Charley Hull, one day before this week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, described what is required to succeed in links golf. She said she felt she was starting to become more comfortable with the style. 

“If you look at like the British Open,” Hull said, “there’s a lot of elements in it, and like British Opens always have like so many different kind of winners.

“So I feel like there is a little bit of luck involved and a lot of patience involved because you can get bad bounces, and you can get — have funky shots and stuff. So you just have to accept them and just kind of just deal with it.”

Just move on, right?

“Yeah,” she said, “you have to forget about it and move on.”

The thought will now be tested, it seems. Thursday, during the first round at Dundonald Links, Hull was putting for a birdie on the 521-yard, par-5 5th hole — and she walked off with a 9. 

– Putt 1: Hull had a 15-foot, left-to-right downhiller, which slid right and past the hole. It kept moving. After about five feet, the ball appeared to have lost momentum, only for it to pick back up and roll down the downslope and off the green. A few minutes earlier, playing partner Nelly Korda’s ball had finished in a similar spot, though Korda had been chipping from about 40 feet away. 

“That could be de-greened,” announcer Richard Kaufman said on the Golf Channel broadcast. “… I don’t believe that.”

– Chip 1: For par, Hull had about a 30-yard chip back up the green. Earlier, Korda had chipped eight feet past. Hull’s shot came up short and her ball rolled back down to her feet. 

“Well, this is turning into a nightmare,” Kaufman said on the broadcast. 

– Chip 2: Hull paused, stepped back and took a practice swing. Now playing for bogey, her ball again hit the slope and came back down. She walked back to her bag, shoved the club she’d been using back in it and grabbed a new stick. 

“I’m losing count now,” Kaufman said on the broadcast. “What are we up to, five, six, seven shots?”

– Chip 3: Hull was now playing her seventh shot, and it ended up like shots 5 and 6 — back at her feet. 

– Chip 4: Hull walked back over to her bag but didn’t take a practice swing. This time, Hull chipped past the hole, finishing a few feet short of where she had once putted for birdie.

“Wow,” Kaufman said on the broadcast. “I don’t like using the word ‘wow,’ but it deserved one there.” 

– Putt 2: From about eight feet away, Hull made this one, walking off with a quadruple bogey 9. 

She finished the day with a six-over 78.