My twelve year old daughter, Emily, and I attended the RICOH Women's British Open last week at Royal Birkdale for the three days prior to the competition and also for the first round.
Emily was already fond of Christina Kim, as she had given her a golf ball during the first round of the same competition at Royal Lytham St Annes in 2006. As a result, she wanted to follow Christina and we did this each day.
What a wonderful experience for Emily. She had her photograph taken with Christina during the Pro-Am, and when they finished on the 16th hole Christina offered us a lift back to the clubhouse in the minibus. I was very impressed with the way she interacted with her Pro-Am partners and I know that, having spoken to them on several occasions during the week, her partners thoroughly enjoyed it.
Christina greeted Emily by name each day and was always very friendly - so much so that we made the 200 mile round trip to watch the last day's competition on Sunday. Again, Christina spoke to Emily and when Emily asked her for her yardage book just before Christina was leaving for the airport, she went out of her way to get it and sign it.
Emily played in her first ladies competition at our golf club a few days later and she won the competition, playing eleven shots under her handicap. I believe that it was her visit to the golf tournament that inspired her.
She sent a message to Christina via Twitter to advise her and has received a very nice response.
Christina now has a fan for life.
Adrian Sutton
If you have a positive story to tell, feel free to email it to feedback@lpga.com and it will be posted in the For the Love of the Fans section.
