Bathgate Golf Club pro Stuart Callan still in the swing of winning competitions

Dec 17 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

STUART Callan has been back at Bathgate for a couple of years now, as pro to the club where he learned his golf, after a spell in Croatia and at Marriott Dalmahoy before that

And, understandably, it has been a busy spell building up a business and the confidence of his members as well as their game because he has been teaching a lot too.

So it was nice to see in the middle of last week that he still has a game good enough to win things despite his limited opportunities to play.

His 70 at Eyemouth in the Edinburgh and East of Scotland Alliance was top scratch in the latest winter outing for the lads. Stuart's score was built on a three under the card 32 to the turn and, though most were finding it much more difficult on the inward stretch, Stuart largely held it together and birdied the last to post his score which pipped both Scott Grieve of Turnhouse and Ross Neill of Drumpellier by a shot.

Another local name in the scratch frame was Alan Reid, pro at West Lothian, who shared joint fourth on 72 with Terry Mathieson of King's Acre.

Handicap winner and winner of the Professionals' Trophy was Duddingston's Robert Denholm.

His 74-5=69 was a solid four ahead of a quintet in joint second which included two West Lothian club golfers, club champion Kenny Reid (2), brother of the pro Alan, and eight handicap Roy Murray as well as former Deer Park Champion Andy Rothney (1).

And it was another local success as young Alan Mackay of Pumpherston won the Trainees' prize for his 74.

The Alliance was due at the Braids No1 course on Wednesday of this week for their annual Greensomes event and I'll have that result for you next time.