Walking down Memory Lane at Balgownie this morning, Murcar Links professional Gary Forbes (left) and club captain Hugh Stuart (image by Cal Carson Golf Agency). You can enlarge the image by clicking on it.

Fifty years since Hugh Stuart beat Bobby Walker

in Scottish boys' final at North Berwick

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Former Walker Cup player, past Scottish amateur champion Hugh Stuart, who is captain of Murcar Links Golf Club in this its Centenary Year, and club professional Gary Forbes took the short walk from the Murcar Links clubhouse to catch up with the action round the turn in this morning's fourth round ties of the Scottish boys' championship at next-door Royal Aberdeen's Balgownie Links.
"I won this Scottish boys' title at North Berwick 50 years ago this week," recalled Hugh Bannerman Stuart who learned his golf at Forres before moving down to Aberdeen.
"All the Scottish boys' championships were played at North Berwick until it was switched to Dunbar in 1976," said Hugh.
"I beat the late, great Bobby (R T) Walker from Downfield, Dundee in the final by 3 and 2, so the memories have been flooding back this week .... where have the last 50 years gone?
"I caddied for Bobby Walker only a couples of year later after he turned pro and beat John Panton and Eric Brown in their prime to win the Scottish professional championship at my home course, Forres, in 1961. Bobby won it again at Machrihanish in 1964."
Walker never fully realised his great potential and he later emigrated to South Africa and died of cancer at a comparatively young age.
"The thing that strikes me watching the top Scottish boy golfers of this era, compared with mine, is how far they hit the ball, much, much longer than I could 50 years ago."
The visit to Balgownie's classic links, which will host the Walker Cup match of 2011, stirred more recent memories for Hugh Stuart. He lost by one hole to Charlie Green in the final of the 1970 Scottish amateur championship at Royal Aberdeen where the final was reduced from its traditional 36 holes to 18.
Hugh did win the title in 1972 at Prestwick where he beat fellow Northerner, Sandy Pirie (Hazlehead) by 3 and 1 in the final.
Stuart made a third appearance in the Scottish amateur final over the Old Course, St Andrews in 1976 when he went down by 6 and 5 to the big-hitting Gordon Murray.
Hugh played for Great Britain & Ireland against the United States in the Walker Cup matches of 1971 (St Andrews: GB&II 13, USA 11); 1973 (Brookline, Massachusetts: USA 14, GB&I 10 and 1975 (St Andrews: GB&I 8 1/2, USA 15 1/2).