There’s no sport quite like golf for leaving you feeling hopelessly inadequate. When Charley Hull was nine she was playing off a handicap of 25. A year later she was off five. And by the time she’d reached that wily old veteran age of 11 she was scratch. When this scribe was 11, he was still wrestling with the complexities of a bib let alone the handicapping system. Here in 2015, the 19-year-old Hull is another rising star of the women’s scene ... and, yes, your correspondent is still slootering food down his front.

You could say Hull is going back to where it all started as she prepares for an assault on a maiden major title in the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Turnberry. Back in 2005, the nine-year-old Hull won the Health Perception Ladies Golf Union Championship over the Ailsa Course in a play-off against a woman who was 35 years her senior. It was child’s play in more ways than one. “It was raining and the wind actually blew me over on the 11th hole and I remember just wanting to go in and play on my Nintendo DS,” recalled Hull. “A member came and said ‘no, you have to go out and play’. I was like ‘I don’t want to, I want to carry on playing this’. But I went out again and won at the second play-off hole.”

There won’t be any need for Hull to be dragged kicking and screaming on to the Ailsa Course this week. Last year’s European No 1 is one of a bountiful array of fresh-faced, talented young golfers who are energising the women’s game with their youthful vigour. Despite her tender years, Hull has plenty of experience of the cut-and-thrust at the highest level. Her shimmering debut in the Solheim Cup two years ago underlined this natural flair and competitive instinct. A major victory is the next step in this rapid progression. “I’m still young but I feel like I’m ready to win a major,” said Hull, who shared 12th in the 2014 Women’s British Open and was tied for seventh in last year’s ANA Inspiration, another of the majors on the female circuit. “So far this year, I’ve been leading a few times after the first or second rounds and just fell away a bit. Maybe it’s been a lack of concentration but I certainly feel that I’m getting there.”

‘Getting there’ is a term Inbee Park could use in relation to the career Grand Slam. Two years ago, in the Ricoh Women’s British Open at St Andrews, the hype surrounding the South Korean was fevered as she arrived in the home of golf having won the first three majors on the women’s circuit. It was an astonishing effort and with the burden of expectation on her shoulders it was hardly surprising that she finished down in 42nd spot. Victory in this week’s British Open would complete the traditional quartet of majors although, with five now up for grabs each year, there is a quirky twist to the tale. Park won the Evian Championship in 2012, the year before it was elevated to major status. “For me, a true career Grand Slam would be winning the British Open and that is the goal,” said the 27-year-old, who has won five majors since 2013. “I’ve won the Evian before, my name is on the trophy whether it was a major or not. If I won the Evian again and never won the British Open, I don’t know if I can give myself a Grand Slam. In 2013, it was the craziest pressure. This week, is not so much.”