Switzerland

 I arrived into London a week early to help celebrate my friend Kirsty’s 30^th birthday. Kirsty is a touring professional on the Ladies European Tour also. It was a fancy dress and a lot of our friends from the tour were there to help celebrate as well. A lot of fun was had by all, which was a great start to the season. The week after leading up to Switzerland was back to business as usual. Practice at Kirsty’s home club Weybrook Park.  On the 11^th of May we headed to Switzerland. We flew into Munich and drove 6 hours down to Losone through the alps the views were breathtaking, such a wonderful experience. Losone is set in the alps in the lake district. A beautiful setting and a great golf course. We found our accommodation for the week thank you whoever invented the navigation systems, down a small alleyway and it was an apartment above someone’s house. Kirsty found it on the internet and it was a great little apartment just big enough for 4. My roommate for the week was a Belgian, Ellen Smets. She is hilarious and we had a great time catching up. This week was the week of Euro vision. We think it is a bit of a joke over here but in Europe they actually take it seriously and nearly everyone watches it. Ellen and I decided we would play a joke on our other roommates and friends that we had over for dinner, so I looked up the contestants on the internet and told Ellen and she would go into the lounge room and say “I think the next person will come from Russia” and then it would come up and the others were shocked so the next time she went in and said “I think the next will be, actually I think it will go from cold to hot so the next will be Portugal” and it was the girls were impressed with Ellen’s abilities to guess, we did this for a few more until one she couldn’t say properly with her accent came up and she decided that the joke was over. It was only recently that we told the girls what we did, up until then they thought she was just a good guess. We all enjoy playing games on each other it helps with the boredom after a long day on the golf course. After having a year out with recovering from surgery I was extremely nervous about being back out on tour. There were a lot of new faces and the standard had improved a lot. Luckily a lot of my friends who I hadn’t seen for a year were out there and that made things easier to slide back into tour life. The first day I had 76 played quite well for a lot of the day just hit a couple of bad shots and that racks up the score. The second day it rained all day and that makes things difficult, trying to keep the clubs dry so they don‘t slip from your hands also trying to keep the umbrella up so you don’t get too wet and cold. Very difficult without a caddy. I had 12 straight pars and then had a triple bogey, I hit a bad drive off the tee and ended up in some thick rough and the score blows out very quickly. I ended up with 78, as it is difficult to keep focused after something like that happens and in the rain. Something I need to work on for the future. Marianne Skarpnord from Norway won the event her first win on the LET. She is a great player and someone to keep your eye on in the future.

Germany

 On the 18^th of May we drove 6 hours back up to Dachau where the German Open was held I was dropped off at the hotel I was to stay at for the week. My roommates this week, 2 Aussies, well one grew up in Australia but now represents Denmark. Mianne Bagger, and Marousa Polias. If you think that Mianne Bagger might sound familiar she is the Professional golfer who had a sex change a long time ago and she made the news a lot about 5 years ago when she turned professional. She is a fantastic person and I always have a great time sharing with her. Marousa is also a great person to spend time with. The course was fantastic with a few unusual holes on it very sharp doglegs at 90 degree angles, it was a course where you had to think your way around very well otherwise it would catch you out. I had 75 the first day with a few 3 putts and in golf a three putt is not a good thing to do, you are giving yourself a chance of a birdie and end up with a bogey. Not a great feeling. On the second day I played really solidly for a 72. I missed the cut by 1 shot and so did Mianne so we weren’t too happy on that Friday night. Very disappointing to miss by only one shot after all the hard work. The course was fantastic and the people in the Bavarian region we were in were very generous and lovely to be around. Usually when you miss the cut you either go practice or go into the nearest city and have a look around as you don’t know whether you will be back ever again to see it. The nearest city this week was Dachau. Made famous in the second world war for having one of the biggest concentration camps in Germany. Being interested in history as I am I decided to go and do the tour around the concentration camp. A very humbling and gut wrenching experience. What happened to those people is something I wish to never see or experience, I have a great respect for the survivors of that war. The winner this week was Jade Schaffer from France, her fisrt win on the Ladies European Tour. A well deserved win as she is a great player and a nice person.

Holland

I flew into Eindhoven airport and made my way courtesy of a navigation system yet again to the golf course we were playing for the week. Eindhoven is near the Belgian border in Holland, again a really great golf course and this is the week where I get to stay with people I met a few years ago, a fantastic family who I love to stay with, we have a great week together. There was one other player and 2 caddies who stayed there for the week. I had 76, 68, 75 finished equal 37^th for the week, my first cut in Europe for the season. What a relief, was nice to have 4 under par the second round to make the cut. On the Sunday, final round I was nervous as I hadn’t been in a decent position for a long time and made a few mistakes. But that is golf and that is what happens in the heat of the moment. As I had been to Eindhoven a few times before I didn’t go exploring instead I spent whatever spare time I had with the De Ruijter family. They have 2 dogs Brains and Bowie and I spent every afternoon walking them, a substitute for my dog that I have to leave at home for 6 months every year.

Ireland

Portmarnock Links golf course is located on the sea in Dublin, Ireland. Such a great golf course, it is a Links style course which are always very tricky to play. You have to really concentrate on all your shots otherwise the course will bite you. My caddy Tim Walsh is finally out to caddy for me for the season. It is fantastic to have him out with me, just someone to talk to on the course about strategy and to take my mind off my game between shots. We get along really well and have a great time together. I had 2 under in the first round, then had a bit of a shocker the second day for 5 over, unfortunately on the second shot on the first hole I hurt my hand when I hit the ground as the ground was very hard. I think that was the start of my injury to my hand again, I had 5 over on the first 9 holes and on the 10^th hole Tim told me a story which was hilarious whilst I was waiting to hit my second shot, it was so funny that I had tears coming out of my eyes, I was still laughing when I had to hit my second shot, I pared every hole coming in though and I made the cut. On the final day I started off alright, then the fog came in over the sea and we had a 3 hour delay. It was a long day and having not played in these conditions for a long time, it took its toll on me and I had 8 over the last round. Was very disappointing to play so poorly after a good start to the tournament.

Norway

Larvik is located on the sea in Norway south of Oslo. My roommate for the week was Ellen Smets, who I stayed with in Switzerland, we had a great week joking around and laughing all week, it is a great pleasure to stay with someone who makes you laugh a lot. The course is privately owned by one of the richest families in Norway it is a great golf course, very good layout some of the holes required some good positioning off the tee. The par 3’s were long and difficult to play.  I had 78, 76 and missed the cut, I didn’t hit the ball very well at all and after spending a great deal of time on the practice fairway I discovered that my set up was all wrong and after correcting it all I started to hit the ball very well. My caddy Tim was my coach this week and he did a great job. Norway is a lovely country but very expensive, one of the richest countries in the world. The price for a pizza equalled about 40 Australian dollars. Unreal. The official hotel we all stayed out was brand new and was built out over the sea. A fascinating building it had a private spa with all sorts of different saunas and steam rooms. From one of the spa areas you could walk down some steps into the ocean, it was really amazing.

Spain

 We flew into Barcelona and had a 2 hour drive to our home for the week, Panoramica golf club, almost half way between Barcelona and Valencia. My roommates this week were Kirsty, Jo and Bronwyn (another aussie.) it is always fun to stay with another Australian. Not many people realise there is a bit of a difference in language and mannerisms between brits and Aussies. Sometimes there is a lot of explaining to do to get your point across. That is why it is a relief to stay with Aussies. Panoramica is a golf resort where there is a golf course and apartment buildings all around it and not much else, nearly everyone stays in one of the apartments on the course. I played solid golf again this week until the last 3 holes on the second day. It was blowing a gale and I over hit the 16^th a par 3 by 20 metres even though I took 3 clubs less and took a double bogey, then it was downhill from there I finished double, bogey, bogey to missed the cut, pretty disappointing. My game is close to being good but just not quite there, it is difficult to play well on limited practice as my arm has been playing up again. I had 72 first round and 76 second round. Even par after 33 holes and 4 over total after 36. Not happy. The weather was great and I enjoyed lapping up the sun for a couple of days before I came home for a break to get my arm sorted.

Austria 

After 7 weeks off spending my time at home, trying to get my shoulder and hand sorted I decided to go back to Europe to play the last few events. Even though my arm wasn’t quite right I thought I could handle 3 weeks of playing with limited practice. Not the ideal situation. We decided to drive from England to Austria then onto France, that is Kirsty, Jo another played and Kirsty’s caddy. after 15 hours in a car the bright idea of driving didn’t seem so bright anymore, but we got there in one piece and got to drive on the German auto bahns where you can drive as fast as your car or nerves will allow you. Weiner nuestadt is about 30 minutes south of Vienna, and it is a beautiful spot.  My roommate for the week was one of my best mates from oz, Karen Quinn and she was out to caddy for a few weeks after a shoulder operation, we had a great time together and it was nice to have a close friend out on tour.

The course has the last colony of these little animals called Zwesals. They are cute little guys that kind of look like gophers.

After not seeing Tim my caddy for 8 weeks it was great to see him. We had a practice round and caught up on all the things each other had been doing, and in great Tim style he had some hilarious stories, kept me entertained all day which was great as practice rounds can get very slow and boring, but a necessity. I had 77, 72 and missed the cut by 1 shot again. Was happening a lot this year, but to take some positives at least my game was becoming more consistent, just a shame about my hand and arm not being right and limiting my practice.

France

 This week we were playing in a town called Arras which was destroyed in world war 2 as the war went right through. It was rebuilt in the old style howver and looks as though nothing happened to it. On the course you can even see some of the trenches the soldiers had dug in amongst the trees going from the 14^th green to the 15^th tee. Which is just a little bit spooky.

I stayed with Kirsty, Jo and Dan this week in an old chateau in the French country side it was beautiful. Surrounded by and orchard where the owners picked the fruit and made produce from the fruits. I had 78 first round I played well for the first 15 holes but as my arm got tired and sore I finished the round rather poorly with a bogey and a triple bogey on the last hole. Very disappointing but my arm and hand were so sore I could barely hold the club to hit the ball. I went to warm up the next day and hit 3 balls and decided that as I could barely hold the club it would be better for me to not play the second round. I had already decided to come home after France and having to withdraw from the last round it was a disappointing way to finish the year.