KRYSTLE CAITHNESS HAS

GEORGIA ON HER MIND:

OFF TO STATES IN

AUGUST FOR 4 YEARS

From COLIN FARQUHARSON

Under-21 girls champion Krystle Caithness, arguably the best home-based Scottish female golf prospect, has made a verbal commitment to join Georgia University in August for four years.
The 18-year-old from Cellar Dyke, Fife, meantime at the Desert Springs Golf Resort in Spain for warm-weather training with the Ladies Golf Union Elite Squad, made the decision after a seven-day tour of three American colleges – Georgia, Texas A&M and Ohio State Universities.
“Krystle and I had a great time in the States, meeting so many wonderful people at the three universities,” said her dad Jim who also made the trip.
“She had such a hard and agonising decision to make before opting for Georgia.
“Lorne Kelly and the team at ProDream USA have done a great job for Krystle. They have looked after her every step of the way and continue to do so. They could not have been more helpful. I am glad we signed up for ProDream once Krystle decided that her future as a golfer lay in America.”
Lorne Kelly is a former Walker Cup team member who played on the American college circuit. He founded ProDream USA to help talented young golfers in Britain realise their American dreams.
“We secured three official visits for Krystle and her family to look at three of America’s top golf colleges, all offering her full scholarships,” said Lorne.
“The fact that Krystle is such an exceptional talent made it an exciting job for me but ultimately my role was to ensure she made the correct decision.
“The track record and professionalism of coach Todd McCorkle at the University of Georgia proved to be the deciding factor.
“I firmly believe that Krystle will have a massive impact on US women’s college golf. She is a special ‘packaged’ player already at 18 years of age and has played herself into Curtis Cup reckoning.
“In my opinion, so long as she maintains her work ethic and desire to succeed, she could very well be the next Scottish player to penetrate the LPGA Tour in the States upon graduation.”
“We at ProDream expect big things of Krystle Caithness – and so too does the University of Georgia.”
Georgia University is currently No 1 in the US women’s college team rankings and they have two players in the top 10 individual rankings but one of them will graduate in May-June and coach McCorkle will see Krystle as a ready-made replacement in the Georgia squad of five.
The campus and golf facilities are at Athens, Georgia, about 70 miles from the city of Atlanta.
Krystle is in contention for a place in the Great Britain team of five for the Commonwealth team tournament in South Africa from May 7 to 11 and the GB&I team of nine for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Fairmont St Andrews Bay on July 27 and 28.
She was second reserve for the GB&I team of eight for the past summer’s Curtis Cup match at Bandon Dunes, Oregon.
For her the highlight of 2006 was winning the prestigious St Rule Trophy over 54 holes from a high-class field over her home courses at St Andrews last year, even ahead of winning the Scottish Under-21 girls title at Stirling by 11 strokes with a 20-under-par total of 202, which include a course-record round of 64.
+There are already nine Scottish girl golfers at colleges in America – Gemma Webster (Ohio State), Louise Fleming (Jacksonville State, Alabama), Ashton Ingram (Belmont Abbey College, North Carolina), Katy McNicoll (Lynn University, Florida), Kelly Brotherton (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Kate O’Sullivan (High Point, North Carolina), and Carly Booth and Sally Watson, both students at the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Florida. Scottish Under-18 girls champion Roseanne Niven from Crieff enrolled at the University of California Berkeley earlier this month on a four-year golf scholarship and Sally Watson’s older sister Rebecca will start at the University of Tennessee next August.