By Sarah Kellam
It’s funny how things can change. Two years ago, LET member Lydia Hall was delivering packages for Amazon Prime during the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to make ends meet after golf shut down in response to the global health crisis. Now, she’s playing in her first U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica, having qualified via a 5-hole playoff with Luna Sobron Galmes at Buckinghamshire Golf Club, an experience that’s been a long time coming for the 34-year-old Welshwoman.
“I’ve probably had about four, maybe five goes at it,” Hall said. “This time round, it was a tough day in London at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club. We had three or four holes in our second round and I thought I’d blown it a little bit. But DT, my caddie, was aware of what was happening with the scoring so we stuck in there. Made a really good par save on 16,17 and birdied 18 to actually get into the playoff.”
“I had a good eight-footer, left-to-right putt to win that playoff and get through. Personally, it was really nice to hole something like that to actually earn my spot in and not someone had to make a double or whatever so it was really, really good.”
Growing up in Wales, Hall didn’t get into the game until she was 11, participating in free junior clinics hosted by a local club, and met her swing coach around that same time. She turned professional at 19, forgoing a few collegiate offers to instead pursue her dreams on the Ladies European Tour.
In 15 years as a pro, she’s only had four wins – the 2012 ISPS Handa Ladies British Masters, 2016 Welsh National PGA Championship, 2017 WPGA International Challenge and 2022 TPS Victoria – with the first of those coming at Buckinghamshire Golf Club. But it’s the love of the game that keeps her coming back.
“There’s been many times where I’ve questioned it over the past years just basically down to the financial situation, limited amount of sponsorship in Europe,” explained Hall. “But I’ve got goals, I’ve got ambitions and I’m in a point in my life right now where I’m happy and comfortable in the skin that I have and I just want a lot of success.”
That drive has carried Hall across the pond and to Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club this week, a place that reminds her of Woburn Golf Club in the United Kingdom, an unusual comparison considering the vast difference in climate. While she’s ventured to the United States for a few Epson Tour events and some warm-weather practice during the wintertime, Hall hasn’t played very much golf in the United States, let alone visited the golf mecca that is Pinehurst.
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