Lauren beats Covid blues to achieve American dream
CASTLEWARDEN’S Lauren Walsh gave her Curtis Cup hopes a huge boost when she won the Griffin Women’s Amateur by five strokes for her first victory on US soil.
The Wake Forest sophomore (20) opened with rounds of 71 and 72 on the East Course at Grandover Resort in Greensboro to lead by two strokes, then closed with a two-over 74 to win by five shots from Virginia Tech’s Becca DiNunzio on one-over 217.
It was the Kill native’s first win in the US and having moved to 53rd in the World Amateur Ranking following her freshman season, she is now comfortably inside the world’s top 50.
“I’m absolutely delighted with the win,” Walsh said. “It’s been nearly seven months since I’ve played a 54-hole tournament so I was happy to be back competing again and even happier to get the win, especially here on US soil.
“It was a tough, demanding course which tested my entire game all week. It was really tight off the tee and then the Bermuda greens were really undulating. Now I’m looking forward to getting ready for what’s going to be a busy spring season in the States.”
Walsh played in all seven events for Wake Forest in what was a shortened 2019-20 season, finishing with a stroke average of 72.37.
A semi-finalist in the Irish Women’s Close last year, she finished inside the top 25 six times with her best coming at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate where she tied for sixth.
Her best score came at the Cougar Classic where she tied for seventh on fiveunder and was subsequently received WGCA All-American Honourable Mention.
Last September she was named with Olivia Mehaffey, Annabel Wilson and Julie McCarthy in the initial GB&I squad of ten players for next year’s Curtis Cup match at Conwy Golf Club in Wales.
Her goal now is to be ready to go when the new season begins in 2021 and she’s already making plans.
“I will concentrate mostly on gym work and study over the next few months and I’ll be able to keep working on the rest of my game while I’m here,” she said this week.
“I’ll be spending a lot of time on my short game and wedges between now and when I go home for Christmas break while I have use of such good facilities still.”
She loves practising with her international team mates at Wake Forest and having made a big effort to get back to college in the autumn, her decision to cross the Atlantic has paid off in spades.
“I knew the ACC wouldn’t be playing fall golf, but for me, the decision to return was easy,” she wrote in a column for Golfweek. “I knew that if I came back to Wake there was no question that I would be better off.
“I knew if I stayed at home I wouldn’t see the inside of a gym with the strict restrictions still in place. But if I came back to school not only would I have access to a gym for three sessions a week, I would be training alongside my teammates, pushing each other to get better.”
She added: “While not getting to compete this fall has been super frustrating, we as a team have really tried to make the most of the situation. We are trying our best to stay competitive, so one of my teammates and two members of our men’s team have started a regular Ryder Cup-style match. The teams are Rachel Kuehn and Parker Gillam (USA) against Alex Fitzpatrick and myself (Europe). Team Europe has been dominating so far in our matches and we don’t plan on letting up anytime soon.
“Our coaches are also really helping us keep competitive. They’ve organised minitournaments among our team for us to play and compete.
“So while it’s been disappointing and challenging, we are making the most of the situation while staying positive – and most importantly – safe and healthy.”