HUGH HUNTER'S CLACKMANNAN COUNTY NEWS

SLOW START .. THEN BOB HITS FORM

It was not the best opening day for Tulliallan’s Bob Stewart in the Senior Home Internationals at the Woodhall Spa golf course in Lincolnshire last week when he lost both his opening foursomes and singles matches to experienced Irish golfers.
However, on the second day, playing with former Tulliallan member Fraser McCluskey, he bounced back with a foursomes win against England, beating Charles Banks and Alan Squires by 3 and 2.
Bob lost his afternoon singles in a close match with Andrew Stacey, going down 2 and 1.
The Scotland team were now in a precarious position, and with the wooden spoon staring them in the face they produced a resounding victory against Wales on the last day to leave them in third place.
Bob made a good contribution to the last day's play with wins in both foursomes (3 and 2) and singles (5 and 3), to leave him with a fairly satisfactory performance over the three days.

GOOD TRY FROM CLACKMANNAN UNDER-14 GOLFERS.

In the Frank Thomson Under-14s triangular match involving Clackmannan, Fife and Perth and Kinross, the young Clackmanan team can be fairly proud of their efforts.
Against much more experienced golfers from the two other Counties, and over the PGA course at Gleneagles, they amassed a respectable number of Stableford points.
Clackmannan boys' convener Sam Kinnaird was reasonably pleased.
“Even from the front tees, the PGA course is actually longer than the Kings course at Gleneagles, and the boys have to be congratulated on a fine showing,” he said.
Alloa was well represented in the team with four members: Angus Boyd, Brian McAdam, Gregor McEwan and Jamie McEwan - at eleven, the youngest golfer in the event).
The two others were Tillicoultry’s Jonathan Clark and Braehead’s Ryan Blyth. Best scores came form Clackmannan boys' champion Brian McAdam with 24pts, closely followed by Gregor McEwan on 22 and Jonathan Clark on 21.
Perth and Kinross won the 2011 event with Fife and Clackmannan some distance back.

MOSCOW JOY FOR CALLUM

Tulliallan’s Callum Macaulay improved on the previous week’s performance with a top ten finish in the Challenge Tour event held at Moscow, no doubt causing him considerable happiness in returning to a standard of golf game of his early professional days.
Callum easily made the cut with rounds of 69 and 73, and there was more sub-par golf in his third round of 71. In his last round a 3-3 (two birdies) start put him among the leaders. His finishing birdie was worth a few thousand Euros, a 5 under par total of 283 and a share of sixth place.
It must have given some confidence for the remaining five Challenge Tour events. A top finish in the rankings would avoid a return to the Tour School. It's still possible, so best of luck, Callum.

MORE ACTION FOR CLACKMANN GOLFERS

It’s a big weekend for the Alva Golf Club team at Falkirk Tryst where their three-man team competes in the Scottish club championship. If all three hit a golf game then Alva is in with a good chance. Both Tulliallan and Alloa have achieved success in the event and the winning team from Scotland competes in the European event.
Just before that, the County Senior team will be competing for the Scottish Senior Team Championship at Musselburgh.