

"On the day I qualified for it, I remember a top of the range Mercedes being delivered to where I lived in Charlotte. It was like: Is this what's it about? I want more of this'."

It will be slightly different next week. After the dust has settled on the events and the outcome at Augusta, Dinwiddie will be among a field that contains few household names in Beijing.

Given the political situation, as protesters around the world continue to condemn China's human rights abuse against Tibet, it will be the first sporting event to head there ahead of the Olympics.

"I don't really know what to expect to be honest," said Dinwiddie. "What we tend to do, though, is get in, go to the hotel, play a few rounds of golf, and leave without seeing much of the cities. That's likely to be the case in China, I don't know if I will have time to see the Great Wall or anything, I doubt I will have the time."

After two dates in China, where he could also play in the BMW Asian Open, it is back to Europe for Dinwiddie, with appearances in Spain, Italy and Ireland a possibility before, he hopes, an outing at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He is also pencilled in for qualifiers for the US Open and The Open Championship this summer.

Further progress in any of those and he will have taken the next step towards fulfilling aspirations of playing at Augusta next year. Even if he doesn't, there is every chance his dream will come true eventually.

10:19am Saturday 12th April 2008

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