KATY McNICOLL PLANS US COLLEGE

COMEBACK IN FEBRUARY

Carnoustie’s Katy McNicoll, one of Scotland’s best teenage golf prospects, is planning a comeback on the American college circuit in early February.
It will then be almost exactly a year since 19-year-old Katy, pictured right, had a right-knee operation at Boca Raton, Florida where she is now a third-year golf scholarship student at Lynn University.
She has not played golf since then.
Miss McNicoll’s father owns a golf shop in Carnoustie and her older brother Keir is a Scotland amateur international team player who was also a student at Lynn University.
“I tore my anterior cruciate ligament and damaged the menicus on the inside of my right knee. How I managed to do this, I don’t actually know! The knee gave out when I was playing golf in January and the trainer at the university referred me to a specialist who then referred me for an MRI.
“When the results came through, I was told that the only option if I wanted to continue playing competitive golf was to have an operation.”
Katy thought at the time she would be out of action for six months but she was warned that sometimes the anterior cruciate ligament takes fully a year for a 100% recovery. Unfortunately, that has proved the case in this instance.
Katy had already been a winner in 2006 on the American women’s college circuit and was rated a key player in Lynn University’s bid for a national title in the spring.
Last year she was runner-up to Krystle Caithness with a nine-under-par, three-round total in the Scottish Under-21 girls’ stroke-play championship.
In the 2006 Scottish Under-18 girls’ match-play championship, Katy lost to the eventual champion, Roseanne Niven (Crieff) in the semi-finals at Peebles and she also lost in the semi-finals of the North of Scotland women’s championship at Montrose to Michele Thomson (McDonald Ellon) who went on to retain that title.
All of these championships Katy has missed in 2007. Her golfing career is on hold for a year.
In an E-mail from Florida, Katy writes:”I’ve had a meeting with my trainer to determine whether or not I am going to play this fall semester. I looked at all the possibilities and came to the conclusion that rushing to be back at full fitness for the fall isn't in my best interests.
“My knee is close to where it used to be but there is still some healing to be done. Our first tournament in the spring season starts February 8 so I have decided this will be my first competition representing Lynn University.
“It was a hard choice to make but my team have already started competing this fall and they came fourth at the weekend and one of my team-mates actually won the tournament so they are doing OK. I figured this takes the pressure of me to return too early.”