England's Holly Clyburn has always shown great strength of character and that will no doubt continue to put her in good stead for future success.
By Lewine Mair
England’s Holly Clyburn has always shown great strength of character throughout her amateur and now professional career that will no doubt continue to put her in good stead for future success.
Holly Clyburn is upsides with Women & Golf in having graced the golfing planet for 25 years. This feisty blonde was born on 7 February 1991 and started hitting balls at the age of six when her father took her to a local driving range. She had a first lesson when she was 13 and, since then, she has poured her all into becoming the best golfer she can be.
A two-time Curtis Cup player, Holly qualified for the Ladies European Tour at the end of 2012 and went on to win the Deloitte Ladies Open in the Netherlands in her first season. Today, she is on the next step of her golfing journey as she divides her time between the LET and LPGA tours.
It all sounds wonderfully straightforward when the truth is that the player has survived not a few storms - and shown us what she is made of in the process. In the literal sense, she stepped up to the plate in the vilest of conditions on the final afternoon of the ’12 Ricoh Women’s British Open at Hoylake.
That day, a deputation of LPGA professionals hammered on the door of the LGU’s cabin to complain about officialdom’s handling of events. Holly, though, did not contemplate going down the ‘blame everyone else” route. After her chances of beating Lydia Ko (this was for the amateurs’ Smyth Trophy) had evaporated over the first nine holes, she told her father that she would be playing for pride on the way home. Which is precisely what she did, reeling off a series of birdies to finish only two to Ko’s rear.
In the metaphorical sense, it is worth considering a couple of incidents Holly has had to withstand since she turned professional ...
First, there was that occasion in 2014 when she opened with a 71 in the LPGA’s Qualifying School and was promisingly placed to win her player’s card. Not unlike that terrible day when Mark Roe exited the 2011 Open at Royal St George’s after his playing companion had filled in his figures on the wrong scorecard, Holly found herself being disqualified. Her playing companion, who had been arguing with a volunteer over how many shots she had had on a particular hole, had marched off without signing Holly’s card. By the time it was noticed, it was too late and the initials DQ went up beside Holly’s name.
Holly, who was only a whisker away from making last year’s European Solheim Cup side, returned to the school in 2015 and duly secured her LPGA card. Then, by way of confirming that she fully deserved it, she shared the halfway lead with the aforementioned Catriona Matthew in the LPGA-sanctioned Australian Open before notching a top 20 finish in the LPGA’s Kia Classic. In between, she came in second behind Ko at the RACV Australian Open.
In her early amateur days, Holly had come across as a player who had more advantages than most. For instance, while her peers wintered at home, she was able to base herself in the family’s holiday home in Spain.
However, after being on the beaten side in the 2010 Curtis Cup, she realised that talent and environment did not in themselves make for success. If she wanted to get to the top, she would have to work a deal harder than everyone else. In so doing, she set a glorious example to her younger sister, India, who won herself a golf scholarship to the University of North Carolina after presenting a CV which included an extraordinary 14-shot win in the 2014 Scottish Under 21 championship.
Credit- Getty Images
The above is an extract from the July/August 2016 issue of Women & Golf magazine, on sale this week. Never miss an issue click here to subscribe and enjoy W&G delivered to your door.
