Muirhead harbours golfing dream as she swaps rinks for links

EVE Muirhead has been enjoying her summer sport at Archerfield Links this week, displaying impressive golfing skills as one of the invited amateurs in the Ladies Scottish Open. The clubs are about to be put back in the cupboard, however, as the woman who skipped the Great Britain women's curling team at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver earlier this year gets back to her day job.

"We go away mid-September to our first competition abroad, so next week is when I really start training," said the 20-year-old from Perthshire, who pointed out that the training involved in curling these days is a lot different to when her dad, Gordon, competed at the Olympics and in world championships as well.

"His warm-up was a cup of coffee. But I'm a full-time athlete. We do a lot of strength and conditioning work for stability and core strength, and also a lot of cardio work. Curling has adapted in the last few years to the fitness side. All the countries are doing that. The more physically fit you are the more mentally fit you are. It definitely does help you."

Muirhead, a three-time world junior champion who just missed out on the medals in Vancouver, is looking to get off to a fast start when she gets back on the ice. "We are guaranteed funding until next September so I don't need to get a job I have enough to keep going," she added. "I'm funded through UK Sport but for how much longer has not been clarified. We have to produce medals so we will have to play well next year and get medals in the Europeans and Worlds for our funding to continue." Should that dry up and she needs to find a job, the likeable Muirhead admits there's a possibility that would entail a move to Canada. "I haven't been to uni I went straight into full-time curling," she noted. "If I wanted to do something I'm sure I could get involved in my sport as a development officer but I can't see myself doing a 9-5 job. It would probably be in Canada. After ice hockey, curling is the biggest sport there.

"You go to a wee bonspiel and the place is packed. At the Olympics there you are in a 10,000-seater stadium and every draw it is packed and everyone knows who you are. Everyone knows who I am in Canada. It is scary in a way because you are walking around and people are asking for your autograph."

In truth, Muirhead didn't look out of place in the slightest amongst some of the leading players on the Ladies European Tour over the last few days in East Lothian. A three-handicapper at Pitlochry, she certainly held her own in a group that, for the opening two rounds at least, contained Kylie Walker, a rookie Scottish professional, and Sally Watson, one of the leading amateurs in Britain. "It was quite a close call between curling and golf, but curling did definitely take it because you got the opportunity to go to the Olympics," said Muirhead, who cut her golfing teeth on the nine-hole course at Blair Atholl and lives an 8-iron away from there.

Winnie Shaw played tennis and golf for Scotland and Muirhead admits she'd love to represent her country at the latter one day, too. "It would be an aspiration to me to do that. I may have left it too late but you do get people who come through at 30-odd, so who knows."