[PHOTO: Courtesy of Golf Australia]
The support that rising Australian golf star Ella Scaysbrook receives from her hometown has been immortalised as the 19-year-old prepares for her next international assignment: this week’s Espirito Santo Trophy in Singapore.
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Scaysbrook shot to prominence earlier this year when she went on a fairytale run at the US Women’s Amateur Championship which only came to an end when she fell to world No.7 – and the eventual winner – Megha Ganne in the semi-final. Scaysbrook, from The Australian Golf Club, had caught the attention of plenty of fans with a giant-beating run to that semi-final that included taking down superstar American amateur Asterisk Talley.
This week in Singapore, the Espirito Santo Trophy is being hosted by the Singapore Golf Association at the Tanah Merah Country Club. The Espirito Santo is the first week of the World Amateur Team Championships that also incorporates next week’s Eisenhower Trophy for best amateur men.
The women take centre stage this week with Scaysbrook part of a team representing Golf Australia along with Raegan Denton (South Australia) and Jazy Roberts (Victoria) with Stephanie Na serving as non-playing captain and acclaimed coach Ritchie Smith coach/manager.
It’s another opportunity for Scaysbrook to test her game against the best in the world after the US Women’s Amateur, where she needed extra holes just to qualify for the match play section. Scaysbrook’s run at Bandon Dunes was followed closely by all her supporters back home in Newcastle.
To mark the occasion, Rippit Golf, a golf facility in the heart of Newcastle where Scaysbrook works three days a week, marked the occasion by naming one of their indoor simulator bays, the ‘Ella Scaysbrook Bay’.
“First day back at work they all pulled me aside and were like, ‘So we’re going to name a bay after you. And I was like, ‘What?’ said Scaysbrook. “I was really confused about it at the start, but I didn’t really need to be talked into it. I said yes straight away.
“I feel like that’s something that doesn’t come along very often so I took it straight away. It was nice that everyone was kind of thinking of me when I was away.”
The support that she receives from the Newcastle community is not lost on a young player now ranked No.75 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Whether it’s local media interest, congratulations from members at Newcastle Golf Club or well wishes from those who come into Rippit Golf, Scaysbrook is grateful to be so well supported.
“I get messages all the time when I’m away, so the support definitely doesn’t go unnoticed for me and my family,” she added.
“We notice it all and it helps a lot when you’re away as well, especially when you’re overseas.
“When I was there (in America) I didn’t really realise how big it was. I feel like I wasn’t really sure how many people would be watching and how many people knew I was doing that, but now I do and that it was quite a few people.”
The Australian trio of Scaysbrook, Roberts (No.76) and Denton (No.90) will arrive in Singapore confident of contending for Australia’s first Espirito Santo Trophy team win since Minjee Lee, Su Oh and Shelly Shin were triumphant in Japan in 2014.
Denton won the Australian Girls Amateur in March and was third at the APGC Junior Championship in Hong Kong in May while Roberts broke through for her biggest international win with victory at the Pacific Northwest Women’s Amateur Championship in the US in July.
For Scaysbrook, this week represents another chance to establish her credentials on the world stage.
“It was definitely one of my best performances,” Scaysbrook said of her US Women’s Amateur run.
“Even though I didn’t win, it’s still probably tops wins I’d say for me anyway.
“It was really good to see that I can compete with the best and that I am as good as them.
“I think that’s the most important thing I took away from that experience.”
Round 1 of the Espirito Santo Trophy tees off on Wednesday. The best two scores for each team count each day with the champions the team with the lowest total score for 72 holes.
