Local hero Catriona Matthew is relishing the Ladies Scottish Open on her own doorstep

Nervous about travelling due to the coronavirus threat, the major winner is happy to be starting back to work in East Lothian

Catriona Matthew is a two-time winner of the Ladies Scottish Open. Picture: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images

Home comfort will never feel better for Catriona Matthew this week. Nervous about travelling due to the ongoing coronavirus threat, she’s happy to be starting back to work on her own doorstep. The distance from her home in North Berwick to The Renaissance Club, venue for the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, is less than five miles. In comparison, most others in a star-studded field for the $1.5 million event are facing journeys from all corners of the world.

“I fully appreciate it is much easier for me being able to drive as I would definitely be a little wary jumping on a plane any time soon,” admitted Matthew of her short trip along the A198 or, as it was christened back in 2013, Scotland’s Golf Coast Road.

Being held at the same venue for the second year in a row, the event marks the return of world-class sport to Scotland after the planet was turned upside down by Covid-19. Some of the leading lights in the ladies’ game, including world No 1 Jin Young Ko from Korea and popular American Lexi Thompson, have opted to sit out a Scottish Swing that also includes the AIG Women’s Open breaking new ground at Royal Troon the week after next. However, new world No 2 Danielle Kang is heading for East Lothian along with Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, who was nicknamed the “Smiling Princess” as she won last year’s Women’s Open at Woburn, and other major winners, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand and American Stacey Lewis.

Catriona Matthew in action at last year's Ladies Scottish Open at the Renaissance Golf Club. Picture: Tristan Jones

“I think it’s understandable that some players are not comfortable about travelling at the moment, which is why none of the tours is holding Qualifying Schools this year and players have their status protected for next year,” said Matthew. “I think in this climate you can’t make people travel. I think you have to respect people’s decision whether they want to play or not. It is very much an individual decision.”

As has been the case on the European Tour since its restart, both the Ladies Scottish Open and Women’s Open are being played behind closed doors, with players, caddies and tournament staff being contained in a “biosecure bubble”. With Dr Andrew Murray, the European Tour’s chief medical officer, involved, Matthew is confident that a safe environment will be delivered, but, at the same time, she says it would be wrong to be critical of any absentees.

“You can put all the safety measures in place, but, at the end of the day, if they are coming from overseas they still have to get here and that’s when they could be at the most risk, I suppose, of catching the virus,” added Europe’s Solheim Cup captain and one of the most respected voices in women’s golf. “It depends on what stage you are in your career, how comfortable you are about travel. Someone could have underlying problems, you just don’t know.

“I’ve certainly not experienced anything like this in my time on tour. I was actually speaking to Grant Forrest this week and he said it was very strange the first two weeks back on the European Tour being in the bubble and having room service. He was saying that players had been thinking about playing in all six of the events on the new UK Swing, but had changed their mind after just a couple. It’s all well and good saying you are just going to sit in your hotel room, but when you actually get down to it, probably a couple of weeks is long enough to do that.

“For the Ladies Scottish Open, I’m allowed to stay at home, but I’m not allowed to leave the house other than to go to the golf course. That is good as it means I’ll have a little more space than in a hotel room. The kids [daughters Katie and Sophie] are with my mum, so they don’t need to quarantine. It will make it a bit more bearable, but it will be strange for the second week being stuck in the Hilton in Glasgow along with the other players.”

Despite being a two-time winner – both her successes came at Archerfield Links in 2011 and 2013 – Matthew had to rely on an invitation this time around for the Ladies Scottish Open, securing her spot along with Shibuno, fellow Scot Gemma Dryburgh and Georgia Oboh, the first Nigerian to play on the LET.

“I’m delighted to get an invite, having known I needed one due to the fact that I haven’t really played well the last couple of years and haven’t been playing as much as normal,” said Matthew, who will join Dryburgh, Carly Booth, Kylie Henry, Kelsey MacDonald, Alison Muirhead and Michele Thomson in flying the Saltire on the East Lothian coast. “I’ve been practising hard the last couple of weeks and also playing quite a bit. I saw my coach, Stuart Clayton, the other day and I feel like I am hitting the ball really well, actually.”

In the long break without competitive golf, Matthew has turned her hand to becoming a Mary Berry by baking “two or three times” a week. She’s also been keeping herself fit on a peloton bike, posting on Twitter this week that she’d set a new personal record to mark being on that 100 days in a row. “We got the bike during lockdown and it’s been fun,” she said.

As has spending quality family time in her beloved hometown. “If you are going to be locked down, there aren’t many places better than where we live,” she said of the family home overlooking the first and last holes on North Berwick West Links. “We’ve been doing plenty of dog walking and, once the courses re-opened, we got the girls into that. I’ve obviously had a bit more time at home than normal, and it’s been great to be able to get out with them on the course.”

In an environment that will be very different to when she ran on to the 18th green on the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles to hug Suzann Pettersen after the Norwegian had holed the winning putt in last year’s Solheim Cup, it’s now time for Matthew to return to the coalface.

“I am looking forward to playing again,” she said. “Every event is up in the air, it seems, until it actually takes place. The tours, along with VisitScotland, Aberdeen Standard Investments, IMG and the R&A, have done a lot to make sure all the protocols and safety precautions that have been stipulated by the government are in place for these two events. It’s now up to everyone who is going to be there – staff, players, caddies – to adhere to them.”

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