Lloyd Saltman continued to make his mark on the European Tour with a share of fourth in the Madeira Islands Open at Porto Santo yesterday.
The Archerfield rookie, who earned his tour card at last December’s qualifying school, closed with a two-under 70 for a six-under 282 and finished four shots behind Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey, who won his second European crown with a 71 for 278.

Saltman, who has made seven cuts in nine events on the main circuit this season, picked up a cheque for £26,158 for his best finish of the campaign and moved up to 104th on the Race to Dubai rankings. Paisley’s Alastair Forysth, who won the Madeira title in 2008, saw his hopes dashed with a closing 75 for 284. The 35-year-old, two shots off the pace with a round to play, slipped back into a tie for 10th after a round marred by a double-bogey six on the 11th.

Extract from The Scotsman, 23 May 2011
By Marvin Collins

LLOYD Saltman birdied three of the final four holes to lie just a shot off leader Englishman Chris Gane after the first round of the Madeira Islands Open.

Gane, 36, from Bromley in Kent, recorded a round of 67 to go a shot clear of early clubhouse leaders Francois Delamontagne and Saltman, with the Scot delighted with his finishing flourish.

Saltman, 25, had looked set for an unspectacular start to the tournament before his late surge allowed him to join Delamontagne in the lead early in the afternoon.

He said: “It was helpful playing in that type of wind in the Pro-Am yesterday, and also last week in Majorca the conditions were quite similar. Despite shooting five over in the end I actually played pretty well on the final day, which gave me a bit of confidence to take here.

“I got off to a nice solid start with a birdie at the third, then I dropped a shot at the seventh to drop back to level par. But I knew there were a few chances on the back nine, and I managed to come back in four under even with a bogey on the 14th, where I hit it off the cliffs but made birdie with my second ball. So I was pretty pleased with that, because it was a tough day but I stayed patient and got my rewards in the end.”

Trent Baker, The Scotsman, 20 May 2011

Lothians ace Lloyd Saltman survived a late wobble to make the cut in the Sicilian Open and gain another foothold on the European Tour.

The Archerfield ace, who has made the cut in his last three events, posted a one-under 70 over a windswept Donnafugata course for a one-over 143 and safely progressed through to the weekend’s action.

Boosted by an eagle-three at the seventh, where he holed his bunker shot, Saltman was coasting along until he double-bogeyed the 16th and then spilled a shot on the last when his approach landed under a TV buggy behind the green.

“It was a very tough day but I played very well apart from a couple of rookie mistakes,” he said. “It’s another cut made and we can now look to the weekend and try to move forward.”

Saltman’s Lothians colleague Stephen Gallacher also eased through on a 141 after a battling 70. The former Dunhill Links champion recovered from a wretched spell around the turn, where he dropped three shots in two holes, with birdies at 12 and 16 to repair the damage.

Colin Montgomerie posted a bogey-free 69 for a 138 to lead the Scots in a share of ninth behind halfway leader Anthony Wall, who hit a 67 for 133.

Published: The Scotsman, 19 March 2011

The recent graduate to the main European Tour, Lloyd Saltman closed the deal today at Hacienda del Alamo with another fine performance from the Scotsman. Lloyd fired a fine 6 under 66 today and a final total of -21 for the 54 hole event. Saltman hopes to take his current form where his next competitors ended up 13 shots behind to Dubai next week. ” I am just waiting for the call”, Dubai is a big event where a lot of top players come, but let us wait and see what happens”. “In any case it has been a great week for me here at Hacienda, the course was fantastic and it is great training for both my game and confidence for my year ahead,” commented Saltman. In joint second were Joachim Hansen of Denmark and James Hepworth of England, both who finished at -8. Saltman won the €3900.00 and the famous Thomas Sabo winners watch.

There was a 3 way tie for 4th with Carlos Balmaseda from Spain, Elliot Saltman of Scotland and Gareth Shaw of England

Lloyd Saltman followed up his first round of 65 with a spectacular round of 64. His round consisted of 6 birdies and an eagle and not a single bogey on the card. Conditions were perfect for the international field, the winds that were present yesterday vanished overnight and there were lots of birdies to be taken for the 88 players representing 16 countries here this week at the fabulous Hacienda del Alamo resort in Fuente Alamo,Spain. Saltman now enjoys a 8 shot lead going into the final round of the 54 hole event over James Busby of England who shot a fine round of 65 today. Tied in 3rd are Jamie Abbott and Gareth Shaw of England both at -5. The cut for the top 40 came in at +4.

Other notables Miguel Angel Martin par

Mark Mouland +4

Final Round play commences tomorrow at 9:00a.m.

Lloyd Saltman of Scotland opened with a 65 today and leads the 2011 Hacienda del Alamo Open. Lloyd, who has recently graduated to the European Tour, shot even par 36 on the front nine, before a record breaking back nine score of 29 which included 7 birdies!
Lloyd has been a regular on the Hi5 Pro Tour the past few seasons and has used the valuable “winter tour” experience to elevate his game to the next level.
Saltman holds a four-shot lead over Elias Bertheussen of Norway, Jamie Abott of England and last week’s first-time winner Ken Benz of Switzerland, all of whom shot 69 on the 6700+ metres Dave Thomas-designed Hacienda del Alamo golf course.
Top amateur is Oddvar Hjellegjerde of Norway who shot a fine round of 70. This week features a strong field of several European Tour and Challenge Tour players keeping their games in shape for the upcoming season.
Players were faced with gusting winds,cool temperatures and extremely slick greens where only 12 players were able to shoot under par on the first day of this 54-hole event and part one of the 2011 Hi5 Pro Tour Murcia Swing.
After Round 2, the top 40 and ties will move on to the final round.
SCOTSWATCH
Although Lloyd Saltman hogged the limelight with his great round, there was also considerable interest in the performance of his older brother, Elliot who is serving a three-month suspension by the European Tour for alleged cheating (incorrectly marking his ball on the green) in a Challenge Tour event.
The European ban affects only events under the auspices of the European Tour and the Hi5 Tour is independently run.
Elliot Saltman shot a one-over-par 73 to be the second best Scot on the day.
Ian Redford and Shaun McAllister came next on 77. They are sharing 48th place.
Cackhanded John Gallagher had a 78 and former Scottish boys’ match-play champion Paul Doherty a horrendous 86.

FROM THE SPANISH Hi5 PRO TOUR WEBSITE

THE Saltman siblings, Elliot and Lloyd, wasted no time making their joint presence felt on a European Tour leaderboard after firing two eagles and ten birdies between them in the opening round of the Africa Open at East London yesterday.
A month after they both won their cards at the Qualifying School in Spain, the Archerfield Links duo took pride of place amongst the Scottish contingent in the Eastern Cape, Elliot signing for a six-under-par 67 late in the day to sit just one shot off the lead, with younger brother Lloyd also in the top 10 after a 68.

Alastair Forsyth, playing in his first European Tour event since losing full playing privileges at the end of last season, also got off to a promising start with a 70, the same as David Drysdale, with Marc Warren and Scott Jamieson a further shot adrift. However, it was the performances of the two Saltmans that produced the main encouragement from a Scottish perspective on the opening day’s action on the circuit in 2011.

Both players started their rounds at the ninth, Elliot, who has still to face a European Tour hearing over his disqualification from last season’s Russian Challenge Cup, getting into his stride right from the off with a birdie that was followed by four more as well as an eagle at the third. His sole blemish was a bogey at the 14th.

Lloyd, who would have made the cut in the South African Open in Durban before Christmas had the field for the final two rounds not been cut to the top 50 due to a weather delay, also signed for an eagle and five birdies as well as two dropped shots – at the first and second holes. “It is a great start for the both of us,” said Lloyd, the Silver Medal winner in the 2005 Open Championship at St Andrews. “We came here straight from a family holiday in the Canary Islands and I was a bit unwell over New Year but it’s all good now, though.”

The 25-year-old was five-under after ten holes before those back-to-back bogeys but continued a useful recent trend of showing he can recover well from such setbacks. “I holed a good 15-foot putt for my bogey at the second after chipping into a bunker and then hit back straight away with a birdie,” he added. “That’s something I’ve been doing well since the second stage of the Qualifying School.

It was the same at the final stage and also in Durban, where I was over par going out in each of my rounds but still managed to shoot under par.

“Hopefully I can keep it going – Elliot, too – as it is important to get off to a good start when you’ve secured a card at the Tour School.”

The Scotsman: 07 January 2011
By MARTIN DEMPSTER

LLOYD Saltman has been tipped to make an instant impact on the European Tour due to the fact he has the “big game” required for the long courses on the circuit. The 25-year-old, who secured his card by finishing in a tie for 11th in last week’s Qualifying School in Spain, is wasting no time launching his new career, having headed to Durban along with his older brother, Elliot, for the South African Open starting tomorrow.

Saltman’s success in Girona delighted his long-time coach, Colin Brooks, who reckons the former Open Silver Medal winner deserves enormous praise for the patience he showed as it took him longer to earn his step up to the top tier than the likes of Rory McIlroy, Rhys Davies, David Horsey and John Parry, four of his Walker Cup team-mates in 2007. They’ve all won on the European Tour and Brooks believes Saltman has all the attributes to make his presence felt on leaderboards, too.

[Read more…]

It will be a happy festive period in the Saltman household after Scottish brothers Elliot and Lloyd both graduated.

The Saltmans, who will join Italian’s Edoardo and Francesco Molinari as the only other brothers on Tour, became the first siblings to graduate from the same Qualifying School.

Lloyd, who at 25 is the younger of the pair, carded a 69 to finish in a share of 11th place on 12 under par, while 28 year old Elliot had a nerve-racking wait to see if he would be joining him, eventually making it on the mark of nine under par after a 70.

Elliot said: “Our mum texted me last night and said she hoped either both of us made it or neither of us, so we could travel together again next season. It feels awesome to make it on to The European Tour with my brother and it should be a good Christmas in our house this year after this.”

Lloyd added: “It feels unbelievable, and to have Elliott get his card makes it extra special. I hardly put a foot wrong today – to make only one bogey on that course was pretty good going – so it’s up there with the best rounds of my career, and certainly the most important.

“I’ve been in the top 30 most of the week, and just lost a few places yesterday, but I’m proud of the way I finished the job off and I’m sure my parents are proud of me too. I owe them a lot for the support they’ve shown us, so hopefully this goes some way towards repaying them.”