SKY'S THE LIMIT

Alison Root meets Pia Babnik, the 19-year-old Slovenian sensation who burst onto the professional scene in 2020 and now harbours ambitions to get to the very top

- Alison Root

While Slovenia is not widely acknowledged as a golfing powerhouse, the emergence of Pia Babnik onto the professional scene in 2020, at the tender age of 16, undeniably thrust her and Slovenia into the golfing spotlight.

When you consider her pedigree, she was destined to excel in sport. As the daughter of international badminton players Ales and Mateja, Babnik, along with her younger twin brothers, was nurtured and encouraged to develop as a sportsperson. She engaged in many sports during her childhood, but it was a visit to the driving range with her father that ignited her passion for golf from a very young age.

Standing tall at a height of 5ft 11in, Babnik’s physical presence alone is enough to intimidate even the best of players, but it’s not just her impressive, slender stature that sets her apart. What truly stands out is the way she carries herself with a humble and unassuming demeanour. There is a certain purity in her approach to golf, as if she has retained the wide-eyed wonder of a newcomer to the sport.

“Compared with other sports, it was always golf for me. I loved it, and I still love it. I remember my first tournament when I was four years old. It was the Under-8s National Championship, I finished third overall and that’s where I got my first birdie,” says the 19-year-old, who is renowned for the speed of her booming drives, which average 275 yards. Our conversation takes place just after Babnik’s completion of a TaylorMade fitting session and she excitedly shares, “Driving is my favourite part of the game, and it’s great to see any improvement, even if it’s just an extra metre in distance.”

A year to remember