I felt so nervous it was like an out-of-body experience
Now former women’s amateur champ LOUISE DUNCAN is out to prove she belongs among the elite
IT was way beyond Louise Duncan’s wildest dreams. There she was, two summers ago, a 21-year-old amateur golfer from West Kilbride, playing against professionals for the first time and going into the final round of one of the women’s game’s major events two shots off the lead.
It was, unsurprisingly, an atmosphere Duncan had never experienced before on a golf course as a boisterous home support at Carnoustie roared her through the closing 18 holes.
And, although she ended up five behind winner Anna Nordqvist in the AIG Women’s Open, a sensational tenth-place finish installed her as the first Scot in 33 years to win the prestigious Smyth Salver as the tournament’s leading amateur.
It was the biggest moment of her golf career so far and underlined her remarkable talent for the game. Just don’t ask her for a detailed rundown of that dramatic final round.
‘I don’t remember much about it, it all seemed to happen so fast,’ she admits now. ‘It took five hours on a golf course and I don’t remember one shot from it. I don’t remember anything really. I just see videos and I think that looks like me so that must be me. It was like an out-of-body experience.’
What she does recall is embarking on the first 54 holes and the trepidation she felt going into the greatest test of her golfing life thus far.
‘It was mental,’ says the 23-year-old. ‘I felt physically sick every day before my rounds. Even on practice day, I felt so nervous and so out of place. I thought I was bothering people and getting in their way. Before I hit my first shot I could barely put my ball on the tee, I was shaking so much.’
WhEN reminded that she started at Carnoustie with a fourunder-par 68, Duncan laughs. ‘Yeah, which then left me on the Friday thinking: “Oh god, do not miss the cut here, that would be so embarrassing”. It was a bit of the Scottish mentality that definitely hit me at that point.’
There was, of course, no danger of missing the cut. Duncan might have been disappointed with a second-round 73 but, unlike some of the more established names in the field, she was very much involved over the weekend. In the third round, she matched her opening 68.
‘I felt as if I didn’t really know what was happening after the Saturday round,’ she admits. ‘I was in contention. I was only two shots off the lead. Now, thinking back on that... Wow. I was actually really close to winning.
‘It’s pretty mental to think that I was still an amateur then. My first pro event, it was a major and I finished top ten. It was a wild, wild ride.’
Turning professional had never been on her radar. Not since she had first picked up a golf club at the age of ten alongside brothers Graeme and Jonathon.
‘My mum (Elina) would just pap us all down to the golf course (West Kilbride) and pick us up later in the evening,’ she explains. ‘I think it was a daycare thing. She just sent me down there with them. I did a few other sports, so golf was never my main hobby but I did enjoy it and I kept on going back.
‘When I was 12, I started playing in national competitions and progressed through the various age groups. I kept on getting my handicap down and I got picked for Scotland to play in the European Championships when I was 16. I played for the national girls and ladies teams and I’ve represented Scotland pretty much every year since 2016.
‘I was quite small back then. I didn’t have much about me. I wasn’t a long hitter. It wasn’t until I went to Uni that I started getting a bit stronger. That was September 2019 when I joined the University of Stirling golf programme and it was massive for me.
‘I’d never thought of golf as a career until then but it became an enjoyable experience, practising and playing in that team environment. It all just spiralled from there. It was a pretty aggressive spiral actually.’
A huge influence on Duncan as her game has improved beyond recognition is Dean Robertson, high performance golf coach at Stirling, and a former European Tour winner himself in his professional playing days. he’s not just her mentor. he’s been alongside her, carrying her bag and keeping her calm, in the tournaments which have, so far, defined her hugely promising career.
The big launching pad for Duncan was her victory in the 2021 Women’s Amateur Championship at Kilmarnock (Barassie).
She crushed Iceland’s Johanna Lea Ludviksdottir 9&8 in the final, the biggest winning margin in the history of the championship.
‘It was fairly mental,’ she recalls. ‘It was the first time Dean had caddied for me. Barassie was 20 minutes up the road, so I stayed at home all week. When I beat another Scot, a great player, hannah Darling in the semi-finals, that was a bit unexpected. And after winning that, I thought I’d better not lose the final.
‘You hear those horror stories about players being well ahead and blowing it. And during that final I kept thinking I do not want to lose this after going however many in front. Thankfully, I managed to keep my head and the final turned out to be a record breaker.
‘Although I was close to home, I was only allowed 40 spectators to watch me in the final because it was quite soon after the whole lockdown thing. having a lot of family and friends there, it was quite nerve-wracking at first but I think I got into it quite nicely and ended up enjoying playing in front of them, which I would never have said before. I think I just liked being there to entertain the people who were watching.’
And that was a feeling she went on to enjoy, playing twice for Great Britain and Ireland against the USA in the Curtis Cup, the biggest women’s team competition in amateur golf.
After finally deciding to turn professional last summer, her bid to win a Ladies European Tour card at the Qualifying School in Spain in December opened up with a ten-over-par 83.
‘I didn’t have high hopes after that but we knew it was going to get windy towards the end of the qualifying and people would struggle,’ says Duncan. ‘And that’s really when I started playing well, when the wind got up and everyone had to lower their expectations. I zoned in a bit more at that stage.’
The nine-round golf marathon ended with a birdie four for Duncan at the final hole, courtesy of a brilliant bunker shot, and her 17th-place finish secured her professional playing rights for the 2023 Ladies European Tour (LET) season.
‘When you think how it started, that was pretty unbelievable for me. I think I’d describe it as a rollercoaster. It was a long two weeks and to get to the end of it with a full Tour card was pretty amazing.
‘I was knackered but also over the moon about the way I’d handled it all. It reassured me that I was right to want to do that as a job.’
It was a triumphant end to a tough 2022 during which her dad died after a prolonged illness.
Now, 2023 is the year she plans to establish herself as a professional. She has signed up with the Edinburgh-based Bounce sports management company to get the back-up she needs for her new globe-trotting life on tour. And Robertson, her coach and caddie, says she’s significantly stronger, both mentally and physically, as she adapts to the pro ranks.
HARD sessions in the gym have given her the increased power to dramatically increase her clubhead speed and she’s added significant yardage onto her driving distance. The 23-year-old is as long off the tee as some of the biggest names in women’s golf.
‘I know my game’s good enough,’ she adds. ‘It’s just a question of when it comes together. It’s all about getting experiences just now and learning from them.
‘It gets lonely when you miss a cut and you’ve got two days watching other players coming in off the course and you’re just practising and waiting for the next tournament. I’ve been using local caddies. I don’t know them and they don’t know me. Travelling alone is a new thing but, overall, it’s been a pretty smooth transition.’
In the last couple of months, she’s played in Kenya, Morocco and twice in South Africa, learning plenty. After a spell back in Stirling, she’ll be back on tour in France next month.
One event which gave her lots of encouragement was the Joburg Open, which was won by England’s Lily May humphreys who, unlike Duncan, failed to get her card at Q-school.
‘It makes you think if she’s doing that, why can’t I?’ she reasons. ‘All it takes is one good week and you never know what’s round the corner. I’m just gonna roll with the punches and see what happens.’