Heather aims to bloom again

Heather MacRae will fly in from Portugal to defend her Titleist & FootJoy WPGA Championship title at The Berkshire.

The Scot won a thrilling 36-hole event last year after beating Suzanne Dickens in a play-off on a stamina-sapping day at Frilford Heath Golf Club in Oxfordshire.

But now MacRae is based in the Algarve where she is primarily teaching - and she admits that her preparations for this year’s Championship have not been as competitive.

She has a good feeling about the event though as she knows The Berkshire course well.

MacRae, representing Elite Golf Academy, will line up alongside some of the country’s top women players for the competition which takes place on July 3.

Last year was the first time the format had switched to a standalone event with 36 holes played on the same day.

And after last year’s success, the Championship holds no fears for her as she prepares to jet back to the UK.

“I really like The Berkshire, I’ve played it quite a lot, up until this year they’ve had the British Open qualifying there,” said the former based at Archerfield Links player.

“But I haven’t played that much this year because I’ve been working, I moved to Portugal last August and set up a golf academy with my partner Steve who already has one in the UK.

“I love it out there, we’re based at Lagos in the west of the Algarve. There are a lot of British and Swedish people who are retired and have moved out there, those are the people we’ve been teaching and it’s been really busy during the winter.

“But I have played in some events so I feel as though my game is good.”

MacRae, who has a string of Ladies European Tour appearances to her name, admits the new format is a test for the players but believes the game is important for the women’s game in this country.

“I played the US Open qualifying recently which was 36 holes in one day and I think I can cope with it,” she said.

“It’s nice for the ladies that they have their own separate flagship event, it’s more special a bit more important.”