New horizons for Amelia Garvey

By Neville Idour

After three years on the Epson Tour, trying to gain her card for the LPGA Tour and narrowly missing out, Canterbury professional Amelia Garvey, along with caddie and cousin Jamie Tipper, decided on a complete change of challenge.

So following the Epson Tour season it was decided to head to Morocco in north Africa and the Ladies' European Tour qualifying school at Royal Golf Marrakech.

Firstly, however, she had to play pre qualifying over three rounds. This was no cakewalk as it was played on four courses with 65 players on each course and 23 players would progress from each course to the main Q school the following week. Garvey won her event at the Rotana Golf Club on nine under par for the three rounds.

Caption: Canterbury golfer Amelia Garvey who has gained her card to play on the Ladies’ European Tour this year.

The main Q school was played over five rounds and Garvey would finish a fourth. The top 20 and ties gained their cards.

A modest 750 euros (NZ1400) pocket money was hers as a result. She had rounds of 69, 73, 69, 67 and 65 to finish 20 under par. The big bonus was that her top five finish has pretty much guaranteed her entry into all the Golf Saudi International Ladies' events which carry the biggest prizemoney for the women. The five events offer a total of 10 million euros in prize money.

After three rounds she was well placed but with work to do to clinch her card. She began the fourth round with a birdie on one, an eagle on the par five fourth and four more birdies to take much of the pressure off. So it proved with a scintillating final round eight under par 65. A feature was her play on the par fives which she mastered all week. She played the five holes in six under par, including another eagle on the fourth hole.

In fact, over the eight rounds she was 26 under par on the par fives. Overall she was 29 under par and shot four eagles and 37 birdies with no over par rounds. To say she was excited for 2025 would be stating the obvious.

After her round she said: “I’m feeling good as it was a pretty stress free round for me today. I just wanted to post a low number and actually try and chase the lead down.

``I really love this course and it suits my game, so I’m really proud of the way I finished the five days here. Jamie is the reason why I’m here. I’ve struggled on the Epson Tour the last few years to get my LPGA card, so I just wanted to change it up a little bit.

``He’s (Jamie) been out here this year (Europe) and he said I really think you will like it out here. It was really nice to have him on the bag this week and have a comfortable familiar face. He’s done a really good job.”

It will not surprise to see Garvey on the leaderboards in Europe as the courses should suit her game and the variety of courses and countries will ensure there is never a dull moment.

Garvey’s power is more effective in Europe as the courses there reward length more than in the United States where they pretty much only reward straight hitting. So often you have to lay up on the par fives because of the threats of water and out of bounds, thus nullifying the ability to reach the greens in two shots and score eagles.

This does not mean an end to her United States involvement as the top 10 on the Ladies’ European Tour (LET) order of merit go straight into the final stage of the LPGA Q school. That will be a goal. Also she plans to still use her Epson Tour status in 2025 and play some events there.

Tipper said: “It’s going to be a very busy year with lots of time on planes and seeing new places, which has put a big smile on our faces. The LET is a great tour and it is televised on Sky Sport. The people who run the tour and players are all great. It’s like a big travelling family. I’ve had so much fun this summer and I know Amelia will love it.”

Another positive for Garvey and Kiwi fans is that she will join fellow Cantabrian Momoka Kobori on the tour. Fellow Kiwi Wenyung Keh was also in the field and finished two shots outside gaining her full card, however it was good enough to secure secondary status which should give her some starts. It looks like an exciting 2025 in prospect for the Ladies' European Tour with up to three Kiwis in action any given week.