Starting the season in South Africa has been amazing and it’s great to be back out on tour, writes Rosie Belsham
Sometimes, life as a professional golfer can be lonely, with lots of hours spent travelling and practising on your own. However, after a long winter, I’ve started my year in South Africa and this has given me the chance to appreciate just how lucky I am to be able to follow my dreams as a professional golfer.
The locations we have been to and the courses we have played this year on the Sunshine Ladies Tour have been sensational.
The first week was in Port Elizabeth (Gqeberha) at Humewood Golf Club – a beautiful links course running along the edge of the Indian Ocean. I made a slow start to my competitive year, with a few mental mistakes in round one, but I was very happy to fall back on the work I put in over the off-season and put together one of the better rounds on day two.
The following week, I made the beautiful three-hour drive down the Garden Route to George. I was first reserve for this event and unfortunately didn’t get in. I still got to play all three courses though, including the number one course in Africa at Fancourt, which lived up to its reputation! Being first reserve was a new experience, and it’s not one I wish to repeat. I was able to caddy for one of my friends though, which was a lot of fun and gave me the chance to learn how someone else approaches a competition round of golf.
I followed that week with two weeks practising in Cape Town and was lucky to play at some amazing places. This made it feel like an even slower start to the season though, and I spent a lot more time practising than competing, which was really frustrating as I felt ready to play tournament golf.
I finished the run in Cape Town with another tournament. I started very strongly, but day two felt like another day spent knocking off some rust as I made too many mistakes and that cost me. However, there were a lot of positives to take to Johannesburg.
I have a run of three events in Johannesburg coming up as I write, before I head back home in April.
I am really looking forward to getting back to the North East and Matfen Hall to see the progress the team has made on the changes to the golf course. It looked so good when I left in January and I can’t wait to play the redesigned holes.
