The junior golf lesson...

That guaranteed first place.

Before I could even get round to perfecting what I was going to class as the ‘junior golf lesson’, the Saturday of the 54-hole club championship had arrived.

Leela was warming up with her clubs on the range and I joined her just to give her a final game thought before her opening round.

I’m not sure who was more concerned about this competition, Leela or myself. If it was her, then she wasn’t showing it. She looked quite jovial as I watched a few nice warm up shots from her. After a while I asked, as I always do just before she tees off,

“Is there anything I can do for you, sweetheart?”

“Wish me luck!”

I promptly did that and also suggested she enjoy the occasion. I said,

“You know you have done all the hard work with our ‘junior golf lesson’, so just go out there, have great fun and show them all how good you really are.”

I normally do not go to the first tee with her but as she was paired with the 2005 champion and another fancied player, I decided to accompany her.

The other two played first and hit very impressive shots down the middle. It was now Leela’s turn and she went through the junior golf lesson pre-shot routine.

I think I managed to say ten ‘Hail Mary’s’ during these seconds and decided I had made a mistake joining her. Too late, I could not walk away now. Anyway she was now over the ball and had just made that small move that indicated she was about to swing.

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women and ”

… ’THWAACK’ …

The ball was underway and it sounded well struck. In slow motion I turned my head towards the fairway and caught sight of a beautiful long drawing drive, which ended ten yards longer than her opponents.

There were about 15-20 onlookers and there was a special gasp from them all. I do believe they were all nodding in a way that suggested they were witnessing something quite special and Leela and I knew it came from ‘junior golf lesson’.

Off she went and I returned to the pro shop for an agonising 3-4 hours wait but somehow after that drive I knew she would do well.

She finished her morning round with a three shot lead and closed the day with a further two shot advantage after her afternoon round.

This meant she would be heading into the final round on Sunday with a five shot lead in the final group. This was terrific as it was always possible that she would perhaps not even be in contention at this stage.

I had a very restless night because I was well aware how quickly five shots can slip away in a stroke play event. I was glad when day broke and she could get down to it.

'Leela' was her usual self but seemed a little intimidated by the entourage of caddies, onlookers and well-wishers who had gathered for the event.

It was however all too much for me and I joined her again on the third and wished I hadn't when she told me her lead was cut to three after an opening double bogey.

This remained the case for the first nine with her lead staying between three and four shots. I joined her again on the ninth, a long par three with water protecting the front half and right side of the green.

This was a crucial hole and the bravest of us would quite happily accept a bogie here and move on. There were about forty onlookers around the ninth green when 'Leela' stepped up to hit her tee shot. I looked up in disbelief as I saw that her ball sailing directly on the tiger line over the water hazard. It seemed to hang in the air for an age and my eyes had started to scan the water where I thought it may splash.

It was a 165yd carry and was right on her limit with the three wood she had hit. I was hoping that the fundamentals she had learned from junior golf lesson would come to fruition.

Wow! There was a sudden gasp from onlookers as her ball landed on the front of the green and then applause as the ball began to roll towards the pin. This quickly changed to hysterical shouting and screaming as we all realised that the ball looked like it was going in.

It's going to be very close. It's going in. It is in.

The ball rolled dead-weight towards the hole, tickled the right lip, took a long look into the bottom of the cup and finally came to rest one inch behind the hole.

We we all flabbergasted. Its not that often you get to see such a great shot and the spectators were still musing about it when her nearest challenger stepped up to hit her tee shot.

She hit into the treacherous rough that protected the left side of this cruel hole. 'Leela' tapped in for her two and went to the back nine with an eight shot lead.

This was the end of my concerns about her letting it slip. She finished the tournament ten shots clear of the field and became the youngest ever club champion. That was to date my proudest hour and we are both thankful for the wonders that came to unfold using the basics from 'junior golf lesson'.

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