Bangkok: I arrived in Bangkok from Dubai over the weekend.
It is my first ever visit to Thailand and I have been struck with how colourful and especially green the country is, somewhat different to the desert in Dubai. The Thai Country Club, our venue for the week, is a beautiful golf course and this week we are playing it at a length of 6,530 yards and a par 72.
I feel I can hit driver off the tee on most of the holes (apart from the par 3’s!) and they are pretty wide fairways.
The secret to good scoring as usual will be hitting the irons and approach shots close to the pins and making those all-important putts. I was asked yesterday about how do I adjust to all the different conditions of all the golf courses we play around the world? In the end it is all about my attitude, to plan ahead with the golf course strategy and then just go and just play golf.
If you concentrate on all the different variables in golf: the weather, wind, humidity, types of grass and grain on the greens, bunker sand etc, the mental side can just take over, which is not my style in tournament play.
My focus this week is on the individual event and my own game - if I play and score well, I have done my work and the rest will take care of itself.
Enjoying the buzz
I enjoy the buzz around the ARAMCO Team Series events, they are amongst the best organised events we play on the Ladies European Tour. The organisers are always thinking out of the box with the Draft and 1st Tee music and so much more, that I will share with you over the next couple of days.
The $1 million prize fund this week has been split 50:50 between the Individual event and the Team event and the other innovation this week, from last year, is that the amateurs just play the first two rounds with the Team and the final round on Saturday is for pros only to determine the Individual champion.
My name was in the 78 Player Draft last night and I am part of ‘Team Hewson.’ The Team is: Alison Hewson (Eng), Carly Booth (Scot), myself and a selected amateur whom we will meet tomorrow (Thursday). Alison turned pro just before me in 2019 and has already notched up two professional wins: the first event she ever played in as a pro, the 2020 Investec South African Women’s Open and the 2020 Rose Ladies Series Grand Final.
Looking forward to a good week, it has been a while since I have played a tournament. Our team tees off at 10.51 am local Thailand time tomorrow.
- Chiara Noja is a 16-year-old lady professional, born in Germany and now based in Dubai. She turned pro in 2021 and has played events on both the Ladies European Tour (LET) and LET Access Tour. Chiara represents Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai.