October, 2008

I was feeling really confident going into the Finnair Masters, as I felt fresh and was playing on the same course as last year where I finished 4th. The weather during the tournament was horrible, it was freezing and very wet. I didn’t play well at all and ended up missing the cut, this was frustrating as the reason I missed was because I 3 putted the last green. I travelled straight from Finland to Denmark for the Nykredit Masters; I put the Finnair Masters behind me and went into the tournament feeling confident as I had almost won there last year. Again I did not play to my ability, my game was not good enough and I missed the cut. I then flew back to the UK for a few days before flying out to Orlando to visit my coach Gary Gilchrist before the LPGA Qualifying School. I managed to spend a few days with Gary before flying across to California to play in the 1st stage of the LPGA Section Q School. A few days before the start of the tournament I hurt my back slightly, I thought that this would be OK but unfortunately it flared up during the rounds and had to retire from the tournament after the 2nd round which was very frustrating. I stayed out in America for the 2nd Sectional Qualifying as you get to attempts to qualify. The 2nd stage was in Venice, Florida and Gary (my coach) carried my bag. My game was not up to scratch and I failed to qualify.

I was due to return back to the UK after the 2nd Q School but I felt that it would be far more beneficial for me to stay out in Orlando with Gary to really work on my game. I am still out in Orlando living at ‘The Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy’ where I have been working very hard on all aspects of my game.

Golf
We have really focused on my swing and used video analysis to understand what I am doing wrong; basically I have changed my swing so dramatically this year that I keep slipping back to my old swing which is causing me problems. The guys at the academy also did TPI testing on me which measures where the weaknesses are in my body and also got me to use a K Vest which is a biomechanics machine that shows how my body moves through the swing. All the testing concluded that I need to work hard on my strength to improve my power and control in my swing, as well as concentrating on keeping my club face square in the swing.

I am very happy with the standard of my chipping and putting now, but I am still working on this daily. I basically work on the same things every day but do different drills to improve the movements. The main things that I am concentrating on in the swing are the direction of my club face in the back swing and body movement in the down swing. As well as all the drills I will make sure that I also play 4 rounds of golf a week to test out my swing in a game situation.

Fitness
I have been working very hard in the gym. I have been training twice a day during the week with legendary trainer Pat Etcheberry and his co trainer Trevor to improve my fitness so I have more power and control in my swing. It is a great privilege to have Pat train me as it has trained world class tennis players and golfers so he really knows his stuff. I have never trained this hard in my life; it is tough but good fun too. I have been working on flexibility, strength, control and explosive power. I have been doing my programme for 2 weeks now and already can see the benefit of the training; I can’t wait to see differences in another 6 weeks.

Psychology
The final part of my training is mental training. Gary gets all his players and students to do a mental profile to see the way we think and to work out the best way to teach us. This has helped me with the way I practice and also how to cope with your game when you are not playing at your best.

I am staying at the academy until the end of November; I will then go back to Leeds for 1 week and then out to India and Dubai for the last 2 tournaments of the season. The academy is a great place for young people to come. The students go to school, do golf training & then do fitness training. Also the coaches play golf with their players. It's a new academy but already the students here are winning the tournaments around the USA. The students are from all around the world. I would recommend this academy to every young person who wants to go to school & improve their golf. It's hard work but fun. Take a look on www.ggga.com.

July/August, 2008

I travelled down to London to attend the launch of the 2009 Puma Golf collection. There was a fashion show in the afternoon where I got see all the new clothing and footwear range and speak with some of the retailers about my thoughts on the clothing. There was a giant poster of me on the catwalk from a shoot I did with them in Boston last year. Although I am now starting to get used to seeing my face in adverts it still seems weird to see a picture of me so big! We all then went onto dinner and then drinks at Urban Golf. It was a really enjoyable day and the new clothing is fab! I then had an early start on the Tuesday as I had to travel straight from London to Oxford for The Ladies English Open. The playing conditions were really tough as it was really wet and windy; I still really enjoyed playing the course and managed to finished level par and 10th overall which was my best result of the season so I was very happy. I managed to pop home for a night after Oxford before flying across to Ireland for the Ladies Irish Open; the tournament was played at Portmarnock which I was really excited about as so many people had told me that it was a great course. I also thought it was a great course. The weather was awful for the practice days but luckily it brightened up during the tournament. I played really well for the first 2 rounds and went into the final day in 7th position which I was pleased about. On the last day the wind was really bad, it kept changing direction which really affected my golf, I managed to bogey 4 of the last 5 holes which meant I dropped to 20th. I was disappointed with my performance over the last few holes but it also gave me confidence knowing that I finished 20th after playing a bad final round.

I again popped home to Leeds for a day before flying out to Italy for the BMW Italian Open. Italy was so hot and I did not enjoy the course, it was a new course and not in the best of conditions. I struggled with my golf through the week which was reflected through my result. After Italy there was a gap in the schedule so I had a week off, this was nice as it gave me time to prepare for the British Open final qualifying. I have been trying to qualify for the Open since I was 15 but have managed to miss out on qualifying by 1 shot every time so I was determined to make it this year. The final qualifying was held at Sunningdale Golf Club which is a tough course, I played really well but was struggling on the greens, I ended up shooting level par and qualified which was such a relief! I was really excited in the days leading up to the event as it was my first ever major. Unfortunately I ended up struggling to hit the fairway during the tournament which is a bit of a problem when playing Sunningdale. I ended up missing the cut but was not too disheartened as I was just really happy to have played my first major.

The following week I travelled to Sweden to play in the Scandinavian TPC, my brother came out with me to carry my bag. The weather was awful, it rained so much that they had to cancel the 2nd round because the course flooded. Despite the rain I felt that I played better golf than I did in the Open, I still had a few bad holes one of which was an 8 on a par four! I ended up finishing 61st, I was so glad to leave; I can honestly say I think that was some of the worst rain I have ever seen! The next tournament was S4C Wales Ladies Championship which was held at Machynys Golf Club in south Wales, I was really excited about playing this tournament as it was the tournament I turned pro at 2 years ago. It is a great course and I always seem to get good results when I play there. The weather was awful again, but it did not surprise me as the weather always seems to be bad when I go to Wales! I started the tournament really well shooting 5 under par which left me in 5th position after the 1st round. After the 2nd round I managed to get down to 7 under par after 7 holes, but then I had 4 awful holes and ended up shooting 3 over for the day leaving me 2 under total. The weather got even worse; I actually think it’s the worst conditions I have ever played in. It was windy, rainy and cold, it was just horrible! A lot of girls were shooting really bad scores and after the 12th hole play got suspended and the 3rd round was cancelled, there were mixed views about this as some girls had shot really good scores. Personally I think that it was the right decision even though I played well. I had an awful start to the final round, I managed to shoot 4 over after 4 holes, I then managed to birdie the next 4 holes which brought my score back to 2 under. I ended up finishing 3 under par in 11th place. During the 3 rounds I managed to shoot 19 birdies which I was really pleased about, the only problem was that I also managed to shoot far too many bogeys and 3 double bogeys. I know that I had a great chance of winning the tournament; I just had too many mistakes.

I withdrew from the SAS Masters in Norway as I needed a week’s rest. I had a great week and managed to fit in seeing all my family and friends around my practice. I feel refreshed after my week’s rest and am looking forward to playing my next 2 tournaments which are the Finnair Masters and The Nykredit Masters. I played really well in these tournaments last year so am hoping I can do that again this year.



April, 2008

I have had an extremely busy few months so I do apologize for the delay in writing this diary entry.

After the New Year I decided to change coaches to Gary Gilchrist who is based out in Florida. I traveled out for my first session in early January where I worked closely with Gary and his 2 assistants at the Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy. In the week that they spent with me they changed a lot of things in my game.

My first events of the season were over in Australia, I had never been to Australia before so was very excited. My expectations for the tournaments were not enormous as I had changed so many aspects of my game with Gary and had only had 1 week to practice them. I played 1 warm up tournament and then 2 main tournaments which were the MFS Women's Australian Open at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne & the ANZ Ladies Masters at Royal Pines Resort in the Gold Coast, Queensland. I found that there were a lot of new things to think about with the changes to my swing so ended up missing the cut in Melbourne. However by Queensland I felt that my game was starting to feel better & better, I played well apart from the last day in Queensland, I finished 23rd on -4. After the tournament I had the chance to stay in Australia for a few days before flying home which was really nice as I got to see some of the area.

After arriving home from Australia I had a week back in Leeds and then I flew out to Florida to spend 1 month with Gary at his academy.  It took me along time to get over the jet lag from Australia so I really struggled for the first few days. I was lucky enough that my father and my brother also traveled out to Florida, it was great to have them around for the month. I was given a very intensive programme for the month; from Monday – Friday I would have a personal training session in the gym every morning from 6.30am – 8am, Golf practice / Playing 9am – 12.30 and then 2pm – 5.30pm Golf Practice / Playing. I really enjoyed the programme as it focused on improving my technique in every aspect of my game. I also had the chance to play golf with Gary and other golfers (both pros and amateurs). Whilst over there we also managed to catch a bit of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, this was a lot of fun as it was the first time that I had ever seen Tiger play live. After leaving Florida I felt that all aspects of my game had really improved and it was just a matter of time until it all feels natural.

After Florida I flew straight to India to compete in the DHL Ladies Indian Masters. It was not the best of tournaments as I fell ill during it and got bitten by mosquitoes everywhere. I did not end up playing very well and finished 33rd. After the tournament we had the chance to visit my home town in Punjab which was really nice. I got to see all my family and the new house that we are building out there. After India there was a quick stop in Dubai to play the Indian Golf Day at the Emirates Golf Club which was a lot if fun.

I returned home for a week and contract a bad chest infection. I thought I was better so traveled to Spain for the Open de Espana but had to withdraw due to illness. I am now back at home recovering so that I am fit and well in time for the next LET event which is in Scotland.

Kiran

November, 2007

After returning from holiday with my family I was straight back out on the course in preparation for the LPGA Finals in America. I made sure that I was at the gym and on the course everyday to make sure I was fully prepared for the event. The event was played at the LPGA International Golf Club in Daytona, I flew out a few days early so I could settle in and get used to the time difference. My coach flew out as well which gave me a chance to work with him in my practice rounds. I felt that I had played really well during the practice rounds but did not play well at all during the event. I had a really bad start and shot 10 on the 4th hole, after that I struggled to get back into contention. I was really disappointed as I had really prepared for the event but just did not manage to play well when I had to. I think the whole experience has given me great experience for next year.

I then flew straight from the LPGA Qualifying to Bangalore in India for the EMAAF Ladies Indian Masters, due to the time difference between America and India the earliest I could get to India was on the evening before the Pro-am so I did not really have a proper chance to play any practice rounds and was also suffering from jet-lag. The course was really tricky, especially the greens because they were grainy and slopey, I think that it is one of those courses that you need a practice round to get used to the course. Despite the lack of practice and the jet-lag I felt as if I played a lot better than in America and ended up finishing 28th. I managed to get a chance to go into Bangalore city for the launch of the New Puma Swing GTX golf shoe range with Smart Quill technology. I love the shoes, they are really cool and comfy and Puma even embroidered my name on the back of them. Golf Punk also came out to Bangalore for five days to do interviews and take lots of photographs of me. I really enjoyed them being there, Golf Punk is so cool.

From Bangalore I flew straight onto Dubai for another tournament we arrived really early on the Sunday morning which meant I had the whole of the day to relax which was great. On Monday I was on the course practicing in the morning and then had a photo shoot that Puma had arranged in the afternoon. The shoot took place at the Dubai Creek, the photographer had me standing on a table on the edge of a boat for some of the shots which was very scary!!! On Tuesday I played my first practice round and felt that I played really well, in the afternoon I did loads of interviews with magazines and newspapers which was fun as everyone was really nice. Then on Wednesday I played in the pro-am, I was lucky enough to play with the guys I played with last year and had really enjoyable round. The tournament started on the Thursday and I had a very bad round shooting +6. On the second day I played a lot better to begin with and was -3 after 13 holes, but then I had a disastrous last five holes and dropped 5 shots and missed the cut!

I have not felt comfortable with my swing for the last few events so I will be working on this over the Christmas period ready for the start of the 2008 season!

October, 2007

This month has been nice and relaxing as I have not had any tournaments!

I went on holiday with my whole family to America for two weeks which was amazing! The first week we stayed in Orlando and visited Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Blizzard Beach Water Park, Sea World and Discovery Cove. All the places were so fun and we managed to go on practically all the ride. We then went on a two day cruise to the Bahamas where we had the opportunity to go Jet Skiing and snorkeling in the middle of the ocean. The cruise ship was really great fun as there were loads of things to do on it and it also gave me the chance to relax which I hadn’t done in a while due to my busy golfing schedule. After the cruise had finished my father decided to take us all fishing which I did not enjoy because the sea was really rough and I was very sea sick, cold and wet, we were only on the boat for about 4 hours and I can safely say that was the worst I have felt in my whole life – I don’t think I’ll be going fishing again in a hurry! We then had a few more days to relax in Orlando before having to fly home and on our last night we went to Halloween Horror night at Universal Studios which was terrifying! They had 8 haunted houses from famous horror films including Friday 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Jason and Freddie Kruger. Although it was really scary it was really good fun and the special effects were amazing. We then flew back to the UK the next day; I can not believe how much we managed to fit into 2 weeks it was such a great holiday and really nice for the whole family to spend the time together.

After getting back from holiday I traveled down to London for a couple of days to do attend some meetings and do some press stuff. We drove down from Leeds in the morning and went straight to the BBC studios to do a recorded interview for Radio 5 Live followed by a live interview for BBC 24. Both went really well, especially the live interview; I am now getting used to doing live interviews and feel a lot more comfortable in front of the camera, actually I really enjoy them. It was quite funny because whilst I was doing the live interview they were showing video footage of me playing golf when I was really young, it was a bit embarrassing. I then went straight from the BBC interviews to a meeting with the Princes Trust which was really interesting. They explained that the Princes Trust is a charity that helps young people overcome barriers and get their lives working and that they have chosen me to become an ambassador of trust which is a great honour and I am really looking forward to working with them in the future.
After that it was straight to the studios to do a photo shoot and interview for Sky Sports Magazine in my Puma gear. I very tired by the end the day but was pleased with how the day had gone. The following morning I was up early to attend a management and accounts meeting in the morning followed by an interview with The Mail on Sunday which both went really well. So all in all it was a busy couple of days!

I now have three weeks to prepare for the Final Stage of LPGA Qualifying, The Indian Masters and The Dubai Ladies Masters so I will be working hard with my coach Peter Tupling to ensure that I am fully prepared. Peter will also be traveling out to the LPGA with me which I feel is really important as it will be good for him to see my game again. I am feeling very confident about the events and am eager to get back on the course again.

September, 2007

I have had a fantastic month! I have played in 3 tournaments; The S4C Wales Ladies Championships of Europe, The Finnair Masters and The Nykredit Masters and finished top 10 in all 3 of them so I am very happy.

The S4C Ladies Championship of Europe was my first tournament where I finished 10th place on level par which at the time was the best finish of my professional career. My goal was to finish top 10 and it was great to actually achieve that, especially as the weather was really really awful. I finally felt as if everything was coming together and that my confidence was really increasing on the course. In between Wales and The Finnair Masters I popped over to Boston to do a photo shoot for Puma. I flew in Sunday evening and attended the shoot on Monday morning which was fantastic. I went to the studio to get my hair and make-up done, it was funny because in the shoot I had to wear flip-flops but I have a very bad tan line on my feet so they had to put loads of make-up on my feet! The Puma clothes that I wore for the shoot were really cool & stylish like always. The photographer took loads and loads of photos, which I can’t wait to see! After the shoot I got taken to the Puma store where I was allowed to pick anything I wanted, the only problem was there was far too much amazing stuff to choose from! We then had to rush straight from the store to the airport to fly straight to The Finnair Masters in order to get to Finland in time for the tournament!

I landed in Finland (Helsinki) on Tuesday morning but my luggage did not arrive, luckily it turned up a few hours later which was a big relief. On the Wednesday I played in the Pro-am which was very enjoyable and really useful as I got another chance to play the course. Once again the weather in Helsinki was very bad; it was cold, windy & rainy! Despite the weather, I felt I was hitting the ball & putting very well during practice which was good. The tournament started on the Friday I shot a 67 which was -4, 67 was my best ever score and I was only 2 shots behind the leader. On Saturday the weather was even worse and I shot +2, but still felt I played very well. On the final day the weather was even worse again, I ended up shooting +1 which was a very good score in those conditions and finished 4th. My goal at the beginning of the week was to finish top 5 so finish 4th was great and gave me even more confidence for The Nykredit Masters. Unfortunately The Finnair Masters was the last tournament for my caddy Jim Williamson, as Jim has to back to university to finish his finals. That was very disappointing for both me & Jim because we were working well together & getting good results. We then flew straight on to The Nykredit Masters in Denmark; my dad was my caddy for the tournament. I played the pro-am on Wednesday and the tournament started on the Thursday where I shot -3 which was a great start. On the Friday I shot 66 -5 which was a PB, my game seemed to be getting better and better so I was very excited going into the final week end. On Saturday, the conditions were alot harder because it was very windy & the wind was swirling so it made it very hard to choose which clubs use. I shot a 73 which was +2 but I was still leading going into the final day! The final day I shot another 68 which was -3, finishing on a total of -9; this is the lowest score I have ever achieved in my life! On -9 I was joint leader with 2 other players and we had to go into a playoff. Unfortunately I didn’t win the play off which was really disappointing as I felt I had played the best I had all week but some of my long putts did not drop for me so I ended up T2. However, I did beat 3 of my personal records which is a great move forward for me; I now really feel that I can win a tournament!

The Volvo Cross Country Challenge (Volvo XC Challenge) is a separate ranking on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and includes the 4 tournaments in the Nordic Region; The Scandinavia TPC, SAS Masters, Finnair Masters and The Nykredit Masters. My second place in Denmark was enough to top the Volvo Cross Country Order of Merit so I won the competition! For winning this I got $37,500 and a brand new Volvo XC70 Car. This was very much a surprise to me as I was just concentrating on finishing well in the Nykredit Masters and was unaware of my ranking position. The only problem now is that I don’t have a driving license, I have had lessons but I never had time to take my driving test! I have a few weeks off in October and November so my aim is to pass my test in this time so I can drive my lovely car!

July, 2007

In the last month I have played 3 tournaments and 2 golf days; The Open de France, Open de Portugal, The Golf Punk Ladies English Open, 4Sports Golf Day and Nick Faldo Golf Day. Unfortunately I managed to miss all 3 cuts, I know I was hitting the ball 100% better than before but just struggling with other aspects of the game especially my putting. I have booked myself in for a putting lesson with my coach Paul Hurrian who will help me get it back on track! I have played 9 tournaments and 2 golf days with only 1 weeks rest so I am finding the schedule very tiring and a lot tougher than when I was an amateur. The schedule is much better for the rest of the year though which helps. The weather has also been pretty bad for the recent tournaments, which makes it even harder. I really enjoyed the 2 golf days! The first was for my management company, 4Sports and was in Switzerland, it was a really good day but again the weather was awful so we only ended up playing 9 holes. It was still fun and I really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with the other athletes that were there, such as skiers, footballers and ice hockey players. The Nick Faldo day was held in Austria and we finally had some good weather. It was a great day and it was lovely to have the chance to spend some time with Nick Faldo and my old friends from the Faldo Junior Series.

11 June, 2007 - The Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open

I have played four tournaments in the last month; The Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open I missed the cut by 1 shot on +6, BMW Ladies Italian Open I finished 21st on -7, The Northern Ireland Ladies Open I finished 13th on +2 & my last tournament was the KLM open in Holland where I finished 56th on +4.

This year my putting has been really good but I struggled in Switzerland. I also had a shot penalty for slow play which was very surprising because I am quite a quick player; it was very disappointing to miss by the cut by 1 shot after that. In Northern Ireland I wasn't hitting it very well but after the first 2 days I managed to be leading the tournament, the last day was very difficult because I had never lead a tournament before & the weather was awful.

I didn't play as well as I hoped but I still finished in 13th and it was really valuable experience to be leading going in to the last round so next time I will know what to expect! Although I haven't played as well as I would like in the last month, I have made the 3 of the 4 cuts & I am looking forward to the tournaments where I do play well because I know that I am capable of winning on the European tour this year.