Late charge leaves Lizzie a champ
She showed she has what it takes to handle high pressure situations.
COMPETITIVE sport is about handling pressure and no sport brings this more to the fore than golf.
Port Shepstone Country Club’s Lizzie Currie (21), who won the KZN Women’s Matchplay title at Durban Country Club’s Beachwood course last week, found a way of dealing with it – and producing great results.
In the build-up to the event, she had been struggling with her game, shooting scores in the 80s.
In fact, her game was so far off she decided it may be time to take a break and refocus.
Her mom Liz and brother Donovan encouraged her, urging her to simply enjoy playing.
“They said just go play, have fun, and do your best. So I didn’t put any pressure on myself,” she said.
In the strokeplay rounds she finished second to Cara Gorlei of Western Province, who is one of the country’s top-ranked players.
Cara scored level par for 36 holes, while Lizzie had 72 and 77. Beachwood is a par 73 for women.
“Before the final another player told me that Cara could be beaten but I quickly lost the first two holes and thought maybe not,” said Lizzie.
After hanging in and making the turn 1-down, she turned it on in a big way, making four birdies in the last five holes she played.
The turning point came at the 13th, where Lizzie chipped in for birdie.
She followed it up with birdies at the 14th and 15th.
“I had realised that the way Cara was playing, only birdies were going to win holes. It just started to happen but I can’t really tell you how!” she laughed.
On the par five 17th, Cara was on the green in two, while Lizzie was still some way off.
“I was in between clubs and so chose to play a Derek James type knock-down shot. Somehow it finished less than a putter length from the hole,” she said.
When Cara raced her putt past the hole, and missed the return, Lizzie calmly knocked in the winning putt to claim the match 2/1.
“Lizzie brought everything to the final and it was a real battle of wits and determination. She never backed down and in the end, she endured and took the match.”
The win certainly came as a surprise to many. “I can honestly say I have never played such good golf in my life,” she said.
Coming off the pre-tournament form she had struggled with, no one was more amazed than her.
Lizzie won a bunch of Woolworth’s vouchers for her efforts, but has traded them for cash with her mom!
Ironically, her mom was away in Namibia at the time (visiting Lizzie’s sister Rosalind and her family) so missed the big moment.
Lizzie is now looking forward to the SA Strokeplay at Glendower in a few weeks’ time.
In the meantime, she’s off to Derek James for a lesson.
And will then turn her attention to studying for a bookkeeping exam.
