SOME extensive remedial work - to a swing which contributed to an inauspicious start to the season - has left Aideen Rogers in confident mood as she prepares for the Guardian Irish Women's Open, which starts at Luttrellstown Castle Golf and Country Club on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Dubliner has endured a disappointing time on the WPG European Tour so far this season. "I went through a bad stage with my swing," said Aideen. "But I didn't realise quite how bad it was until my dad, Kevin, who knows it like the back of his hand, pointed out a number of things to me when I arrived home to Portmarnock last week."
Since then, Rogers has spent many hours on the practice range in an attempt to rectify the problems. "I've carried out some pretty serious changes and worked really hard. I had major problems with my turning, which I've solved, and I have also shortened my back-swing," she said. "The result is that I have more confidence now than I've had for a long time and, hopefully, I can use the Irish Open as the springboard for the rest of the season.
"I intend to play in every tournament from now on until the end of the season. At the moment, the Hennessy Cup is the only one I am excluded from but, if I can move up the moneylist sufficiently, then I will win an invitation to that event, too. My confidence is so high now that I am able to set myself such targets," she said.
Rogers is part of a healthy mix of Irish professionals and amateurs in the 126 strong field. Rogers, Maureen Madill, Tracy Eakin and Lynn McCool are the home professionals, all looking for some inspiration from their only Irish competitive visit of the year. They will be joined by a strong contingent of amateurs, featuring former British champion Lillian Behan, last year's Irish champion Barbara Hackett (who was the leading amateur in the British Open and, consequently, has been invited back for the tournament at Wentworth in August), Leinster champion Hazel Kavanagh, Curtis Cup player Eileen Rose Power, Michelle McGreevy and Pamela Murphy. The battle for the amateur prize should prove an interesting battle within a battle.
The foreign invasion force may not include Laura Davies who captured the title in 1994 and 1995, but defending champion Alison Nicholas has adapted well to the US Tour and showed she has brought that form back to this side of the Atlantic when tuning up for the defence of the Irish Open by finishing second (beaten in a play-off by Japan's Hiromi Kabayashi) in the Evian Masters in France last weekend. Nicholas is now second in the European moneylist with £44,495 from just two competitive outings.
"Alison is definitely the player to beat, admitted Rogers. "She seems to be playing exceptionally well." Indeed, it is a tribute to the Irish Open that seven of the top ten players in the current AmEx Tour Order of Merit will be in the field: Marie-Laure de Lorenzi (1), Nicholas (2), Karen Lunn (3), Joanne Morley (4), Patricia Meunier Lebouc (7), Mandy Sutton (9) and Karina Orum (10).
Luttrellstown will provide a different test to last year's host venue, Citywest, and Rogers believes it will favour the long hitters.
"It is a real driving course and, thankfully, I have corrected my own problems in that department of my game," said Rogers. "I'm looking forward to the week. It is my favourite tournament and it is great to have home support for a change. I think the rest of the tournament players will be very impressed with Luttrellstown. In fact, the tournament directors have been telling players for some time now that this will be one of the best courses on the tour this season. I don't think they will be disappointed."
Certainly, Luttrellstown have pulled out all the stops since being confirmed as the venue just two months ago. The event was originally pencilled into the calendar for September but the move forward to a June date - the week before the Murphy's Irish Open - was made in anticipation of better weather. That is in the laps of the gods, but the organisers hope that this year's tournament, at a third venue in four years since its inception, will confirm the Irish Open's favourable status among the players on the Tour.
