BATHURST trainee professional Chantal Hodson said the first year of her golf traineeship was as good as she could have asked for as she now turns her eyes to the next stage of her course.

Hodson is a third of the way through her traineeship, which she is completing at The NSW Golf Club in La Perouse.

While her 2014 wasn’t as action-packed as that of her brother Reece, who became a club champion at The Australian Golf Club as well as winning a couple of major tournaments in Bathurst, it still involved some huge steps.

And hard work.

“The first year felt like it went really well, I was pretty happy with the academic side of things,” Hodson said.

“Playing-wise it was a steady year, there was nothing great though I was pretty happy with my result at the NSW Championships, I finished 11th there at Riverside Oaks, so that was fairly satisfying.”

A golfer’s traineeship isn’t as simple as just playing regularly and serving customers in a pro-shop; it involves a handful of different sports and coaching certificates and plenty of hours of dedication.

On the playing side of things, trainees are required to keep to a particular standard, so the workload is high.

A third of the way through it though and Hodson is content that her career is on the right path. She has her sights set on some bigger things in 2015.

“It has been a great experience so far, I’ve worked hard with my coach over the last two years on my game and I feel like it has improved a lot,” she said.

“I joined the Australian Ladies PGA last year, I’ve got a few pro-ams coming up in January and then I’ve got the NSW Open coming up soon in March too.

“The chance to play a four-round tournament with the professionals, players like [four-time Major winner] Laura Davies, is huge.

“The work load is high, there are so many areas that I’m working on and the academic side of things is hard, but in the long term I want to become a AAA professional.

“Getting my diploma in sport means I can run my own business, I can teach, there are a number of doors that it opens. After that the goal is to get to Europe and earn my Tour card over there, but there’s a lot of little goals in between.”

Because of her busy schedule, Hodson doesn’t get the chance to return to Bathurst often and was limited to a couple of days at home over Christmas.

However, having her brother close by and doing well at The Australian makes things easier.

“Reece is going well and having just won the club championships there, he has shown how much the hard work he’s put in is paying off,” she said.

“He is in a good headspace and he knows that if he applies himself he’s on the way to bigger and better things. 

“The results are showing that. He probably needed the bit of confidence he took out of the club championships, I was really pleased for him that he got that win.”