How Kirkcaldy Golf Club ace drove into burn on first hole yet still broke course record with 63!

The 29-year-old Kirkcaldy High School business teacher, this year’s club champion at Kirkcaldy, turned a great year into an unbelievable one when he recorded the lowest score in the 122-year-old club’s history, brilliantly recovering from his less than auspicious start to record 11 pars, six birdies and an eagle on the par-71 layout.

Walsh, a Kirkcaldy member for 18 years, told the Fife Free Press: “Going into the burn off the first tee was not a great start!

"I thought the course record was definitely safe after that. It wasn't on my mind, as I'd had a horrible round in the morning playing with my dad (Gary) at Ladybank when he gave me a doing.

"But, after that penalty shot on the first at Kirkcaldy, I hit a really good shot then holed a 20-foot putt for par.

"It was smooth sailing from there with the six birdies and an eagle on the par four ninth when I holed a 60-yard pitch shot after hitting a four iron up the fairway.

“My wedge play was brilliant that day, that's kind of what made the difference as it it also set up the putts.

"I only had 21 putts all round, one of the lowest I've ever had. And I never had any bogies.”

Sitting at seven under for the day after 17 holes, Walsh knew he needed a birdie at the par three last to break the course record.

And, in a competition in which the +1 handicapper played alongside his younger brother Matthew, the teacher hit a great pitching wedge to four feet at the 18th to give himself a wonderful opportunity to make history in front of watching girlfriend Sophie.

"She supports me really well,” Walsh added. “She goes running quite a lot so quite often she will run down to the golf club then get a lift back up to the house.

"She was there to see the last putt for the course record.

"The putt was a bit nervy. I've got a video of it, you can see me looking for it before it even goes in but I just snuck it in the right edge, which was good.

"I felt a real adrenaline rush when the ball dropped. It was a great feeling.”

Walsh’s course record 63 at Kirkcaldy came just a few weeks after he’d also sealed a club championship title win at the Balwearie Road course.

After winning his last 16, quarter-final and semi-final ties, Walsh defeated Willie Galloway 4 and 2 in the final.

So the signs were promising that further special things could be accomplished for Walsh this year, and he obliged by beating the previous course record of 64 initially set by Adam Rigby in 2001 but since equalled by several players including Kevin Blyth and Walsh’s older brother Ryan.

Walsh said: “Two milestones I wanted to reach were to win the club championship and then get the course record, but I definitely didn't think it would come this year or at any time soon. It was just one of those really, really good rounds of golf where nothing went wrong, everything seemed to go right.

"It was really good to get one up on Ryan, who plays off a +2 handicap!

"My younger brother Matthew plays off four and my dad (Gary) has just come down to six as he’s playing pretty well just now.

"I definitely never got my golfing ability off my dad, that’s for sure! We've all played golf for ages. My dad got us all into it when we were really young and we've all loved it.

"Ryan was pretty good when he was younger, he's had a couple of Scotland caps and he was always the best in the family, we were all just kind of chasing him. We watch golf a lot, we’re big golf fans and it's what we do most of our spare time.”