How young Scottish Borders golfers are benefitting from former champion's passion

Step forward Ian Ford, who, with the help of the Stephen Gallacher Foundation, is providing golf lessons for schoolchildren in his home town of Kelso, leading to the junior membership at Kelso Golf Club “going through the roof” in a real example of delivering something that is actually having a positive impact.

Ford, 66, is hoping that the success of his self-run programme can lead to youngsters in Jedburgh being offered the same opportunities as he taps into lessons he received from the likes of John Jacobs, Bill Lockie and Adam Hunter during the time he was one of Scotland’s top amateurs.

“I’ve played golf since I was ten years old and I was lucky enough to win the British Boys at Downfield in 1977 (when he beat Helensburgh’s Colin Dalgleish in an all-Scottish final) and then played for Scotland Boys and Scotland Youths eight times,” Ford, who is recovering from recent carpal and cubital tunnel surgery, told The Scotsman.

“I was on the verge of thinking about turning pro, but, after looking into it, I thought ‘nah, this isn’t for me’. I was a home boy and my mother took ill around that time, so I just stayed at school and sneaked off and played golf all the time. I then worked at Plexus, an electronics firm in Kelso, for 30 years before getting the opportunity to take voluntary redundancy a year past December. That was a no-brainer as I was due to retire this January anyway.

“Two or three years previous to that, I decided that I wanted to give something back to a sport that I have loved all my life, so I started to do some private lessons. I don’t have any PGA coaching qualifications or other stuff like that, but I started to do some lessons at Mounthooly Driving Range near Jedburgh.

‘Big pals with Stephen Gallacher’

“I’m big pals with Stevie Gallacher and also Scott Knowles and Stuart Johnston. I had a meeting with them when the Stephen Gallacher Foundation held an event at The Roxburghe about three years ago and they asked me about going into schools and doing some coaching.

“I was starting to coach kids at Kelso Golf Club anyway and, since I’ve gone into the schools, the uptake of junior members at Kelso has gone through the roof. We’ve gone up from 29 to 79 and that is absolutely great.”

On one day a month, Ford holds three separate one-hour sessions at Kelso High School. The first involves Primary 4 and 5 pupils who use plastic clubs, the second is for Primary 6 and 7 kids and then he coaches the secondary school pupils.

“I just love doing it,” he added. “It’s in the school, so it’s all foam golf balls they are hitting. But, come the summer, we move outside and we start putting, pitching and hitting balls on the range at Kelso. Stevie has backed me all the way and that’s been brilliant.

“There’s a new Live Borders person taken over at Jedburgh Primary School, so they are trying to get me in there as well. I do a lot of Jedburgh kids at the driving range anyway. I maybe have 10-12 kids who get a private lesson off me and I only charge £10 for a 45-minute lesson.

“I’ve learned from the likes of Bill Lockie and John Jacobs, who was one of the best in the business at that time. Being involved with the Scottish Boys and Scottish Youths teams, we had some great coaches over the years. Adam Hunter, for example, and he was unbelievable. It’s the only time I’ve seen a group of boys who paid full attention. He had a special way of talking to people and he was absolutely fantastic.”

Ford’s triumph in the British Boys’ Championship came three years before Ronan Rafferty, who went on to be a European Tour No 1 and Ryder Cup player, landed the title while others to join his name on the trophy include Spanish pair Jose Maria Olazabal and Sergio Garcia, the winners in 1983 and 1997 respectively. Matt Fitzpatrick, too, in 2012.

“Going way back, if you came from the west, east or the north-east of Scotland, you were always more in the limelight, I suppose, due to the fact there was always more stuff going on in those areas,” reflected Ford after being asked what it meant for a player from a club in the Borders to claim one of the game’s most-coveted prizes.

“But, when you think of some of the players the Borders has produced over the years in Allan Turnbull, Craig Hislop, the Howie brothers - Craig and Darren - while Paul Gallagher was another great player, I definitely think it has punched above its weight at times.

‘It makes you feel very happy’

“There’s been a lot of good players and I think you can see that from how the Borders have done in the Area Team Championship - I’ve got three bronze medals - over the years. We’ve got young Jack McDonald (a Scotland international) flying the flag at the moment. I’ve played a bit with him at The Roxburghe and he’s a great player.”

Just listening to Ford, there’s probably no-one better to be at the heart of trying to make golf more popular in the area. “The youngest one I give lessons to is five years old and my oldest one is 86. I only charge £25 per hour and the repeat business I am getting is unbelievable,” he declared.

“I knew Frankie Scott, who was a great teacher down here, very well before he moved to Dunbar. He messaged me the other day and said that he’d been hearing ‘lots of good reports about you down in the Borders’, so that really makes you feel very happy.”