Alice Hewson wins Ladies’ European Amateur Title at Parkstone
ALICE HEWSON OF BERKHAMSTED – LADIES EUROPEAN AMATEUR CHAMPION 2019 – PHOTO CREDIT LEADERBOARD PHOTOGRAPHY
One of Hertfordshire’s most successful young sportswomen, 21-year old amateur golfer Alice Hewson, is enjoying an amazing year – and it’s just got even better.
2019 continues to be full of first-time achievements for the town’s rising star after she qualified for this week’s AIG Women’s British Open by winning a major European event on Sunday.
Hewson’s victory in last weekend’s 2019 European Ladies’ Amateur Championship at Parkstone Golf Club in Dorset, where she came from seven shots behind the leader to lift the trophy after a play-off, was good enough to earn her a place in the British Open, which is one of global women’s golf’s four ‘major’ events each year.
It will be the first time that Hewson has played in this country’s most prestigious women’s golf event, and she will be one of nine female amateur golfers in the 148-strong AIG Women’s British Open field.
The British Open takes place this year on Woburn’s Marquess golf course, just 40 minutes’ drive from the highly-regarded Berkhamsted Golf Club, rated among England’s Top 100 golf courses, where Hewson has played since she was a junior.
In her first practice round at Woburn yesterday (Tue July 30), Hewson played with the event’s defending champion Georgia Hall, an old teammate from England Golf.
She tees off at 1:27pm tomorrow (Thu 1 Aug) in the first round, paired with American LPGA Tour golfer Tiffany Joh, and English golfer Felicity Johnson.
“It is going to be my first Major, and being so close to home will make it even more special” said Alice Hewson. “I am absolutely thrilled to have won the European Ladies Amateur Championships, and the final day is definitely one I will remember forever.”
In her Instagram feed, Hewson went on to thank her caddy Stephen Smith and her golf coach Rob Watts, as well as her family.
Earlier this year, Hewson became the first Englishwoman to play a competitive tournament round at the ultra-exclusive Augusta National in Georgia, USA, home of The Masters golf tournament, when she qualified to play in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur tournament – and finished a creditable 10th in a field of 72 world-class amateur female golfers.
Alice Hewson first came to the notice of the England team selectors as a ten-year old, and in 2011 she became the England Under-13 Champion. The following year she entered the England Golf regional coaching scheme, while developing her game rapidly as a junior golfer at Berkhamsted, and while a pupil at Berkhamsted School where her mother Michelle is a swimming coach.
Hewson has represented England at senior level several times, and has already represented Great Britain & Ireland twice in The Curtis Cup – which is the female amateur equivalent of the men’s Ryder Cup.
Since 2015 she has been studying at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA, breaking numerous records as a star player on the Clemson Tigers golf team.
Hewson has revealed plans to turn professional later this year, with her sights set on competing on the Ladies European Tour, the LPGA Tour in the USA, and in other events around the world.
A second talented young Berkhamsted golfer, 19-year old Hannah Screen, narrowly missed out on qualifying for this week’s AIG Women’s British Open by just a single shot in the Final Qualifying event this Monday. Screen is also an England International and, like Hewson, has developed her game while on a golf scholarship at university in the USA.
