Annabel Dimmock KPMG Women's Irish Open Champion | Overcoming adversity and injury to claim victory

hello and welcome to another episode of the bogeyman golf podcast and in this episode I'm joined by the 2024 winner of the KPMG women's Irish open Annabelle dimmick Annabelle spoke to me all about overcoming adversity and injury over the last year and a half to two years to eventually winning her second ladies European door Title Here in carton house in Ireland now all of our coverage is brought to you by Sports Direct as you know Sports Direct are a proud premium partner of the KPMG women's Irish open and have been for the last couple of years they've been a big partner of ours as well and if you want to go check out Sports Direct you can go check out any of their stores across the country or go visit sportsdirect.com golf starts here now without any further Ado here's Annabelle deck so Annabelle deck the 2024 KPMG women's Irish open Champion you're uh you've had 48 hours or so now to recover and let it sink in how how has it all been yeah it's been good it's been quite overwhelming I've had you know so much love on social media I've had my phone's been blown up it's still pretty hard to message people you know cuz my phone like the people that I normally message are so far down um just to text my boyfriend obviously I'm having to like find his contact you know is funny but um no it's been it's been amazing honestly everyone has been sending me lovely messages and um yeah it's just I'm still on Cloud9 cuz it's five years since your first win when in Jabra um a bit of a break in between the two wins I said you must been relieved more than anything to get this it's weird it's weird obviously I'm a two-time champion now but to be honest with you it's been such a long time that like feels like my first win again you know um A lot's happened between 2019 to now and like my I play a different golf game and my like this week I played come so different to how I did when I think back to how I used to play I used to play extreme aggressively like I used to go for everything and um things like that but this week I played a lot different I think I matured a lot in the last five years as a player um and yeah to be honest with you it feels like my first win because it's been such a long time and it feels like a long time ago the Irish opens a a tournament that obviously it's way back three years but when it first came back two years ago you were in the hunt again to to win you just narly miss out in the playoff um and again even last year you were you were very close to being in contention and being in the mix as well it seems like it's a it's a tournament even though it's a new venue it's a tournament you really really want to win you know great winner yeah I think you know the fans in Ireland treat me so well and um you know everyone spurring me on and stuff like that I think that helps there and obviously I've had a couple of good finishes in Ireland and I wasn't really thinking about winning necessarily um I wasn't really thinking about winning necessarily I just I'd actually had quite a hard weekend the weekend before at my coaches you know I wasn't hitting it great um I actually had a bit of a breakdown in the lesson with him on Saturday and Sunday I went and saw him before I flew to Ireland and it was a tough lesson and in the end we just all we did work out was that I just need to work on my Tempo this week you know I wasn't quite getting the the um swing changes that he was trying get me to do and we I was getting quite frustrated in the lesson you know and in the end the only thing that I came away from the lesson is just to slow my swing down a lot and that was all I was thinking about last week I wasn't thinking about really anything technical I was just trying to keep a good Rhythm and because I was so focused on doing that only when it got down to the last that I was like wow I could actually win this here you know even with the two shot lead on the last day you know I still wasn't thinking about winning I knew I had to go out and do a job and I said to my dad at the start of the week if I can stick to swinging it in this Tempo and that that's a win for this week and it's going to set me up for the rest of the year and um and yeah instead I went and won it which definitely did set me up for the rest of the year well you're talking about the hard the hard conversation you had with your coach there the weekend before that all stems from the injury I imagine does it yeah it does I it's been to be honest with you it's been a lot mentally in my head I haven't you know my coach has been telling me for like a couple of weeks now you know there's nothing wrong with my swing and I get to tournaments and I start panicking and feel like I'm not hitting it good enough um I think that comes from a long layoff playing golf playing with not a lot of confidence um which I wasn't before this week to be honest with you I wasn't playing with a lot of confidence I haven't been playing confidently and backing myself because the thing is is is mentally you know I had a lot of time off and I'm playing against girls that have been out there for the last year playing Under Pressure which is practice that you can't replicate at home um so that was that was I think the mental hle I had to overcome and which I managed to do this week you know everyone says how do you get confident you you like you can only win when you play with confidence I don't know if I truly believe that now because before this week you know I didn't have confidence but like an aura came over me this week where uh I obviously had the hard conversation with my coach and he said look there's nothing wrong with your swing you just need to go out there and play now and I just went and did that and um but yeah I definitely will be playing with conference now which is nice it's a very strange feeling yeah it's funny how I mean not playing with confidence and you're just kind of learning learning how to trust your swing again learning how that gives you confidence for going forward um it's like you got to fake it till you make it you know you got to fake the conference until you get there that's the only thing I can describe it and so was that just a case of you were afraid nearly of of hurting your wrist further because people that may not know you had wrist surgery what nine months ago now yeah so I actually had a bone removed in my thumb at the end of January so and that was three months I mean for the first for the first month I couldn't even dress myself you know I couldn't even go to the toilet myself it was it was it was bad it was really really bad you know I was if people had seen me back then you know they I I still in shock now when I got home the first thing when we sat on my sofa at home um me and my boyfriend and you know that was when I came back from the operation I was laid on the sofa and we tied my hand with a golf club to the ceiling it was in sort of like um a cast thing and it needed to be obviously above my heart at the healing and I did everything I could to try and basically make the healing everything as quick as possible you know there was no stone left unturn with that but it was just mad to see how different you know I was like a a properly wounded feel sorry for Annabelle soldier sitting on the sofa couldn't do anything couldn't get up and get myself a drink and now I've just won the Irish open it's how things change so fast in this this game is just incredible and even the week of the arish open itself it was a whirlwind week you had the documentary that you did and it was obviously the lead into qualifying for the AIG Women's Open which unfortunately didn't quite come true make yeah in the end um you know everything happens for a reason doesn't it in the end I would have you know it would have been great to do well at the open don't get me wrong but in the end everything always works out you know I would have much rather skipped the open and win the Irish open you know if someone had told me that I don't think I would have been so dist short but I'm glad that obviously I did very well this week I think it you know it makes a pretty good story right but yeah I mean when I watched that documentary it was hard for me to watch it and I obviously proof watch I haven't watched it since it's come out because I proof obviously watched it before it came out um which I had to do um and it was very emotional at the end you know it was horrible to see myself upset in a locker room you know crying with my dad because I had worked so hard on the on the lead up to that um and I was like I say I was playing good still but it was just I had I didn't have that that spark of confidence that you need to compete professionally um so yeah it was um it was great timing to be honest with you it was almost like it was planned but I promise it wasn't um it's just a a shame the the bloody documentary wasn't still running at the Irish but to be honest with you like that in itself was a lot of pressure you know I was coming back from injury and there was a lot of pressure you know I was doing this documentary and I really really wanted obviously it to be a happy ending the documentary and to inspire people that you know the things the chips might be down right now but you know you can turn it around fast and I really wanted that to be the story um and obviously it never worked out to be that it was kind of like I always said to Adidas when they were doing the documentary I need a plan B I need a plan B story because this is a lot of pressure and the plan B story was obviously to document how hard it is professionally coming back from injury um but I'm glad we obviously got the win in Ireland because that kind of turns it on its head and you know things can turn around very fast yeah what incredible foresight I watched I watched it before obvious you came out in like the Thursday I think it came out on the Friday it when I shot the first qu record yeah first course record the first course record yeah exactly I know it's hard to keep up with he well jeez you've had some week I remember watching that first and then your dad obviously we've met a couple of times and he he's absolutely lovely but I watched it again after after the wins I watched it just uh just yesterday and the final scene of the two of you in the locker room obviously you're incredibly upset but your dad's positivity to turn around and go it's just next week a practice for the Irish and I was just like wow what foresight I know I know that is um quite powerful words now wasn't it I know a lot of people have commented on that you know it's that was a tongue and cheek just to you know my dad's very good at when I'm upset he's very positive he'll switch it on its head very very fast and won't allow myself time to be in that sort of that depressive state of feeling like oh my gosh everything's against me you know you got to switch it in professional sport you have to be able your bounce back ability has to be 100% otherwise you'll get far too bogged down you know golf is a sport where you lose 99% of the time so if you don't have a positive outlook and can bounce back and switch things and change it to a positive to push you on and make you more motivated to work hard then um it's very hard to pull yourself out in dark times but my dad has been a massive a massive um instrumental part of my golfing career and it shows in that documentary you know where he turns and said look we've got a week of hard work now before we go to the Irish and all of a sudden instead of me being in that sad State then I'm in like a motivated State you know you can Channel it do you know what I mean you could sit there and be upset which I did you know there was a lot of Tears on the drive home there was a long drive home from Scotland jump straight in the car after that was filmed that last scene and that was quite a sad drive home you know but um it spurred me on and I didn't even have a day off that week I hadn't had a day off when I won the Irish open for about three weeks wow wow so yeah so then when you do come over to to Ireland obviously you you've had some good success over there some good results yeah the people love you I mean it's it's your you're a fan favorite I'm very lucky I'm very lucky they do I'm very lucky for that and I love the Irish obviously I think it's my personality suits theirs a lot you know it's it's happy gol lucky and come on you know what I mean pick yourself up big time um so then you you come in and uh chatting to it briefly before before the Tor began and you you were you're quietly confident I I think it's probably how you describe it obviously I think I was just purely because when I slowed my swing down I could feel these certain feelings in my swing that I hadn't felt for a while and I think it came from me I was hitting it and I was I was watching that you know where it came from I was watching that documentary back and in the pre-qualifier for the open I turned and said to the camera because I did have I was having a couple of neck issues yeah and I watched my swing back and I said in the documentary you know I'm going to go out there and swing easy today and I watched my swing and I was like it's aggressive like it's erratic you know it looked like I was trying to drive the green on a par five and I watched that and I was like well you don't see winners you know you see a lot of people swinging within themselves and you know making the game look easy I didn't I wasn't making it look easy there and I think it was came from me trying so hard and you don't realize you need to come back and catch yourself when you get in them States you know so I came back and when I was on the range with my dad that week you know I was swinging it easy and I was hitting it great I was hitting it great on the Range I really was and I think I didn't really hit many shots offline all week and it was quite a luckily a stress free week you know I had obviously a couple I think I had one or two Dro shots you know the whole week so so I was just getting the ball in play and my iron play is good if I can get the ball in the Fairway my iron play is pretty good and obviously them two days I played very well where I got the course records well oh yeah I think you're selling short the other two rounds as well because you got off to a good start underpar right up there towards the top of the top 10 for round one as as easy uh kind of introduction to the tournament week as possible but then talk us to the the first of the two course records the the seven under the seven under yeah I think um I played just as good the day before but the day before I I couldn't hold apart honestly the amount of times I'd hit it inside 15 foot and was walking away with power every time um was frustrated and then I had won three part on the on the first round actually where it just was frustrating me a little bit I couldn't hold aart knocked it too far past and didn't hold the one back and I went on the pattern green after and I just got back I couldn't really get my usual feeling with my pattern worked on it for about half an hour after the first round and then went out in the morning and just blitzed it it was the easiest seven under I think I'd ever done and then the next day obviously it was like the easiest eight under I've ever done I don't know it was a really weird State you get in that in that zone and you know I was looking at pitch shots trying to look where I can spin back and try and hold it you know that's when you know your game is feeling and you're you know you're getting the good feelings from your game it was just it just felt easy it felt effortless what what aspect of your golf game was particularly firing for you then between those like the the first course record second one and then obviously round one because I what if I was to describe your golf game I'd say you're yeah for the most part pretty aggressive off off the te and driving's a driving's a big strength of yours was that the case that it just put you into good positions that's it if I can if if my driving's well and I'm getting the ball in the Fairway I hit it long enough to give myself a lot of wedge chances and I was pitching nicely that week um I had great distance control you know I enjoyed pting on them green I was starting to read the greens very well you know the first round I had a couple of misreads and then the second and third round I was sort of getting in tune with the greens reading them nicely the pace of the greens were just honestly beautiful a week I think they were sitting at about 11 10 11 which is just lovely you know you can just stroke apart and the greens are so pure if you read them right you know you were going to hold it weeks like that you know you know you can knock it close and you're going to make birdies so it's nice and then so are you aware of any kind of course records or something like that when you're particularly in in round one I like to be honest with you to be honest with you I fully expected someone to beat it because it felt quite effortless and easy to me you know when I was doing I thought you know these girls are good out there someone's going to beat it but no one obviously did so I think to be honest with you I was driving it well and I was giving myself a lot of Birdie chances and when I look back to the second I mean I nearly birdied half the course I didn't even make an eagle actually when I think about it usually when someone shoots eights and seven unds they make an eagle but I I didn't I think I came very close on one of the days on the PA fires I left it short in the Jaws to make an eagle and I was really upset but I actually lost count of my score on the second day which is which is very uncommon for me to do yeah and I actually asked the scorer I said what did I shoot there they were like I think you just beaten your core thre by one and I was like no way you know and that's when I knew that I was in some sort of Zone because when you're just literally playing the shots walking after it and playing the next shot what's how do you sleep on on like the Friday nights obviously the the documentary is come out it's a very emotional week for you because you're also it's mixed emotions as well because there is the you know the upset of the documentary but conversely you're playing unbelievable golf now and you're obviously in the middle of it do you do you sleep well or or do you go God do I want to keep this going now is it nerves or is it excitement um a bit of both the whole day on the last round I had this pit in my stomach I turned to my dad I said I don't know whether I've got a tummy a I'm hungry or I'm really nervous because normally my nerves go after the first couple of holes you know you always nervous on the first tea but the whole last round I did have a pit in my stomach um I think it's because obviously I knew that it was in grasping distance the win and I just had to keep doing what I was doing but I still felt very in control of of my body and my mind um it helps me a lot and the night before I did struggle to sleep a little bit um I did struggle to sleep a little bit but I mean I have great Netflix shows that I was watching so that helps um and I think just having my dad there and being able to talk to him and you know he understands how I feel he was I haven't actually asked him but I'm sure he was probably pretty nervous as well um coming into the last round my dad's a very calming um like a very calming I don't know what the word is Aura for me to be around um my dad doesn't get too excited if I get a birdie or he doesn't get too upset so I think he really helped me just to you know stay focus and things like that I mean I did struggle to sleep a little bit on the on the Saturday night my phone was blowing up the thing is is my phone was blowing up all week from the documentary already you know people were like oh it's a great story it's inspiring I didn't really really hear that because that documentary you know wasn't I wasn't like buzzing for that to come out you know um but now I am because obviously it shows you what I went through and you know how upset I was and then look a week later I'm on top of the world so now I am very happy it come out but at that point I was a bit like I don't really want to come out you know what I mean I kind of wanted to bury my head in the sand so yeah what a whirlwind your dad still seem like a very Cel influence like he's if he was any more laidback he'd be lying down he so even even after you got the win like obviously you put your head in your hands and you were just relief look to be the initial emotion but your dad was just there cool as you like like yeah that's that's nice I'm pretty sure I went into the hospitality and I just sort of went and said hi to a couple of people said a couple words and I was messaging my dad like where are you Dad where are you come and enjoy this moment he was sat in the players's lounge I think having a Coke Zero or no he said he had a Guinness like sitting on his own I was like Dad what are you doing like come and enjoy this with me and he was like oh I didn't realize you were doing anything I was just leaving you to it I was like no come on you know he's just my dad is very very like I say yeah caling like you said if he was any more laidback he'd be laid down I think he was was just just tired from carrying that tall bag ground all week to be honest I can imagine yeah it looked like a heavy bag yeah it was had everything yeah so then when like comes down to the stretch um call like 13 to to 18 pulling rousan Bard makes her run she makes a clutch put on on 18 to save par probably about 15 footer on on in on the 702 all to sa which I which I didn't know I actually thought I actually thought I heard the Roar from the te H and I thought oh God she's just made a birdie so I thought I was going down 18 having to make a birdie okay um and then when I got out to the green and I looked over at the board and I saw she was on 19 I thought that can't be wrong surely they can't have that wrong with me so then I looked and I was like oh obviously that was for par or I thought maybe she bogied 17 I didn't know what happened but I generally did think from the tea that she'd made birdies so that was my mindset and then obviously I was looking at about a 12T po but it kind of changed it a bit you know I was looking at that part thinking right bang s and I mean back of the cup and then it kind of threw me a little bit and that wasn't actually my best stroke that last stroke on the last where I just left it short right and then I did exactly the same thing in the playoff again that P moved a lot to be honest but um yeah and then got into the playoff so yeah and from from there on out it was the the victory like I said you mention once you got the win you put your head head in your hands raise your hands and and joy but uh also looked looked like a little bit of relief what was the overriding emotion I was trying not to cry my eyes out to be honest with you because I thought I'm gonna have to do an interview in a minute and I'm gonna have mascara all down my face so um I did I I I burst into tears like straight away and then you know my dad [Music] um but yeah I don't know it's just it was it to be honest the whole thing's a bit of a blur still I can't really remember the emotions I remember coming off the green and thinking oh my gosh all these kids here I'm going to get bombarded now but I was obviously halfy deciding it was just a s of relief honestly to have my dad there to hug me and it was just because my first win obviously my dad wasn't there so to have him there on my second win it's all still a blur and honestly I'm only piecing it together the emotions by looking at the picture but I just remember the disbelief when that part finally went in because I didn't I didn't think about the win really and you know until that part went in I just remember my dad I don't know if you saw on the cameras all he was doing was whispering in my ear you're just on the green at Wentworth you're just on the green at Wentworth don't take any more time and I just walked up to it and just thought right try and get this over and done with as quick as possible like I would treat no other part you know I probably wouldn't even line that part up anywhere else and I just thought bang do you know what I mean BOS in you go and that was the I was like oh my gosh I'm the Irish open champion and yeah it was it was incredible I mean obviously the the crowds around 18 green that for the second playoff hole were were open open arms and the best thing was is they were all running up and down the hole I thought they'd all wait by the green but they weren't they were running up and down and I could see them and they were all cheering me on as I was getting the buggy back you know which was amazing you know what I mean getting shouts out from the crowd which helped me I think it proba obsess with me a little bit as well you spoke about your dad being here for for this win and obviously he's been at all three of the Irish opens now you made a joke that your your mom your mom wasn't here this week again even though she is Irish you know even though she is Irish I know I made a joke in my winner speech saying she does exist I promise you but my mom is like the most free spirit mom you've ever met she goes away she was on the like a girls trip she's always my mom lives the dream honestly has she back now and have you had a chance to with yeah she has and um it's my dad's birthday this Sunday actually and we're all I'm going to take the family out and treat them you know to a dinner on Saturday night and I'm sure the drinks will be flowing there for sure loveely what you you got out of Dodge pretty pretty quick you got went back home didn't you that nice I did um I missed my first flight managed to get a flight around about 10:00 into um Lon I couldn't get a flight into Heath but I did not care Care at that point honestly if someone told me I was finding some Manchester I to walk back I wouldn't have cared um so all my friends picked me up obviously um you know Alfie took the V class down and everyone piled in the back you know when I came out of the airport and we had a fun ride home you know just obviously them telling me the stories of them watching and the reactions and stuff so yeah it was really good fun just soaking it all in really on the way home have you recovered from the celebrations yes no not properly I think there's going to be more as well there going be I think this weekend yeah 100% the thing is is like with golf you don't know when your next point of like you have to celebrate the highs because you just have to because they obviously don't come around all the time and um you know I really will be celebrating this this is a thing that's happened and I'm I'm also proud of myself you know I know that's a bit cringe but I generally am proud of myself so you have to celebrate it because you know it's it's a big deal to me it's a really big deal absolutely I mean you you said in in in an interview during the the week and they also said it in the documentary and it's a pretty well-known adage that you know what doesn't kill you makes you stronger do you feel stronger for this week and having gone through the last nine months yeah I think it's proved a lot to myself 100 % I don't think me mentally I know that you know I'm back in the winner circle and that's an unbelievable feeling um but mentally doing the documentary that all coming out there's been a lot of noise you know going around um I've had a lot going on obviously off the golf course doing the documentary getting myself back I think it just it's been more of a a breaking through bar barrier week than um mental strength but I think honestly I've been through enough in my golf career hopefully to last me a lifetime there's not g to be any more things like this um but yeah I'm happy just to be here and still loving my golf you know there's been times where I thought do I even want to do this anymore you know this game is is causing me so much heartache um and stress and financial pressure that do I even want to do this and I'm just so glad that my love for God and my love for wanting to get back on top and winning was way stronger than that you know you talk about the pressures there that that golf brings but financially also performance- wise this win must mean a lot for you hey like obviously there's what 60,000 for the winners check in Euro but also just the exemption that it brings on the on the L there must be nice little cushion or blanket there for you yeah I mean I don't have to worry about getting the Brit open next year now which is pick I'll be there next year so that I think I'm pretty sure I do um I'm pretty sure I automatically qualify for it next year so I think you do yeah that was that that was a big relief as well I think it's at Roy po call so I'll be getting my bom down there and doing a bit of early practice for sure very nice um what's what the next couple of weeks look like for you obviously the tour is on uh two week two we break Sim cup is going on will you be uh going over to sim cheer on Charlie and Georgia on the team I won't but I be very close to the TV screen cheering them on but I've just um I've got to you know keep rolling from this really obviously I'll celebrate for the rest of this week I'm getting back in the gym tomorrow which is going to be hard my diet has not been great the last couple of days and I have eaten any I could justify anything and um everything at the minute so I'll definitely be getting back on you know getting in the gym getting back to the Grind I think next week and just getting myself prepared for Spain and France next where will the kbmg women's Irish open trophy s now oh I'm not sure I'm not sure I wish I could take it around with me you know um it will probably sit at my mom and dad's house that's probably you know I owe this one to my dad I think he's pulled me out from so many hard times over the last not even this last year you know the amount of times that I've turned up at Mom and Dad's door crying you know because you know I can't deal with the the pressures of golf anymore and you know playing badly my dad and my mom has picked me up so many times I think this one deserves to sit on their mantle piece to be honest with you very nice and I can get my mom to polish it you know yeah pay off for not being there exactly um well listen thank you very much for for catching up with us it was great to Great to follow you all week um obviously I think from our side we're we were a little bit biased we had we had a favorite in our Corner yeah yeah I did feel that which was nice obviously after Leona you know definitely in that playoff I know everyone was supporting me there which was quite nice yeah well I mean like I said we like to claim anyone as our own so with a little bit of for sure for sure well L enjoy this weekend happy birthday to your dad this weekend as well and enjoy the celebrations cheers all right thank you I'll speak to you soon on the te Jack Nicholas this is the minute the millions around the world have waited for we will allow you to enjoy all of this they are dancing in the pubs of Dublin Harrington with an Ace and we have a shining star at Sunset Lory continues his run to Greatness the return to Glory