From agricultural science student to two-time Karrie Webb Scholarship recipient, this is a career built on seeing ‘how it goes’. Now the South Australian is chasing the next step, continuing her hard-earned path from the Epson Tour to the LPGA.
My dad played golf and my grandpas played golf too, so dad was always taking me to junior clinics. It wasn’t until I was 11 that I thought, Oh, this is something I’m enjoying a lot more. So then I’d start to play with him on the weekends. Being in South Australia, I was very lucky that there weren’t that many girls playing golf so there was a lot of opportunity. I got to play in the under-12 state team and all these junior teams, and go on these trips and I was like, Oh, this is a lot of fun. It sort of just evolved from playing golf on the weekends with my dad.
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When I was playing junior events, it was always like you’re looking for that perfect shot. It’s a very addictive sport in that way, because there’s always one good shot that brings you back each week, even if you’ve had the most terrible round. I never really felt like I was good enough to pursue it outside of something I’d play on the weekends until after I finished school, when I improved significantly and got to play in teams representing Australia. That’s when I thought, Oh, this is something I could actually do.
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I’m technically still studying agricultural science. It’s a leave of absence – I’m halfway through my degree, but I don’t know when I’ll come back to it. It was definitely challenging balancing it all. I graduated from high school in 2019, took a gap year in 2020 and then with COVID and everything, I ended up playing golf five times a week because that was the only thing you could really do. I did first year full-time in 2021, which was also when I started to play better. I won my first amateur event at the end of 2021 and it got busier into 2022. I went part-time with my study, but then had to take a second semester off because I was in the US after winning the Karrie Webb Scholarship. I was like, Oh my God, this is crazy. I haven’t been able to do any of my second-year, second-semester subjects since, because that’s always when you end up on the other side of the world and it just doesn’t work with the contact hours.
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The first time I was fortunate enough to win the Karrie Webb Scholarship was the first time I’d ever been to the US. We went to the KPMG PGA at Congressional Country Club, had dinner with all the other Aussie players and played golf with Karrie. It was a crazy experience. I thought, This is something I would really like to do, to be able to travel and play golf like this. It was the tool that got me over there and when I came back the next year, it was a lot easier to play and perform.
The first year, I felt so new to it, but it was cool being able to play with Karrie and ask questions about her career. The second time, I went to her house over the 4th of July, which was very different. We played with some of her friends, including Ian Baker-Finch. There was a lot more advice that time, because I knew I was going to go to Q-School and try to make a go of it. I remember getting a lot of help with my putting that week, which was pretty cool. Definitely both of those weeks have been some of the coolest I’ve lived through so far.
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Going back to the 2023 US Women’s Amateur, I played a practice round the week before, then went to Spain to represent the Asia-Pacific team and flew back from there. My flight was delayed out of Spain to London and I had to self-transfer from Gatwick to Heathrow to then fly to LA. I got there on the Sunday afternoon, around 1 or 2 o’clock and had a morning tee-time on Monday, which is a little bit crazy.
It was definitely nerve-wracking, because I thought, If anything goes wrong, I’m just not going to make it. The only good thing about self-transferring was knowing my golf clubs weren’t going to get lost between airports, because I already had them with me. It’s one of those things where technically I could make it, but it was hard to say if I actually would. But I didn’t want to turn down the opportunity to go to Spain and play against the Europe team, so I’m just glad it all worked out.
It was a really cool experience. We don’t get a lot of opportunities to compete in that Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup-style of event. Being able to back that up and make the matchplay in my first US Women’s Amateur, where I ended up losing to the eventual winner, it was a really cool two-week run in my career.
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In 2024 I won the women’s professional section of the Sandbelt Invitational at Royal Melbourne. I was fortunate that I’d played in a couple of the regional qualifiers just before it; I won the event in Narrabri and played that pretty soon after. I think it was more about being able to have a good final round at Royal Melbourne to back it up. I thought, Oh yeah, I’m in it now, which was nice. It was a bit of a whirlwind experience.
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2026 is my first full year on the Epson Tour, so I’ve definitely learnt a few things along the way. It’s the longest I’ve been away continuously from home. I left in April and I haven’t lost count of how many days it has been. It’s a little bit different, but it’s been nice this year having Jen Elliott out here too, so there’s another Aussie. We can play practice rounds together, travel together when there isn’t host housing and work it out. Sometimes the weeks on the Epson Tour are very long between events with the three-day format, so it’s about finding the right ways to fill your time so you don’t feel like you’re just grinding away. But I’ve enjoyed it, getting to see new places.
I’m in the Golf Australia house at the moment in Jacksonville, which has been a huge part of the support system, having a base to come back to. There’s also a few host families, like a friend of a friend I stayed with in Nashville, so figuring out places to stay when you’re not playing is just as important. Having people able to come over and caddie – my coach came over too – that’s made it a little easier being away from home for so long.
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I held the 36-hole lead at the Copper Rock Championship and shot 64 at the Atlantic Beach Classic this year. I guess it confirms that I can compete with the people out here. Sometimes it can be a bit of a shock going from either amateur golf to pro, or Aussie tour to international competition, so confirming I can compete with these people is nice. The next step is just being able to hold onto that lead a little bit longer.
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Reaching the LPGA Tour would be an affirmation for all the hard work
I’ve put in. It’s one step to get there, it’s another to be able to stay there. I guess I’m just seeing how it goes still. Short term, a good finish would help me get into final stage of Q-School and hopefully I’ll play well there and get my card that way. Otherwise, the goal stays the same, to get to the LPGA and continue to produce good results.
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My proudest moment is probably that run I had in 2022, winning the Karrie Webb Scholarship for the first time. That’s what kicked everything off for me (Peirce won the scholarship again in 2024). Otherwise, I hope people see my attitude on the golf course as chill, friendly and approachable. That’s something I’m genuinely proud of.
