Charley Hull at Kraft Nabisco

Our roving correspondent, Joyce Hunnam, sends this message from the Kraft Nabisco tournament.....

Hi Gillian

Everything has been great here this week.  I had a nice chat with Charley Hull today and took the attached photo.  She said she really enjoyed the whole experience and was highly delighted with her performance this week at the Kraft, particularly making the cut and playing all four rounds, and being one of four amateurs to make it.  She says she learned a lot playing in the event, especially the patience needed because the pros takes much longer than anything she is used to thus far.

She is really looking forward to playing for GB&I in the Curtis Cup at Nairn and believes the experience gained by playing in the Kraft will stand her in good stead for the match and the future.

She is a really nice lass and clearly is a very talented young player with a great future ahead of her.

Joyce

CHARLEY HULL CELEBRATES RISING TO NO 5 IN THE WORLD WITH KRAFT NABISCO 5-STAR PERFORMANCE

NEWS RELEASE FROM ENGLISH GOLF UNION

England’s world number five amateur, Charley Hull, impressively finished in the top 40 in the Kraft Nabisco Championship in California – her first professional tournament and her first Major. The 16-year-old tied 38th with a 72-hole total of one-over par. She was the second-placed English player in the field, behind Yorkshire’s Jodi Ewart, and ahead of Karen Stupples and Melissa Reid. Charley beat par twice during the event, opening with a one-under 71 before scoring 77, four-under 68 and 73. The Woburn player made a dream start to the championship with a birdie on the first hole of the first round. She told the LPGA: “I birdied my first-ever hole of my first-ever major, and that was my first-ever pro tournament, so I was pretty chuffed with that. "It was really good. The next hole I just forgot about it and just carried on playing golf. It just got me up and excited." She explained that she had set out to cope with playing on such a big stage by keeping things simple. "It's hard to take it all in, but I’m just trying to concentrate, not try and do anything different to upset my routine," she said. She made the halfway cut, right on the mark after her second round 77 and she noted on Twitter that she had tried to hit too hard under pressure. But she added: “I know how to smooth things out, take one more club and swing soft!” The plan worked. Her third-round 68 was awarded the expressive hashtag BOOM! After the last round, she tweeted her final position and remarked: “Felt so good this week hitting balls on the range next to one of my favourite golfers, Lexi Thompson.” Charley, who is England’s number one, was promoted to fifth in the world amateur rankings the day before the championship began. Earlier in the week she had been selected for the GB&I Curtis Cup team, after much controversy. The Ladies Golf Union had originally said that she made herself unavailable for selection by accepting her invitation to the Kraft Nabisco championship, instead of playing in a team trial. But the selectors overturned that decision. The team was announced while she was in the States and Charley has spoken of her pleasure to the USGA: “I'm overwhelmed. I'm so happy, and I'd like to thank all the selectors. It should be great. We've got a great captain, Teg, so I'm really looking forward to it. “I'm back on the team now. I was upset, obviously, but now I'm really happy that I'm back in it. Now it's history. I didn't think they were going to change it for me, but I'm glad they did. I can't wait for Nairn.”