Thomas lifts golf trophy in his first tournament entry!

Aug 20 2008 by Paul Thomson, East Kilbride News

GREENHILLS teenager Thomas McCallum admits he was left in shock last week when he lifted the South Ayrshire Pre-Handicap Open – because it was his first ever golf tournament.

The 13-year-old first picked up his clubs a year ago and has since been hitting balls on the driving range.

However, while he was practising his long game at Chapelton driving range, he saw a poster advertising the competition in Ayr and decided to give it a shot.

And now Thomas is the proud owner of the Pre-Handicap Open trophy and looking forward to taking part in even more competitions in the future.

The Calderglen High School pupil said: “It’s a great feeling to win the tournament.

“It was a bit of a shock because it was my first ever competition, but I was very pleased with how I played and I got really good score.

“I saw a poster at the Chapelton driving range, so I just thought I would go along and see how I got on.

“But to be honest I couldn’t believe it when I won the whole thing.”

Thomas, who has also won trophies in football and motor sport, added: “It was a nice day for golf and the course was quite tough to begin with, but it got easier as I went along.

“I scored a two for a birdie at the ninth hole and hit some good shots on the final two holes to win it.”

The tournament took place last week at Troon Fullarton Golf Course and was an event for young golfers who have not yet obtained a handicap but can manage to play 18 short holes.

The par on the day was 73 and Thomas shot a one under par, 72 to take the title at his age group.

And now his proud parents James and Liz are hoping to enrol him at one of the town’s golf clubs.

His delighted dad James told the News: “It’s amazing because he was the only boy from East Kilbride to enter the tournament and he beat off the rest of the competition to win.

“When he entered the tournament we thought he would just go and have some fun and we never thought for a minute that he would be in contention.

“But it was a great challenge for him and we will need to look at getting him to join one of the golf clubs.”

Thomas’ mum Liz added: “He’s not been playing golf for very long and it’s incredible that he has gone and played his first tournament and won it. A lot of it is down to his grandpa, as he got him involved in golf and we are all proud of Thomas.”

Thomas was presented with his trophy by the depute leader of South Ayrshire Council, Margaret Toner. She said: “The standard of golf was excellent with many fine scores being returned.

“I believe that many of the enthusiastic young people who took part have the potential to be great golfers in the years to come.”