WHI skipper Lesley
Nicholson is glad to
give something back

FROM THE SCOTLAND.SPORT.COM WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Lesley Nicholson, back in the amateur game after seeing her dream of tasting glory in the paid ranks end in disappointment, is hoping to use her experience to help Scotland land a top title this year.
The Haddington player, who played in the 2000 Curtis Cup before turning professional, has been appointed as captain for the Women's Home Internationals, to be held at Wrexham in September. "It's obviously a different role than I am used to but i t will be good to give something back, so to speak, and the Scottish Ladies Golfing Association certainly have a talented pool of players at their disposal at the moment," she admitted.
Nicholson, pictured above, enjoyed an outstanding amateur career, the highlight of which was probably her victory in the Helen Holm Scottish Open Stroke-play Championship in 1999.
She emerged at the same time Longniddry's Hilary Monaghan was making her mark on the Scottish circuit and the pair really seemed to spark one another.
Unfortunately, Nicholson joined the paid ranks at a time when the Ladies' European Tour had a limited tournament schedule and she was unable to make enough money to justify making that her long-term career.
"The fact of the matter is that I played better golf as an amateur than I did as a professional," she reflected. "If I had played to my potential then things might have worked out differently but that's the way of the world.
"It was unfortunate, I suppose, that there weren't an awful lot of tournaments at that time – the LET is certainly much more healthy at the moment – but I still enjoyed my short spell in the paid ranks."
Now working as an active schools' co-ordinator in the Tranent area, Nicholson has attended a couple of SLGA training get-togethers in recent weeks and is impressed by what she has seen.
In a few weeks' time, four Scottish players – Carly Booth, Krystle Caithness, Sally Watson and Michele Thomson – will tee it up in the Curtis Cup at St Andrews.
Whether or not that quartet will be available for the Home Internationals remains to be seen, but Nicholson said: "There is a big pool of talent in Scottish ladies' golf at the moment and that is very exciting for everyone involved in the SLGA.
"A number of players look as though they have very bright futures ahead of them and I got to know a few of them when I helped Jane Ford out when the Home Internationals were held at Dunbar last year.
"I'll be going to a few of the big tournaments this season just to watch players before the team is picked and, having been there and done it, I am hoping that I can use my experience to help get the best out of the players."
As for her own game, Nicholson is off a handicap of one at the moment but admits she doesn't have the same thirst for competitive golf as she did as a teenager.
"I've not played much at all since I was re-instated," she said. "I might enter some of the biggest tournaments this season, though that's not my main priority at the moment. One day I might get my appetite for competitive golf back and, if I do, then it will be a case of full on or not at all."