GILLIAN STEWART CADDIES FOR

FIRST TIME - AND HELPS SPANIARD

FINISH THIRD IN 'BRITISH'

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

A regular championship winner as an amateur golfer and again as a Ladies European Tour player, you might think there cannot be many golf situations that would be a new experience for Inverness-based coach Gillian Stewart.
But you would be wrong!
When Gillian recently became “bag lady” for Spain’s Miguel Preysler, pictured right, one of the top men on the European senior amateurs’ scene, at the British senior amateur championship at Nairn and Nairn Dunbar, it was the first time in her life she had ever caddied.
Miguel, winner of the European seniors’ title last year and third in the 2007 event, finished a close third on the final day at Nairn.
He had rounds of 70, 70 and 72 for a four-under-par total of 212, one shot behind Irishman Arthur Pierse who beat Canadian Graham Cook in a play-off for the prestigious title.
“I putted like a dream, thanks to Gillian. I never thought I would become a better player at my age but Gillian has worked wonders for my short game. I am seriously thinking of putting her in touch with my friend and compatriot Sergio Garcia,” said Miguel.
“If Gillian had had a chance to work on Sergio’s game, he would have won the Open at Carnoustie – and I am not joking.”
So how did Gillian Stewart and Miguel Preysler who is related through marriage to the singer Julio Inglesias ever come to meet in the first place?
Gillian (pictured left) takes up the story:
“I first met Miguel in 1980 when playing in a pro-am at Sotogrande. He was the general manager of the Sotogrande resort at the time. We became friends and over the years since then I have spent some time most winters down in Sotogrande, working on my golf game.
“I represented the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande on the Ladies European Tour when I played full time. Miguel and his wife Amparo left Spain in the mid-1980s for a period to work in the States but returned when the opportunity arose to invest in a real estate company back in Sotogrande.
“So I have known Miguel and for the best part of 30 years. In recent years, as I have become more involved in coaching I have spent more time helping him with his golf when I have been in Sotogrande.
“He is very easy to coach as he is such a talented player and picks things up quickly.
We got his putting sorted out very simply. He was failing to release the putter head through the ball. Once he understood what 'releasing' meant, he started hitting the ball on its intended line, the strike became pure and so he was able to roll the ball consistently on the greens.
“In the first two rounds of the British seniors championship, he had 25 putts and in the last round 30 putts. It was the best display of 'live' putting I have ever seen. His chipping and pitching needed a bit of attention, so we worked a bit on that and I gave him a swing thought for his long game which he liked.
FAMILIAR FEELINGS
“I had never caddied for anyone before so it was a new experience. However I found that the rituals and I went through were just as if I were actually playing. The preparation, the focus and the feelings of excitement of being in contention were quite familiar. I felt my role was to take as much weight off my player as possible and make things as easy as possible for him.
“Links golf gives you options at each hole and a big part of the battle is deciding how to play the hole. So you need to make a strategic decision and get it right before you've even swung a club.
“Those of us who live in the North of Scotland know that you rarely get two days the same, so each day on each hole a decision has to be made, lines and clubs varying with the conditions. This is part of what makes links golf so mentally demanding. It is a form of golf with which Miguel is not familiar so I feel I was able to help him in this area. “With all the rain we have had this summer the courses are not nearly as fast running as usual but still there were decisions to be made on how far he wanted to pitch the ball and judging how much release there might be after. For someone used to playing target golf this is quite an adjustment.
“Mentally Miguel is very strong so with specific instruction prior to playing each shot he was able to focus completely on the task at hand and execute the shot. It was a pleasure caddying for him, exciting too, or as the Spanish would pronounce it - 'citing!' . Despite accumulating seven penalty shots in three rounds he finished just one shot behind."

TESTIMONIAL
Miguel Preysler was kind enough to contribute the following testimonial to Gillian Stewart's website http://www.gillianstewart.com/ last year :

“If anyone wants to find a wealth of information about golf, speak to Gill. As a golf instructor, she is extremely careful and precise in only saying what she needs to say in order to keep it simple. As a successful touring pro, her knowledge of the mental side and the execution of a wide variety of shots, is an aspect she has helped me with tremendously.

"A few weeks after my last lesson with her in May, I went from having major problems with my pitching to winning on three successive weeks the Spanish National Seniors, the International European Seniors and the International Andalucian Seniors. If that is not great teaching, I do not know what is!!”