RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

Elliott Heath describes the thrill of playing with the pros at Round 1 of the Aramco Team Series

- Elliott Heath

It’s not very often you get the chance to compete in a professional golf event, so I could hardly believe it when I was offered the opportunity to play in the Aramco Team Series on the Lady's European Tour. This unique tournament made its debut at the Centurion Club in July, with 36 teams of four comprising three professionals and one amateur. The huge $1m purse was split into $800,000 for the team prize and $200,000 for the individual prize.

I was over the moon to find out I would be on Team Hewson with captain Alice Hewson, who only a couple of weeks prior had finished as the leading female at the Scandinavian Mixed. Alice only turned pro at the start of 2020 after attending Clemson University in South Carolina and won her first event at the South African Women’s Open. She also had a glittering amateur career, highlighted by two Curtis Cup appearances and a T10 at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

I did begin to get my hopes up after finding out that my captain was one of Europe’s most promising players. Also on the team was the talented 22-year-old Norwegian Karoline Lund, who went to the same school as Viktor Hovland, and South Africa’s Lejan Lewthwaite, who has three victories on the Sunshine Ladies Tour.

Interestingly, it was Karoline who Alice picked in the draft on a Tuesday evening, despite the two having never met. After doing her homework with her dad, she noticed that Karoline’s birdie average was one of the best on tour in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Surprisingly, she didn’t just pick a mate as a partner, giving a glimpse into her competitive nature.