Nobuhle Dlamini Photo Credit: Tristan Jones
Getting to know Nobuhle Dlamini
We met Nobuhle Dlamini, our rookie from Swaziland, who turned professional in January 2014 and is a long driver, with an average drive of 268 yards. Nobuhle earned LET membership in category 8a for this year when she finished tied for 4th at the Lalla Aicha Tour School Final Qualifying. We discussed her experiences on tour so far.
Tell us about your journey so far on the Ladies European Tour.
I went back home after Morocco and started to practice hard. I come from Swaziland, so home is in Swaziland but I actually practice and stay in South Africa where I studied. I normally practice in Glendower Golf Club, near Johannesburg. The Ladies Sunshine Tour started from February up until April and I played around six tournaments there. It was great experience, great practice and I did a lot of preparation for Europe.
How did you first tournament go?
Morocco, the Lalla Meryem Cup, was my first event. The first two days I played well, it was my first event on tour as professional, but in the end I realized that there were a lot of things to learn. I had great playing partners, hospitality was great and I just loved everyone there and enjoyed being professional. After Morocco, I went back home and played some Sunshine events and then rest of the LET events, Turkey, Holland, Slovakia, Italy, England, Germany, Czech Republic.
Tell us about your game and how it has changed since beginning of the year.
I have made a few changes on my swing and struggled a little bit, but now I am getting better and I am feeling much more comfortable. I have been also working on my long game as I have been hitting lots of sideways, I hit it quite long. I was struggling with the irons as I did not hit many fairways. The main problem has been my driving accuracy. Putting is not too bad, but when it is under stress, it gets a little worse.
Tell us about your travel experiences.
It is been a lot different from what I have been used to. When the tournaments are so close to one another, you have to come up with other plans. Everything is a little bit more complicated as taking visas takes a long time. Sometimes, if there is something missing, you have to communicate with someone from the office. The LET has been good to me.
I will go home the 29th July, once all tournaments are over. I miss home, but it is not that hard. I have a lot of friends and I normally travel with Nicole Garcia. Well, you know, life in Europe is completely different from South Africa. I am enjoying it! If you need a taxi, you take it, but it is sometimes expensive. In the majority of cases you can take a shuttle bus organised by the tour and that’s great!
What are your plans for the rest of the summer?
In August I will go back home and spend more time with my coach and do all the stuff that I can’t do when I am on tour.
What are your goals for this year?
My goal is to improve my stroke average and get it to 71. If I can do that, I will be happy.
