2007 De Vere Ladies Scottish Open

After a journey that felt like to the end of the Earth, I finally arrived to the sun shining in Glasgow, Scotland. I couldn’t believe it when the weather was sunny for 12 hours straight. I started having visions of a week of wonderful weather ahead but unfortunately I was wrong! On waking the next morning at 5am (jet lag is a pleasurable thing), I discovered that it had been raining all night and was going to rain for pretty much the next 7 days. I secretly wore my thermal underwear and wooly ski socks for every day of the tournament. What a laugh.

This week The Carrick Course at Cameron House, Loch Lomond, played host to the 2007 De Vere Scottish Ladies Open. This course is set in the most beautiful surrounds, on the shoreline of Loch Lomond (Lake Lomond) and surrounded by the Scottish Highlands. Even during the most feral weather I absolutely loved every minute. It was very similar to the Moonah Links courses on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Big sloping greens and wonderful links bunkering with a few more lakes and creeks added into the mix.

My first two days were spent recovering, becoming human again and visiting with my boyfriend’s family in Edinburgh. I gave the whole family a 10 minute lesson each at the local driving range so I am now allowed to return to visit them. During the tournament I stayed with my Granny (my step-mum’s mum) in Glasgow, about a 30 minute drive from the course.

I spent Monday to Wednesday trying to sneak in practice on the course and on the practice range in between horrendous down pours of waterfalls from the sky and freezing wind off the Highlands.

On my first day walking The Carrick course I met Alec and George who were the head Course Marshals for the tournament. Alec is a member of the very famous Loch Lomond Golf Club and hosted Dana Lacey (from Perth, plays on the Futures Tour) and I to practice and lunch at this club on Tuesday morning. What a sight! This course is absolutely stunning and I heard angels sing when I opened the door to the ladies locker rooms. This course hosts the men’s Scottish Open and is well known to be one of the most exclusive clubs in the World.

My rent-a-crowd was very vocal this week, which included the Cleland family and friends and relatives of my step-mum’s family. I had a following that almost rivaled the leaders!

So to golf… After an opening round of 74 (+3) I was well placed at 17th position. I managed to hit the first 10 greens in regulation which is pretty impressive according to the locals, especially in the horrendous conditions. Obviously I wasn’t bothered by the arctic conditions! I then shot 79 (+8) after coming back at 8am the following day to finish my final 2 holes. Halfway through this round I had a mental blank for 1 hour where I dropped 7 shots in 5 holes. I got ahead of myself and tensed up. When I realized this I relaxed and finish -1 for my last 6 holes.

My final round was very forgettable with 83. My one saving grace was an “almost hole in 1” where I missed the cup by 2 inches with a 7 iron into the 16th hole, at least I made birdie there! I finished last in the money at 66th position but this means I am now straight into the final stage of Ladies European Tour Qualifying School. This is really great news. Also considering this is my first tournament in 7 months I am very pleased with how I handled myself.

I also visited the Balloch Castle and Cameron House this week. These are fantastic historical buildings on Loch Lomond. Scroll down to see pictures of Cameron House pre-dawn and post-dawn on Saturday morning whilst on my way to and from the practice fairway.

I leave Glasgow with wonderful memories in my heart and highland toffee in my belly. I absolutely adore Scotland and its generous and hilarious people. It feels like a second home. My new favorite Scottish word… “Beasties!” This was in reference to the midgies which are little bugs that come out at dusk around the Loch. Yuck!

Next week we play the Uniqa Austrian Ladies Open in Weiner-Neustadt, 1 hour out of Vienna. I am told Austria is beautiful as it was left relatively unscathed after World War II. I will do my best to learn from my mistakes this week, improve on consistency and have a result to write home about next week. Ciao for now!