Jill Morgan, pictured at the Cambridge golf course, said the local club had been “so welcoming” since moving to town from Te Awamutu last June.
A Cambridge woman is paving the way in more than one sport on the international stage, having made it onto the inaugural New Zealand women’s senior golf team.
Jill Morgan will be one of four Kiwis competing in the 2018 Women’s Seniors Trans-Tasman Cup in October, the first fixture of its kind, following on from an emphatic win with the Waikato team at the New Zealand Women’s Masters’ golf tournament last month.
“There’s something special about representing your country, and in another sport, I didn’t think that I’d ever – I mean, doing it in one sport is exciting enough!” Jill said. “I’m really excited about it. And the fact that its’ an inaugural team too is really special.”
It’s the second time Jill has represented the country in a first-ever national women’s team. Back when women’s hockey was added to the Olympic line-up, Jill made it onto the first New Zealand team to compete at the Olympic Games. That was in 1984, and now in 2018 she’s made it a double-success competing in the first ever Women’s Seniors’ Trans-Tasman Cup.
“Were working together representing New Zealand to take on Australia, and that’s an exciting thing,” said Jill. “I really enjoy the team culture, doing it for each other and having each other’s back.”
Jill, who trains regularly at the Cambridge Golf Club, has already got to know the other members of the team at various competitions over the years. They’ll play together at the Australian Women’s Senior Amateur match play champs at Sandy Creek, Adelaide in October, before heading straight into the Trans-Tasman Cup held at the same course October 24 – 26.
It will be the first time Jill has ever played in Australia. “I’ll be doing some work on my mental game, so I can handle the pressure of being over there!” she laughed.
As the number 1 ranked senior women’s golf player in the Waikato, Jill said the biggest opponent in the game is yourself. “It’s the mental challenge,” she said, when asked why she likes golf. “It’s just the process of being in the moment, absolutely being in the process of every single shot, and not getting ahead of yourself… you’ve just got to concentrate on the swing of your club and being in that moment, and if (the result) is unplanned, it’s unplanned, but you can’t throw your toys.”
