Gulf News met up with Dubai-based Alison Muirhead of Scotland at her home in Dubai overlooking the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club, to reflect on her first full season on the Ladies European Tour and to chat through her plans and targets moving forward.
GULF NEWS: How have you rated you first full year on the Ladies’ European Tour?
Alison: I would personally rate it as a C minus. It has not been an easy year, but hopefully something I can learn from and build upon. I finished 84th in the season long 2021 Race to Costa del rankings and currently stand at 538 in the world rankings. I played in 27 tournaments this season and had one top 10 finish in the Jabra Ladies Open in early June. I finished 17th in the LET Rookie of the Year table. I gather and collate all my own statistics for every competitive round I play on the Decade BirdieFire app that confirms where are my strengths and weaknesses. This season I have improved my driving length and accuracy and I am hitting more greens these days. What I have to work on is the short game and putting.
GULF NEWS: What are your plans over the winter?
Alison: I did not retain my LET card in 2021 so I will return to the LET Qualifying School from December 16-20 at La Manga Club in Spain. This is to improve my ranking. I will have a low 2022 LET ranking on my 2021 finish, but I want to regain my full playing privileges. Over the next couple of weeks I will be working with the Gregson-Walters brothers: Mark on my swing remotely online by video and Alan on my fitness here in Dubai. There are twenty full 2022 cards available at the Q-School. It is a five round, 90 hole event with a cut after 72 holes, where I won stage 1 and came third in the final qualifying stage in 2019. I now have to go through the final qualifying system and I am confident of making the grade. Everything else I have done this year has been for the first time. This is something I have done before and been successful. So wish me luck. I am not looking at anything after the Q-School, that has my full attention.
GULF NEWS: What else is happening in professional ladies golf these days?
We only finished our LET season in Spain last weekend. Congratulations must go to Thai golfer Atthaya Thitikul who won both the Race to Costa del Sol Rankings and Rookie of the Year Award, impressive stuff from the 18 year old, who I have played alongside a few times in tournaments and is also a good friend. To have 14 top 10 results in just 17 events shows both talent and consistency. The LPGA qualifying school is happening this week in the US, with some of my LET friends, including Atthaya, playing in the eight round two week event. We are all awaiting the announcement of the 2022 LET Schedule and let’s all hope that the Covid-19 regulations will soften, despite the not so good news from South Africa and some of Europe and elsewhere around the world over the last few days. Finally, I would like to thank all the support I have received from my parents and family as well as Jumeirah Golf Estates and, of course, Gulf News readers. The facilities at JGE are exceptional and I am always made so welcome when I go there to practice and use the facilities. When I travel on Tour, I now realise and appreciate how lucky we are here in Dubai and the UAE to have such great golf courses in such good condition all year round as well as, of course, the weather.
