Chris Doak took a swing at golf’s slow coaches despite making a fast start to the 100th M&H Logistics Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles.

While Edinburgh-based Welshman Gareth Wright set a blistering early pace with a nine-under 62 over the King’s Course, Glasgow-born Doak moved into a tie for second spot with a four-under 67.

The 38-year-old, who beat Wright in a play-off to win the national title back in 2010, has seen his European Tour career stalled by a niggling hand injury.

And the former Tartan Tour No 1 continues to be left frustrated by the time it takes to play a round as golf at all levels shudders to a standstill too.

Doak, whose three-ball at Gleneagles took over five hours, said: “No matter what tour you are on the pace of play is shocking. Nobody waves through, nobody has their yardages worked out, nobody is ready to play. It’s terrible. It’s just frustrating the time it takes to play golf.”

Doak had been one-over through eight holes of his round but he upped the ante coming home and reeled off a haul of five birdies to jump up the order. He was joined on that mark by Sam Binning, who is based at the Mearns Castle facility on Glasgow’s southside, with Carluke veteran Craig Ronald, the Scottish champion in 2004, two shots back on 69.

Motherwell’s Paul O’Hara also posted a two-under 69 as his challenge for another Tartan Tour ‘Major’ got off to a solid start.

The 30-year-old former Scottish amateur No 1 began his season with victory in the P&H Championship at the Renaissance during a profitable campaign which has also included the Scottish Young Professionals’ title.

O’Hara has racked up earnings of almost £30,000 this season which has gone some way to off-setting the expense it cost to go through the PGA’s training degree.

He said: “That costs about £13,000 in total. Because it’s based at an English University, I had to pay my fees being Scottish. But they have started doing the degree at Highlands & Islands College in Dornoch so I could have got a loan for that. It came too late for me, though.”

Glasgow’s Chris Kelly began the defence of the crown he won last year with a 74 and is already 12 shots behind the frontrunning Wright.

His nine-under 62, which was still two shots shy of the course record of 60 set by Paul Curry in the 1992 Scottish Open, saw him surge to the top as he looks to reclaim the Scottish title he won two years ago.

Wright remains a sturdy competitor who still harbours ambitions of playing at a higher level. He missed the cut by a single stroke in the European Tour’s British Masters last week and he usually makes a decent fist of things when he makes occasional forays on to the main circuit. “I played with Richie Ramsay in the first two rounds last week and my game is not too far out of place at that level,” he noted. “Playing on the European Tour is not off the table yet.”