Ladies ‘should aim for amateur golf success’

AHEAD of her first assignment as the Great Britain & Ireland ladies’ team captain – a title defence in the Astor Trophy starting in Australia today – Elaine Farquharson-Black has urged players to pay more attention to achieving amateur success before rushing into the paid ranks.

This year's Astor Trophy quintet: Bronte Law, Chloe Williams, Connie Jaffrey, Hayley Davis and Charlotte Thomas. Picture: Contributed

Eight Scottish players – nine if you also count Catriona Matthew, though she mainly plays on the LPGA Tour – will be flying the Saltire on the Ladies European Tour in 2015 after Kelsey MacDonald, Laura Murray and Heather MacRae came through the Qualifying School last month to join Kylie Walker, Vikki Laing, Pamela Pretswell, Sally Watson and Carly Booth as card holders.

Farquharson-Black is delighted about that but, at the same time, is hoping the next crop of young Scottish players, including Connie Jaffrey, a member of the five-strong team in Australia, keep focusing on what they can achieve in the amateur ranks as their yardstick.

“It is fantastic that Scotland will have a number of players on the LET next year and 
Catriona is doubtless a great inspiration to aspiring female pro golfers, not just from Scotland,” said the Aberdeen lawyer, a two-times Curtis Cup player.

“However, I think sometimes people forget that Catriona had a long and very successful amateur career, including many international honours, before she turned pro.

“We sometimes appear to be judging the quality of our amateur training programmes on the success that players achieve in the professional ranks.

“As a result, players move very quickly into the paid ranks. From the outside it sometimes seems like the focus is in the wrong place. We don’t celebrate amateur achievements/records in the way we did previously.”

Held every four years, GB&I won the last staging of the Astor Trophy at Fairhaven in Lancashire, where Tegwen Matthews led a team comprising of Pretswell, MacDonald, Amy Boulden, Holly Clyburn and Kelly Tidy.

Joining Jaffrey, the Troon Ladies’ teenager, at the Greg Norman-designed Grange Golf Club in Adelaide in the quintet on duty against Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa this time around are Hayley Davis (Ferndown), Bronte Law (Bramhall), Charlotte Thomas (Singapore) and Chloe Williams (Wrexham).

“I think the nature of the event has probably changed in recent years, with so many of the players on each team being based in the US at college and thus already having played with or against other participants,” said Farquharson-Black. “In addition, through the World Rankings, players are far more aware of players from other countries. There is more globalisation of ladies’ golf than when I played in the 80s/90s.

“I am delighted Connie made the team for Australia. She had great 2013 and 2014 domestic seasons. I’m sure the experience of playing regular competitive college golf [for Kansas State] will stand her in good stead here.”