Honour for Melissa Eaton
Port Shepstone Country Club has some serious claims to fame.
MELISSA Eaton, a touring pro in the United States, this week received the 2013 Heather Wilbur spirit award which exemplifies a player who has shown true dedication, courage, hard work and a strong passion and desire to achieve her goals. She was nominated by the Symetra Tour professionals for the prestigious award.
“Thank you so much to all the players and staff of the Symetra Tour for this huge honour,” said a delighted Melissa. She also received a ‘Rising Star’ award for being the most improved player on the Symetra Tour.
And on top of that, she realised her progress and influence on the game hasn’t gone unnoticed. Melissa’s mom Colleen explained further. “Melissa was driving along the freeway to a tournament in Daytona and looked up at an advertising billboard on the stateside highway only to see that the photo was her! It’s incredible that a little Port Shepstone twinnie has graced the billboards of America,” said Colleen, seeing the funny side.
Port Shepstone Country Club member Jane Lind was thrilled for Melissa. “It’s not every day that we have someone from our club up on a billboard in another country, wow,” said Jane.
Melissa joined the pro ranks on the back of a successful collegiate golf career at Louisiana State University. Among her highlights were 10 top-10 finishes and a Southeastern Conference All-Conference First Team selection in 2005.
In her fifth season on the Symetra Tour, she broke through to her first career victory at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic and just missed out on the top 10 players in the Volvik Race for the Card, who received automatic exemption for the 2014 LPGA Tour.
According to her peers, Melissa has left her mark inside the ropes, but has also left an everlasting footprint on many lives of her fellow competitors, who describe her as “always positive, someone with a warm heart, incredible, nice, genuine, respectful and professional person and someone who always goes out of her way to say kind words to other girls.”
“I’ve known Melissa for three years now,” said Louisiana graduate and frequent travel companion, Katy Harris. “Melissa is a lot of fun. The girl loves to shop, any time she has free time on the road. She loves to have a good time, is very laid back and is just an overall happy person.”
Melissa finished 13th in the final rankings, which has earned her a straight pass to the final stage of the LPGA Qualifying School on LPGA International’s Jones and Hills courses from December 4-8.
Lizzie shows tremendous potential
PRO golfer Melissa Eaton is not the only woman golfer from Port Shepstone Country Club making waves on the golf course. Lizzie Currie (19), who is still very new to the sport, played for KwaZulu-Natal at the recent SA Interprovincial in Port Elizabeth for the first time. KZN finished fifth in the strokeplay and won the A2 matchplay section, which was a good result from a young team. Lizzie held her own under the pressure, holing some clutch putts.
Lizzie said she had an “awesome time” and was grateful for the opportunity to play for KZN. She played an energy sapping 10 rounds in six days, experiencing wind which she described as being on a whole new level. “It was an absolutely amazing experience and I loved every minute,” she said.
“We did well actually, considering that, on paper, we weren’t as strong as some of the other teams,” she said. Lizzie had a pretty good tournament, winning three games, halving two and losing only one. She started the week playing at number six but soon got promoted to number four.
She said the week was quite unlike anything she had ever experienced. “It was intense, there was no messing around. Players hit balls all the time, as well as practising their chipping and putting, even between rounds. It wasn’t like being at Sheppie, where everything is quite chilled,” she said, noting that she loved the atmosphere.
Lizzie, who has now been cut to a seven handicap, felt the tournament had brought out the best of her golf. “I played some shots I didn’t think I was capable of,” she said. She has been working with Derek James and will continue to do so to see just how good she can get.
Lizzie and her brother Donovan hope to have a ‘Currie Cup’ golf day at Port Shepstone sometime soon. “I’m not sure my brother is keen anymore, now that my handicap is seven and his has drifted out to 11,” she said with a cheeky smile.
