Ruby a gem in largest field
WHEN Karrie Webb tees off at Royal Sydney today, the widest eyes in the gallery will belong to her youngest protege.
Aged just 12, Ruby Curtin this week competed against - and beat - women up to four times her age in the finals of Australia’s largest women’s golf tournament.
Still a week shy of starting high school, Curtin yesterday finished the nationwide Fisher & Paykel Classic fourth out of 22,000 competitors.
Competing against 11 other finalists at Terrey Hills and Pymble over the past two days, she fired a 12-over-par with a handicap to finish nine points adrift of the 34-year-old winner.
“I was a bit nervous before I started, but then when I began playing everything was OK,” said Curtin, who lives in Melbourne.
Considering she only picked up a club two years ago and received a handicap just nine months earlier, her regular 190m fairway drives were even more remarkable.
“Everyone was surprised at how small I am, but all the ladies were really nice and friendly,” she said.
In return for her stunning efforts, Curtin received $500 worth of the sponsors’ whitegoods.
But before she hits the kitchen, a date at today’s opening round of the 2007 Australian Women’s Open awaits.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing Karrie Webb and Nikki Garrett,” she said. “Nikki is fairly young so it would be good to watch her and Karrie has been playing for so long and she’s really good.”
