TEE TO GREEN: A good run in the next few weeks, including the British and Irish Opens, could define my season

THE HIGH point of the summer is fast approaching. It’s almost like being on a high-speed train and you’re trying to slow down, to ensure that it doesn’t all go by in a blur. In the next fortnight, I’ve got final qualifying for the Women’s British Open and then the Ladies Irish Open at Killeen Castle, which will give a lot of players an opportunity to run their eyes over the host course for next year’s Solheim Cup and a first chance to experience the Jack Nicklaus course.

I pencilled in these two tournaments early in the season as being among my priorities and, now, they’re almost here. I’ve to get through final qualifying for the British Open which, in itself, is a tough task. The championship takes place at Royal Birkdale from July 29th-August 1st, but my qualifying is on at Hillside, right next door, and I believe my game is good enough to earn a place in the major.

In fact, I’ve spent the past two weeks getting in as much on-course practice as I can. I’ve had a couple of friends over from Japan – where I once lived for eight months, and I’ve kept in touch with them – and we included Lough Erne and Slieve Russell in our few days’ golfing break. I’ve also been to Killeen Castle a number of times, so hopefully that familiarity will help come the Irish Open.

Things have been tapping along pretty good this season and I’m reasonably happy with my performances, although I would love to have a top-five finish and get into contention regularly in tournaments. I’m also aware that you can’t push these things, you have to let them take their course. I played well in Portugal, where my 11th-place finish was probably the worse I could have done. I felt I left a lot of shots out there.

Unfortunately, I failed to bring the same form to the Tenerife Open the following week. To be honest, I hit the ball the same but had a bad week with the putter and it just didn’t happen. But I’ve been on tour long enough to know that it’s not always going to go your way and there is no point dwelling on it. You’ve got to push on, get on with it and keep working away at your game.

I’ve used the past two weeks well, I think, in preparation for a schedule that is likely to be one of the most hectic and most important of the season. Apart from practising, I’ve also hit the gym – working on my cardio and strength – because you can’t devote as much time to gym work when you’re away on tour playing. I’d fallen a little behind in my strength programme, which is something you can’t work on when away because you can end up too tight and it affects you during tournaments.

So, I’m all ready to go for the next few weeks. I’m looking forward to the British Open. For any tour player, the imperative is to get into the field and then compete in the majors and the British Open – which has a €1.7 million purse – is one of the very biggest on tour. If you can get even a top-20 there, all of a sudden you’re jumping up the order of merit.

My practice has had me working on the kind of bump-and-run shots that you’ll need on a links course like Birkdale or Hillside, but I’ve also found my focus drifting at times towards preparing for the Irish Open because that is such a huge tournament for us. It has attracted a top-class field, one of the best anywhere on tour, and the key factor has been having it immediately after the British Open in what is a free week on the LPGA Tour in the States.

This is a good stint on tour, because the British and Irish Opens are followed by the Wales Open at Conwy and the Scottish Open. There’s almost €3 million in total prize money for these four tournaments, so it gives players a chance to make serious inroads up the order of merit and others an opportunity to turn their seasons around.

I’m heading over to England on Sunday to get a practice round in on the links at Hillside, with the qualifying due to take place on Monday. Hopefully, I can earn a place in the field. I believe I’m playing well enough to get in . . . from there on in, it will be a case of all systems go for a very exciting time of the season.