Charley Hull on the R&A vote and a busy five weeks
When I started playing golf I only played with boys and most of my golfing mates now are male. The upside is that playing with boys is good for your game as they are generally better, stronger and hit it a long way so it makes you try and hit it further.
The downside is that fewer girls are taking up the sport and might easily be put off.
I got into golf as my next-door neighbour had just started, as his dad played, so my dad and I joined them. I think I was two or three when I first picked up a (plastic) club and began trying to hit practice balls at a tree in the garden.
Apparently I picked it up pretty quickly and got the bug straightaway and it was a lot of fun trying to beat my neighbour who was about the same age. Then I started playing at Kettering GC and now I’m lucky enough be a professional.
I’m now a member of Woburn, which has been a great place to play, and both the female and male members have been fantastic to me. There are three courses and the standard of lady members is good so I’ve been very lucky in that respect, but others will need more encouragement.
On the course I’ve had a busy month with five weeks on the trot and we’ve had our last Major of the year at the Evian Championship. Hopefully the vote by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews to accept female members for the first time in its 260-year history will help change people’s thinking about the game.
I have never not been allowed to play a course before but we couldn’t go in the clubhouse at a couple of places. I suppose that’s just the way things are but, it would be nice to think, things might be different in the future.
On the course I’ve had a busy month with five weeks on the trot and we’ve had our last Major of the year at the Evian Championship.
I was pretty happy with the way I played in France but didn’t feel very well all week and, in one round, was struggling to stand up.
They thought it might have been an ulcer on my oesophagus which, thankfully, it wasn’t. Whatever it was made me feel pretty sick.
The 61 on the first day by Hyo-Joo Kim was incredible and was the first time anyone has bettered 62 in a Major.
The course at Evian is scoreable in places but there are plenty of tricky holes and to finish 10 under for one round you have to hit pretty much everything close and then hole all the putts.
In the end she won on the last with a birdie which was some effort to turn around a one-shot deficit against Karrie Webb.
The 18th was a par 5 but is now a great par 4 where you have to hit the fairway to have a shot at the green. I hit a good drive on the last day and had a 4-iron left so to make a three under all that pressure was fantastic.
The practice facilities in France are the best you can get, they are hidden away a short drive from the course and run around an old chateau, and I benefited a lot from all that work the following week in Tenerife.
I did so much practice on my pitching that it really helped in Spain and I managed to finish fourth which was a big boost going into the back end of the year.
Had I been a bit fresher I think I could have finished it off as I kept getting into good positions but then fell away on the back nine as I got tired, which was frustrating.
In the final round I started badly but the adrenaline kicked in and I finished well so that was satisfying.
Next stop on the LET is back to the south of France and hopefully another chance to get in the mix.
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