Hugh Hunter's Clackmannan County news

CALLUM JUST MISSES OUT

Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay just failed in his bid to retain his European Tour category 11 status for 2010. At the final qualifying in Spain, held over six rounds, Callum made a brave effort from behind and only failed by one shot.

The final qualifying event has a cut after four rounds and Callum just made it right on the mark with a fourth round of 67. He knew he had to pull out something special to make the top 30 and he gave it his best shot--- a fifth round of 70 lifted him up the field and then a final four under par, bogey-free round of 68 gave him a six-round total of 419 (70-73-71-67-70-68) putting him in equal 32nd position, just behind the 31 qualifiers.

It was a top-class performance--- in club golf terms the course measured over 7,000 yards and probably had a scratch score of 74, meaning Callum was playing to plus 6 and plus 7 in two of his rounds---this shows the very high standard of professional golf on the European Tour.
All is not lost, however, because of finishing 134 in the 2009 Race to Dubai, he has a Category 12 status--- a bit lower than last year, so he will find that obtaining entries to events is more difficult and hopefully he will be occasionally considered for a sponsors' invite.

Hopefully this will give him some motivation in the events—he certainly has the game to compete at a very high level.
Callum really has done remarkably well in his first season as a professional—he has made many cuts and won over €200,000. The experience he has built up should serve him well in 2010 and no doubt he will be planning his schedule for the new season. We all wish him well.

LAWRENCE IN GOOD FORM
Alva junior Lawrence Allan is continuing his good form in National Junior events. After a good performance in the Under 16’s match against England, Lawrence was selected for the under 16’s winter tour, played over four courses.
In the first event at Nairn Dunbar, Lawrence scored a par 72 finishing first equal, and in the second event at Whitekirk he finished with a three over par 75, giving him fifth equal position. Two further events are being held at the start of 2010 and the four all count to an Order of Merit.

At present Lawrence is in third position with 342 points , 32 points behind the leader.

MIDLAND ALLIANCE
Wee County golfers continue to make their presence felt in the weekly events. In the latest one, held at Muckhart in very wet conditions, Alloa’s Rae Barton tied with two others for the first handicap prize with a net 70, and in the team event he teamed up with Tulliallan’s Bob Stewart and assistant professional Alan Lockhart to gain a runner-up spot with a 63.

In addition Rae qualifies for the championship finals at Montrose in April, a good day’s work and a consolation for a soaking.