Amy Boulden Photo Credit: Tristan Jones
Getting to know Amy Boulden
We met Amy Boulden from Wales during the LET’s Ladies Italian Open in Perugia and talked about her experiences and goals for the season. Amy turned professional in September last year and earned LET membership for 2014 in category 9b after finishing tied for 34th place at the Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying.
Boulden started the 2014 season in fine style with a win on the LET Access Series at the Association Suisse de Golf Ladies Open in May.
So far this season, the 20 year-old has played in eight LET events with a best finish of tied 3rd at the Sberbank Golf Masters. She is currently ranked second on the Rookie of the Year Rankings. Here we get to know her a little better.
Tell us about your golf experiences since joining the Ladies European Tour.
Since Qualifying School in December, I had a good start of the year, as I won my first event as a professional on the LET Access Tour (LETAS) in Switzerland, in May. I went to Spain at the end of January and spend the whole of February there for practice. I did not play in Australia and New Zealand as it is too expensive for me to go out there. I went to Spain with Lauren Taylor and a couple of players: that was great! We were there for more than four weeks and got ready for the season. It was in “Hacienda del Alamo” in Murcia, and it was great there. The weather was perfect!
Then in March I went to Morocco for the Lalla Meryem Cup, but it was a great week, even though I missed the cut. I really enjoyed that. Then there was a little bit of a break. And my next event was Switzerland, which was the LETAS event that I won. In Turkey I made the cut, finished tied for 39th and got my first LET cheque. I had a good last round and moved up at the leader board.
After Turkey, I played Holland and was doing really well through about 27 holes, until the back nine. I had a terrible back nine; I think I was three under for the tournament and finished eight over for nine holes and missed the cut by two shots. That was disappointing, but I learnt from that and then, we had the US Qualifier at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club, where I won and obviously I got prepared for the US Women’s Open, which was awesome experience. I really enjoyed that… I was a bit disappointed that I missed the cut, as I was playing really well there but I learnt a lot from that week. Then you come to a completely different type of course… and you have to change your game and play a completely different way.
Tell us how you and your game have changed since December.
I think I am learning from all these events with all these good players. I have just turned professional and I am just learning from each round. I definitely need to improve my short game. You learn that when you turn professional… it is a lot different to the amateur game. Everyone’s short game is a lot better. I am hitting the ball a little bit further as I am getting stronger since December. That always helps. I have always been strong mentally, but obviously I am learning from all the experiences at every tournament.
Now we are in the middle of the season, what’s your goal for the year in general?
At the moment, I do not have a full card on the tour, so I am hoping to have full playing rights for next year as I do not want to come back to Q-School again. Just have a few good events and do well.
