Getting the chance to play a tournament at home is special but having the opportunity to play on your doorstep is a unique experience and one Alice Hewson is relishing.
The 23-year-old recently joined Centurion Club and is savouring the prospect of performing on her home course.
She said: “I am really excited for the Aramco Team Series – London. It is such a great opportunity for the women’s game, and it does make the event a little bit more special to be literally on my doorstep.”
This week 36 teams will play against one another with each team consisting of three professionals and one amateur with the best two scores on each hole taken forward.
While each professional will also complete every and the score will be used for the individual competition, which will count towards the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol.
Hewson is a captain this week and will be joined in her team by Karolin Lund, Lejan Lewthwaite and amateur Elliot Heath.
The Berkhamsted native will have her family watching on later this week as the innovative team format comes to life in St Albans.
She explained: “It’s a different format but I really enjoy it. I thoroughly enjoyed the one last year in Saudi Arabia. It should be a great week. I know we will have fun and it is just exciting to play alongside other people as a team and really looking forward to it.”
Hewson had an excellent finished at another innovative tournament in 2021 – the Scandinavian Mixed – where she finished in third place.
The English golfer acknowledges that performance gave her a confidence boost and she hopes to carry her form through to the next few weeks.
“I feel pretty good about where my game is at,” said Hewson. “I had a really good week in Sweden at the Scandinavian Mixed and I took it one shot at a time. I had a really great time on the golf course and enjoyed myself. It was great to have a lot of positives that week. I had had a bit of a rough start to the season and that really built my confidence. I’m very happy with where my game is trending.”
Having got to know the course in recent weeks, Hewson knows it will be a tough test for the star-studded field.
She added: “I think it is a really interesting golf course. The first four or five holes give you a Woburn vibe with the massive trees and tree-lined fairways, then it opens up a little bit more – not as many trees but that thick rough is going to be brutal. The quality of the course and the standard that they keep it at is incredible.”
US superstar Lexi Thompson is in the field alongside European Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew and stars Georgia Hall, Charley Hull, Anna Nordqvist and Anne Van Dam, as well as 2020 Omega Dubai Moonlight Classic champion Minjee Lee.
2021 Race to Costa del Sol champion Emily Kristine Pedersen is joined alongside LET icon and seven-time Order of Merit winner Laura Davies and Trish Johnson, who won the Order of Merit in 1990.
While this year’s winners on the LET are also in the field with Lee-Anne Pace (2021 Investec SA Women’s Open), Lucie Malchirand (2021 Ladies Italian Open), Atthaya Thitikul (2021 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open), Stephanie Kyriacou (2021 Big Green Egg Open).
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