Barry Hume (27) still has hunger for

success ... all he needs is the funding

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Since sparking a healthy and, more to the point, much-needed debate about an apparent talent drain in Scottish golf, I've received numerous comments, E-mails and, perhaps most interestingly of all, one phone call over the past few weeks.
It came from Barry Hume, one of the players I highlighted in trying to illustrate how this country has a knack of producing outstanding young amateurs only for those individuals to then fail to fulfil their potential when they turned professional.
Hume picked up the phone primarily because he felt it was wrong for anyone to be writing him off at the age of 27. I admire him for that as it shows, first and foremost, he's passionate about a subject that, Tiger Woods notwithstanding, has undoubtedly been one of the main talking points in clubhouses up and down the country recently.
Hume, who played on the EuroPro Tour last season and will be back on that third-tier circuit next year, admits he's not competing at the level where he wants to be right now but, crucially, he still has faith in his own ability and, what's more, he still has the hunger to reach his desired destination.
What I really found interesting from speaking to the former Scottish amateur champion is the total lack of support for players like him at a time in their career when they need it most, leaving them with a feeling as though they've almost been cast aside.
On the back of a sparkling amateur career, the Haggs Castle man was snapped up by a management company and didn't have to worry about sponsorships as he set about trying to earn a place on the European Tour.
As happens with so many players, securing that card proved to be a lot more difficult than some people think – Hume, in fact, has never held full playing privileges for the European circuit – and, with no management company behind him these days, he's been left to try and fend for himself.
As Hume says, he'd have preferred to have had the support now rather than right at the start of the career and the same probably goes for the likes of Chris Kelly, Lorne Kelly, Greig Hutcheon, Murray Urquhart and even Scott Henderson.
These are other players with oodles of golfing talent who haven't been able to climb as high up the ladder as they maybe should have, yet who's to say they still couldn't make an impact if a proper support system was in place?
So how exactly does a player like Hume fund the sort of trip he's about to make to the Asian Tour Qualifying School? Primarily, he borrows money from friends in the hope he can pay them a little extra back as a way of saying 'thanks for the support.'
Like most other sportsmen and sportswomen in his position, he also sends out as many letters as he can to potential sponsors and, occasionally, someone gives him valuable support. If only there were more companies around like the Craig Group, which has just extended its support of Richie Ramsay, and Aegon, the Edinburgh-based life insurance and pensions firm that is currently backing the three Saltman brothers.
Ramsay, for one, would love to see more businessmen prepared to take a gamble on promising Scottish golfers.
"For Scotland to maintain its golf branding, we need people to invest in the game," he said in the wake of last week's South African Open triumph. "I think we have talent but, while the system is getting better and better, it is still going to take time to get those players on the Tour."
Which brings me back to Barry Hume. He isn't like a lot of the professionals out there these days. He's a genuine contender when it comes to being able to make the grade and, at 27, it certainly isn't too late for him to get that foothold on the European Tour one day.
Shoots of recovery, but Scots golf is not buoyant yet.
Why is it that some people bury their head in the sand and feel that journalists come up with ludicrous claims about the state of sports we feel passionate about?
In a story on Carly Booth in The Scotsman last week, I made a comment about this country's golfing reputation having been battered and, by the sounds of things, it went down as badly with one reader as the recent heavy snow has with those hardly souls who like to keep playing golf at this time of year.
"Trying to repair Scotland's battered reputation? Eh? Since when has it been battered apart from by Scotsman journalists," a Mr Thornhill wrote on http://www.scotsman.com/.
On this occasion, I'd like to comment on a comment because, prior to Catriona Mathew, Martin Laird and, most recently Richie Ramsay delivering excellent wins on their respective Tours in the space of four months, Scotland's golfing reputation had definitely suffered a dip.
The lack of a single Scot in the world's top 100 in the men's game at a time when England can boast ten players with such a ranking shows there's still room for improvement before we can start shouting from the rooftops again about the health of our game.
Thankfully, though, we are heading into a new decade with a spring in our step and, contrary to what Mr Thornhill might think, any Scottish successes on the golf course in 2010 and beyond will certainly be applauded loudly in these columns.
Any comments? E-mail them to Colin@scottishgolfview.com

FIRST RESPONSE FROM ALISON McTEAR

In that article on Carly Booth did Mr Dempster have the decency to recognise the effort and achievement of another Scot at the LET Qualifying School? No, he did not ... he who talks of a lack of support for Scottiish golfers. So humble pie time surely?
Let Mr Dempster acknowledge the success of Kylie Walker in achieving a top 10 finish in that qualifying field and let him consider hard what demotivates up and coming golfers.
Be clear on this. I am not related to Kylie in any way, just angered by shallow, maybe lazy thinking by Mr Dempster.
Alison McTear