Sport on Saturdays: The girl that's taking the golfing world by storm.

I’ll be honest; of all the sports out there, golf is probably my least favourite. I’ve always struggled to get excited about it and never really followed anything to do with it (with the exception of the whole Tiger Woods cheating saga – barely even golf-related, but still).

That’s all about to change, because I’ve just discovered something very exciting – the professional women’s golfing scene. There are more women than ever, across the world, taking up golf as a sport and setting international records that are seriously incredible.

One of these female golfers is Carly Booth. She made her debut on the professional circuit at the tender age of 17. Now, at the age of 21, she’s winning events all over the world, including the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open and the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open.

Carly was also the youngest ladies’ club champion in Britain (at the age of 11) and the youngest-ever Scottish woman to qualify for the Ladies European Tour (at the age of 17). That’s right, she’s Scottish – we’re bringing a bit of an international flavour to our Sport on Saturdays column this week.

I had a chat to her about life as a professional golfer.

Carly: I got started through my brother, Wallace. He’s 7 years older than me and watching him made me want to get involved. My dad built us a golf course on our 100-acre farm in Scotland.  He added holes over the years and so golf was always there for me at a young age and I had my brother to help me. Wallace  is also now a professional golfer. 

C: I have a very competitive family. My dad was a silver medalist at the Commonwealth Games, he was a wrestler, so he had me in the gym before I could walk.  In fact, both my parents had me trying lots of different sports very young. I got my first golf handicap when I was 8 years old. From there, I started competing at club, junior and county level and my golf started to build up from there as I got better and older.

C: It was normal to me. I was competing at a high level in many sports – cross country, gymnastics and swimming. I was even a gymnast for Scotland age 8-11. Golf seemed to fit best for me,  I stood out more. I was successful because I worked hard and I had my dad there to support me.

N: What does a normal day look like for you? What kind of training do you do for golf?

C: A normal day, would be in Marbella with my boyfriend Tano. We practice from roughly 9am-5pm or 8am-3pm and then go to the gym. In our down time we like to watch TV series and movies, we enjoy eating good food.

C: I think women’s golf is getting stronger and stronger every day. It will never be the same as the men’s but we are sure trying to get it more noticed and out there.

C: Having more television coverage helps, if the public can see the sport.  Players need to continue to promote our sport as much as possible, attending golf days/events, and golf shows etc. Potentially they could look at running more events alongside the men’s events, like last week in Morocco, the men and women play during the same week, next door to each other.

N: What advice do you have for young girls looking to get involved with golf? 

C: It’s about having fun and learning as you go along. It’s a tough sport, but keeping it as fun as possible is the best way of progressing. Playing with friends, playing against the boys and having little competitions in practice. You can learn a lot from watching it as well, going to clinics and even when you are playing on your own play a game with two balls. 

C: You get to travel the world, meet some great people along the way, and make great friends while doing something you love. You are learning every day. It can’t get much better than that.

And in other news from the sporting world this week…

– Our Aussie female rugby players have been killing it overseas at the IRB Women’s Sevens World Serie, coming up against world champions, New Zealand, not once but twice on recent trips overseas – and beating them! Now they’re in Guangzhou, China, with matches against England, Ireland and Fiji. Wish them luck.

– Our Aussie Paralympic basketball team, the Gliders, finished off their two-week tour of Canada and America this week – and beat the USA in their final game, 62-57. Well done, girls!

– Players have officially been selected for the women’s National Water Polo League All Star game, to be played at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on Sunday April 13. Click here to see the teams.

– Southern Stars cricketer Meg Lanning has scored the highest-ever women’s Twenty20 score at a game against Ireland in the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh. The Southern Stars managed a record-breaking 78-run win – Lanning became just the third woman and the first Australian to pass three figures in a T20 international. Amazing work, Meg! Click here to see our interview with the cricket star.