COLIN BROOKS' COACHING HAS RAISED

RACHAEL LIVINGSTONE TO

INTERNATIONAL CLASS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS

By MARTIN DEMPSTER

The likes of Carly Booth, Krystle Caithness and Roseanne Niven may have grabbed most of the headlines as girl power has made its mark on the Scottish golf scene over the past year or so. But a young member of one of the less fashionable clubs in Edinburgh has also been climbing up the ladder - and next week, over in Italy, she's set to carve out a slice of golfing history.
Rachael Livingstone, pictured left, has been a member at Musselburgh Old since 2000, having been tempted to take up the game when she saw the historic club at the town's racecourse was keen to attract more juniors.
Seven years on, she's playing off scratch and, in the eyes of the Scottish selectors at least, is now among the top female amateurs in the 'Home of Golf'.
That's because they've just selected the 19-year-old in the six-strong side to represent Scotland in the European women's team championship, to be held at the Castelconturbia Golf Club next week.
"When I heard that I was in the team, it really did come out of the blue," admitted Livingstone. "I'll be Musselburgh Old's first full internationalist and I'm really excited about that."
Indeed, while she also plays at Monktonhall, Livingstone is extremely proud of her golfing roots. "I joined Monktonhall about three or four years ago because it's a tougher test and also had better practice facilities," she added.
"But Musselburgh Old is my home club - my handicap is there - and I don't see any reason why I should be thinking about changing that."
One change she did make four years ago, however, was to start working with Colin Brooks, the highly-respected coach who is based at the Braid Hills Golf Centre. And, just like Lloyd Saltman and several others, she's seen her game come on leaps and bounds thanks to his sound advice.
"Colin has made a big difference to my game," said Livingstone, who, after taking a year out to concentrate solely on playing golf, is set to start a two-year sports coaching course at Telford College later this year.

HARD WORK OVER WINTER

"He's worked hard on improving my swing and, after putting in a lot of hard work over the winter, all I've needed lately has been a few tweaks here and there.
"We're both happy with the way things have been going and I feel I am playing quite well going into the European team championship."
Rachael has already tasted team success with Scotland, having been in the side that won the girls' home internationals last year.
And, with Jenna Wilson and Heather MacRae spearheading the team that will head out to Italy this weekend, she admitted: "We've got a really strong side and, hopefully, we'll be able to make our presence felt."

SALLY OFF TO NORWAY

At the same time as the women's event is taking place in Italy, two other rising Lothians stars will also be hoping to taste European team glory elsewhere.
Sally Watson, a member of Murrayfield, is off to Norway for the girls' event, while The Glen's Neil Henderson has just been selected for the boys' equivalent in Denmark.