Masterton golfer Sereana Phillips achieved three notable " firsts" at the world amateur women's championships played in Adelaide, Australia last week.
She was making her debut for her home country of Fiji in international play, at 53 she was the oldest taking part in the event and her 10 handicap was
the highest of all the competitors.
Phillips was "thrilled to bits" to be part of the first Fiji team to contest the world tourney for 28 years and delighted with the welcome her and teammates Selai Pridgeon and Kelera Watling received
"Everybody we met said how pleased they were to see us after so long away, it was wonderful to be greeted like that," she said.
Phillips said the Fijian trio were never any under illusions how challenging their assignment was going to be.
Their lack of experience of this level was always likely to be exposed, particularly over four rounds on a course which was testing in every respect.
"There were bunkers everywhere, some of them as big as oceans," Phillips recalled. "When you got into them it was mighty hard to get out. I took four goes on one occasion!"
Phillips, the Masterton club's silver division champion in 2006 and 2007, was "happy enough" with the way she struck the ball and with the fact that after totalling exactly 100 in her first round she got under the three figures in the next three, 99, 93 and 99.
"I know those scores don't sound too good but that's how tough the course was&& it could have been worse," she said.
Pridgeon and Watling struggled in similar fashion to Phillips and Fiji finished last of the 54 teams. "We'd have liked to have done better but just the opportunity to play at this level made it worthwhile for us," Phillips said.
Sweden won the teams title by a remarkable 12 shots from Spain with two of their players, Caroline Hedwell (10 under) and Anna Nordqvist ( 9 under), heading the individual scores as well.
New Zealand never featured with Carolyn Bristow being 10 over par, Dana Kin 16 over par and Natasha Krisnan 18 over par.
Phillips is now working towards representing Fiji at the South Pacific Games to be held in the Cook Islands next May.
