Sports Features

After being crowned England Girls Champion twice, playing a round with Jose Maria Olazabal and competing in Dubai, Melissa Reid could be forgiven for becoming big-headed.

But the 18-year-old Chevin Golf Club starlet has her feet firmly on the ground as she looks to make her way in the male-dominated world of professional golf.

Melissa in action

Since taking up the game at the age of 11, Reid's rise has been swift.

For the past two years she's been England Girls Champion and in 2004 she won the prestigious Daily Telegraph Junior Championship in South Africa.

Now she's vowed to work hard through the winter to prepare herself physically and mentally for the challenges that face her in 2006.

But the most important thing to Melissa is simply her passion and enthusiasm for the game.

She said: "Golf interests me because you can't be perfect at it. I'm a perfectionist and I'm obsessed with getting perfect at it.

"It's an individual sport so if you do something wrong you can't blame your team-mates - it's your own fault!"

It was Melissa's parents who first got her into the game.

She said: "My parents both played golf so I just picked it up and became addicted to getting better at it.

"I had my first proper round when I was about 11 - I think I shot 120 at Chevin!

"I got in the England squad when I was 13. I was the youngest member and it was then that I realised that I could get quite good at it.

"My first coach was John Tolliday and it's moved on now to Paul Wesselingh at Kedleston. He's fantastic and I've improved so much in the past year I've had with him."

Melissa's immediate ambitions are to gain entry into next year's Curtis Cup competition.

Last season ended with her narrowly missing out on retaining the Junior Championship title in Dubai and she wants to improve her swing before competitive action gets underway again in January.

Melissa says she's grateful for the support she's received from Chevin Golf Club and says she gets inspiration from watching her heroes.

She explained: "Chevin have been really good which I appreciate. They've always given me loads of support and nobody's been snobbish. It's actually the other girls who are more snobby towards me.

"Tiger Woods is my hero. I used to watch him on telly and think 'I want to be like him' - but a female version!

"Annika Sorenstam is also a great hero of mine."