Goadby emerges from comfort zone to claim quarter-final spot

● Top seed cites Robertson’s influence as she progresses in Women’s Championship

Chloe Goadby finally mastered the transition from stroke-play to match-play in the Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship and is feeling quietly confident about her title hopes at Elie this week thanks partly to having been coaxed out of her “comfort zone” by former European Tour winner Dean Robertson.

The St Regulus player had suffered first-round exits in the event the previous two years after being third then top seed after two qualifying rounds, so wasn’t getting carried away after carding excellent efforts of 67 and 70 at the Fife venue to find herself ranked No 1 again for the headto-head phase.

There was no early exit on this occasion, though, as Goadby won her opening two matches in the glorious summmer sunshine to set up a quarter-final clash with Craigielaw’s Gabrielle Macdonald,the2014championand a finalist for a second time two years later.

Carnoustie’s Ailsa Summers, the winner on that occasion, is also still in the title hunt this time around, as are the in-form Hannah Mccook and 18-year-old Jasmine Mackintosh, who claimed the biggest scalp of her career so far in knocking out defending champion Connie Jaffrey.

In truth, it is arguably the best last-eight line up for the event for some time as the Scottish girls’ and women’s amateur game enjoys some-

0 Chloe Goadby: Transition. thing of a purple patch, with Goadby playing a prominent part in that and determined to now go the distance this week.

“It would be great to be crowned Scottish champion, so that would be a goal this year or sometime in the future, I’d love to have it at some point. I feel I’m playing well, so I hope I can give it my best effort this week,” she said after feeling pleased to have come out on top in a hard-fought second-round clash with Louise Duncan of West Kilbride.

Duncan had earlier accounted for Clara Young, the 2015 champion and last year’s beaten finalist, and proved a tough nut to crack but, helped by a brilliant second at the 17th from a horrible downhill lie, Goadby got there in the end. “Match-playissodifferentand we don’t get to play it much,” she added.

Watching on, as he has done with so many of the players he has worked with over the past six years as a mentor, was Robertson, the former Italian Open champion who now fills the role of the University of Stirling’s high performance golf coach. His influence over the past three years on Goadby has has been massive.

“Coming to Stirling, I didn’t know how much I had to learn. But Dean’s been a great help in the way I think,” she admitted. “If you can think better than anyone else out there you have a head start. He has so much knowledge from being on Tour and being able to see shots and visualise shots.

“He’s great at pushing me out of my comfort zone and getting me to try shots, and more often than not I pull them off, which does wonders for your confidence.”