THE LET’s Meghan MacLaren has backed ground-breaking plans to stage the English Men’s and Women’s Amateur Championships simultaneously at Woodhall Spa in July.

The 25-year-old, who came through the England ranks as an amateur, has called for greater equality in prize money in the pro ranks.

She believes England Golf’s plan is another innovative step forward for golf.

McLaren went close to the first European Tour event that saw LET players compete head to head with Challenge and Staysure Tour members just over a year ago in the Jordan Mixed Open.

Dutchman Daan Huizing with the Jordan Mixed Open trophy. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

Having won the Women’s New South Wales Open for the second year in a row in March 2019, she finished second behind Daan Huizing, the winner of the St Andrews Links and Lytham Trophy as an amateur, in 2012, a month later.

Golf Foundation ambassador McLaren became the latest golfer to give up time to impart her knowledge of the game to England Golf’s national squads via an online Q&A session.

MacLaren looked back fondly on her amateur career with England and her time at Florida International University, where she won eight times.

In 2016, MacLaren was crowned European champion with England’s women’s amateur team  – the same year she helped GB&I to win the Curtis Cup.

MacLaren won LET Access Series

Meghan earned her tour card on the Ladies European Tour after winning the LET Access Series Order of Merit in 2017, having also won the last event of the 2016 season having turned pro in the autumn.

As a pro, MacLaren has won twice on the LET and has earned praise for her thought-provoking blogs about life on tour and her championing of the women’s game.

England Golf’s announcement last week that the staging of both the men’s and women’s amateur championship had been provisionally re-scheduled for the last week in July at the same venue has created a buzz.

MacLaren has been a strong advocate of equality in the game and hopes the coronavirus situation has eased by then to allow the events to take place side-by-side as planned.

“It might only be because of circumstances, but it’s a brilliant opportunity to see how it works going forward,” admitted the Wellingboro GC member, whose father is head of the Staysure Tour.

“There are a couple of events like that on the pro circuit – the Vic Open in Australia is the main one. It’s two separate events for men and women, but staged at the same time.

“I think it’s cool that it could be considered normal,” said Meghan, who has been brought up in a golfing family that cares passionately about the game at all levels.

“Men’s and women’s golf is different, but it doesn’t have to be different in terms of opportunities or prize funds at the pro level, or levels of talent.

“It’s just golf being played by different genders – and the earlier that becomes normal the better it is for the game as a whole,” she added.

Wellingboro Golf Club’s Meghan MacLaren – 2019 New South Wales Open champion after successfully defending her title. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

Curtis Cup winner opens up about life on tour

MacLAREN’S talk with the class of 2020 provided more than an hour’s worth of insight into her career, her development and her hopes for the future.

As with previous guests, Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick, the questions flooded in and MacLaren was only too happy to give a little back to the organisation that gave her so much in her amateur career.

The former Wee Wonders winner added: “All the squads are in great hands with the coaches at their disposal.

“But sometimes it’s different to hear things from a player who has previously been in squads.

“A player might go through the emotion of not being picked for a team – or not knowing if they are good enough to get on tour – or not knowing how they stand in relation to the best players in the world.

“It can even be something as simple as being told it’s ok not to practice for a couple of days if you’re working on mental or physical things.

“Now this seems to me like common sense, but when I look back there was a lot that I didn’t know.

“I questioned a lot of things, but I didn’t really know where to find the answers.”

Wee Wonders ace still keeps tabs on amateur game

MacLaren still keeps tabs on the amateur game and in January caught up with Yorkshire’s Charlotte Heath in Australia.

Heath had qualified for the Vic Open after winning the Australian Women’s Amateur, and the English contingent of Felicity Johnson, from the Midlands, Hertfordshire’s Hannah Burke, MacLaren and Heath enjoyed a rare photo opportunity.

“We were all on the putting green one day and it was cool to see different groups from England Golf coming together at an event like that,” said MacLaren.

“Charlotte did really well – I think out of the four of us she was the only one that made the cut. We had to learn from her.

“I still look at the amateur ranks and while I don’t know someone like Lily May Humphreys, I’ve seen how successful she has been and it’s intriguing for me to see what happens next.

“I loved my England days and still miss the input of being in a team environment – talking to coaches, players and practising together.

“You gain a lot from that and you only realise how much when it’s not there.”

• Masters Champion Danny Willett, the 2017 European No. 1 Tommy Fleetwood, Ryder Cup player Chris Wood and Solheim Cup stars Mel Reid and Bronte Law have all volunteered to pass on their wit, wisdom and experience to England squad members in online webinars over the coming weeks.

R-L: Ex-England amateurs Felicity Johnson, Hannah Burke, Meghan MacLaren and Australian Women’s Amateur winner Charlotte Heath, from Yorkshire, at the Vic Open in February

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Meghan MacLaren in action at last week’s Australian Ladies Masters at Bonville Golf Resort. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

MEGHAN MacLaren is looking to join some exclusive company in the Women’s NSW Open at Dubbo Golf Club.

In her lifetime, only three players have won the same Ladies European Tour event three times in a row.

Karrie Webb did it at the ANZ Ladies Masters. Annika Sorenstam did it in the Swedish Open and Shanshan Feng won three in a row at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, from 2014-16.

Northamptonshire’s MacLaren will get the chance this week – and with the distinction of it being on a third different golf course.

She won her first LET title at Coffs Harbour Golf Club in 2018 and defended the title last year at Queanbeyan Golf Club – as the only player to record four sub-par rounds, to win her second title.

MacLaren doesn’t expect it to get any easier at Dubbo, but feels her accuracy off the tee could be an advantage on the tight, tree-lined fairways.

“I think that everyone’s fairway stats might take a dip this week, but from what I’ve seen, it suits the strengths of my game,” said the 25-year-old from Wellingboro, who finished tied for 24th in last week’s Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville.

MacLaren added: “You need to hit it on as many fairways as you can because it’s so narrow. If you can put it in position, then you’ll be ahead of the game, I think.

“I played well last week, apart from in the last round. I saw some signs in the first three rounds that I’ve been looking for since I came out to Australia and I feel in a pretty good place now.

“I trust in my game and I trust what I’m doing. I feel like my putting has turned a corner and I got a new putter just over a week ago.”

“As a golfer, you have to treat it as just another golf tournament and prepare as well as you can to bring your best golf.

“There probably won’t be too many times in my career that I’ll have a chance to go for three in a row. So I’m just going to enjoy it and see what happens.”

Australian Ladies Classic winner Stephanie Kyriacou has turned pro after her eight-shot win at Bonville Golf Resort on Sunday. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

Kyriacou turns pro after victory

TEEN star Steph Kyriacou has turned professional and joined the Ladies European Tour ahead of this week’s Women’s New South Wales Open at Dubbo Golf Club.

The 19-year-old from Sydney earned a two-year exemption on the LET with her stunning victory in the Geoff King Motors Australian Ladies Classic at Bonville Golf Resort, on Sunday.

Kyriacou blitzed the field to win by eight strokes. She has since climbed 547 spots on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, moving up to No. 287, which gives her additional confidence heading into this week’s event.

“I’m so happy to announce that I’m turning professional,” said Kyriacou, whose father Nick was on the bag for her big win – and who has guided her through the tough decisions that were made on Monday as the enormity of the victory sank in.

“I’ll be playing my first event as a pro this week in Dubbo, so it’s very exciting,” added Kyriacou.

“It’s been very, very crazy. I’ve had so many messages and missed phone calls. I’ve had emails from I don’t even know whom.

“I’ve had all these big decisions to make and everything has happened so quickly.

“It wasn’t a hard decision to make. I did weigh up all the options but I was hoping to turn pro at the end of the year anyway – and this has opened up a few more doors and moved the goal post a bit.”

•To follow live scoring in the Women’s New South Wales Open click here.

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Wellingborough’s Meghan Maclaren with the New South Wales Women’s Open trophy after her three-shot win at Queanbeyan Golf Club. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

ENGLAND’S Meghan MacLaren  claimed the Worrells New South Wales Women’s Open for the second successive year after an impressive final round of 69 gave her a three-stroke victory at Queanbeyan Golf Club.

MacLaren was the only player in the field to shoot four rounds under par and finished on 12-under – three ahead of New Zealand’s Munchin Keh and Swede Lynn Carlsson.

Tied for the lead with Carlsson entering the last day, MacLaren twice lost her lead during the final round and it was a tense finish.

But the 24-year-old from Rushden, in Northamptonshire, finished eagle, par, birdie, under intense pressure to close out her second Ladies European Tour title in temperatures of 30 degrees Centigrade.

Whereas MacLaren saved her best until last, unfortunately Keh saved her worst.

Six-under par for the day and in possession of a two-stroke lead after making her own eagle on the 16^th, the diminutive 26-year-old collapsed with a double-bogey six on the last hole to hand MacLaren a two-stroke advantage.

Keh, who had not made a bogey all day, hit her tee shot right on 18 and tried to play a punch cut under the tree.

But the Aucklander ended up hitting the trunk and her ball ricocheted onto the adjacent eighth hole, from where she chipped back onto the 18^th fairway, played her next shot onto the green and then missed an eight footer for bogey.

MacLaren, who held a one-stroke lead after going to the turn in level par with two bogeys and two birdies on her front nine, had lost her advantage after finding trouble in the trees on the 13th.

But she conjured a piece of magic on the par-five 16^th hole.

Knowing that she was two behind, she played a brave three-wood shot over the trees from 206-yards to the pin and rolled in an eagle putt from six feet to draw level.

After making a par on 17, she then played a perfect eight-iron to the heart of the 18^th green and rolled in a 12-footer for birdie.

Maclaren salutes her win on the 18th after holding off Sweden’s Lynn Carlsson and Kiwi Munchin Keh. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

“I wish I could play all of my golf in New South Wales,” said MacLaren, who won the title by two at Coffs Harbour last year.

“It’s a bit of a weird one, because it’s not at the same course, so it almost doesn’t feel like the same tournament. It must be something about Australia and coming to the end of the whole trip.

“It was pretty gritty out there for a long time and quite nerve-wracking.

“As much as you want it to be like the last few days and all controlled and straight forward, it just wasn’t like that.

“I had to hang in there and even though I dropped a couple of shots, I knew that things were going to be close and nobody was running away with it and I just hoped for a moment of magic somewhere and it happened.

“It’s funny, I had almost the same shot yesterday where I had to hit a 30, 40 yard cut with a three-wood around the trees and I pulled it off yesterday, so I thought, ‘I know I’ve done it; I know I need something.’

“I knew the lead had gone to 11-under at that point, so I was chasing and as soon as I hit it, I hoped that it would be right and it was.”

“Last year was my first win and that was a big deal and I don’t think anything can compare to that.

“You don’t want to be a one-win wonder. There was a bit more pressure this week, so to come through that feels amazing.

“The lead got to 11-under, so I needed something at that point and I found it, so it’s always going to be special for me.”

MacLaren is showered with champagne on the 18th green at Queanbeyan Golf Club. Picture by TRISTAN JONES

As for the winning celebrations, the Wellingborough Golf Club member said her flight to South Africa meant they would have to be quick.

Meghan, who rose to fame via the HSBC Wee Wonders programme and after a successful amateur career, added: “I have a three-hour drive back to Sydney.

“I think one of the girls will be sneaking in a bottle of champagne, for the ride.”

After lifting the trophy, MacLaren headed straight to Cape Town for the next LET tournament – the Investec Women’s South African Open, which gets under way at Westlake Golf Club, on Thursday.

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