Chasing Pars Golf Podcast

After a little bit of a break I was joined by Poland's history maker in Dorota Zalewska who became the first ever Polish player to win a tour card on Ladies European Tour in 2024 gaining 3 top 20's in her rookie season & held the lead at this year's Dutch Open at Goyer.   Dorota is from Szczesin, Poland and started out the game with her father at the age of 10 at Modry Las GC and has won Polish Junior Championship, Polish Matchplay & Polish Amateur Ladies Open. Dori went to University of Tennessee at Chattanooga winning 4  times at Chattanooga including NCAA Raleigh Regionals in 2023 and has represented Poland at 4 Espirito Santo Trophy's & 2 European Ladies' Amateur Team Championships.    Growing up Dori played numerous sports including Tennis where we eventually talk about Polish sports people including now 6x Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek, Hubert Hurkacz & the legendary Robert Lewandowski. Dori speaks about her admiration for everything that Iga Swiatek has done in Tennis for the whole scale of Poland. We also have a chat about Makaron z Trustkawkami which is effectively Pasta with Strawberries & Cream which came into the spotlight recently as Swiatek's favourite meal.   I want to thank Dorota for coming on and being a pleasure to chat with. I wish her all the best in her quest to keep her playing privileges for the next season.    Be sure to listen, download while leaving a like and subscribe via the usual platforms Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify. Enjoy!

In another player interview I was joined by Ladies European Tour veteran Stacy Bregman. After a brief interaction with Stacy at Abama when doing on course walk and talk with Hitaashee Bakshi we talk about all things Abama (especially the hills!!) I think the overall consensus is that the players although it was a hike they all loved it in Tenerife.  Stacy is from Johannesburg in South Africa and started playing the game at about 13 years old, she achieved South African colours for Karate 7 times and was 2004 Sports Woman of the Year at King David Linksfield School. In 2006 Stacy alongside Ashleigh Simon (Buhai) & Kelli Shean would participate for Team South Africa at Espirito Santo Trophy on home soil in Stellenbosch which the 3 ladies would win. Stacy in her long and established professional career has record 7 wins on Sunshine Ladies Tour and would win the team event at 2021 Aramco Team Series - Sotogrande along with Ash Buhai & Hayley Davis. Stacy has held her Tour card on LET since 2007 so is into her 18th season on tour without losing her card that is massively impressive achievement and longevity!  This was a mixture of serious golf chat in with some very funny moments including learning about her being a Black Belt in Karate and Stacy's karaoke song of choice. Be sure to Listen, Download, Like & Subscribe via Podbean, Apple Podcasts & Spotify.  Had a lot of fun with this one, enjoy!

In this episode a couple weeks later than originally planned I was joined by LET Card Holder for this year Michaela Finn who called in from Ohio. Michaela splits her time between Jacksonville, Florida & Ohio and when she goes home to Sweden she resides outside of Brastad. In her time at Kent State University in Ohio, Michaela won 2017 Mid-American Conference Championship, 3x Mid-American Conference First Team Selection & participated in the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship in 2019.  Michaela has represented Sweden on a number of occasion as a Junior/Amateur having been as partner the National selection for 2012 European Young Masters, 2014 World Amateur Team Championship in Canada where she got a Silver Medal alongside Emma Svensson & Filippa Möörk, 2014 European Girls' Team Championship finishing 3rd & 2017 European Ladies' Team Championship finishing 3rd.  Michaela turned Pro in 2019 and would win 2019 Åhus Open on Swedish Golf Tour defeating Sara Kjellker by 1 shot at Kristianstad Golf Club. In 2020 Michaela would join Symetra Tour (Epson Tour) but only played few events due to Covid Pandemic. In 2021 at Symetra Tour Championship Michaela would shoot a history making -11 61 a record she still co-holds to this day alongside Fatima Fernandez Cano. At 2024 LET Final Q School finals Finn would finish T8th to gain full Ladies European Tour membership for season 2025 which has resulted in a few starts this year.   Interesting fact is that Michaela also works for Backswing Company raising over $7,000 for charity in one of her last fundraiser events. She also loves to cook and has her own special recipe for Traditional Swedish Meatballs. As always be sure to check it out if possible. Download via Podbean,  Apple Podcasts and Spotify and be sure to tell me what you think, thank you Michaela for coming on to chat. Enjoy.

On Day 2 here at Abama Golf for this week's Tenerife Womens Open on Ladies European Tour after a brief walk of the course on the back 9 towards home I caught up with 2024 Hero Indian Women's National number 1 player Hitaashee Bakshi who has had a decent start to life on LET with a T36th at Jabra Ladies Open & T12th at Dutch Women's Open alongside caddy Nathan Free, this potential star of the future has been pro since 17 years of age and we chat about her association with the well renowned DLF course in India as we break down what it takes to play there as well as go through the different head covers that she uses including some of her favourites. We also caught up with 6x European Am Team Championship participant for Ireland Annabel Wilson who is making her way onto the tour having turned Pro in 2024 after a good Amateur career in the States. Annabel played the game in Scotland at 7 years old and with the Open Championship at Royal Portrush this year about half and hour away from Annabel we go into what it means for Northern Irish Golf. Last interview is with 2024 Curtis Cup winner with GB&Ire Lorna McClymont who is finding her way through a mixture of LET & LETAS and talks through her experiences so far on tour, her time as an International Scholar at University of Stirling as well as of course the whole experience at last year's Curtis Cup event at Sunningdale where Great Britain & Ireland defeated America on home soil which included Mimi Rhodes, Sara Byrne & Lottie Woad.  I hope you all enjoy as I had great fun doing these, as always like, Download and Subscribe via Podbean, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Here's to more!

As people are aware I am Tenerife this week for Tenerife Womens Open on Ladies European Tour. On the first day I walked the back 9 at Abama Golf with Sunshine Ladies Tour winner Danielle Du Toit as we done a walk and talk at the Par 4 15th.  We discuss her win on Sunshine Ladies Tour back in SA in February as well as other fun stuff, be sure to listen in, tomorrow there will be more content from Day 2 with a few audio interviews. Enjoy