Katie hopes to rule in Powerade final

Katie Rule hopes to confirm her reputation as one of the country’s emerging talents when she plays in the Powerade PGA Assistants' Championship.

Rule, of St Enodoc Golf Club in Cornwall, has qualified for the £32,500 FootJoy-supported final, which will be held on August 7-9 at Coventry Golf Club.

The tournament comes less than three weeks after she put herself in line for a place at the British Ladies’ Open by making the final qualifying for St Andrews.

And the 20-year-old’s rise to prominence is all-the-more remarkable as golf is the second sport she has experienced success in.

The first year PGA Assistant explained: “I moved down to Cornwall when my family left south Buckinghamshire.

“At that time I was playing a lot of table tennis and was British Under-13 champion when I was 12 but I stopped playing when we moved and took up golf.

“My family thought they had seen the back of all our table tennis travelling when we went to Cornwall, but now here we are travelling more than ever to places like Scotland!”

Rule owes much of her golfing success to her father John, a former professional player who is also her coach, and she admits she could not play as much as she does without him.

She added: “My biggest inspiration has been my father; I couldn’t have done any of this without him.

“He’s provided the funding and transported me all over the country as well as being my coach.’

Rule heads to Coventry hoping to impress among a mainly male field at the Midlands venue.

She said: “When I qualified for the final at Honiton I wasn’t really sure what I’d need to do.

“I thought that going up against a load of men would make things quite difficult, but I made it through.

“Since I’ve come back from playing in Spain last winter, something has just clicked and I’ve done well this year.

“As for the Powerade, my aim is to make the cut. I hope I can do that, but I know nothing about the course at Coventry.

“Eventually I want to get on to the Ladies European Tour if I can, but everyone says that don’t they?

“My main priority at the moment is to complete my PGA training over the next two years.”

Other players from the west taking part at Coventry include Ben Newman (Ogbourne Downs); James Pickard  (Honiton); Anthony Nash (St Enodoc); Nicky Maddison (Saunton); and Ben Todd (Meyrick Park).