Academy greens are making Scots boys very good putters

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Jack McDonald, the pre-tournament favourite, may have fallen just short in his bid to win the Scottish boys' championship but, for most of the week at wonderful West Kilbride, the Barassie youngster displayed a putting touch the majority of us would die to have.
As he stood over every putt, it was clearly evident the 17-year-old didn't have a single negative thought in his head and he actually reminded me of the fresh-faced Stephen Gallacher 20 years ago. Back then, in his amateur career, Gallacher putted like a god, too, and, as a consequence, chalked up titles with what seemed like relative ease.
Yet, these days, it's on the greens where he seems to struggle the most and the 2004 Dunhill Links champion isn't alone among Scotland's leading professionals, as the European Tour performance statistics have shown us all too frequently in recent seasons.
Take right now, for example. When it comes to hitting greens in regulation, Steven O'Hara and Richie Ramsay are lying fourth and fifth respectively, with Gallacher's long game standing up pretty well, too, at the moment to see him in 37th position.
It's a different story, though, when it comes to putts per greens in regulation. O'Hara is 101st, Ramsay 112th and Gallacher is down in 136th. Stephen's even lower in the putts per round table, the leader of which, Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen, has been averaging 26.6 putts per round this season.
Some believe our poor putting is down to the fact players have to practise for long periods on sub-standard surfaces caused by the weather and, in the case of Gallacher, that appears to be the case as you don't lose the sort of stroke he once had overnight.
Only time will tell if the same thing happens to McDonald but, through the excellent Scottish Golf Academy programme, it is encouraging to see measures are being taken to try and make sure our stars of tomorrow fare much better in the putting stakes.
Thanks to funding provided by the R&A, each of the eight Academy centres around the country are now equipped with artificial Huxley putting greens and Spencer Henderson, the SGU's National Junior Coach, believes they were instrumental in why McDonald was just one of a bunch of players who displayed a silky touch on the West Kilbride greens.
"It's great fun going to the range and hitting your driver. But everyone knows that it all comes down to the short game," said Henderson. "In our Academy programme we place a lot of emphasis on putting at the right time of the year and the fact we've been able to install the Huxley greens around the country means we can do some technical development over the winter.
"The work we do is more to help develop the stroke over the winter months and I think everything can be developed – I don't think anyone is naturally a good putter or not. If you constantly tell yourself you are poor at something, you are never going to be good at it. It is almost trying to change that mindset a bit and saying, 'we are great putters'.
"We have a good bunch of putters coming through which is quite promising. Jack McDonald is a great role model for the other kids and the reason he's such a good putter is that he practises a lot. He has a great putting green at Barassie, which I certainly think helps – conditions have a lot to do with it as we can potentially lose four or five months due to the weather."
In place now for five years, Henderson is right to feel pleased about the progress being made with the Academy programme, the running of which equates to approximately £200,000 per annum across the SGU and SLGA. At the moment, it involves 111 players ranging from 12 to 19-year-olds, and, for the first time this year, includes 16 girls.
Last year, Hazlehead's David Law, who joined the programme at the start, became the first player to win the Scottish boys' and Scottish men's amateur match-play titles in the same season, while one of the eye-catching aspects of the recent boys' championship was the performances of a batch of 14-year-olds.
Take Ewan Scott, for example. Three years after joining the Academy at the age of 11, the St Andrews youngster made it to the last 16, having already rubber-stamped his potential when winning the English open under-14s boys' championship last summer.
Blairgowrie's Bradley Neil, who has just turned 14, is another to look out for, having shown both skill and determination to take McDonald down extra holes in the third round.
"Seven of the last eight – Jamie Lynch was the odd one out – at West Kilbride are in the Academy and five are in the National Programme," noted Henderson. "That is fantastic from our point of view. Looking at some of the young boys at West Kilbride I'd definitely say they are the best bunch for a while."
From what I saw, I'd have to agree and there certainly appears no reason to worry about exciting young Scottish talent continuing to roll off the conveyor belt. The big question, though, will be how many can we convert into European Tour players?

Raymond Russell targets European Tour return before he's 40

One of the best rounds of golf I have had the pleasure of witnessing was produced by Raymond Russell when he closed with a 66 to finish fourth behind Mark O'Meara in the 1998 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, writes Martin Dempster of The Scotsman.
I had reason to recall it recently after bumping into Tom O'Malley, the former Hibs chairman who was also out on the course on that Sunday afternoon in Southport when Russell produced the best performance of his career.
At the time, the Prestonpans man was an established player on the European Tour, having made the breakthrough in the paid ranks when winning the Cannes Open in 1996. He looked set for life only to see his career turned upside down by a niggling shoulder injury that eventually required surgery.
He found himself back at the bottom of the ladder but, as anyone who knows Russell will testify, he's certainly not a quitter. The 37-year-old returned to winning ways at the weekend – he claimed the Alps Tour's Emporda Open in Spain – and now his target is to get back on the European Tour before he's 40.
That's a tall order but don't discount his chances and we should all be wishing Russell well after his recent struggle.