Former Scottish Open champion Rebecca Artis is hoping a week at the Wagga Country Club is just the tonic needed to kickstart a big year on the golf course.
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Along with Grace Lennon, Artis was a guest professional at Wednesday's Sureway Ladies Classic, in preparation for the Wagga Pro-Am beginning Thursday.
She didn't disappoint, firing a one-under 71 on the shores of Lake Albert.
"I played quite steady today, just trying to feel my way around - a little bit of course management for Thursday and Friday just to try and see how it's playing and see what clubs I'm going to hit off different tees but I played alright," Artis said.
The 30-year-old was last here in 2016, the year after her career highlight at the Scottish Open.
This time around she's trying to work her way back up the rankings.
Artis has conditional status on the LPGA Tour this year. The goal is to regain full status with a top 10 finish on the secondary tour.
After a 12th at the NSW Open, and top 10 results at the Brisbane Open and Yamba Pro-Am in recent weeks, Artis hopes she's back on track.
"I've come off some pretty ordinary form over the Aussie summer actually. Well, I didn't play bad golf at all but the putter ran cold on me. I missed the Aussie Open cut and the Vic Open cut by one. So that really hurt," she said.
"But I played some good golf at Queanbeyan in the NSW Open - it was nice to be in contention again on the weekend so that was a good feeling. I made some putts that week so that was a nice change. And then I finished fourth (in Brisbane) and about the same at Yamba so that was good."
Now it's just a matter of taking it to another level in Wagga.
"Yeah absolutely. It would be nice to beat the men."
Lennon also played well, shooting a 76 on a course that again impressed Artis, helped by this week's rain.
"It's greened things up and the course is playing quite nice. They said it's been running down here quite a lot because it's been so dry but it's certainly not the case today. It's playing very fair," she said.
Playing with reigning Country Club women's champion, Josie Currie, Artis had some time and advice for the rising star.
"She's a nice young girl and she's definitely got some talent there," Artis said.
"She was probably a little bit nervous this morning and she got off to a bit of a slow start but she's certainly got potential. She's got a great little short game on her. At her age, it's just about keeping them in the game, making sure she's enjoying the game, not playing the game for the wrong reasons. She seems like she enjoys the challenge."
But it was another familiar face at the Wagga Country Club who took scratch honours in the Ladies Classic.
Kim Robinson shot an 82 off the stick to win on a countback from Bernadette McLean.
The handicap honours were also tight, with Lisa Watson also wining on a countback from Michelle Sykes after both had scores of 73 nett.
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