Elliot Saltman is still the most physically imposing man in the field at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge at Spey Valley this week, but the big man’s a lot trimmer these days and his golf is better for it.
The Prestonpans player, now 33, shed a stone on the 5:2 fasting diet and feels more energetic, while going to Scotland’s golf coach of the moment helped take the fat off his swing regime as well.
The result was a five-under 66 at Spey Valley on what was an easy scoring day to be tucked in behind leader Gary Boyd, one of Ian Poulter’s protgs of old, leading on seven-under. A stroke behind the man from Northamptonshire are Dutchman Marten Lafeber, Jose-Filipe Lima of Portugal and Thailand’s Prom Messawat.
At six foot five, Saltman has always been easy to spot on the course but he carried a lot of weight on that frame until turning to the diet preferred by figures as contrasting as Alex Salmond and Beyonce.
“I just felt I needed to be a bit more conditioned,” he said. “The benefit is that I feel so much better, I’ve got more energy and it really helps with the amount of travelling that you have to do, on both the EuroPro Tour and especially on this tour.”
Saltman also turned to Alan McCloskey, who has guided Stephen Gallacher and Marc Warren into the top 50 in the world, to tune up his swing, and was pleasantly surprised by the speed of solution and the results.
“He didn’t change much, just changed my position over the ball, tweaked the set-up, just got everything I was doing a lot more organised,” added Saltman.
“The result is that I’m confident in my swing now and I feel that a good score has been coming over the last few weeks.”
Saltman actually missed a good chance to be tied for second after a three-putt on his final hole the short tenth proved to be his only blemish of the first day.
Boyd got as high as 50th in the Race to Dubai in 2010 and has always had the backing of Poulter, as well as other well-established names.
After losing his card on the main tour in 2012 he played “two and a half years of rubbish” but has also turned to the gym on the advice of Henrik Stenson.
“I spent time with Henrik and Graeme McDowell in Lake Nona in Florida and got some good advice from them,” he explained.
“Henrik’s had some form slumps in his time and it was good to hear from someone who has been there. He said he had evaluated everything in his game and his life and changed certain things and I’ve tried to do the same, getting fitter and going to a new coach.”
The 28-year-old who represents the Silverstone Golf Club close to the famous race circuit stalled on the start line with a bogey on his first hole the 11th but quickly got into gear and scorched home with six birdies in the last ten holes.
Best of the other Scots in the field were Jack Doherty, with a three-under 68 despite being laid low with a stomach bug for two days, while former champion Jamie McLeary and Motherwell’s Ross Kellett also signed for 68s. Another former winner, Anstruther’s George Murray had a two-under 69.
Bradley Neil planned not to change anything as he hit his first shot as a professional, but he admitted to “feeling a little different” standing on the first tee at Spey Valley.
Happy with his ball-striking and his tee-to-green game, the 19-year-old struggled a little to get a feel for the greens. The sole birdie in his opening three-over 74 came on the long 13th, with a straightforward two-putt four.
“I just wanted to keep a low profile, to take the hype down as much as I can,” he said. “Tee to green it was fantastic today, I just had a bit of trouble on the greens, they have a lot of subtle borrows I wasn’t really reading.
“It did feel different today, it’s hard to describe the feeling. It definitely felt different to be the pro in the pro-am yesterday and being expected to make the score!”
He’ll certainly need a score today with the projected cut at par overnight and likely to come in further with relatively benign weather in the Highlands at least until the weekend.