The young ’uns do not hang about these days. Rose Zhang, for instance, is only 20 but in an all-conquering amateur career, the American has obliterated her rivals and the record books in the same kind of way that the mega-meteor wiped out the dinosaurs.
Zhang makes her professional debut today on the LPGA Tour in New Jersey and the expectations are as great as a Dickens novel.
For Zhang’s peers, her accomplishments are inspiring, if a little intimidating.
“I think it’s a bit of both,” said Aboyne teenager Carmen Griffiths. “She’s a remarkable player. It can be quite daunting looking at the standard she has set and it’s easy to forget she’s just a year older than me. She’s pretty inspiring.”
Zhang may have accumulated more silverware than the US Mint but Griffiths is cobbling together a tidy collection of her own. Her victory in last weekend’s Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship at Ladybank completed a notable double and put her in fine company.
Having won the girls’ equivalent in 2021, the 19-year-old emulated the feat of Catriona Matthew, who won the junior and senior titles in 1986 and 1991 respectively.
“I wouldn’t mind a career like Catriona had,” said Griffiths, who eased to a 6&5 win over Rachael Livingstone in Sunday’s 18-hole showdown.
Aboyne Golf Club, of course, boasts an impressive roll of honour. The decorated, celebrated Janette Wright, wife of the long-serving club pro Innes, was a four-time Scottish champion and Curtis Cup mainstay while that duo’s daughter, Pam, was an LPGA Tour campaigner and Solheim Cup player.
Julie Forbes, meanwhile, won on the Ladies European Tour in 1994 while, in more recent years, Shannon McWilliam made the GB&I Curtis Cup team and Kimberley Beveridge won the 2019 Scottish Championship.
“There’s a great history at the club so there’s a bit of expectation now,” added Griffiths with a chuckle.
An exercise science degree student at Louisville University in Kentucky, Griffiths has made some impressive strides since it dawned on her that she was a dab hand at this stick and ba’ game.
“When I started beating my older brother, I realised I was quite good at golf,” reflected the plus-seven handicapper as she stole a march in the sibling rivalry stakes.
“I got into the Scottish Golf Academy at the age of just 10 and I think at that stage you had to be at least 12 to get in. That was another indicator that I could take golf further. I love the challenge of the game. Every shot is a challenge and seeing improvement really motivates me.”
A winner of the Aboyne Ladies’ Club Championship at just 11 and the Aberdeenshire County Championship at 14, Griffiths, whose talents were nurtured in the Paul Lawrie Foundation, believes the move to US college has upped her development significantly.
“Sport in the US college scene is huge and there are big opportunities out there,” she said. “You have such a big fan base and there’s a big expectation level. It was a quite a culture shock going out there at a young age but I think it helps you to grow up.
“I never realised how much I’d improved until I came home last year. Sometimes you don’t see it yourself but when my mum, dad and brother came to watch me at an event in Scotland they said, ‘oh my goodness, you’re so much better than when you were last here’.”
Griffiths may spend most of her time in the USA, but the canny wisdom of Lawrie and the aforementioned Matthew back in Scotland remains a valued resource.
“I’ve worked with Paul through the Foundation since I was eight or nine so I’ve always had a great connection,” she said. “And Catriona has been a huge help. It’s amazing for us to be able to pick up the phone to two major champions. I told that to my college coaches when I first went out to the US and they thought it was crazy.”
Griffiths’ next golfing assignment is this weekend’s St Rule Trophy at St Andrews. In this game, there’s no rest for the winners.
“But I’ll not set too high a level of expectation,” she said. “I’ve been on such a high and I don’t want to put too much pressure on.”
Perhaps superstar-in-waiting Zhang is thinking the same?
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