She began by swinging a toy plastic golf club in her Huddersfield front room at the age of two.
Now Rochelle Morris is about to take on the mighty USA in the Curtis Cup.
The 20-year-old from Woodsome Hall is part of the Great Britain & Ireland team who will face the Americans at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Ireland from June 10-12.
It’s the women’s amateur equivalent of the Solheim Cup – the men have the Ryder Cup for professionals and Walker Cup for amateurs – and it’s a tremendous achievement, especially as Morris qualified by right through the Order of Merit.
Preparation is well under way with coach John Eyre at Woodsome – he’s been coaching her since the age of nine, when they were both at Crosland Heath – and Morris will play in the St Rule Trophy at St Andrews at the end of this month before heading to Ireland on June 1.
“We’ve got a good week and a half over there to get ready as a team and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Morris, a former Yorkshire champion and winner in the Nick Faldo Series.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to be representing Great Britain & Ireland and to know I’ve done it on merit, and I can’t wait for the matches to come around.”
Morris could be teeing off in front of 20,000 golf fans on the course near Dublin, but the plus-three handicap player (that means her standard round is three under par) is just determined and focused, confident in her game.
Rochelle Morris on the Curtis Cup below
“I don’t know how nervous I will be, it will just be about adrenaline and excitement and putting everything together – I’m definitely looking forward to it,” added Morris, who has just set a new course record of 68 at Huddersfield Golf Club.
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“I’m going to have a lot of home support, with family and friends going over to watch, so I should feel okay, and I know a lot of the girls on the team already and I know the more experienced ones will make me feel comfortable.
“While I’ve played a lot of team golf at county, I’ve obviously not played it at international level or been in the foursomes and fourballs with any of my teammates, but that will all get sorted out when we are preparing in Ireland and I’m happy with my performances both last year and this.
“Tee to green my game is really good and I’m working to improve my short game before I get out there, but overall I’m playing pretty solidly.”
The manicured fairways of the world’s top courses are a far cry from the front-room carpet at home in Taylor Hill when she was a child.
A pupil at St Joseph’s Junior, she first went to the driving range at the age of five – parents Roger and Marie have been massively supportive from the start – and she joined Crosland Heath at eight, soon starting lessons with Eyre, one of the most respected teaching professionals in the country.
Her handicap quickly started to tumble through teenage years at All Saints High, as trophies and representative honours flowed her way.
LOOK how Rochelle Morris' career has developed in our slideshow here
“I did start quite young and I’ve worked up from there, but I love it,” explained the player who is following former Woodsome star Nikki Buxton from two decades ago into the Cup team.
“I’m doing quite a lot of work at the moment, being at the club five or six days a week and, when the weather isn’t so good, using the indoor facilities at Woodsome to work on technique.
“I’m very thankful to John (Eyre), because he gives me a lot of his time and we work really well as a team. He’s got me going forward with my golf and going really well.”
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So what does the future hold after the Curtis Cup – will she turn professional?
“I get asked that a lot, but I don’t think I will go to Qualifying School at the end of this year,” she answered.
“At the moment, I think I will give it another year at least and see where my game is.
“Myself and John will know when I’m ready and whether I can do it on Tour, so I’ll wait for the right time and do it that way.”
No-one should doubt Rochelle Morris can handle the pressure and expectation of Curtis Cup golf against the USA.
That’s the view of Woodsome Hall professional John Eyre, who has tutored the 20-year-old Morris for the last dozen years.
“It’s absolutely fantastic for Rochelle to make the team and I couldn’t be more proud of her,” said Eyre, who first coached her at Crosland Heath.
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“I’ve tried to explain to people what a big thing this is – it’s a great story – and while she’s had help from people at Yorkshire and from me on a one-to-one basis, she deserves everything she gets.
“While her all-round game is good, Rochelle probably has to work harder than some other people at this level – but she puts in all the effort on all aspects of her game and she’s being rewarded.”
WATCH John Eyre speaking about Rochelle below
Putting and short game are the focus right now, and Eyre is confident Morris will flourish at Dun Laoghaire.
“Rochelle drives the ball probably better than anyone I have ever seen and her fairway shots are fantastic – brilliant,” he explained.
“It’s from 100 yards in where she is working and, if we can make that a little bit better from here then it will count in her favour.
“Her putting is something we have really worked on over the winter and she is ready to go.
“Team golf is nothing new to her and she has definitely got the temperament for the big occasion.
“When she won the Nick Faldo Series and got to play in a European Tour event as a result, I went out to Morocco with her.
“This was a big thing for her, a proper Tour event, but she stood on the first tee, hit it 250 yards straight down the middle and then played in to three feet.
“So she can handle it, make no mistake, and that experience will stand her in good stead.”
