For many professional athletes and elite amateurs, the postponement of their seasons has brought anxiety and uncertainty and meant they have spent months at home when they would usually be travelling.
Despite not knowing when their next tournament start might arrive, several of WA’s most successful golfing exports have generously volunteered their time to help mentor our next generation of stars.
Brett Rumford is known for his short game wizardry but there wasn’t a club in sight when he sat down with our HP athletes for a round-table chat about his journey from a local Perth boy to a multiple European Tour winner.
Rumford has battled serious injuries since his most recent win at the 2018 Perth World Super 6 tournament and he discussed how facing adversity on tour has helped him evolve as a golfer.
Rumford gave a fantastic insight into the intense work rate he has developed in pursuit of continuous improvement that is necessary to remain competitive on tour.
The concept of ‘the zone’ is nothing new, but Rumford highlighted the importance of finding a place of focus and determination where peak performance almost becomes second nature. A place he has previously found in his career and is striving to find once again.
It might not have been an intensive on course clinic, but an open conversation was arguably even more valuable to our HP group who left with many great snippets of advice and motivation.
After recording his best year on the European Tour in 2019, Mandurah local, Jason Scrivener gave our HP athletes an incredible insight into the inner workings of professional golf. Scrivener shared stories about his transition from amateur to professional golf and the motivations that pushed him through multiple attempts at attaining his European Tour card.
Like many of us, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on Scrivener’s plans for 2020, but after a short and refreshing break, he is back working and preparing for the second half of 2020.
Just like our HP athletes, Scrivener works closely with his team of service providers from around the world to fine-tune his body, his swing, and his on-course tactics. An advocate for meticulous preparation, Scrivener noted that attention to detail has benefitted his consistency on course and has him poised to claim an elusive maiden tour win.
For most of us, golf is a luxury and a leisure activity but for touring professionals like Scrivener the driving range is their office. Scrivener noted that practice is his ‘9-to-5’ job and he always ensures there’s a goal for each practice session.
After showing our HP Squad some handy swing tips and training drills, he proved his class, striping flush shots down the range swing after swing.
To finish off the afternoon, Scrivener and the Squad competed together in one of his favourite putting drills. Despite having the home ground advantage, Scrivener was pipped by Kirsten Rudgeley who took the win in a testing lag putt drill.
Scrivener has secured an invite the 2020 Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour where he intends to make his return to professional golf from July 16-19 at Muirfield Village.
Faced with an extended drought of tournament golf, our HP athletes are looking for every opportunity to get their competitive juices flowing. What better way to test themselves than 18 holes against recent 2020 Vic Open Champion and former GolfWA HP Athlete, Min Woo Lee.
To make things competitive, the athletes played 18 holes of 4BBB, with Mount Lawley’s Jordan Jung getting the honour of teaming up with Min Woo himself.
On a relatively tame afternoon by Cottesloe standards, Lee bookended his round with eagles on the 1st, 2nd and 18th holes to help guide himself and Jung to victory.
Despite the competition going on, the round was very casual and this gave our HP athletes the chance to chat with Lee and ask questions they may not otherwise have had the chance to ask.
Questions ranged from what life is like on tour, how it feels coming down the stretch at the Vic Open and what he got up to during his 3 months off. Lee gladly shared and interacted in the open and personable manner he is known for and ALSO handed out some advice and tips throughout the round.
GolfWA HP Coordinator Fritz Arnold was thrilled his athletes had the opportunity to learn from three of WA’s leading professional golfers.
“Thanks to Rummy, Scriv and Min for taking time out of their own preparation to mentor and interact with our HP athletes,” Arnold said.
“The experience of listening and experiencing first-hand wisdom and advice from seasoned professional golfers is an invaluable learning opportunity and I’m sure it will help our athletes on their own golfing journeys.”
Further appreciation goes to Wembley Golf Course, Meadow Springs Golf and Country Club and Sea View Golf Club for giving us access to their facilities and allowing these session to happen.
GolfWA’s HP squad look forward to continuing to build mentoring relationships with local professionals in the hope that these elite amateurs can one day emulate the feats of their idols.
