Amelia Garvey had an excellent five-week stretch on the Ladies European Tour (LET) across June and July which saw her rise up the Order of Merit rankings.
The New Zealander sat in 80th place on the Order of Merit at the time of the first re-rank of the season after the Jabra Ladies Open.
She spent the end of May in Manchester, where she was born, and ended up working with Scotty and Jay Howarth, as well as her cousin Jamie Tipper – who is also her caddie.
The LET rookie then returned to action in June producing a T8 result in Tenerife, as well as third places in Belgium, Germany and Ireland to rise into the top 10 of the rankings.
“I had been coach-less for a year, but I was happy,” said the LET rookie. “I ended up seeing two coaches, two brothers in Manchester that I’d worked with before. I actually saw them the week before I came second at the British Amateur. I knew that I liked working with them. They’ve known me since I was 13. I just went in and spent a lot of hours with them. It wasn’t big changes, but changes were definitely made.
“We just wanted to hit those five events not worrying about the outcome but just knowing what we wanted to do and where we were going forward with everything. The results came straight away and obviously it’s a lot easier to trust something when that happens.
“It was really nice to see the changes pay off and I went back to Manchester last week as well and spent some time with them there. It’s really nice to have that as my home this year. A lot of my family is there too, so it’s a home away from home for me.
“The last five weeks, I’ve managed to get some confidence going. I know that I can, I’ve been in a lot of final groups now and coming down the stretch. I’ve had three third places, but I’ve never felt like I could win the golf tournament, so that’s the next step.
“It’s been a little glimpse of what I can do and there’s a lot more to it. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but that’s golf. My expectations need to stay the same. They can’t get any higher just because I’ve played well, but it’s definitely really exciting to see and just nice to have the hard work pay off.”
In Ireland, Garvey got to play alongside one of her idols Charley Hull, as well as Swedish Solheim Cup star Madelene Sagström.
It was a learning curve for the New Zealander, but an experience that she cherished ahead of the co-sanctioned events.
“It was awesome,” she continued. “I have to say, I was very nervous on the first tee. I met Charley [Hull] when I was 13 or 14 in New Zealand and she’s always been someone I’ve looked up to because she just does it in her own way and doesn’t care what people think.
“I just learned a lot playing with Madelene [Sagström] and Charley that day. The standard of golf was a lot higher, and I got some confidence from it because I knew I could compete with them, but it was just little things. In the wind, the way they were flighting their ball and controlling spin and that’s actually what I did when I went to Manchester last week and we worked on that quite a bit.
“It was an awesome opportunity and to be able to have that on the LET, I’m just loving it out here. The decision to come over here has been black and white, I’ve really enjoyed the start of the year and I’d never thought that I would be in the Scottish and AIG Women’s Open now. I was expecting to have six weeks off, so it’s really cool to be here.”
The third-place finish in Ireland secured Garvey’s spot at this week’s ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
She currently sits in 11th place in the LET Order of Merit and third place in the Rookie of the Year rankings.
Hailing from New Zealand, wind is something the 25-year-old is used to and she likes the look of Dundonald Links.
She added: “I’m always comfortable playing in the wind. New Zealand’s very windy and I think being a longer hitter, you do have an advantage there. I really liked the layout of this course.
“I think I can take advantage of my length quite a bit. I’m still hitting driver quite a bit out there, which sometimes you can’t with links golf, but there’s always luck with the draw and luck of the bounce as well.
“I have played a lot of links golf growing up and have had some good results, it’s just about keeping it in play off the tee. The greens are tricky, but they’re not too bad out here. It’s fun, you can get creative.
“You can hit four different clubs from the same yardage, so it’s very much on how you’re seeing the ball. That’s what me and Jamie are really good at as well with Jamie knowing my game. really well and knowing how I like to play things, so the caddie is huge this week too.”
Garvey will tee it up in the first round at 12.53 pm (local time) alongside Germany’s Helen Briem and Australia’s Stephanie Kyriacou.
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