Olivia Mehaffey had a good start to the 2024 Ladies European Tour (LET) shooting a round of 70 (-3) on the first day of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
The Northern Irishwoman returned to the LET in 2023 after taking six months off the previous year following her father’s death in 2021.
But it was a year of inconsistency for the 26-year-old, who had the highs of leading the Amundi German Masters and finishing in T3 in Finland, but also missed 10 cuts.
With the 2024 season underway, consistency is the key this year for Mehaffey as she feels she is finally in a good place on and off the golf course.
“I felt last year coming back on Tour, it was a bit of a rebuild to be honest,” she said. “I still felt like I was a bit all over place with everything.
“I was just trying to survive and get through playing golf and I had to put a lot of things in place to just get around the golf course. Now, I’m in a good place off the course and a good place on the course.
“I had a sit-down meeting with my coaches at the end of the season and we put together a plan and I think we’ve stuck pretty well to that, and I have a very good team around me. It’s been very consistent, and I told them I just want to keep things simple and consistent, and I think we’ve done a good job of that.
“It was inconsistent for sure, there was a third-place finish and leading in Germany and a lot of missed cuts as well. It was very inconsistent and when I was at my best as an amateur, I didn’t have that, so we’re trying to train consistently and do everything consistently and hopefully, that will provide some more consistent results.”
Mehaffey began her season with a round of 70 (-3) around the challenging Baobab Course at Vipingo Ridge.
The ASU graduate had four birdies and one bogey on her scorecard to sit in a share of fourth place on three-under-par.
But the Northern Ireland native was pleased with her start and is hoping that she can put everything she has learned in the past three years to good use.
She explained: “It was pretty windy out there, I played here last year so I knew the scores aren’t that good. It’s a tough golf course, it’s pretty demanding off the tee and then the wind. Today, it got a little bit swirly at the end, so it was definitely challenging.
“It’s been three years of really tough times, no doubt about that. I didn’t really have that when I was an amateur, it just felt like everything went and fell into place. It’s been tough and a long learning curve and I feel like I’m a tougher person, I’m in a better place and I’ve learned a lot. For the rest of my career, I hope that experience will stand by me.”
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