MICHELE THOMSON CUTTING SHORT
GOLF SCHOLARSHIP IN UNITED STATES

After only four months and very much against the trend of young Scottish golf talent heading Stateside, Michele Thomson has decided not to continue with her four-year golf scholarship at Jacksonville State University. The 18-year-old Ellon girl is to return home from Alabama immediately.
“When I signed in April to play and study at JSU, one of things that encouraged me was the golf programme, the people and the infrastructure they had in place,” said Michele.
“Sadly however, by the time I arrived in Alabama at the end of August, things had changed, the swing coach had moved on and as a result the golf programme was, in my opinion, already beginning to suffer.
“Don’t get me wrong. The university people there are very friendly and supportive and the facilities and weather are great but, without regular quality coaching, even though I was qualifying well and had one or two good results, I felt I was not progressing at the rate I wanted.”
Michele, the current Scottish schoolgirls champion, winner of the North of Scotland women’s title for the past two years and a member of the title-winning Scotland girls team last summer, said she had had a talk with the Jacksonville State head coach but he was not able to convince her that things were going to improve in the short term.
“While home over Christmas, I was on the range almost every day, sometimes for about five hours, working with a number of key people. While I knew myself that my swing had deteriorated over the four months abroad I did not appreciate just how bad technically it had become and in the end the decision about what was best for me personally was easy,” said Michele.
“Having seen and tried first hand what is available in America has made me much more appreciative of what is actually available on my own door step in Scotland.
“I know some people may say I did not give it long enough but you have to be there to understand. While there are good and not-so-good universities in the States, things continuously change and you have to keep reviewing where you want your golf to be against where you are at. “I was not prepared to go another four or five months without the necessary support I believe I need to improve. There is no doubt I will miss the regular American college tournaments and the many new friends I have made but now that I have made my decision I look forward to working hard with quality people in Scotland and getting my game into shape for the 2007 season.
“I am going to continually review my progress over the coming months and work hard at home with my game before making any decision about what I want to do on a longer term basis.”