How Australia’s newest champ, Grace Kim, spent her days leading up to the Evian Championship
Grace Kim enjoyed a miraculous win at the Evian Championship in France, but before she headed overseas, she spent days on end at a golf club on Sydney’s upper north shore.
NSW
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They say ‘never forget your roots’, and Australia’s newest golfing champion definitely hasn’t.
In the week leading up to her miraculous win at the Evian Championship in France, Grace Kim was training at the Avondale Golf Club on Sydney’s upper north shore.
Avondale club captain Wayne Leamon said Kim has crafted her skills on the Pymble green since she was 12-years-old and her continued presence helped establish her as the fan favourite she is today.
“Our members love Grace,” Mr Leamon said.
“In her week back in Sydney, she spent 10-days at the club practising, but also playing with members in our normal weekly member comp.”
And while it may seem strange for someone on a world stage to be spending so much time at a social club, its all Kim knows.
At 15, Kim won the Avondale club championship. And while no one could predict her success, many around her knew she was something special.
“Grace was always an outstanding female in her age group,” Mr Leamon said.
“It’s very hard to predict, but she was alway a very good player.”
Although her early wins had nowhere near the cash stakes Evian does — Kim takes home a whopping $1.8 million — they were just as important at producing our new golfing hero.
Kim’s long time coach Khan Pullen said her victory on Monday morning was off the back of a fighting attitude she has carried her entire career.
Even when down during the tournament — which had Pullen on the edge of his seat, watching at home in Sydney — Kim was able to stay composed and pull off a major comeback.
“Just watching it was a rollercoaster of emotion for me,” Pullen said.
“She looked like she was handling it a lot better than me.
“She’s never given up, she’s always a fighter and will play her heart out every time.”
Originally published as How Australia’s newest champ, Grace Kim, spent her days leading up to the Evian Championship
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