Stephen Gallacher back into swing on European Tour

Mar 25 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THERE was a little milestone in Stephen Gallacher’s long haul back to the place he should be in the European pro game at the weekend.

The West Lothian golfer made his fourth-consecutive cut at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat Morocco.

Stephen opened with a six-under the card 66 on the Blue course but could not quite maintain this form into the weekend when he had three rounds on the much longer Red track and ended 10-under in joint-19th place in the event.

Still, there is marked progress and, if he did not play as he has been threatening to do of late he is in there week in and week out and that has not always been the case in recent seasons.

There are signs that new coach David Burns has moved his swing in the right direction and the bad stuff is, by Stephen’s own admission, much less prevalent than it was.

Given that nobody is always in top form, the pro game is about playing well with what you’ve got at any given time. And Stephen is demonstrating that he is doing just that.

This week it is on to Spain and the Andalucian Open in Malaga.

The good, settled weather locally is seeing the first stirrings of action in West Lothian clubs.

Most will have the opening of the 2010 competitive season before mid April.

Courses, having been given a good rest over the winter with the snow making play impossible for much of the last few months, seem to be in promising nick.

Seniors at Linlithgow have had their Winter Eclectic largely undisturbed and have soldiered on for all but January of the close season and there has been in excess of forty hardy oldies out each time the competitive bell has rung for them.

There are still a couple to go before the final round up.

The most recent event saw Edward Boyle off fourteen amass 44 stableford points to win by four from another fourteen man Richard G Robinson.

Harburn, as one would expect, got the worst of the snow and the distaff side had to reschedule their Mail on Sunday match with Dalmahoy, giving up their home advantage.

It did not deter the girls, however, and the team comprising Arlene McGarty, Alison McBride, Sheila McEwan, Linda Boyle and Anne Stokes won by 3-2.

Meanwhile over at Uphall they have had their Final Winter Medal and it was Bill Carlyon in top spot with a return of 74-13=61 to beat the trio of Barrie Storrar (11), John Halliday (8) and Rab Stoddart (14) into joint second on 62 net.