Ladybank coach says Jo

Carthew golfing career

can take off in big way

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Jocelyn Carthew was a wee bit disappointed but certainly not down in the dumps after losing by 2 and 1 to Michele Thomson in Saturday's final of the 94th Scottish women's amateur golf championship at Lossiemouth.
And neither should she have been! The 30-year-old Glasgow-born player who lives in Kirkcaldy, works in Cupar and is a member at Ladybank Golf Club, played an slmost equal part in one of the highest quality Scottish Ladies Golfing Association finals in living memory.

Picture of Jo Carthew (right) is by Cal Carson Golf Agency (all rights reserved).

It was almost certainly the best as far as sub-par scoring is concerned since the championship was first played over the Old Course, St Andrews in 1903.
It is only over the past 10 to 15 years that the improvements in golf balls and equipment have made an impact of the Scottish ladies' amateur game. Now, even legends like the late Jessie Valentine, Helen Holm and Jean Donald, did not drive the ball in their heyday nearly as far as the top Scottish female amateurs can in 2008.
For instance, the tone was set for a splendid 3hr show at Lossiemouth when Thomson, who has +1 of a handicap, and Carthew, a one-handicapper, both drove the green at the Moray club's first hole which measures close on 300yd from the LGU tees.
They produced 13 birdies between them over the 17 holes. Michele was five under par at the finish and Carthew two under par.
And they completed the 17 holes in just over three hours! What a great advertisement for Scottish female amateur golf (remember Sammy Vass and Kelsey MacDonald played their 18-hole first-round tie in under 2hr 30min).
Miss Carthew, who did not take up golf until she was 16 even though her father was pro at Crow Wood Golf Club, Glasgow, paid tribute to how much Ladybank professional Sandy Smith had improved her game.
Sandy himself said today:
"Jo and I have been working on her game for around nine months. She has always been a very good player who can hit it a good distance and has a good short game. I just felt that with all her undoubted talent, she wasn't achieving what she was capable of.
"So we took an overview of her whole game and decided that we needed to focus on three main areas - (a) create a better, less destructive 'bad' shot; (b) steepen her angle of attack into the ball to produce a lower ball flight that generated a littl e more spin on the ball and, finally, improve the quality of her practice habits.
"To be honest, it has been very easy working with Jo. Her work ethic is very good. She doesn't have the same free time as some of the other golfing girls as she works full time but she uses what spare time she has very effectively."
Coach Smith is convinced that people outside of Ladybank and Fife are going to hear a lot more about Jo Carthew in future.
"There is no doubt that Jo would love to get international recognition. Playing in the final of the Scottish championship won't have done her any harm on that front. However, she is more than aware that this is just the start of an exciting journey. With the golfing patterns she now has in place, I'm sure there will be more success in the near and long-term future.
"I think that her achievement at Lossiemouth will give her the confidence and the belief she needs to push her on towards all the thing she wants to achieve in the game."