

SMASH HIT: Emma de Groot was at Coffs Harbour Golf Club this week during her break from playing and studying in the US.
AS Dorothy says in The Wizard Of Oz, “there’s no place like home” and golfer Emma de Groot is enjoying her time back in familiar surroundings.
The 22-year-old is enjoying her vacation from the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga after completing her third year of a sports administration course but also a long year playing in the ultra-competitive college golf system.
The smooth-swinging right-hander nearly broke into the top 30 on the individual rankings, while her school ended up being ranked in the top 25 in the country, which is a fine result considering the University of Tennessee is only a small school.
Being home, though, is something de Groot always looks forward to.
“Not having to cook for myself is nice and just seeing my family and all of my friends is really nice,” de Groot said during a social round at Coffs Harbour Golf Club yesterday.
“I love spending time with my Nan and just getting a little bit of time to relax, which is great.”
When you consider her daily grind, it’s no wonder that relaxation is high on de Groot’s list of current priorities.
“We go to the gym from six o’clock until eight, then it’s classes from about nine until one and then it’s golf from about 1.30 until it gets dark,” she said of her routine.
“Then I do my homework and get up and do it all over again.”
The many hours spent hitting golf balls is working though and de Groot freely admits being part of the college system has helped her game no end.
“My short game has just improved tremendously, I didn’t really have one when I went over there,” she said.
“My coach being Scottish is a bit of a short-game queen, so she’s really helped me out in that aspect and I think that’s what has taken me to the next level. Now I’m just working on a few small swing changes while home and then hopefully that will see my game lift up again.”
A long-time member at Coffs Harbour, de Groot admits that when she returns home she doesn’t play much more than a couple of social rounds a week just to get away from the game for a while.
With a return to the United States looming, though, she admits that she’s starting to hit more golf balls in preparation for the next year. That was bad news for fellow members on Wednesday when she paired up with her mother Gail to claim the Ladies Foursomes Championship with a score of 128 over 27 holes.