Golf: Wallace Booth’s adventure to Indian debut

By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Published on 31/01/2013 00:17

WALLACE Booth’s passage to India may not exactly have been as smooth as he’d have liked, but the Perthshire player is relishing the start of his Challenge Tour career in Ahmedabad today.

Booth, who earned his step up to the second-tier circuit by finishing fifth on last season’s PGA EuroPro Tour, is among five Scots in the field for the Gujarat Kensville Challenge.

“It was a bit of an adventure making it to India,” the Comrie man told The Scotsman of his journey back from Atlanta, where he went to college and spent close to two months working on his game. “My flight home last Thursday had to turn around an hour into the flight and we had to then change planes before taking off again.

“I ended up getting home around 12:30am on Saturday morning and, after a quick visit home, I was back at Edinburgh airport at 5am on Sunday for the first leg of my journey to India.”

While Booth got there safely and on time, his clubs didn’t.

“I ended up getting them on Tuesday afternoon and, if it hadn’t been for one of the hotel managers going to the airport for me, I may still not have them,” he added.

Booth, who is joined in the field for the first Challenge Tour event of 2013 by Raymond 
Russell, George Murray, Andrew McArthur and Steven O’Hara, is eager to get going.

“It was nice to have a winter to practise as I haven’t been able to do that the past three winters due to my injuries [shoulder trouble then a wrist problem].

“The goal for the season is to progress to the European Tour, but I just want to continue to build on the progress I made last year, my first season back 
after almost two years out of competitive golf.”