You Might Also Like: Why Golf

**Nelly Kord** (0:00)
Getting to represent your country at the end of the day, that's like the greatest honor. Through Solheim, through International Crown, Olympics, wherever, I mean, it's been an amazing experience.

**Lottie Woad** (0:09)
I played a lot of majors as an amateur and performed pretty well in those. So I kind of had that experience, I guess, under my belt. I kind of hoped that I would continue that, but you never know.

**Lauren Coughlin** (0:19)
I would tell myself, you know, I'm a late bloomer. I kind of described that to a lot of times, you know, I wasn't super highly ranked coming out of high school and I feel like it's been pretty similar ride here.

**Chiara Tamburlini** (0:27)
I quite like to show emotions as well, which I think is kind of suited for a Solheim Cup.

**Gabbie Partington** (0:32)
Well, hello, this is Why Golf, brought to you by Skyscanner, Gabbie Partington, in for die this week for a very special episode from the Women's Scottish Open. We're recording this before play gets underway in a star-studded field that includes defending champion, Lottie Woad and world number one, Nelly Korda, plus a whole host of faces who will likely be teaming up at the Solheim Cup in just a few weeks time. In this episode, I've been catching up both Nelly and Lottie, as well as former Women's Scottish Open winner in Lauren Coughlin and two-time European Solheim Cup player, Maja Stark.
English stars Charley Hull and Georgia Hall also popped in for a chat, as did Scottish duo Hannah Darling and Gemma Dryburgh. And we have been chatting all sorts, from playing at the Women's Scottish Open to the ARG Women's Open next week, the challenge of Link's Golf to representing your home country and everything in between. And our first target was leading amateur in Kiara Romero. And if she actually makes the cut this week at Dundonald Links, she'll get her LPGA card for next season.
I'm delighted to be joined alongside Kiara Romero, leading amateur in women's golf. Had a great finish at the US Open this year. I mean, life's good for you right now, isn't it?

**Lauren Coughlin** (1:43)
Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I've been able to play a few pro tournaments this summer and just kind of get a bit of a lay of the land out here and compete with these pros. It's been an amazing experience so far.

**Gabbie Partington** (1:53)
Look, I feel like you are very settled. You look very, very comfortable in everything that you're doing. Tide6, the leading amateur at the US Open. Let's just start with that. How much of a confidence booster did that kind of result give you into the summer ahead?

**Lauren Coughlin** (2:06)
Yeah, that was a great experience.
The pros out there were amazing and it was just really fun to kind of test my game on such a high stage and I feel like I've always dreamed of being on that stage and to be able to go out there and actually be comfortable out there. I had my college coach was on the bag and we get along really well. So I honestly just kind of went out there with the mindset of just having as much fun as I can. And honestly, that's exactly what I did. And the golf went well. So it's just a cherry on top.

**Gabbie Partington** (2:32)
You mentioned test your game. How did it test your game when you were playing, you know, rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the business?

**Lauren Coughlin** (2:38)
Yeah, I think it kind of just tested my patience.
Obviously, that course is really hard. USGA championships, they always set up the courses really hard. And it definitely took a lot of brainpower to kind of navigate that course. And a lot of things aren't going to go your way when you're playing in these events. And I think just staying patient and kind of keeping your confidence even when things don't go your way, I think that's one thing I really learned out there.

**Gabbie Partington** (3:03)
How's college and things like that in the States, how's that kind of prepared you for what's to come and things on tour?

**Lauren Coughlin** (3:09)
Yeah, I feel like competing in those tournaments, you kind of put yourself in contention a lot, but you don't always come out on top. And I think golf is one of those sports where you're going to lose a lot more times than you win. And so when you get those losses, I think just not being too down on yourself, just learning how to take those and kind of learn from it.