Richard Teder is confident his history-making Open appearance can stand him in good stead as he makes his regular DP World Tour debut this week at the Turkish Airlines Open.
The then 20-year-old made headlines last summer when he holed out for eagle on the third play-off hole at West Lancashire Golf Club in Final Qualifying and then made history at Royal Portrush as the first Estonian to play in golf’s oldest Major Championship.
He now becomes just the second player from his country to tee it up on the DP World Tour and while he missed the cut last July in Northern Ireland, he still hopes to use the experience to his advantage at National Golf Club.
“Definitely playing The Open has made this event much easier because I'm not as nervous,” he said. “I feel pretty comfortable here around all these pros. So it's going to be a good week, I reckon.
“The game's in the right spot, I think. Putting feels good. Course is wonderful. I mean, everything is in good shape for this week.
“This is a normal tournament for me, just trying to do my best, not give up, just give it my all and I'm sure I can compete with all these guys here.
“I think I'll be OK, just being me.”
That level of confidence comes not only from playing on the big stage but also a level of familiarity with the layout, which this week becomes the 463rd venue in DP World Tour history.
Teder, now 21, became a member recently so will have more knowledge of the course than most in the field, with National Golf Club having also hosted the Turkish Airlines Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2014.
“I've actually become a member here in December, so I'll play this course a couple of times,” he said. “I don't know it inside out, but I know it fairly well.”
Teder has yet to join the paid ranks and is in the field this week courtesy of his victory at the Turkish Amateur Open.
That win sits alongside victories at the 2025 Estonian Match Play and 2024 Latvian Amateur Championship and Estonian National Stroke Play Championship.
It is results like that that have seen him come close to securing a HotelPlanner Tour card via the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings, with Estonia hosting the Infortar Estonian Challenge on that circuit later this year.
Before that comes the prestigious Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool and Teder is delighted to be flying the flag for Estonia on the big stage.
“I’m just trying to do good this week, just focus one week at a time,” he said.
“I’ve got a couple of big amateur tournaments coming up, the British Am, and Estonia is actually hosting on the Challenge Tour this year. So I'm going to get a wild card there and hopefully do good there as well.
“It's cool. I mean, being the first Estonian at a Major and now being here, it's cool. It's fun.
“There's a lot of kids taking up the game now, which is cool to see, and definitely it's nice being a motivation for all the young kids, so they can see that Estonians can actually do it. We can all get here no matter where you come from.”
