National coach Kevin Craggs, team captain Lesley Nicholson, extreme left, and the very happy Scotland squad after the victory in the Women's Home Intenationals at Whitchurch GC, Cardiff (image by courtesy of Susan Simpson of the Ladies Golf Union).

SLGA have got it right at last

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
SCOTLAND'S success in the Women's Home Internationals - a team captained by Lesley Nicholson beat Ireland in a thrilling title decider at Whitchurch in Cardiff - capped a trophy-laden few weeks for our distaff side after other notable triumphs by Pamela Pretswell, in the British Stroke-Play Championship, and the over-50s, in the European Senior Women's Team Championship.
The latest victory saw the Scots claim the Miller Trophy, the prize up for grabs in the four-cornered event, for the first time since 1991 and was even sweeter due to the fact the majority of those involved had suffered such a heartbreaking experience 12 months earlier.
Then, the Scots had one hand on the title with a singles session to go at Irvine Bogside only to let it slip agonisingly out of their grasp after losing to Wales.
Two members of that side - Carly Booth and Kylie Walker - subsequently switched to the paid ranks after earning cards for the Ladies European Tour, the loss of such talented individuals at regular intervals having, no doubt, been one of the key reasons for the lengthy drought in the annual locking of horns with England, Ireland and Wales.
However, as the likes of Vikki Laing, Krystle Caithness and, slowly but surely, Walker - Booth has still to find her feet and produce the form that lit up her amateur career - are making their presence felt in the professional game, the Scotland set up has some strength in depth about it once again and, moreover, is a band of happy campers.
For that, the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association should be congratulated and, with all due respect, that probably isn't something there was much need for in the past, when the body in question appeared, at times, to go out of its way to make things as awkward as it possibly could.
Somebody, thankfully, switched on the lights and dragged the organisation out of the dark ages in the nick of time. The decision to get Catriona Matthew on board and the appointment of Kevin Craggs as national coach, for instance, both being pivotal in the progress that culminated in last week's title triumph in Wales.
Matthew's credentials need no explanation but, to some, Craggs will be relatively unknown. First and foremost, he is an excellent swing coach who has his own unique style of getting the message across to pupils.
Personally, I'm surprised he's not been asked by more of our leading male professionals to work with them, especially at a time when some are starting to look south of the Border for fixes.
But the loss to others is definitely the SLGA's gain and where Craggs has also done wonders with the squads he oversees is that he has the capacity to double up us a psychologist and, on occasion, even be an agony aunt.
He knows what to say and when to say it. The players visibly respond to him and it is testament to both him and Spencer Henderson, the former Scottish national junior coach who also worked with the likes of Kelsey MacDonald, Louise Kenney and Rachael Watton before he recently took up a new post in Turkey, that Scotland are enjoying a purple patch in the women's amateur game at present.
The win in Wales followed the capture of bronze medals in the European Team Championship in Spain earlier in the year and, in a few weeks' time, a side comprising of MacDonald, Kenney and Sally Watson, will head for Argentina with high hopes of lifting the Espirito Santo Trophy, the prize on offer in the women's World Amateur Team Championship.
Some believe Watson is lucky to have been picked for that event, having firstly made herself unavailable for the European event due to the fact she'd qualified for the US Open then missing out on the Home Internationals as she is now back in California to start her second year at Stanford University.
And, in fairness, they probably have a point. At the same time, though, it would probably be wrong for Scotland to be heading into such an event without a player of Watson's quality and, anyway, the pressure on the selectors was eased, no doubt, by Pretswell declaring herself unavailable due to her degree commitments at Glasgow University.
One thing for sure is that the Scots will be heading for South America with a captain at the helm who deserves an equal amount of praise as Craggs. Nicholson has been there and bought the t-shirt.
A top amateur herself, she tried her luck on the LET but gave up on that dream and, for a spell, was lost to the game. She's edged her way back in, though, and there's no doubting the fact her contribution has been tangible.
Of the winning team in Wales, MacDonald, the national champion, in particular looks as though she can climb pretty high up the ladder in the next few years and good luck to her.
But, when she and others, no doubt, eventually do move on, it is comforting to know that, in players like Watton, Eilidh Briggs, Ailsa Bain and Ailsa Summers to name but a few, there's a new wave of talent capable of making sure Scotland don't have to wait another 19 years to land the Home International title.