It’s been a quite a year for amateur golf in Great Britain and we asked some our leading players what were their stand-out moments and also asked them to look ahead to 2024
1) Your best round of the year and why?
That came at the British Girls at Ganton in the first round of matchplay. I played pretty average in the stroke play and I got paired with Sweden’s Josefin Widal, who qualified second and she had previously beaten me 6&5 at Europeans. I played out of my socks and managed to win 4&2 which was extremely unexpected as she’d been seven under for the first two rounds.
2) Your best shot of the year and why?
Best shot came at the hole I won to win that match with Widal (mentioned above and pictured below). I slightly pulled my tee shot behind a tree and onto a grassy path. I had around 160 left in and i had a blind view of the green as I was right behind this tree. I hit an eight iron as i knew the adrenaline of being three up with three to play will get me the distance. I played for a massive draw around the tree and i managed to pull it off perfectly, carrying bunkers and pitching it on to the elevated green and it finished 20 feet. I won the hole and the match!
3) The best shot you saw and why?
At a junior team game for my local golf club, I was caddying for my boyfriend Thomas Southwell. The second hole was a par three with a blind view of the green. I ran up to the hill half way down the hole and texted him saying ‘i’d club up to an eight instead of hitting a nine as the pin’s at the back, and aim at the post out the back of the green as that’s a good line’. He read my message, swapped his club and stepped up to the ball. He hit it on the exact line I told him to and i watched the ball roll up the green more towards the hole … and it eventually dropped! I’d witnessed his first hole-in-one and he didn’t even see it go in!
4) Your favourite moment of 2023 (this could be personal or something completely random but golf related)?
My favourite moment of this year was being able to captain my junior team for Ramside. I’ve been playing in this team since i was nine years old and have made loads of close friends throughout my eight years and counting. It was an honour to be asked to captain an upcoming team of juniors and I hope i was able to inspire and bring on the younger juniors and giving them something to aim towards in the future.
5) Your hopes and ambitions for 2024?
As 2023 has been a struggle for me, due to very serious illness for the majority of the end of 2022 and the start of 2023, I hope to get back on track with my golf and bring back some top finishes as i did a few years back. with my A levels coming up in May, I also hope to achieve the best possible grades I can, while balancing it with golf aswell.
6) One thing you would change about about golf for next season?
This year i’d like to change the amount of practice. It was very hard getting back into practicing after being off for so long with illness and also taking the leap into A-Levels. However next year I’d like to reset and bring my game back to the level it can be.