When Jocelyn Mackay first picked up one of her uncle's clubs at age 10, little did she know it was the start of one of the state's finest amateur golfing careers.
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The Sutton Forest product has lived her whole life in the Southern Highlands and plays regularly at Moss Vale Golf Club.
Mackay quickly progressed from child golfer to junior representative for both NSW and Australia before embarking on an senior career that has delivered well over 50 club championships, alongside a raft of other honours.
With family commitments keeping her away from the golf course in recent years, Mackay decided once again to dust off the clubs and has certainly made her mark, triumphing in the Moss Vale club championships as well as the mixed foursomes over the past month.
It's not been easy however with Mackay losing two close friends over the same time period, something that almost prevented her to taking to the green.
"Recently I have a bit of sickness in the family and my golf has had to take a back seat but I wouldn't change that for the world, I've had a wonderful family who supported me," she explained.
"The previous Sunday, a lady who I would say is the inspiration in my golf, I got a message from her daughters who I'd played state golf with to say she had died and I was absolutely shattered.
"Then on the Tuesday night I was at work and got a call to say my cousin in Queensland had died. So against all odds, I have achieved over the past few weeks what I have and I'm not sure how I've done that."
Whilst a difficult time for Mackay, she was able to show some impressive form on the course, something that surprised her despite her history in the game.
"I won the club championship which really surprised me, maybe not a surprise for others," she said.
"When you have a successful amateur career people can sometimes expect you to just be able to pick up the clubs and win but it's just not as easy as that, you have to work at it.
"From my perspective, to come back gives me is a great sense of achievement. There's a lot of people who supported me along the way and to lose a couple of them the week the championships came around made me think well how hard can you make this."
But far from resting on her laurels, Mackay has her sights set on higher honours, a vision that sums up her outlook on the game itself.
"Golf to me is about being the best you can be," she explained.
"You always try to play the best shot you can and if you get even close to that you usually walk off the course happy.
"But you want to go back so that's how you get hooked with golf. You always know that when you walk off the course you can do better.
"I want to get back to the best I can be, what level that is I don't know. I'd like to be able to go and play in a big tournament but I have no expectations."
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