There is no doubt that golfers are a superstitious bunch. From the number of tees they carry to the number on their golf ball and certain color schemes for certain days of tournaments, nearly everyone at the top echelon of the game has a quirk that they hope will give them an edge.
For Georgia Hall, the 22-year-old Englishwoman who captured her first career victory and major championship on Sunday at the Ricoh Women’s British Open by three shots over Pornanong Phatlum, she comes by her superstitions honestly.
“I’m quite superstitious and my dad is even worse,” Hall said of her father and caddie, Wayne. So when Georgia ordered her bagman to wear the same socks — unwashed — for the remainder of the Open following an opening-round 67, he happily obliged.
“He was like, ‘I’m going to keep them on. It’s going to be worth it, hopefully,'” Hall told the BBC. “It was. They weren’t smelly after day one, but after four days, yeah, they were.”
“They stink,” Wayne confirmed.
The victory was 15 years in the making for the everywoman golfer from Bournemouth. A decorated amateur career was made even more impressive by the fact that she didn’t come from affluence and had to, on three different occasions, turn down invites to major championships because her family couldn’t afford to send her.
Wayne, a 2-handicap, even sold his clubs at one point so that Hall could continue playing in the high-priced amateur circuit.
“We’ve been dreaming this since she was 7 years old, practicing and pretending to knock in putts to win the British Open,” Wayne said. “And it’s actually happened.”
The $490,000 winner’s check and the major championship trophy signaled Hall’s arrival on the scene. She became just the second English winner of the Women’s British Open, joining NBC and Golf Channel reporter Karen Supples who won the title in 2004.
