Karen Quinn

Age
Sport Played Golf
Years Played

Tell us about yourself

I have been a professional golfer since November 2005. Since then, I have successfully gained playing status on the US Futures Tour, and have also been playing on the Australian Ladies Tour. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, I spent 5 months in the United States competing on Futures Tour, and learning the finer points involved in professional competition. I drove from Florida to California and then back to the east coast, competing in 14 events along the way.

As an amateur I was given the opportunity to participate in many prestigious events all over the world. These included such tournaments as the British Amateur (2002, 2004), European Amateur (2003), Singapore Amateur (2003) and the US Amateur Public Links (2005). It is at these events that I have been able to compete against the best amateur players the world has to offer, making my victory in the Singapore Amateur and my progression to the final 16 in the match play section of the US Amateur Public Links an example that I can match it with the best.

I have been competing on the Australian Ladies Tour for the past four years, and I am starting to rise higher in the rankings. A good finish at the 2007 ANZ Ladies Masters gave me the push into the ‘big time’ that I needed.

2008 was a quiet year for me playing wise, as I chose to take the year off and caddy on the Ladies European Tour. It was a good way for me to get a feel for the tour, and also rekindle my love affair with the game. I have come back refreshed and ready to hit the course again.

2009 has started quite nicely, and a successful finish at the NSW Open and ANZ Ladies Masters should hold me in good stead for the rest of the year.

Proudest Sporting Achievements

Professional Highlights
2009
27th Xstrata Branxton Pro Am
29th Kangaroo Valley Pro Am
40th Bing Lee/LG NSW Open
71st ANZ Ladies Masters
2008
18th Optus World Coraki Pro Am
2007
11th Castle Hill Pro Am
12th Butler and Pollock Cup
16th Moss Vale Pro Am
22nd Kansas City Golf Classic
44th ANZ Ladies Masters
2006
16th Xstrata Coal Branxton Pro Am
24th El Paso Golf Classic
45th Tucson Futures Golf Classic
2005
5th Titanium Ladies Classic
12th Oatlands trophy

Amateur Highlights
Won Singapore Open
Won Laguna Masters (Singapore)
Won NSW Champion of Champion
5 times Club Champion Woolooware Golf Club
3rd Australian Medal
8th NZ Stroke play
8th Colorado Stroke play
12th Australian Amateur
16th US Public Links Championship
35th British Amateur

My Blog

9/1/11
Christmas and New Year was fairly quiet as I had just flown back in from Europe. Had a fairly disappointing trip over there, the weather didn't do me any favours. But I wore my Linebreak gear to death! I just wore the compression tights under my rain pants, and the long sleeve top under my 4 other layers!

16/12/10
I find one of the worst things about travelling to foreign countries is dealing with exchange rates. If you're in the States (especially at the moment) it's pretty easy, even the Euro and the Pound are simple enough conversions. But it's when you get to countries and there are five 0's in the price of an ice cream, I find it gets a little confusing. Last week in Dubai it wasn't quite that bad, but I'm sure I got a bum steer from my roomie for the week, Nikki Garrett. With our conversions back to front, I thought the 100 dibdaps I withdrew was about $300 Aussie. I should have realised something was up when the cab cost 14 for a five minute trip, but what really did it for me was when my caramel frappacino cost 18! Turns out I had only withdrawn about $27 Aussie. It was going to be a confusing week!

Arriving at 5am after an arduous journey, I met Nikki in the airport and we got our chauffeured ride to our accommodation for the week. We stayed with friends of Nikki's right on Dubai marina. It was a great location, not to mention cheap! We quickly got organised and headed out to the course, where I caught up with my player, Kate Combes, for a practise round.

The Emirates Golf Course was really nice, and in perfect condition. The weather was a pleasant 30 degrees, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was already shaping up to be a much better week than last week in Spain! On top of that, they put on a buffet for breakfast and lunch (and some dinners....and afternoon tea come to think of it) which kept us well fuelled all week.

In between golf and practise (and eating), we managed to fit in some shopping. Everything was so cheap (now I had the conversion right) and the shopping centres over there are outrageous! One of them has a ski slope, another has an ice rink and amusement park. I got tired just looking at the shop map. Kate and I decided to head out to the markets one afternoon. We got off to a bad start when our cabby tried to rip us off. After we snatched our required change off him we quickly fled, thinking he might go and get his buddies. It ruined our spirits for our bargain hunting, so we didn't end up staying long. I went back later in the week with a few others and had a much safer feeling experience.

Dubai is an amazing place, it is so modern and even space-like in the city. It looks like something straight out of the Jetsons cartoon. Then you get a few kms from the city, and it's all sand and shacks. After the second round, a few of us went on a desert safari. I thought it would be just a small offroad track, a few dunes, basically a bit of a ripoff. I told the girls if all the driver had in the boot was a shovel, I wasn't going! Turns out that's all he did have, but he was excellent. The speed he went over the giant sand dunes in the middle of the desert was insane. I took some video of it, and I get motion sick just watching it. We spent some time out of the car on top of the biggest dune, and after being crashed tackled down it, I am still trying to get the sand off me! After the dunes, we were taken to a camp in the middle of nowhere, and treated to an Arab feast. It seems like all we did this week was eat!

Unfortunately we missed the cut this week, so our last day consisted of a little more shopping and sightseeing, before I headed back to Spain to caddy for Kate again at Q School. I started my trip by trying the new Dubai metro. I thought I might be in a little trouble when I got in my carriage, and realised that not only was I the only westerner, but I was the only female. I stood out like.....well, you can make up your own analogy, but let's just say I felt very uncomfortable. I had already witnessed the female only line at the airport and the desert camp, so I thought I had stumbled upon the male carriage. A few stops later some women got on, so it was all good. I flew back through Doha again, where I nearly missed my connection due to the worlds shortest layover (they were boarding when I landed), then on to Paris. Once in Paris, I had to change airports, so I spent an hour and a half on the train before checking in again and waited for my flight to Alicante. I even managed to get in a massive argument with an inconsiderate Italian tourist in the airport (don't mess with me when I haven't slept for 40 hours!).Just once I would love to have an easy day's travel, but I guess it wouldn't be an adventure then!

9/12/10
My dad has always told me to "soak up the atmosphere". He is always looking at the positives. My mum has always told me she's proud of me. She is always very supportive. Over the last week, I have soaked up lots of atmosphere and been quite proud of myself. Unfortunately, it was not for the goal that I set out to achieve.

I arrived in London last Tuesday, and was greeted with frosty conditions. 5 degrees and windy isn't my idea of perfect weather. I braved the cold and unfriendly commuters (I don't think they appreciated sharing their packed carriage with my golf clubs and suitcase!) on the train to my friends place in the south west of the city. I spent 2 days roaming the streets, shopping, eating and basically trying to stay warm. But it was soon time to head south to Spain to begin my comeback.

Spain was freezing! But on arrival this was the least of our worries. What concerned me more at first was how were we going to get three people, two sets of clubs and two suitcases into our Nissan micra hire car!! Alas, we somehow managed to squeeze every last bit in (packing a car is like a game of tetris, so I'm told) and drove an hour south to La Manga.

Once there, I got stuck into some practice. The weather wasn't too bad, and over the weekend I managed to have practice rounds on both the courses we would play for qualifying. Monday, the first round, seemed to come around quite quickly.

I awoke on Monday to the sound of rain.....and wind. Lots of it. The temperature didn't reach double digits all day, and it was on about the fourth hole, after I'd just tapped in for a triple bogey, I realised I might not be able to finish the round. My fingertips were stinging from the cold (I don't think the blood thinners were helping my situation) and I was having trouble moving my bionic shoulder (apparently it doesn't go too well in the cold!!) But, I am pleased to report I stuck it out. Despite being terribly disappointed with my score, I was extremely proud of my attitude.

The next three rounds consisted of me trying to regain some sort of rhythm and respect. I actually hit the ball really good those last three days, but I just couldn't get the putter working. I have never felt so uncomfortable on the greens before, and I think it might be finally time to upgrade putters when I return home. My last round did have an interesting part to it, being that Martin Kaymer (number three player in the world) caddied in my group for his girlfriend. He cleaned my ball twice and said good shot on a number of occasions! Pity he didn't give me any putting tips! But he was a really nice guy, and a bit of a hottie!!

With my European Tour dream over, and my ticket home booked for just before Christmas, it was a tough choice to decide how to spend my time. I was having trouble changing my ticket, and the airports in London were nearly all closed, so I decided on another adventure. It just so happens the Ladies European Tour are playing in Dubai this week, and it just so happens a friend of mine needed a caddy. I wanted to visit Paris again on this trip, and it was quite handy that the cheapest flights to Dubai departed from Paris. So I spent last night in Paris. Had a day roaming around, eating croissants and seeing the sights. My visit was complete today when I emerged from the metro to find it snowing!! I was so excited, I didn't care that it was -3 degrees, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face! Mind you, I'm pretty sure I was the only person in Paris happy to see snow. I wasn't quite as happy when I was stuck on the plane sitting on the runway for two hours while we were continually being de-iced, but in the end, it's all part of the experience!

As I write this, I am sitting on a plane en route to Doha, Qatar. We are currently flying smack bang over the middle of Iraq, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't realise the exact location of Qatar until about an hour ago. It's nestled in between Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and the UAE. I have a short stop there before finally ending up in Dubai, for a week of whole new experiences.

Soak up the atmosphere!

Sent from my whizz bang iPod!

22/11/10
London Calling... Another day, another afternoon spent relaxing in the Qantas Club while I wait to board my flight to London.....

Since my last update, a lot has been happening. I returned home in late August on a high after my victory in PNG, only to receive some bad news. Diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung), I was unable to do anything much really. No practice and no work (so not all bad I guess!). After a few weeks laying low, I slowly got back on my feet again, albeit with a lot of warfarin going through my system. Since then I have been balancing work and practice, and now I am heading over to Europe for the qualifying tournament for the Ladies European Tour. I will spend a few days with a friend in London, before heading to the south of Spain for a month.....it's going to be tough, I know!! While in Spain, the pre qualifying tournament begins on Monday 29th, where 172 players will play for 70 spots to get into final qualifying. There is a week and a half break in between, where I might just pop up to Paris and/or Helsinki for a few days, then back to the grind for final qualifying on Dec 15th. Hopefully it won't snow on us over there!!

I hope you are all well, and I look forward to updating you with stories of my success, and a few crazy adventures as well!!