GAILES, SCOTLAND | Georgia Hall, who won the major now known as the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018, has added a new member to her team. It’s a baby called Conor. He was born on 3rd February and was in the hands of his father, Paul Dunne, at last week’s Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
For Hall to repeat her title at Lytham this week is maybe a bit of a tall order. In the nearly six months since Conor’s arrival, she has been somewhat surprised at the different ways a new baby can affect its mother. Though Catriona Matthew won the same title at Lytham in 2009 only 11 weeks after giving birth to her second child, Hall needed rather longer to get up to speed.
“I’m not running as fast as I used to,” she complained, only then she prided herself on the length of her tee shots. “My first shots back – and this was when I was starting to play in the odd warm-up event in May – went as far as they’ve ever done.”
Certainly, they are long enough to impress Anna Nordqvist, the captain of this September’s European Solheim Cup side, who will be naming her four wild-card picks on 3rd August. (Hall’s opening 82 at Dundonald included a 10 at the par-5 14th which had a bit of everything, including a lost ball and a provisional which landed in a bush, though there was a step in the right direction with a second-round 76.)
Hall and Dunne, who are getting married in December, started planning who would do what if they had a baby long before Conor was on his way. It did not take long for Paul to offer to look after the infant while Georgia proceeded with her golf.
“The mental side of the game is where Paul comes in so handy. He gives me advice if I’m in two minds as to how to handle an awkward chip, and he’s very good at reminding me that you have to accept that you’re going to be nervous from time to time.”
Georgia Hall
Though, as golfers, they are as talented as each other, the arrangement made sense. As an amateur, Ireland’s Dunne made history when, in 2015, he shared the lead going into the final round of the Open at St Andrews before finishing tied 30th. He went on to win the 2017 British Masters at Close House as a professional, but that was the beginning of the end because he had a persistent problem with his right wrist and hand. All because of overuse.
“He’s never talked much about what he did at St Andrews,” said Hall, “but he’s always been supportive when it comes to my career. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Dunne isn’t her coach, because Hall’s father, Wayne, taught her until after she had won at Lytham, and Robert Rock, who won twice on the DP World Tour, took over soon after. “The mental side of the game is where Paul comes in so handy,” said Hall. “He gives me advice if I’m in two minds as to how to handle an awkward chip, and he’s very good at reminding me that you have to accept that you’re going to be nervous from time to time.”
Not that she was when she won at Lytham. “On the Saturday night I knew that I was going to win and nothing worried me after that,” she recalled. Which other golfers have a gift of that calibre?
Exercising apart, Hall has been eating sensibly and losing weight since Conor was born.
Yet barely had she said as much than the Women’s Scottish Open’s social content team decided to go ahead with some fun and games. A plate of well-known Scottish cakes had been laid out and assorted players were asked if they could name these Scottish specialities.
Georgia Hall and Paul Dunne
OISIN KENIRY, R&A VIA GETTY IMAGES
Hall was not only game enough to take the test but, amid the excitement, she promptly forgot her “eating sensibly” plans and tried out each cake in turn, from the marshmallows to the caramel wafers, the Empire biscuits and the Ecclefechan butter tarts.
Since she has missed the company of her tour friends since last year’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl, Hall was involved in any amount of baby talk at Dundonald. Alison Lee, a former No. 1 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking who has been a mum since last year, was explaining what it’s like to cart a baby ’round the golf tours. “It’s like bringing your house with you,” she warned.
Hall approached Matthew for guidance and, typically, that advice was sound. “Probably her best suggestion was for me to try and expect less,” she said. “It kind of helps you be more relaxed, which hopefully means you play better.”
As to whether it was easy to implement, Hall was not so sure. “It’s actually very hard. … I still expect the same results as I used to have …”
For another Matthew special, Hall opted for one on guilt: “If you feel guilty about being away from your baby, do a few calculations and you’ll probably find that you’re going to spend less time away from him than you would if you’d got a 9-to-5 office job.”
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, whose baby, Léo, is seven months old, had a recommendation for new mothers in general: “Golf’s more do-able than most people think. When you’re restarting, keep it to nine holes and a short time on the range.”
Léo, incidentally, was being wheeled around by his grandfather last week and behaving quite beautifully until he watched his mother and others at work on the putting green. At that point, he roared with laughter at the lot of them.
Top: Georgia Hall says, “I still expect the same results as I used to have …”
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