july10 homefavourite

Published:

If he can find his putting form, don’t be surprised to see Scot Stephen Gallacher in the shake-up at this week’s Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. Gallacher, you see, is very much the Local Hero…

The 32-year-old is the exclusive Loch Lomond Golf Club’s Tour representative and has been for about eight years now so he knows the layout better than anybody which should give him a big advantage over all his rivals.

And Gallacher, shock winner of the 2004 Dunhill Links Championship, is determined to make his home course knowledge pay handsome dividends, saying: “I’m in good form generally at the moment, I’m just not holing enough putts. But if my putter’s hot this week, who knows?

“I think I finished inside the top 20 last year but over the years I haven’t really been in serious contention which I would love to do.”

But because of his association with the host venue isn’t there added pressue on him to do well? “To be honest, you don’t think of the pressure – I just want to do well on my home course, specially as I will have a lot of support from family and friends. It should be a special week.”

Gallacher revealed: “I played the course three times last month but to be honest I don’t play it as often as I should owing to my work commitments – the day job prevents me from getting up here though I love it every time I play it.

“It’s an honour representing Loch Lomond which is is one of the best courses in the world as a lot of Tour players will quickly tell you. It’s always in immaculate condition and for this year’s event there’s been a bit more growth and they’re bringing in the fairways a bit tighter.”

- Just so you know, whilst we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this page, we never allow this to influence product selections - read why you should trust us.