Japanese 'star in the making'

Former Carrick on Loch Lomond director of golf Colin White was back on Scottish soil recently to support a young Japanese player he believes is a "star in the making".

Eleven-year-old Airi Mitsuhashi lives in Thailand, where White is based, having built up a stable of six promising young players who compete in tournaments around South East Asia.

Mitsuhashi is the pick of the bunch and gave a good account of herself on her first visit to the Home of Golf for the U.S. Kids Golf European Championships in East Lothian.

In an event won by rising Scottish star Grace Crawford, she finished tied for fifth in girls' 11 event at Royal Musselburgh, closing with a best-of-the-day 68 in the final round.

"She is without doubt a star in the making with aspirations to make it onto the LPGA Tour," said White, who was on caddying duties for the event, of Mitsuhashi.

"When I first met Airi, her score was over 100, now she can score mid 70s and is ranked No 2 in Thailand on the U.S. Kids Golf Order of Merit

"I teach her six days per week, after school and weekends and, at 11 years old, she is one of the longest hitters with driver distance around 230 yards."

White undertook his PGA training at Caldwell, where he captained both the boys' and youths' teams.

He became a Scottish Boys' squad member in 1997/98 before travelling to Australia to play for a spell when he was still in  the amateur ranks.

After qualifying as a PGA Pro, he became the head instructor at Prestwick Driving Range before moving to Carrick on Loch Lomond in 2007, initially as head pro before stepping up to golf manager.

"I have been teaching golf in Bangkok since 2010," he said. "I had spells as head instructor for Wilding Golf from 2010-2015, as well as for the David Leadbetter Academy 2015-2017.

"Now I am teaching on my own, concentrating on some top junior talent. I've been teaching Airi for 18 months and she has won 10 local tournaments in the past 12 months."