CHARLEY (16) IN RUSH TO JOIN PROFESSIONAL RANKS

    Left to right: Amy Boulden, Holly Clyburn and Charley Hull

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR

Charley Hull has shown that she is the next big thing in British golf by helping Great Britain and Ireland to beat the United States in the recent Curtis Cup and posting several strong finishes in professional tournaments lately.

Now the 16-year-old Woburn player, competing in the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, has spoken of her desire to join the paid ranks along with fellow Curtis Cup players Holly Clyburn and Amy Boulden, who all hope to attend Ladies European Tour School in Morocco in December.

To do so, she would require a special exemption from the LET, due to being under the age of 18 normally required for membership, but this has previously been granted to the likes of the LET’s youngest ever tournament winner Amy Yang, Czech teenager Klara Spilkova and current order of merit leader Carly Booth.  

Hull, who turned 16 on 20^th March, may even be able to skip Tour School if she wins the ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters this week. Should she win, she would be the youngest ever winner of a Ladies European Tour event, aged 16 years, four months and 27 days ahead of South Korean Yang, who won the 2006 ANZ Ladies Masters in Australia aged 16 years, nine months and 18 days. New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko made headlines for winning the New South Wales Open aged 14 in January, but the event was sanctioned by the Australian Ladies Professional Golf and not the Ladies European Tour.

Hull put up a strong showing in professional events this summer by finishing joint 38^th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, fifth at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open and then tied for 18th in the Ladies Irish Open a fortnight ago.

She would ultimately love to represent Europe at The Solheim Cup, which pits Europe’s leading 12 professional golfers against their rivals from the United States.

“That’s everyone’s dream,” she said. “I’m going to Tour school. It might take a few years, but you never know. It’s definitely something I want to do in the future.”

Hull opened with an impressive two under par round of 70 at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club on Thursday, playing alongside Solheim Cup player Melissa Reid, who had a 69 and former Curtis Cupper Booth, who shot 71.  

“It was really fun. It was a great experience. They are both great players and I enjoyed every moment out there,” she said.  

“I was nervous on the first tee because there was water right and I shouldn’t really be thinking about it! I was kind of working on something in my swing but it was good.”