From Solheim Cup nerves to keeping golf simple and the transformation of the women’s professional game, Dame Laura Davies has plenty to say in this revealing Her Game conversation.
Few players are better placed to judge how far women’s professional golf has travelled than Dame Laura Davies.
She turned professional in 1985, played in the inaugural Solheim Cup five years later and has experienced the game as both one of its most successful players and, more recently, a broadcaster.
In this Her Game conversation, Davies looks back at that career — but some of the most interesting moments come when she compares the golf she knew with the game today’s leading players experience.
Asked how much women’s golf has changed, her answer is unequivocal: “It’s beyond recognition really.”
Davies remembers the early days of touring when prize money was poor, players travelled together and tournament infrastructure could be rudimentary. Today’s professionals, she says, are playing for far greater prize funds on excellent courses with the support and infrastructure their status deserves.
“The way the girls have it now is exactly how it should be,” she says. “They’re top professionals and they put the time and effort in and they deserve what they’re getting.”
Keeping golf simple
There is an equally interesting section on Davies’ own approach to the game.
She never had a coach and describes herself as a natural player who preferred competing and playing golf to spending hours on the range.
“I think I kept everything very simple,” she explains, comparing that approach with Charley Hull’s preference for playing rather than becoming consumed by technical detail.
For Davies, enjoyment was central to her longevity. She played more than 30 tournaments a year because she loved competing and believes finding an approach that worked for her helped extend her career.
It’s a particularly interesting perspective at a time when players have access to vastly more data, technology and technical information than Davies did at the height of her career.
Why the Solheim Cup still matters
The Solheim Cup inevitably runs through the conversation.
Davies played in the first contest in 1990 and watched it develop from an event the European players called “our Ryder Cup” into what she now describes as an “absolute juggernaut”.
And experience never removed the nerves.
“The nerves were still there to the very last one,” she says, arguing that being nervous is part of performing when something really matters.
Despite all her individual success, Davies says some of the greatest memories of her career came from the Solheim Cup.
The full conversation also covers the current generation of English players, her move into broadcasting, life after competitive golf and what she would still like to see change in the women’s professional game.
And, away from tournament golf, there’s a reminder of the game’s enduring appeal. Davies may no longer enjoy playing competitively, but she still loves golf — and talks happily about heading to her local club for a game with three friends from her village.
Watch the full Her Game conversation with Dame Laura Davies below.
READ MORE: 50 years of the AIG Women’s Open: Laura Davies reflects on a championship that changed everything
