- Since retiring from tennis at a local golf tournament in Brisbane over the weekend, Ash Barty has won her first golf title
- Barty shocked the sporting world by abruptly announcing her retirement at the age of 25, despite being World No.1
- The multi-talented Ash Barty also played Cricket for the Brisbane Heat while on vacation from tennis in 2015-16
- According to the ex-tennis star, her parents were golf players, and her whole family loved the game
Two weeks after retiring from tennis, Ashleigh Barty returned to winning ways away from the tennis court as the former world No 1 won the Brookwater Golf and Country Club ladies event on Saturday.
Ash Barty surprised the sporting world when she announced her retirement from tennis at the age of 25 in March.
Ashlegh Barty playing golf. Photo: ESPN
The news came as a shock because of her age and because she was World No. 1. However, after the announcement, she has already won a championship, this time in golf.
Her announcement sparked rumours that she would pursue a career in professional golf, with Simona Halep joking that her goal is to win a golf major or perhaps return to Cricket after playing for the Brisbane Heat in the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League in 2015.
Barty won the lady competition with 34 points at the tournament hosted at Brookwater Golf and Country Club in Brisbane.
After shooting two over her handicap of four, Brookwater member Jordan Hampson stated, “I don’t think she’d be very delighted with her score.”
This isn’t the first time Barty has had success in the Brookwater area. With a comfortable win in the matchplay final in 2020, the 25-year-old won the women’s club championship.
Louis Dobbelaar, the men’s winner and two-time Queensland amateur champion, said she has “all the tools” to make it on the professional tour as a result of this.
The Queenslander had already taken a break from tennis earlier in her career, playing Big Bash cricket before returning to tennis, and considers herself a sports all-rounder.
Simona Halep, a former world No. 1 and one of Barty’s close friends on tour, quipped that Barty would become a golf champion after retiring from tennis, and it appears that her prediction has already come true.
Ashleigh Barty playing tennis. Photo: wtatennis.com
Karrie Webb, a seven-time Major winner, had this to say:
“I can see her improving her game and eventually being one of Australia’s finest players.”
“I don’t see Ash wanting to do a sport where she has to travel the world;
“I think that’s part of what she didn’t like about tennis, being away from Australia. [But] I wouldn’t put it past her to be Australian amateur champion one day,” she said.
Tiger Woods, a 15-time Major winner, added, “She’s got a tremendous swing if that wasn’t enough praise.
“Are you kidding me?” In 2020, at an exhibition event along Melbourne’s Yarra River, Barty hit a wedge shot in front of him.
Louis Dobbelaar, a two-time Queensland amateur champion who won the men’s club championship on the same day, was asked if Barty might turn professional.
“She’s got all the tools if she wants to pursue it. If she put her mind to it, I’m sure she could,” he responded.
“I’ve seen quite a lot of golfers come from different sports, and she’s the one that stands out the most, actually.”
Barty’s passion for golf had a significant influence on her romantic life. In 2016, she met her now-fiance, Garry Kissick, at the Brookwater Golf & Country Club.
Multi-talented Ashleigh Barty playing Cricket. Photo: Cricket Australia
Perhaps Barty’s future ambitions include golf. Along with her victory in Brisbane, the 25-year-old is constructing a home near the Brookwater course with her fiancé, Garry Kissick.
Golf Sport runs in Barty’s family
Barty revealed that her father had represented his country as an amateur golfer, as she told Australian Golf Digest earlier this year:
“Golf has always been a sport that I’ve enjoyed playing. My mother, for example, was a fantastic golfer, and her entire family loved to play the game.
If there’s one sport that runs in the Barty family, it’s golf rather than tennis.
Although golf is a possibility, another alternative is Cricket, in which Barty played for the Brisbane Heat while on vacation from tennis in 2015-16.
“Her talent was exceptional from the first time she picked up a bat,” Heat coach Andy Richards said. “She never missed a ball in her first practice.”
Barty scored 39 runs from 27 balls against the Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash League.
Other clubs were interested in the Australian after her performance, but she returned to tennis.
Despite her admiration from several high-level golfers, Barty has been tight-lipped about her plans after retiring from tennis in March, saying simply that the world will have to “wait and see” what she does next.
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