text: Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of accomplished women golfers, including two former world No 1's in Lorena Ochoa and Laura Davies. But none of these encounters prepared me for playing 18 holes with Charley Hull, the best teenage golfer in Britain. Suffice to say: I knew she was good but I didn’t appreciate she was so damn good. The venue was Turnberry and a media day for the Ricoh Women’s British Open in July. The sun was shining, Ailsa Craig was shimmering in the distance and Hull put on a shot-making clinic. Charley Hull can make it to the very top of the women's game if she carries on her progression . Teenager Hull possesses the same ‘wow’ factor as world No 1 Rory McIlroy (below) One of the nice things for me about playing golf with the women pros is we usually hit the ball about the same length. Not on this day. Hull hit drives that pitched past mine. She positively exudes the ‘wow’ factor Rory McIlroy had at the same age. Like Rory, she’s also easy company. Normally the way these things work is for the journalist to kick start conversations but Hull asked more questions than I did. She wanted to know everything about the course, from the historic role of the celebrated lighthouse to the war memorial that offers sober reflection to golfers on the back nine. The 19-year-old was keen to know about the revamp planned by the Trump family, who recently purchased Turnberry, under the guidance of course architect Martin Ebert. Again, like Rory, there’s the requisite amount of steel. ‘I’d hit a five iron off this tee to stay short of the bunkers,’ advised her caddy Gary Wildman, on the opening hole. ‘No, I want to hit a driver,’ replied Hull. She hit a driver. Indeed, she hit a driver off every tee, which is the way she likes to do things in practice. ‘I just find taking on the holes makes me concentrate,’ she explained. Again, like Rory, the driver also happens to be the best club in her bag. The 19-year-old has the same mentality and 'wow factor' as world No 1 Rory McIlroy . It puts her in the vanguard of the next revolution set to sweep the women’s game. After the emergence of the Koreans and the revival of the Americans, get set for the power hitters to leave their mark in the same way their male counterparts hold sway in the men’s version. Hull is part of a group that includes Thai rookie Ariya Jutanugarn and American Lexi Thompson. Hull has added 25 yards to her drive since hooking up with swing coach Matt Belsham earlier this year. Again, like McIlroy — there could be a theme here — her swing is so good she uses blade irons (she might be the only woman to do so), which are the preserve of the technically sound. American Lexi Thompson is another highly-touted golfer in women's golf and will challenge Hull . What’s next for the girl from Kettering who plays at Woburn and who finished No 1 in Europe last year, the youngest to do so? She has now earned her privileges to play in America and clearly that is the next proving ground. Her plan is to be the best player in the world at 21 — the year McIlroy reached the summit — which might be a tall order given the present incumbent happens to be 13 months younger and won yet again in America on Sunday. Hull speaks in respectful tones about Lydia Ko. They played together in New Zealand recently, where the home favourite shot a course-record 61 to Hull’s 64. ‘It was just an amazing day, and I hope we have many more,’ said Hull. Hull has ambitions to be the best in the world and she has a good chance of doing just that . The great advantage she will have over Ko going forward is the fact she hits the ball significantly further. But will she hole enough putts to make it count? On this day, she holed nothing of any length and still breezed round the Ailsa Course in 68 strokes. Hull recalled the last time she played Turnberry, in the Health Perception Championship. She was nine at the time, and stood 4ft 7in tall. ‘This was where I got knocked over by the wind,’ she said, standing on the 11th tee. How typical that she got back up to win the event. A decade on, she’ll take some knocking over this July… and beyond.
target: British golfer Charley Hull has all the attributes to be one of the best .
  The 19-year-old has the same 'wow factor' as Rory McIlroy at the same age .
  Hull is part of an exciting group including Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn and American Lexi Thompson .