England’s Charlotte Heath and Caley McGinty both made their professional Ladies European Tour (LET) debuts last week in Australia.
The duo each got off to a strong start in their rookie season on Tour with Heath finishing in fourth place on -13 at the Ford Women’s NSW Open.
Meanwhile, McGinty was one shot further back in a share of fifth place alongside Alexandra Försterling and Sarah Kemp at Wollongong Golf Club.
In her final round of the Ford Women’s NSW Open, Heath had an up-and-down day starting with a birdie before making two bogeys and a double to be three-over after eight holes.
However, the 2025 LET Access Rookie of the Year bounced back with a birdie on the ninth before being six-under-par for her final six holes to seal outright fourth place.
“I would assess it as good,” said Heath. “Obviously, there was the rain and playing in bad weather. I’m pretty happy with fourth place, but I think a travel disaster helped chill me out because once I got to the course it was go, go, go. I didn’t have time to think.
“It was about playing smart. That course was quite aggressive, and you can get quite greedy, sometimes it’s taking the par or taking the bogey and making sure it’s not a double. Silly things like that. I don’t think my golf was better than anyone else’s, but I feel I eliminated the larger mistakes.
“I started fine [on the final day] and then out of nowhere my 7-iron flew 20 yards further than it should have. You’re going to make mistakes, and I knew that, so I was pretty calm. I felt like the back nine was easier for me and I knew chances were coming.”
This is Heath’s second trip to Australia having won the Australian Amateur Championship in 2020.
Despite a good start to her LET career, she’s not putting any pressure on herself or raising her expectations ahead of this week’s Australian Women’s Classic at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club.
Heath explained: “There’s nothing new in terms of goals. I feel like golf is the most humbling sport in the world. It could turn to rubbish this week. Being aware of that is important because golf can bite you back very quickly. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, and I want to just take each week as it is.
“I have good memories here. The country has been nice to me. I have only played nine holes, but it’s definitely tighter than last week. I have got a little bit more to think about off the tee. I think the green complexes are a little bit harder too. It’s going to be another week of maybe a bit smarter play.”
McGinty, who secured LET status at Q-School in December, produced rounds of 74-64-69-65 to end the week in T5.
Having battled wet and windy conditions last week, the Curtis Cup player was pleased to have played so well in her first event.
“It was an interesting start with the weather,” said McGinty. “I was just happy to have some good rounds. I didn’t really have any expectations because it was the first tournament and I was just trying to play catch up.
“With the course set up, you could be a bit more aggressive [over the weekend] and I tried to do that on the back nine and make some birdies and the putts went in which was nice.
“I have no expectations. Everyone here is so good. This course is completely different to last week. I’m going to take it week by week, no expectations and enjoy playing on the LET. It’s definitely different to last week so far. Hitting greens will be pretty important.”
With it being their first season on the LET, the English rookies are getting to explore the world with the 2026 schedule with tournaments across five continents.
The trip to Australia is a first for McGinty is having the “best trip ever” and has received advice from Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjäll; meanwhile, Heath has been leaning on the help of her fellow English LET members.
“It’s been amazing,” added McGinty. “The best trip I’ve ever done. We went to Sydney for the week with Kajsa to explore and it’s been the trip of a lifetime. So good. She’s been really good with advice on practice rounds, she’s a good person to travel with as she likes to get out and about. It’s perfect. We’re staying together all four weeks.”
Heath added: “I have played a lot of junior golf with a lot of the English girls so Annabell [Fuller], Hannah [Screen], Lily May [Humphreys], Meghan MacLaren – they have all been such big helps especially with silly random questions.”
The Australian Women’s Classic gets underway in New South Wales on March 5. Keep up with all the action across the tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube.
