Aberdeen ambassadors with girls from the SLGA

Aberdeen Asset Management ambassadors Catriona Matthew, Mhairi McKay, Carly Booth and Lynn Kenny took part in a Q&A session with media and young members of the Scottish Ladies Golf Association (SLGA) ahead of the Aberdeen Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland at Archerfield Links on Wednesday.

The youngsters were eager to learn from the experienced professionals and were poised with a barrage of pertinent questions for them to answer, followed by a golf clinic on the driving range.

One junior asked, ‘What’s your favourite golf club in the bag?’ Carly replied quick as a flash: ‘Driver!’ Lynn said it was her seven-iron while Mhairi was unsure and said it depends on the day. Catriona revealed it was either her putter or her driver, but she’d prefer it to be her putter.

The professionals answered a number of questions on subjects ranging from practice routines to nutrition and coping with nerves coming down the stretch in a major championship.

A few tips from Catriona were to take deep breaths and concentrate on keeping your swing slow, while Carly concurred and said that walking extra slowly could help to slow down your rhythm when nervous or playing badly, which could have the same quickening effect. Catriona also revealed that Helen Alfredsson had given her a tip before the final round of the Scandinavian TPC in Sweden, which she won in 2007. Alfredsson advised to keep score for only three holes at a time. Mhairi said that her caddie advised her to avoid looking at the leader board altogether during the final round of the Women’s Australian Open, which she went on to win in 2003.