Dickens defence a pain in the neck

Suzanne Dickens is literally finding her defence of the Titleist & FootJoy WPGA Professional Championship a pain in the neck.

The 2014 champion has been side-lined for two months by a trapped nerve in her neck which has restricted her preparations for the 36-hole event at Burnham & Berrow on June 4-5.

The Thorpe Wood pro arrives for the £5,000 event barely having swung a club and will face stiff competition from the likes of ex-US Women’s Open champion Alison Nicholas plus three-time winner Tracy Loveys.

“It just came on out of nowhere and I’ve hardly picked up a club in two months,” explained Dickens.

“Fortunately I’ve found a good physio and we are starting to get to the bottom of it.

“I played at Dunham Forest the other day without having hit any balls but the next day my back went into spasm.

“Realistically I’ve got no expectations going to Burnham and just hope I’m going to be fit to play.”

Dickens, who also won the WPGA One Day Series last year, had been hoping play in a few Ladies European Tour ACCESS events this year but that has been put on the backburner due to her injury problems.

She is however relishing the prospect of playing at Burnham & Berrow.

“I’ve never played there before but I’ve been checking it out on the website and it looks fantastic. I’m sure it will be pretty tough especially if the weather gets up,” she added.

Mid Herts’ Lucy Williams, who won the title in 2013 but was unable to defend it last year, makes a welcome return while 2007 champion Catherine Panton-Lewis (Berkshire) is also playing.

Katy Edwards (Alice Springs), Katrina Holford (Chase) and Anna Smith (London GC) complete the line-up.