It might run in the family, but in the age stakes Nambucca Heads golfer Darcy Habgood is in a class of her own.
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At 18, Darcy has a handicap of +2, having started on 45 when she was 10 years old.
“When I got my first handicap, that as when I knew I really loved golf,” Darcy said.
“I’ve had a club in my hand since I was two, which is when I started hitting around the backyard (in Toowoomba) and by the time I was eight, I was locking up the pro-shop for Dad and practicing out the back.”
Her father, Paul Habgood, is the new pro at Nambucca’s Island Golf Club, having been the head pro in Toowoomba for some 15 years.
He is also Darcy’s coach and their joint hard work has seen Darcy part of the QLD Schoolgirl’s Team, the QLD Interstate Junior and Interstate Women’s Teams.
She has been playing competition golf since she was 12 years old and last year won the QLD Junior Amateur Championship, her first major title.
After a tough year last year that saw Darcy having to deal with the pressures of the Higher School Certificate rather than the more pleasant pressures of her chosen sport, she is now full of smiles with a gap year ahead of her and a scholarship to Pullman College in Washington State, USA already in the hole for 2019.
“The scholarship offer is both exciting and scary. I’ve never been to the USA before and up until now Dad has been my coach … it will be a huge change but I’d love to turn pro eventually and earn money through tournaments. Travelling around the world playing golf is my dream.”
Golf is a very frustrating game - you have to have the right attitude and be mentally tough
- Darcy Habgood
Already in her short career, Darcy has had two ‘holes-in-one’, a few eagles (two-under par) and a lot of birdies (one under par).
“If you don’t have the mental ability, you struggle,” Darcy said.
“It’s really hard trying to hit the ball straight for 18 holes, but I love doing it, I love working hard and I am a perfectionist.
“I have started working with a sports psychologist because I used to be really bad mentally, a lot of frustration and tension. I have now learnt techniques to move on from the last bad shot … I breath and I also have a signal to myself – when I take my glove off, then I stop thinking about golf.
“I practice a few hours every day … I like to work on something for a few hours, I play a few holes by myself, music helps me relax.”
Her father, who himself has been enjoying golf for the last 40 years, says he is very proud of his protege’s progress.
“Darcy is doing really well – it will be interesting to see how she goes now without the pressures of school,” Paul said.
Darcy then shows this novice how it’s done – she lines up, takes a swing and launches a long straight ball with an impressive CRACK.
See how it’s done by clicking onto this video:
Ute Schulenberg
Journalism was always my plan but plans being what they are, I did not get to realise it until my early 40s ... and have loved every minute since. For me community journalism is the most intimate and honest place to be in this field - telling the stories of people I live with, side-by-side, every day. It is an honour.
Journalism was always my plan but plans being what they are, I did not get to realise it until my early 40s ... and have loved every minute since. For me community journalism is the most intimate and honest place to be in this field - telling the stories of people I live with, side-by-side, every day. It is an honour.
