Yorkshire golf: Rochelle Morris's season off to flier with Leveret Trophy win

CURTIS CUP player Rochelle Morris will miss the Yorkshire women's amateur championship, which starts at Fulford on Friday, as she chases world ranking points in Wales.
Woodsome Hall's Rochelle Morris, left, will compete in Wales this weekend as county team-mate, Selby's Megan Garland, looks to retain her county title at Fulford (Picture: Heather Cawdry).Woodsome Hall's Rochelle Morris, left, will compete in Wales this weekend as county team-mate, Selby's Megan Garland, looks to retain her county title at Fulford (Picture: Heather Cawdry).
Woodsome Hall's Rochelle Morris, left, will compete in Wales this weekend as county team-mate, Selby's Megan Garland, looks to retain her county title at Fulford (Picture: Heather Cawdry).

Woodsome Hall’s Morris, who already has a win under her belt this season – in the Leveret Trophy at Formby – is disappointed to miss out on a tilt at earning a second county title.

But the 2014 winner’s overall target for the season is to rise as high as she can in the world rankings and she will tee it up at Ashburnham in the Welsh Open Ladies’ Stroke Play Championship.

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“I would have loved to have played the Yorkshire championship because it is at Fulford, as well, which is a good track” said Morris.

“But you have to go where the points are for the world rankings and I think the Yorkshire Ladies (County Golf Association) understand that and it is a big ask for us not to go to Wales

“It is just unfortunate that it has clashed this year. I think it happened a couple of years ago with the Scottish and I did play in the Yorkshire championship then, but this year I am trying to push on with my game, to challenge myself by playing with the very best, and I think Wales gives me more of an option to do that.

“I would obviously like to win a national title – but I presume that is the goal for most people.

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“I want to get as far up in the rankings as I possibly can and just enjoy it – I want to play some good golf, play some good shots and just be happy with my game.”

She currently stands third in England Golf’s order of merit thanks largely to her victory at Formby, where she won having been runner-up there last year.

She carded consecutive rounds of one-under-par 70, although she reflected she could have gone a lot lower had she taken a higher percentage of the birdie opportunities that her fine approach play afforded her.

“I did get fairly close with a lot of approach shots and it was just unfortunate the greens were not as good as I hoped because maybe a few more would have dropped,” she said.

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“It was the start of the season so you’re always going to get that on the greens, but it will start kicking off now the season is getting going.

“I was pretty happy with how it went and I don’t think there were too many occasions when I had to get up and down for pars. I putted pretty well, too, and I don’t think I had any three-putts.”

Morris put a premium on accuracy off the tee and spurned the use of her driver on many holes at Formby.

“It is a really tight course so you do have to be quite accurate off the tee,” she said. “There were a lot of holes where I was not taking driver. When I don’t use my driver, I use hybrid or my three-wood. It is not the longest course in the world, but it is pretty tricky.”

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As well as working hard on her game, Morris has put in a lot of effort to improve her general fitness on the advice of her coach John Eyre, the club professional at her home course, Woodsome Hall.

“I have been working hard with John and on my fitness over the winter, which has helped a lot,” said Morris. “I’ve been working with my personal trainer Adam (Batchelor) and my physio Craig (Coulson) to get in the best possible shape I can be in.

“John thought that I could get fitter, which I definitely could, and it was a case of everyone else is doing it – and if you do not keep up you get left behind. So I think to give myself the best chance to be as good as I can be it was a no-brainer.

“My glutes are quite weak so (Adam and Craig) are trying to strengthen me in that area; that is our main focus at the minute.

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“I have got a lot stronger over the winter, which is good in general, and now we have a specific programme working on my glutes a lot.

“I have seen a little bit of a gain in distance with my clubs, but I think the main benefit is that I have had more consistency; the consistency of strike is way better than it was.

“I feel like I’m hitting better shots and my game is coming together a lot more.

“I just feel fitter in general, which is always good when you are on the golf course. Healthy body, healthy mind – it helps you think better, particularly when you are playing 36 holes in a day.

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“It is all good stuff and it is all going in the right direction.”

Also playing in the Welsh Open Ladies’ Stroke Play Championship are England squad member Olivia Winning (Rotherham), Morris’s club-mate Melissa Wood and Selby’s Ellie Goodall.

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