The 18-year-old schoolgirl Olivia Prokopova saw off her mostly male challengers – and the St Jude storm – to take the miniature golf title on a windswept Hastings seafront. How did she do it?
The rest of the field were, almost literally, blown away. On Sunday afternoon, 18-year-old schoolgirl Olivia Prokopova won the World Crazy Golf Championships on a windswept Hastings seafront by the incredible margin of 21 shots. In doing so, she became the first female winner of this most prestigious of the UK's miniature golf tournaments. Given that she already holds the US Masters and US Open Minigolf titles, Prokopova can now lay a fair claim to being the best in the world at the short-form game.
To outsiders, the word "prestigious" may seem at odds with the very concept of minigolf – indeed, any game with "crazy" in its name is bound to have an image problem when it comes to being respected in the super-serious sporting world at large. But in the small minigolf community (the sport is basically a specialist, mainly amateur, putting-only version of golf, which in some forms includes water features and obstacles), enthusiasts in the UK and America are just as dedicated as their better-known, driver-wielding counterparts.
Prokopova was one of only nine women in the 78-strong field at this year's event, and one of only three placed in the top 50. While the tournament has always been unisex, the existence of a dedicated women's trophy (which Prokopova also won this year) indicates the reduced expectations for women in sport. But Prokopova is unintimidated by the gender imbalance: "I don't have any problems with that," she says. "I get on well with other players, and they're happy for me because they've known me since I was a kid."
Prokopova first picked up a putter in her home town of Radovnik at the age of three. Her father – a journalist and fan of American sport – noticed her promise and encouraged her to enter tournaments. By the age of eight, she had come third in the World Crazy Golf Championships. Now, she practices up to 12 hours a day and she took unofficial leave (known in the trade as "bunked off") from high school for a week to travel across Europe in preparation for the Championship course. "Maybe I shouldn't take time off school, but this is the big one," she admits. "If there is any way I can play minigolf professionally in the future, I will." Prokopova puts her victory down to a new ball being issued to all players, which levelled the playing field. Usually, minigolfers bring their own balls, which are carried in special thermally controlled bags and have varying levels of elasticity to help with rebounds and artificial hazards. And though her opponents cursed the rapidly approaching St Jude's storm, she shrugged off the conditions: "I enjoy it. I grew up playing in all sorts of weather – snow, wind, rain. So I'm used to it."
Top female US Minigolfer Astra Miglane-Stanwyck, who was US Open runner-up in 2001 – the closest any other woman has come to minigolf glory – once said of playing men, "You have to have an attitude. You have to be psychologically stronger. You have to knock their confidence out." Prokopova sees it more simply. "There's no reason why girls can't do as well as men," she says. "I practiced every day for 15 years, so now I can."