A SHAW girl recently came runner-up in a national golfing competition in Scotland, and has been chosen to trial for a regional training squad.
12 year-old Laura Curtis finished runner-up in the Wee Wonders Grand Final in St Andrews last month, after competing in the 11-12 girls’ category.
Laura, a pupil at Stonar School, scored 77 on her first round and 76 on her second round; 15 over par for 36 holes on a championship course.
She has since been selected to attend trials for the England Girls under 16 regional training squad.
Laura told Melksham News, “I wasn’t expecting to win but I knew I had a good chance of doing well as I have improved lots over the last year and competed in the UK Girls u14 championships in Nottingham, and got my handicap down to 9.7 before the final. My whole family support me 100% and take me all over the country to compete and spend hours either sat in club houses or walking around golf courses and waiting while I’m training. I was disappointed not to win, but plan to take a short summer break and then train even harder through the winter to improve even more next year.”
The Wee Wonders Open Golf Championships was founded in 1995 in Scotland by Alasdair Good. It is now the only tournament with fully national coverage for children in the age range 5 to 12.
To get to the grand final Laura, who has been playing for three years and trains with Ben Lloyd at Cumberwell Park, won a qualifier at Cottrell Park golf club and then qualified in the regional final at Rhondda.
Laura’s mum, Karen says, “Laura likes to play golf as she says it’s an escape from her brother! She has made lots of new friends because it’s a very social sport. Stonar School are fully supportive of her golfing ambitions and allow her time out to train and practice around her academic studies.”
