Dean Robertson feels Louise Duncan still has growing to do but is already a long way towards being a regular contender at the elite level of women’s golf.
The Head of Performance at the University of Stirling was again on the bag for Louise at the AIG Women’s Open, where the young Scot finished T19 at one-under and won nearly £70,000, her first professional cheque.
Robertson, himself a former Scottish Amateur champion and tour winner as a pro, carefully guided Louise through last year’s Women’s Open to a T10 finish as an amateur.
Despite a tough year in between, he was hugely impressed with the 22-year-old at Muirfield in her second pro event.
‘The talent is all there’
'How about that?'
Louise Duncan delights the crowd with a brilliant tee shot at the 13th 🤩
Follow the action👉 https://t.co/pl835envjG#WorldClass pic.twitter.com/ZeZojaUihj
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 5, 2022
“I’m super-proud of Louise,” he said. “Last year took its toll on her in terms of the expectations.
“She had a bit of a hangover from that, but the talent is all there and she showed that at Muirfield.
“I was massively impressed with her in practice. The way she can control her ball flight now. She can hit all the shots and trust and believe in what she’s doing.
“In the championship, she was so good from tee to green. Even on Saturday, she hit all the greens in regulation.
“Okay, she has work to do to compete with the top players on the greens, but she is going to grow from this level of performance. To beat par round here in testing conditions was a great effort.”
The main difference this year is that Louise will have an opportunity to properly break down her performance, he added.
“She has grown into this event and the great thing on this occasion is that she doesn’t have to drive straight to the Curtis Cup, as she did last year.
“She’s got a week to let it sink in and really absorb it, to realise what she’s learned.
‘What a golf round’
“She’s such a quiet, shy person that she was almost maybe embarrassed by all the accolades last year. When she arrived in Conwy for the Curtis Cup the expectation of everyone else had changed.
“People had a feeling ‘she belongs there now’ and her having an air of confidence that I don’t think would have sat comfortably with her.”
But the way she approached the final round at Muirfield – aggressively and with confidence – spoke volumes for Robertson.
“What a golf round,” he said of the 69. “She gave herself chance after chance.
“Her goal was par for 72 holes and she beat that. We were trying to be aggressive in the final round and push forward.
“But, at the same time, she was hitting quality golf shots in the right areas and respecting the golf course. It means she is going to take an enormous amount away from this week.
“She had a huge game. She hit driver-driver into the greenside bunker at the ninth on Sunday then drove the 11th green. The handbrake was off today and she looked really comfortable in this environment.
“She showed patience and maturity. She’s going to do well.”
Short game improvement will come
The one element that needs work is converting the good work of her long game, but that’ll come, believes Robertson.
“We’ve got to get her believing and good on the greens,” she said. “She mis-hits some of her putts and there’s work to be done there.
“But we can sort that. Once she starts controlling the pace a bit better, she’s going to start reading the lines and the confidence will flow.
“She started to hit some good putts at the end on Sunday. It’s all about the layers and this week was just brilliant for her.”