Destination Golf Scotland 2021 | Page 10

DG : Firstly , I would like to congratulate you on your recent OBE appointment for your services to golf . As a pro golfer who was born in Edinburgh , you must be immensely proud to fly the flag for Scotland around the World .
CM : Yeah , it was lovely to get . Hopefully when things are Covid free I will be able to get down to the Palace in London at some point to receive it . But yes , it is a huge honour to be recognised like that .
DG : Absolutely , that is something nice to look forward to later this year . Going back a bit , as an amateur golfer you have won national championships at girls and U21 levels Where do you learn to play and how did you get into golf ?
CM : I grew up in North Barrick , so I learned to play golf here on the 9-hole children ’ s course attached to the course . My mom , dad , and two older brothers played , so I just tagged along with all of them . I was very sporty at school , played all sports , but played golf in the summer so it just grew from there .
DG : Fantastic , and what a place to improve skill levels with the various kinds of links shots that are required which can be taken with you around the World .
CM : Yeah absolutely , you learn to play in all sorts of conditions and hits shots of different kinds growing up on links golf . I think as a professional , I do not know if you to play it ever week , but it is certainly a challenge when you do play .
DG : There is something special about a nice summer evening on a links , right ?
CM : Yeah , there is one thing about links golf , the course changes so often , even if it is your home course , it can play different every single day based on different conditions , which makes it fun .
DG Agreed , and putting my “ golf travel ” hat on , I guess that ’ s part of the fascination for travelling golfers , to experience real links golf in Scotland ?
CM : Well , I have obviously travelled all over the World playing golf and true links courses are very difficult to recreate , so until you have come here to Britain and played on Scottish links courses , you have never really experienced it . A lot of links golf is based on weather conditions . They are obviously right by the water , so you get wind . For example , our course here at North Berwick is a traditional links with 8 out , 1 across and 9 back , so you can play out into the wind and back downwind , so you get to play every type of shot really .
DG : And progressing from amateur to pro ranks , you have won numerous times on Tour , from Hawaii to Sweden , including the 2009 Women ’ s British Open at Royal Lytham & St Anne ’ s . That must have been such a special day for you ?
CM : Yeah , that was very special . It was only about 11-weeks after I had had my second child and my husband was caddying for me . I was lucky enough to come down the last with a 2 or 3 shot lead , so once I hit my tee shot , I knew I had won it . It was amazing to be able to walk up to the green know that I had won it , so yes , it was very special .
DG : And continuing with professional golf , you have played numerous times on the Solheim Cup team . But to Captain the winning team in 2019 at Gleneagles must have been something special for you ?
CM : The Solheim Cup has played a huge part in my career , obviously I was lucky enough to play in it 9 times and then Captain at Gleneagles last time . Even as an amateur I have always loved the team element of golf ; it is such an individual sport you do not often get the change to do that . To Captain at Gleneagles was fantastic and the whole way it finished , coming down to Suzanne getting the last putt on the last green . It was almost like a fairy tale . I think if someone had written that you would have laughed at them and said , “ that ’ s never going to happen ”.
DG : And going to the business end of this year , the Ryder Cup team and your team will be out to defend their titles ?
CM : I think we are about 3-weeks before the Ryder Cup , so yeah , really looking forward to going over later in the year to have a look at Inverness . A little Scottish connection there ! They played a tournament there last year and it looked amazing on TV .
DG : How different has the role Captain been this time round for you ?
CM : It has been very difficult . There has not been a whole tonne of tournaments in Europe . The LPGA have been lucky and managed to get a few more with players staying within their country , but hopefully by late Spring things should get going and there will not be as big an impact on schedules in Europe like there was last year , so the players get a chance to get some points and try to make the team .
DG : We will be watching , that is for sure . As a company that specialises in promoting golf destinations , I want to talk a little bit about golf in Scotland . 2020 was obviously a difficult year for everyone on golf , but it was quite an achievement for East Lothian to run the two Scottish Opens at Renaissance ?
CM : Well unfortunately no one could go to it , but obviously you could see it on television . But it was amazing how they
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