A bottle of water at each hole!

It ain't half hot in Brazil, Mum

Calum Stewart's mother Fiona has written the following report on her son's experience in the Faldo Series Grand Final in Brazil:

Calum Stewart has just returned from a great golfing adventure, competing in the Faldo Series Finals in Brazil, finding the experience enjoyable but very challenging.

It took three flights and around 33 hours door to door to reach the Costa do Sauipe resort in the Bahia region of Brazil, arriving there early evening on Saturday 25th October local time.

There was just time to meet his new room-mates and get a meal before heading to bed.

The next two days were practice rounds, with very few of the players managing 18 holes on the first day due to the heat.

It was clear this was going to be a test of stamina as well as golfing skill. With temperatures consistantly over 30 degrees, the players quickly learned that they needed to drink virtually a bottle of water at every hole to maintain some concentration,

It wasn't just the heat that was a new experience for Calum, his strugglewith the tricky Bermuda grass greens reflected in his scores of 80, 81 and 79, the course par being 72.

His total of 240 was 16 shots behind the winner, Thomas Clements from Norwich, and ninth in the Under-15s section.

Players and parents were very well looked after at the Costa do Sauipe Resort. It's a relatively new development right on the beach where the competitors could unwind after a hard day on the course. There was also the opportunity to meet Nick Faldo and play night golf with him.

This involved chipping and putting with luminous golf balls which was a new experience and turned out to be a lot of fun.

Calum really enjoyed the opportunity to meet golfers from different countries, in particular the Welsh, Irish and Brazilians. They all got together and organised a mini-football competition one evening on the floodlit pitches at the resort.

Scotland managed to beat Brazil, not a headline that you will read every day!

Calum said: 'The trip was a fantastic experience on and off the golf course, one which I'd love to get the chance to repeat to see if I can get the hang of those greens! I'd like to say thank you for all the support and good wishes I received from friends and family and particularly Highland Council and Jim MacGilp of Fire Safety Services Scotland Ltd for their financial help.

"I am now looking forward to my winter coaching and practising hard, especially on my putting to see if I can qualify again next year!"