Golf: Stephen Gallacher aims to get back in the swing

Nov 26 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

IT has been a terrible year for West Lothian’s top golfer, European Tour pro Stephen Gallacher.

Illness contracted in a desert tournament left him weak and half the player he usually is, so by the time the big Loch Lomond event came along in July Stephen had decided to call it a day for competitive golf.

Now fully recovered he has spent the last few weeks getting his game together to try to regain his full playing rights at the dreaded Tour School test in Spain.

Although he has something like 10 events guaranteed on his schedule for next year — where if he makes enough money during that time he would be able to carry on as before — Stephen has taken the decision to put himself through the eight rounds of the Final Qualifying to gain his full playing rights.

Thirty players will go forward into the Tour next year with a guaranteed schedule throughout the season.

The Bathgate man has been working lately with David Burns of the Kingsfield Golf Centre near his Linlithgow home.

David is also no stranger to debilitating illness, having had a promising amateur career as a youngster halted by it.

David has been helping Stephen with bio-mechanics as well as his short game and putting and the upcoming test is being viewed positively by both men.

The big man flew off to Girona on Wednesday with long-time friend and sometime caddy Aidan O’Reilly who is to be on his bag at the Catalunya test. The gruelling event starts this Saturday and runs until December 3.

Many local golfers would love the opportunity to get a bit of sun though maybe wouldn’t relish the pressure Stephen will be under in the coming week.

The atrocious weather which has battered West Lothian recently has left our courses resembling mud heaps and it seems to be getting to the stage where from October till April inland golf is a messy business at best and not even possible the rest of the time.

The wet West Lothian weather put paid to the latest scheduled match for West Lothian in the Fife and Lothian’s Winter League due at Uphall last Sunday.

Local pro Gordon Law reported that there were several places where it was next to impossible because of flooding to make your way from green to next tee.

Meanwhile, Fife and East Lothian did get their fixture played although it had to be moved from a flooded Pitreavie to Lundin.

And it was the visitors East who took the initiative and a firm grip on title hopes with a 5.5 to 4.5 success.

East now have six points with a couple of home fixtures still to come, while Fife are second on four with West and Mid each on two.

It might all be over for West at Craigielaw on December 6 where East are the hosts and will be hoping to turn the screw on the rest even tighter.