It always made sense to enjoy the home success of Charley Hull while it lasted. No golfer displaying as much promise as the young Englishwoman could resist the lure of the United States for long.
Part of Hull’s appeal has been her enjoyment of normal life. She has been anxious not to miss out on the teenage fun enjoyed by her friends, valuing those times just as much as the holing of winning putts. The riches of the LPGA Tour could wait.
Hull, now 19, is in the midst of a cross-Atlantic switch. She earned her full exemption on the LPGA Tour within only five 2015 tournaments, meaning she will feature there with increasing regularity. By next year Hull will spend two to three weeks at a time in the US while keeping her English base and returning to the Ladies European Tour events which have either treated her well or formed a backdrop to victory.
Sad as this may seem for the women’s game in Europe, it is a natural progression for last year’s Order of Merit winner. “It is still a balance for me,” Hull says. “I definitely still want to enjoy my time off. I want to enjoy being home, I want to enjoy seeing my friends, all alongside working hard. This just seems like a natural time to play in America.
“I have been really happy with this season already. To get that full card after five events was very pleasing but I still want to win a lot of tournaments. That is what I am out here to do.”
Hull takes her wider responsibilities seriously. She is at the forefront of the #ThisGirlGolfs campaign, a scheme created by Sports Publications in conjunction with the golf unions of Scotland and England. The message is simple: despite falling participation numbers, a new and exciting batch of female professionals exists on these shores. Hull is at the forefront.
The challenge, though, is obvious. In Britain women account for only 12% of golfing participation rates among adults. More than 50% of men reported in a recent survey that their sons play golf, compared with 12% in respect of daughters.
Just over 50% of the English population are female yet women make up only 13% of the country’s golfers. Germany can claim 38% of their golfers are women, France 28% and Sweden 29%. On average there are only 70 female members at English clubs, or 15%, from which only one in 25 is a junior. The potential value of Hull and her contemporaries, therefore, is huge.
“It is still difficult to encourage girls to play. That’s why we need as much help as possible,” Hull says. “There has been an image of an old men’s sport. There still is a bit, I think, but that’s changing. Without encouragement I would never have picked up a club; I loved it right away.”
The gap on Hull’s already illustrious CV comes in the form of a major championship. She will seek to remedy that when the Women’s British Open gets under way at Turnberry this week. Hull’s best placing in that event was a tie for 12th last year at Royal Birkdale.
“I would love to win one, of course I would,” she says. “I might not have done that yet but I feel like I have played pretty well in all of them.”
Hull’s Turnberry experience is a nod to how long she has enjoyed golfing success. “I played there three or four months ago in a media day but, before that, the only time I had been there was when I was nine,” she says.
“I can’t remember much; it was windy, it was wet. It was the Health Perception Championship of Great Britain and Ireland. It was an adults competition, I qualified for that at Turnberry, then I won there.” And the winning score? “I honestly can’t remember. I was very young.”
A glance back to 2005 reveals Hull won a sudden-death play-off in “persistent, driving wind and rain” having accumulated 28 Stableford points. Her prize was a pro-am spot in the following year’s Women’s British Open. On Sunday Hull hopes far more lies in wait.
She insists her learning continues apace. “I need to learn to be more patient and I think my swing needs to be a lot smoother. Both of these things would help me,” she says.
“I have played well in majors but have tended to throw in bad third rounds that have cost me. I think a lot of that is down to impatience, so it is something I need to work on.”
Hull clearly will not have things all her own way at Turnberry. Lydia Ko, Paula Creamer, Stacy Lewis and the defending champion, Mo Martin, are in the field. Michelle Wie is seeking to kick-start what has been an injury-plagued season while Inbee Park has a motivation of her own – to claim the fourth stage of a potential career grand slam. The shortage of links events in the women’s game makes forecasts tricky. Hull’s star attraction, though, is guaranteed.
