Louise Duncan no longer 'feeling out of place' in Women's Scottish Open

“Playing in the Women’s Scottish Open last year was exciting, but, at the same time, I remember feeling nervous,” she admitted, which, in fairness, was hardly surprising as very few players get such an opportunity on their doorstep and also across the fence from Kilmarnock (Barassie), where she landed her Women’s Amateur win. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have my best stuff that week, but it was still a great experience and a good one to start off with in my professional career.”

The 23-year-old is halfway through her first full season in the paid ranks, having secured a card for the Ladies European Tour at the circuit’s Qualifying School in Spain towards the end of last year. She’s flying the Saltire in this week’s $2 million LET/LPGA co-sanctioned event along with Gemma Dryburgh, Laura Beveridge, Michele Thomson, Kylie Henry, Pamela Pretswell Asher and Heather MacRae. Both Duncan and MacRae are playing through invitations handed out by long-term tournament supporter VisitScotland.

“I wasn’t going to get in this week through ranking, so the invitation was greatly appreciated and I definitely feel a bit more comfortable than last year, when I felt a little bit out of place and didn’t know what to expect. This year I feel I do know how to go about it and also what to expect,” said Duncan, who, as has been the case in most of her big assignments so far, has Dean Robertson, her mentor from a spell at Stirling University, on the bag.

He’s a calming influence and Duncan reckons that’s exactly what she needs. “I just need to be a wee bit kinder to myself on the golf course,” she said, laughing, in reply to being asked what she’d learned most in her time so far as a tour professional. “I can be quite hard on myself and it doesn’t help anything at the end of the day. If you hit a bad shot, you just need to move on from it and rather than making a triple just try and make a bogey.”

Has she always been like that? “Yes and no,” she said. “I go through spells, but more so the past few weeks I’ve been hard on myself and it just doesn’t help. I’ve just got to go out and enjoy it and being in front of home crowds this week will certainly be nice. It’s a huge event this week.”

Her best effort so far this season was a tie for seventh in the individual segment of an Aramco Team Series event at Trump International in Florida. “That was probably the highlight of my season so far,” she admitted. “It was a really tough course. I’d never played in Florida before. It was different grass to what I am used to, the greens were firm and I just played solid. I never got it done the last day, but it was nice to know that I could be in contention against some top-ranked players.”

As Bob MacIntyre showed when it took a brilliant birdie-birdie finish from Rory McIlroy to deny the Oban man in last month’s Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. “Yeah, that was tough to watch, but it was some effort,” said Duncan of her Bounce Sport stablemate having the title snatched from him after he’d produced a wonder shot to birdie the 72nd hole at the East Lothian venue. “Bob’s definitely an inspiration and so is Gemma. It’s great seeing any Scottish player doing well and it definitely gives everyone else a boost when that’s the case. Gemma is on an upward trend just now and that’s nice to see. I’ve never played with her before, but it’s great to see good people get rewarded with good play.”

Duncan moved into a new house in Stirling with her husband-to-be, Jordan Hughes, last week, but her base for this week is back in West Kilbride. “It’s definitely nice to sleep in my own bed and it’s a lot comfier than the one up in Stirling. I don’t know what my mum has done to it since I left home, but it’s nice and comfy,” she said, smiling. “No wedding plans at the moment, but that’s maybe next on the list.”

In an event featuring eight of the world’s top 12 and boasting a new title sponsor in Hong Kong-based tech company Freed Group, Japan’s Ayaka Furue is back to defend the title she secured with a stunning ten-under-par 62 in the closing circuit 12 months ago. ”By playing a practice round today, I realised that is a very, very great score on this course,” she confessed.

Frenchwoman Ceiline Boutier, who finished second on that occasion, tees up this time as the game’ newest major champion after her win last weekend in the Amundi Evian Championship. “Yeah, that would be unbelievable,” said Bouiter of what potentially riding on the crest of a wave to also come out top on Scottish soil would mean.