Rumford's Tim Goldie aces inaugural Oriam tennis tournament as he defeats number one seed in final

Rumford's Tim Goldie was the inaugural winner of the men's open at Oriam's new indoor tennis centre (Photo: Submitted)

The 23-year-old, who is member of Falkirk Lawn Tennis club and head coach at Livilands Tennis Club in Stirling, competed against 16 of the countries top stars at grade four level – eventually defeating number one seed Andrew Low 4-0 4-3(2) in the men’s open singles final.

Goldie, who now lives in Stirling for university, captained Falkirk Lawn Tennis club’s senior men’s team to Central Scotland Doubles Division One title glory last summer and is now on the hunt for a spot at the UK County Cup later this year in Eastbourne.

Oriam’s new indoor centre includes six courts, offering the public pay-as-you-play tennis without the need for membership. The joint venture between Oriam, Heriot-Watt University, the LTA, LTA Tennis Foundation, Sport Scotland and Tennis Scotland cost £4.5 million.

Larbert's Becky McLeod, a junior at Falkirk Lawn Tennis Club, has also had a successful start to 2024 (Photo: Submitted)

Looking back on the tournament and what the rest of 2024 holds for Goldie, he said: “It was brilliant to win it. I managed to beat the number four seed in the semis and I managed to beat the number one seed in the final. It is actually my first ever grade four win in Scotland.

"I’ve won two down south before but to win one here was something I was buzzing about. I’ve never actually represented the county team before at senior level so that is my aim over the next few months.

"Getting picked for the county cup would be amazing but I need to keep entering and winning grade four, and maybe even some grade three tournaments. It is a big ask but if I keep playing the way I am playing at the moment, then I am in with a real shout."

Having recently taken on the role of head coach at Livilands, Goldie is also looking forward to enhancing his coaching credentials alongside what he does on court.

"I used to do a bit of coaching at Falkirk,” he explained. “But I was never head coach and I just helped out. It is something I have always been interested in and when I moved up to Stirling I saw a head coach advert for Livilands and went for it.

"I am really enjoying it and I am in charge of the full adult and junior programme which is really exciting. I do enjoy coaching and I just love being invovled in tennis. I train most days of the week. I play British Universities & Colleges Sport for the University of Stirling too.”

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Falkirk Lawn Tennis club junior ace Becky MacLeod won the Scottish Junior Indoor Singles Championships’ under-14 and under-16s events while also securing the Giffnock Junior Christmas Open at under-18s level.

The Larbert teen is part of the LTA National Player Pathway set-up and is one of the highest ranked players at her age group (2010s) in Scotland.