Chasing Pars Golf Podcast

(Ep 168) Hira Naveed

As the LPGA Tour returns this week after a 3 week hiatus I was joined by New Zealand born Aussie pro Hira Naveed who returns to the scene of her career best finish of 2nd at last year's Ford Championship in Arizona over the road at Seville Golf & Country Club where she challenged the world number 1 Nelly Korda finishing 2 shots behind the best player in the world.
 
Although born in New Zealand, Hira spent majority of her childhood in Perth, Australia and went to University in Los Angeles where she ended up finishing 5th in the all time scoring list with 73.59 and would be a part of the 2019 Palmer Cup side for Team International which they would win against USA. In 2019 Hira turned Pro before the disruption of 2020 where she was cut off from any sort of tournament play but played on Epson Tour in 2021 with a career best finish on Epson of T4th in 2022. Hira would meet well renowned Golf Coach Chris Mayson and would certainly work towards improving. Hira would gain her LPGA Tour card for 2024 season after finishing T15th at Final Stage Q School in 2023.
 
Last year Hira made her bow at LPGA Tour level and had a few Top 20s and she even admits that it could have been better but still a respectable 72nd finish on the Race to CME Globe standings to keep her card. So far Hira has started with 3 straight cuts made including a 8th placed finish at Saudi Ladies International in Riyadh and returns to the state of Arizona where she is very comfortable with having played a heap of events in AZ on Epson Tour & openly admitted she loves playing in hot weather and desert golf.
 
Downloads via Podbean, Apple and Spotify! Be sure to give a listen and thanks to Hira Naveed for being a good guest!
 
Enjoy!

Caddy Series Ep 7 (167, Jordan Chatt)

As the episodes keep coming I was joined by Ladies European Tour caddy and one of my favourite people in the world Jordan Chatt as he phoned in last week from Coffs Harbour to give us an overview of the week, course conditions at the time as well as the aftermath of Alfred Cyclone and it's effects.
Jordan started caddying in 2018 starting as a 16 year old lad caddying for in his own words 'Rich Americans' and developed a love for caddying and helping players reach their potential afterwards. Jordan would alongside Annabell Fuller qualify for AIG Women's Open at St Andrews last year in what would be his first major and the most special one as it sadly was one of the last times his late mother would see him on the course.
As of this year Jordan started the first few events in Morocco, Saudi & Taiwan with experienced winner Perrine Delacour learning different things along the way before bagging with Megan Dennis for last weeks Australian Women's Classic where they unfortunately missed the cut. Hopefully will see more of Jordan on tour this year! 
In a short space of time Jordy has developed into a good friend and it's great to see him out there doing well even with the dodgy accent ha ha!
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(Caddy Series Ep 6, 166) Ryan Hilton

In this episode as we continue the Caddy Series I was joined by LPGA Tour caddy Ryan Hilton who just come back from an abrupt end to Singapore after his current player Jenny Shin had to withdraw due to a fever but Jenny should be fine for the next event in Arizona.
Ryan is from the Mid West of America and isn't too far from Erin Hills where this year's US Women's Open will be held! Ryan started his caddying career after meeting with a fellow pro while working as a coach at local golf course and last year was on the bag for 4x LET Winner Alexandra Försterling in her Rookie Year on LPGA and played events such as AIG Women's Open at St Andrews & Olympics for Germany. This year he got the call from Jenny Shin to work for her and started out together back in Australia before Thailand and Singapore. 
Hope you enjoy this insight from Ryan into life as a pro caddy. 
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(Ep 165) Jana Melichová

In one of the most open, honest and heartbreaking interviews I've done so far I was joined by 2x LET winner Jana Melichova who is currently still recovering from a back injury that required some surgery with Jana hoping to make it back on tour to defend her title at Dutch Ladies Open in May as only recently of late has she been able to start hitting balls again!
Jana is from Pikovice outside of Prague in Czechia and is very close with Former podcast guest Sara Kouskova as well as the other Czech players Klara Davidson Spilkova, Krystina Napaleova and Tereza Melecka. She would go to the States for a scholarship at Old Dominion University in Virginia going on to win an individual title while also competing in 6x European Amateur Team Championships for Czechia as well as winning All American honours after finishing 13th at NCAA Division 1.
Jana would play a few events on tour as an Amateur including Czech Ladies Open on LET and Czech Ladies Challenge on LETAS. In 2022 Jana Melichova would make history by becoming only the 2nd player from Czech Republic to win on Ladies European Tour having won Czech Ladies Open by a shot defeating both fellow home favourite Klara Spilkova & the experienced Nicole Broch Estrup what makes it more impressive is Jana was still an Amateur!
Shortly after turning pro in 2022 Jana's life would change forever with the sad unexpected passing if her beloved mother and Jana bravely opens up about the impact that this tragic unfortunate event has played a role in her life and how she is trying to become more open and honest about it with the assistance of a Mental Coach. For at least 10 mins Jana bravely, fearlessly and amazingly fully opens up about the last few years and I have nothing but pure respect and admiration to her for that! It was written in the stars in May of last year at Dutch Ladies Open as Jana would win for the 2nd time on Tour on what would have been her mothers 60th Birthday weekend so it was a highly emotional victory for her and let out floods of emotions as she capitalised on the mistakes of Kim Metraux coming down the stretch to win for 2nd time!
Please be sure to Like, Subscribe,  Download while leaving some nice comments on Apple Podcasts, Podbean and Spotify and give this amazingly brave lady the love and support she needs. She deserves your listens! Powerful, raw and emotional and I hope you enjoy it!

(Ep 164) Sara Byrne

The player interviews continue as I was joined by rising star & 2024 Curtis Cup star Sara Byrne who tees it up this week on the Epson Tour in Florida after winning both status on LET & Epson Tour. Primarily Sara will be focusing for the time being on Epson Tour as she bids on her quest to achieve a life goal dream of becoming a LPGA Tour player.
A successful figure at University of Miami Sara was ranked as high as 44th in World Amateur Golf Rankings & is a 2x Irish National Champion. It's been a stellar Amateur career for Sara having at University of Miami she achieved the lowest scoring average in UoM history (70.34), won 2 NCAA D1 Tournaments, participated at World Amateur Team Championship in 2023, competed at 2024 Palmer Cup and would go undefeated in a historic run at 2024 Curtis Cup for GB&I at Sunningdale where she & Augusta National Women's Amateur Champion Lottie Woad would go undefeated in Fourballs & Foursomes while Sara would defeat Catherine Park 3&2 on Sunday Singles. 
After Curtis Cup Sara would turn pro and get her professional debut at Rose Ladies Open event on LETAS finishing T13th & would also make the weekend of both La Sella Open (T41st) & Lacoste Ladies Open De France (T28th). At LET Final Q School after 5 gruelling rounds Sara would finish 15th overall to gain her full LET Card for 2025 along with Epson Tour card. In her first start as a LET member Sara would be right into contention even taking the lead at the first event of season at Lalla Meryem Cup eventually finishing T24th. 
I wish Sara the best for 2025 on Epson Tour. 
 
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(Ep 163) Dorthea Forbrigd

In this episode I was joined by current Ladies European Tour member Dorthea Forbrigd as she called I before Morocco a couple of weeks back while back home in beautiful Oslo, Norway. 
Dorthea is a 2x Norweigan National Champion, 4x East Carolina University Collegiate title winner, while she has also played in European Amateur Team Championships & World Amateur Team Championships for Norway and is a 2x European Ladies Amateur participant. Growing up Dorthea played multiple sports such as Cross Country Skiing, Football & Tennis. 
Dorthea turned Pro in 2021  and managed to gain Category 18 status on LET and would play LET/LETAS in 2022 with a couple of 6th placed finishes at Hauts De France & Elite Hotels Open. In 2023 Forbrigd would gain confidence with an 11th at Czech Ladies Open & 17th at VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open while finishing T3rd at PGA Championship Goteborg & T2nd at Lombardia Ladies Open on LETAS. In 2024 she had some solid finishes with a T16th at Investec SA Women's Open, T19th at VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open, T20th at Aramco Series London, a career best finish of T5th at Dutch Ladies Open  while also playing multiple Aramco Series events & Scottish Women's Open this all contributed to Dorthea finishing inside the Top 70 to gain good status for 2025 on LET. 
Had good fun with Dorthea and u hope you enjoy it!
 
Thanks as always for the continued support,  Like, Subscribe, Download via Podbean, Apple, Spotify and all other providers!

(Ep 162) Lisa Pettersson

In this episode I was joined by Swedish LET title winner Lisa Pettersson as we found out about her preparation just before last week's first LET event in Rabat, Morocco. A lot of things have changed for Lisa having recently got married to her long term partner and recalls the unfortunate story of her now husband getting involved in a slight skiing accident causing a fractured elbow that required surgery just a couple of days before the wedding, thankfully everything worked out! 
Lisa is from Stockholm, Sweden currently residing in Solna just outside of Stockholm and won Most Outstanding Female Scholar Athlete at East Carolina University. Lisa turned Professional in 2018 and while admittedly struggling she managed to win Swedish Matchplay on Nordic Tour and would play on Symetra Tour now Epson Tour in 2019 and discusses States life. In 2020 I Civid year Lisa in Arizona would win on Cactus Tour Arizona & finished 2nd behind the legend Anna Nordqvist not long after.
At Final Stage LET Q School in 2021 Lisa would finish 2nd to gain LET status for 2022 and would hold the clubhouse lead at Skaftö Open before narrowly missing out to Linn Grant. 2023 would be much better with a T6th at Aramco Team Series - Hong Kong before winning her home open in Helsingborg in June defeating Ana Pelaez Trivino by a shot to win her maiden title. At Dromoland in Ireland Lisa would get into a playoff at Irish Women's Open with Smilla Tarning Soenderby & Anne Van Dam before losing out to eventual winner Smilla Tarning Søenderby who had produce a worldie of a round to win. 
A nice episode was had with Lisa and I hope you enjoy!
 
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(Ep 161) Sára Kouskova

Hi everyone and hope you are enjoying the player episodes again, today I've got another great one with the super lovely Czech LET star & Olympian Sára Kouskova! The 2022 LETAS Order of Merit winner joined me to chat about her off season, what she's been improving on and how she's looking forward to Morocco this week! 
Kouskova is from Prague, which is of course the capital of Czechia. Sara would go to University of Texas at Austin representing Czechia 4 times at European Girls' Team Championship, 4 times at European Ladies' Team Championship, World Junior Girls Championship in 2017 & Espirito Santo Trophy participant in 2018 and would win 2021 Arizona Wildcat Invitational in college. 
In 2021 Sara would make history by becoming the first Czech player to win a LET Access Series event at Czech Ladies Open (as an Amateur too impressive!) In 2022 Sara would win 3 times on LET Access Series in June at Santander Golf Malaga beating Virginia Elena Carta by 1 shot at (-5) and twice in September at Elite Hotels Open beating Vanessa Knecht by 3 shots at (-12) & ASGI Lavaux Ladies Open in Switzerland winning by 4 to the talented Helen Briem. With 3 wins and a consistent season Sara would win the 2022 Order of Merit for LET Access Series therefore gaining a full your card on LET for 2023. 
On LET Sara admittedly at first she found it a struggle to get the consistency level right but would finish T5th at the notoriously difficult Hero Indian Women's Open at DLF helping her keep her status for 2024. It would a far more consistent season for Sara in 2024 with 4 Top 10s including 3rd at La Sella Open, 6th at Lalla Meryem Cup & 7th at Dutch Ladies Open which would help her to finish 19th overall in the LET Order of Merit standings. Sara is also an Olympian as she would also represent Czechia at Olympic Women's Golf at Le Golf National at 2024 Paris Olympics, Sara also talks about her Olympics experiences! 
In her time off Sara is an avid artist and loves to chat about environment sustainability!
Thanks to Sara for a nice chat and all the best at Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco this week on LET, hopefully a big 2025 for you! 
 
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(Ep 160) Kajsa Arwefjäll

Welcome to another player exclusive episode I was joined by LET Access Series Order of Merit winner & 2x LETAS title winner Kajsa Arwefjäll who called in after a good practice session in Florida ahead of the Ladies European Tour season opener in Marrakech next week! 
Born in Tranås in the county of Jönköping in Sweden Kajsa would move to Høllviken near the city of Malmö at the age of 9 and plays out of Ljunghusen Golf Club. Kajsa is from a very sporty background with her father being a Former Professional Golfer in his own right and is now currently her golfing coach, her mother is a Former Skier and her brother plays Ice Hockey professionally back in Sweden formerly at Malmö Redhawks! Kajsa believe it or not is a World Champion Rope Skipper!
Kajsa would enrol at San Jose State University where she was have an illustrious amateur career which includes 2x Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship participant, 2022 Palmer Cup participant for Team International, 2023 Women's Amateur Quarter Finalist, 2023 World Amateur Team Championship participant for Sweden as well as being a 4x WGCA All American Scholar, 4x First Team All-Mountain West, 2x Mountain West Player of the Year and winning 2024 Mountain West Individual Championship at SJSU. We talk about the Palmer Cup in Switzerland in 2022 where Kajsa was a part of a super winning International side which featured the likes of Ludvig Åberg, Adrien Dumont De Chassart, Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, Christo Lamprecht, Lexi Försterling,  Chiara Tamburlini, Aline Krauter, Benedetta Moresco & Julia Lopez Ramirez. 
Kajsa has 3 wins on LET Access Series. 1 was at 2021 GolfUppsala Open back in Sweden as an Amateur. Kajsa turned Professional mid last year and won in June at MoreGolf Mastercard Open winning by 3 shots & in August at Destination Gotland Ladies Open by 2 shots. After a consistent year with 2 wins, 2 2nds, 2 T4th's & a T6th that contributed to Arwefjäll winning the LETAS Order of Merit to gain full time Ladies European Tour status for 2025!
An exceptional talent with a big future ahead and I am excited to see what Kajsa Arwefjäll can produce on LET over the next couple of seasons! 
 
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Caddy Series Ep 5 (159, Ben 'Squash' Cain)

Before the LET season starts in a couple weeks time in Marrakech, Morocco I was joined by LET Tour Caddy Ben Cain also known as Squash by his peers as we look forward to the season starting up for 2025. Squash is the current caddy for the talented Emma Spitz who had a great year on LET last year which included a heartbreaking playoff defeat in Germany against home favourite and good friend Alexandra Försterling where she played some of her best stuff in the final 9 holes which included nearly getting a hole in one in the playoff.
Squash was a player in his own right and we find out about his on course demeanour which he admits in spells wasn't fantastic and how he prefers giving his own influences into giving positive thoughts for Emma! Injuries cut short his own playing career and loves the challenge of caddying! 
We also find out about some of the funny stories from on Tour and some of the best countries and courses that they go to! Funny guy and nice episode!
 
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