The rain didn’t seem to matter at all to Annabel Wilson, not on this grey day, with the precipitation leaking downwards to soak the Palmer South course at the K Club.
The 25-year-old Northern Irishwoman discovered light at the end of the tunnel, her solid opening-round 71, one under, showcasing her talent in the KPMG Women’s Irish Open after a season to date which had proven so frustrating.
“I love what I do,” Wilson said, smiling. “It’s been an up and down season. Golf is up and down like that, but I’m still loving what I do.”
Wilson had entered this Irish Open on a run of six missed cuts and one withdrawal in her last seven outings in juggling between the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LET Access Tour schedule.
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But, with former European Tour player Brendan McGovern a recent addition to her team as caddie, and also now working with coach Shane O’Grady, the evidence of turning a corner came with a scorecard of three birdies and two bogeys.
[ ‘Women’s golf is so strong here’: Leona Maguire hopes an Ireland player wins Irish Open ]
It’s a decade ago that Wilson was a fresh-faced 15-year-old who was on an Ireland team – along with Leona Maguire and Olivia Mehaffey – that won a bronze medal in the world amateur team championship at the Espirto Santo Trophy. That was followed by a star-studded collegiate career with UCLA and an amateur career that included reaching the semi-finals of the US Amateur Open and playing Curtis Cup in 2021.
“I’ve had a long career in a way. I’m still young enough, but I was lucky enough to play a lot of international golf at a young age, so it feels like I have been about for a while. Overall, I just love it. I love to play golf. In my head, I wanted to get to the next level and play professionally. I’m fulfilling that in a way, so it’s exciting,” said Wilson, who is attached to Castlerock.
Wilson, with the old head of McGovern on her bag, negotiated her way around the South Course with steadiness.
“Sometimes I like to explore the golf course, but I kept it between the hedges today, which is nice. I hit a lot of good shots and good approach shots, got up and down when I needed to. Again, on the way in, it was just making good decisions because it was tough with all the weather and everything, but we did a really good job,” said Wilson of her solid start that gave her the prospect to make an impact in what is her third Irish Open appearance.
That connection with McGovern – the long-time club professional at Headfort before his retirement last year – came about through coach O’Grady.
Of the impact McGovern has had in a short time working with her, Wilson said: “I could shoot one- or two-over and hit it unbelievable and you’re thinking, ‘What happened there?’. So it’s nice for him to chip in and keep pushing me on, to get up and down whenever I mis-strike it sometimes.
“And having that is very encouraging and it’s helping me because that’s part of it: you need the grit. You need to get a score out of it whenever you’ve got maybe your C-game. You have to play well with whatever you have on the day.”
Such lessons are all part of a learning curve, even for someone who achieved so much so young, and the evidence of the first round was that Wilson was proving to be a quick and diligent learner.
