How good is England's Lottie Woad? If you didn't catch the KPMG Women’s Irish Open at Carton House last weekend, the 21-year-old World No. 1 amateur absolutely crushed it! She cruised to victory with rounds of 68, two 67s back-to-back, and a final 69, finishing a whopping six shots clear of a field that included Solheim Cup stars like Madelene Sagstrom, Charley Hull, Leona Maguire, and Georgia Hall.
Because Lottie's an amateur, she missed out on the prize money. Instead, Madelene Sagstrom, who came in second, took home the £58,000 cheque. Lottie's currently focused on securing the last two points she needs (out of 20) for her LPGA Tour membership through the LPGA Elite Amateur Pathway before she even considers turning pro. She has the option to defer her LPGA card by a season if she wants to complete her final year at Florida State University. Regardless, if she keeps playing this incredibly well, you can bet she'll be dominating European and American golf in the near future! She's back in action this week at the Amundi Evian Championship, the fourth women's Major of the year, so keep an eye on her after that emphatic win.
I need to get back into golf action, after sunning myself on holiday in Crete for a week, and there’s one tip to help get out of bunkers that I’m keen to try. After all these years, and knowing exactly what I should do – shuffle your feet into the sand, open the clubface, take sand before the ball, accelerate through the shot, there’s still an element of hit and hope!
Golf Monthly contributor and single figure golfer Carly Frost played a round recently with a woman who has spent hours (and a lot of money) on bunker lessons. She’s a decent player, but so she doesn’t completely ruin her scorecard, she aims away from greens to avoid greenside bunkers and if she does land in a bunker, she will often take a penalty drop to get out. I’m sure many of you can relate to this, there’s something about bunkers that many women dread.
On this particular day, Carly looked on as her fellow club member became distraught when she did land in the sand and couldn’t get out. In this piece, Carly explains how almost every week she hears similar complaints: I can’t get out of bunkers because I don’t have enough clubhead speed,” or “I’m just not strong enough.” Even more typically women tell her, “I can’t get out because there’s no sand/not enough sand/the sand is too firm.”
However, with the help of PGA Professional Katie Dawkins, Carly dispels these misconceptions and describes how she persevered during a quiet moment to help her playing partner get out of the sand. If we’ve got the right technique, there’s no reason to fear bunkers. A few bad habits have crept into my bunker play, so it’s back to basics so I can learn to love the sand, not just when I’m on holiday!
Alison Root
Women's Editor Golf Monthly
