No childs play for young Stafford golf ace

The exciting prospect, who plays out of Brocton Hall Golf Club, is through to the England Golf Grand Medal Final.

She hopes it will be just one of several stepping stones on her way to a glorious run in the professional ranks one day.

Golding has made waves on the amateur circuit by becoming the youngest qualifier in the country for the Grand Medal Final last week.

She came third in the North Midlands Qualifier at Rothley Park in Leicestershire and will now be among a 60-strong field for the final, held at Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire on August 13.

And her delighted father John said: "She is very excited about the prospect of playing in it.

"I wasn't surprised that she qualified but I was delighted. This is the biggest event she has played in so far.

"She will be playing against 59 ladies in an adult competition but, to be honest, I don't think it will faze her.

"She has been competing against adults in competitions at Brocton Hall for a few years now. She just sees it as part and parcel of competing and wanting to improve."

The Grand Medal is not the only big competition for Hannah, who is a county under-12s champion.

The Blessed William Howard School pupil will also compete in the England Under-14s Championships in July before targeting North Midlands Girls glory in August.

Golding, who took up the sport five years ago, is already clocking up the accolades having been involved in the Staffordshire county junior set up for more than two years.

She is currently on the junior squad's second team and is aiming to move up on to the first team by the end of next year.

She also won the nett trophy at the Staffordshire Girls Championship at Trentham Golf Club in April, a feat all the more impressive as it was the first time she had shot 36 holes in one day.

But Hannah is hoping to compete on an even bigger stage in the future and is keen to follow in the footsteps of decorated women's professional Charlie Hull.

The Kettering-born star is currently playing on the Ladies European Tour, where she became a champion before the age of 18.

She has also participated in the Solheim Cup – women's golf's equivalent to the Ryder Cup – and John said: "Hopefully Hannah will one day become a professional golfer.

"That is her ambition and we are just in the early stages of working towards that now.

"She watches players like Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood, and she is really excited about what people like Charley Hull have achieved. That is the type of thing she is hoping to emulate."

Such achievements were not at the forefront of her mind when Hannah first picked up a golf club aged seven at Brocton Hall.

But John added it was clear as soon as she started having lessons that she had a natural ability for the sport.

Asked how she got into golf, he said: "It was just one of those things. I play as well and she'd been down to the club with me a couple of times.

"And one day a couple of people were talking about lessons, she said she'd like to go and she hasn't looked back since.

"She just took to it like a duck to water and she has got better and better."

Hannah still has a long way to go to achieve her lofty ambitions, but she is on the right path and she is certainly putting the hours in.

She practices up to three times a week at Brocton Hall, and also has regular coaching sessions with the Staffordshire County squad as well as her own performance coach, who she sees every four to six weeks.

John said: "She's going to keep practicing hard and hopefully keep progressing."