The Longest Day…
Talented young golfer Gabriella Schofield is set to take part in the Longest Day Golf Challenge in order to raise funds for a charity very close to her heart, writes Carol Wilson
Anyone for tennis? Not teen golfer Gabriella Schofield who, despite coming from respected tennis stock, is forging her own way on the fairway.
Next month Gabriella, who is Clitheroe Golf Club’s Junior Captain, is taking part in the Longest Day Golf Challenge, playing four rounds of golf – 72 holes – across approximately 15 hours.
And, while the 14-year-old’s long-term goal is to turn professional, Gabriella’s immediate aim is to use her golfing prowess to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, after her mum Karla was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022.
“I’m hoping to raise as much money as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support,” she explains.
“After having two surgeries, six rounds of chemotherapy and 10 rounds of radiotherapy my mum is well on the road to recovery and I want to give something back by doing the Longest Day Golf Challenge.”
Dad Mark, who runs Ribble Valley Tennis Centre, adds: “Karla’s good now and is on her way to making a full recovery, but it was a challenging year to say the least.
“To be honest with you Gabriella coped with it better than anybody, and the golf challenge is something that she’s thought about doing for quite a while. We’re so incredibly proud of her.”
In spite of the Schofield family’s tennis credentials, Gabriella has been playing golf since she was five years old: “When I took her to the driving range with me, she took to it like a duck to water and she’s played ever since,” says Mark, a several times former national junior tennis champion, with a triumph over Tim Henman on his CV.
“Having tried lots of different sports – including tennis – Gabriella really enjoyed golf and had a good natural ability level and decided she wanted to be a golfer rather than a tennis player and that’s how she started.”
But Mark, who followed in the footsteps of his dad, John, to become a highly regarded and highly qualified Lawn Tennis Association coach, doesn’t mind the deviation from the family ‘dynasty’.
“To be honest with you, for me it’s good because I get to do something different,” he says.
“If Gabriella had decided to go into tennis my entire life would have been consumed by tennis, so from a selfish point of view, it’s good.
“She loves it and she’s so good at it, so much so that we never have to coax her into going to the golf club or into going and practising, she’s very happy to do it herself and she’s very self-motivated.”
The location of Clitheroe Golf Club was even a consideration when Mark and his wife came to choosing a new family home six years ago: “We’re in walking distance and you can see the golf course so it’s ideal. Part of the reason we chose the house was the proximity to the golf course. Gabriella is there six or seven times a week at the moment.”
With Nelly Korda and Ludvig Åberg as her favourite golfers, Gabriella’s commitment to the sport is unrelenting – but it forms part of a bigger picture, as she explains: “My ambition in golf is to go to an American university on a golf scholarship then try to turn professional.”
And her dedication has paid off – this summer the Ribblesdale High School pupil will compete in the England Open and Scottish Open, while in October last year she qualified for the European Junior Open, held in Spain, and spent a week there.
“There is a lot of travelling involved – every weekend we’re off to a different tournament somewhere. But around work we’ve got a bit of flexibility in terms of taking her to tournaments and practises,” adds Mark.
“Gabriella wants to try to play professionally, but her big goal at the moment in the short to medium term is to get to an American university.
“When she’s done her GCSEs she’ll do her A levels over here, but then she wants to go to an American university because the scholarship programme there is just phenomenal. They get all their education paid for, their golf paid for and the facilities are second to none, so that’s a big goal.
“From that point onwards we’ll see what happens. It’s very difficult to predict how good she’ll be, whether she’ll get to the professional ranks.
“But with the equality drive now in golf, they’re crying out for good female golfers in all different walks of the game and industry, whether it’s playing as a professional or teaching as a professional, female golfers are really sought after.”
