Golf: Rachel Goodall lands lead role at 17 after county title win

May 13 2008 by Harold Brough, Liverpool Daily Post

TEENAGER Rachael Goodall has scaled new heights in winning the Cheshire County Ladies Championship.

She will now captain the county team in its bid to win the Northern County title on the way to the England finals.

“All the way through I did feel I was under control,” she says. “I was just playing steady golf, making no mistakes, and I was making the putts as well.”

Goodall, a member at Heswall and, at 17, still only a county junior, came though the strokeplay qualifying rounds as one of the top qualifiers and then the matchplay knockout stage at Sandiway to meet Natalie Lowe from Prestbury in a keenly-fought final, finally settled at the first extra hole.

She says: “I was quite nervous against Natalie. It was my first final and I did not know what to expect. I was just playing one shot at a time.

“I was 2-up around the halfway stage and then she won a couple of holes, made a few good birdie putts.

“I was one down going down the 18th and I won that to make us level. There was quite a big crowd watching. But then I do like people watching. It helps me concentrate better. But I was quite nervous going down the 19th.

“We were playing into quite a strong wind. We both hit the fairway on the par four. I hit my approach shot, a four iron to within about 15 feet.

“Natalie caught her second shot a bit heavy and she had a longer approach to the flag and finished with a five. I had a four.

“It was the biggest moment of my career, my biggest win.

“It was also the biggest pressure moment, too. But Alan Thompson (the professional at Heswall and one of her coaches) has helped me cope with pressure, with what has been my weakness when the pressure mounts.

“When there is pressure like that I sometimes hit the putts too aggressively. I do have to fight against that, make sure I do not hit the putts too hard.”

Her county colleague Natasha Podmore, back home this season from her golf scholarship in America and named in the team to challenge for northern honours this season, won the Cheshire championship at the age of 16, one of three championship wins.

But Goodall is also among the youngest players to win the championship in its 100-year history.

She hit her first golf balls when she went with her father Dave for his session at the Moreton Hill Driving Range and asked him if she could “have a go.”

She was aged about four and while she does not remember the visits, she recalls going for trials organised by Cheshire Girls at Warrington when she was aged eight. Her ability was immediately apparent and she was accepted for coaching and advised to join a golf club.

But despite her talent she found that at most clubs she was regarded as too young, that she would have to wait until she was 12. The progressive-thinking, welcoming exception was Wirral Ladies. She joined there.

She used to swim, for Wallasey, but she has not been involved in others sports. “I’m no good at other sports,” she says modestly.

She has put her effort and commitment into golf.

She has been part of the Cheshire Girls scene since eight, became an established player with the girls and last year made her debut for Cheshire Ladies.

Her England career has been developing too. She played for England Girls against England Boys under-18s two years ago and won her match and last year she was part of the England Girls party selected to go to Spain for training sessions.

Last year she became a member of the select squad for England Girls. Now she is between squads, out of the select girls but not in the elite squad. This might seem like a drawback but it seems to have worked to her advantage and it is a key factor in her success this season.

She has been given extra cash by the English Women’s Golf Association for her own coaching. She has been coached by Alan Thompson, who works particularly on her long game, for two years. In addition she has coaching sessions Steve Robinson from Yorkshire who helps her with her short game and she was looking forward to her first lessons with another coach who will give her playing lessons, which will include course management.

The arrangement gives her one-to-one tuition with her coaches instead of group sessions and she says: “This is the first year I have been between squads with this funding and one-to-one is very beneficial. It has improved my game a lot. I am very pleased with my game.”

Her golf handicap is two.

She is in the sixth form at Weatherhead in Wallasey studying psychology, history, business and biology. She practises golf every day after school and at weekends and exercises with gym equipment at home. She will play more national tournaments including English Girls, the English Ladies Strokeplay, the Northern Girls and the Northern Ladies. After the championship she was the first name on the list when the county selectors named the team for Northern Counties week, at Arcot Hall, Northumberland next month.

Together with Natalie Lowe she is making her debut in Northern Counties week. She is also the youngest member of the squad and, as captain, will lead the team in the bid to win the Northern Counties Championship for the first time since 2003.

She works on her game seven days a week.

“I am trying to improve my game all round, just make everything a bit better,” she says. “I am going to see how things go this year. If I have a good year, then after A-levels I will have a gap year, play golf, and see how that goes.”

She wants to become a professional playing tournaments.

In addition to the championship, together with her Heswall club colleague, professional Sandeep Grewal, she has won one of the most prestigious trophies in the Liverpool Alliance, the Nelson Cup, a mixed greensomes played this year at Wirral Ladies.

“Yes the season has got off to a good start,” she says.

The Cheshire squad for Northern Counties week is: Rachael Goodall, Olivia Briggs (Delamere), Kate Whitmore (Sandiway), Gina Brown (Mere), Natalie Lowe, Laura Jones (Royal Liverpool), Natasha Podmore and Charlotte Wild, county girls champion (Mere).

MATCHPLAY RESULTS: K Whitmore (Sandiway) bt C McLachlan (Withington) 3&2; N Cowley (Crewe) bt C Rawthorne (Sale) 3&1; R Goodall bt M Weaver (Mere) 1-up; S Farrar (Sandiway) bt B Laird (Sandiway) 1-up; O Briggs (Delamere) bt G Brown (Mere) 19th; N Lowe (Prestbury) bt L Thomas (Didsbury) 4&2; C Fry (Royal Liverpool) bt C Wild (Mere) 3&2; C Lawton (Prestbury) bt J Roper (Portal) 7&5.

Quarter finals: K Whitmore bt N Cowley 5&4; R Goodall bt S Farrar 5&4; N Lowe bt O Briggs 1-up; C Lawton bt C Fry 19th.

Semi-finals: R Goodall bt K Whitmore 2&1; N Lowe bt C Lawton 19th.

Final: R Goodall bt N Lowe 19th.

Sir William Bailey Trophy (Players eliminated in first matchplay round): K Rawthore bt L Thomas.