Charley Hull interview: You can’t please everyone so who cares what the trolls say

Ahead of the Women’s Open, 28-year-old explains how ADHD positively influences her golf, not taking Instagram too seriously and Full Swing

Charley Hull returns to the word “unapologetic” to describe herself on multiple occasions during the hours we spend together. Sitting in the rarefied surrounds of St Andrews’ Old Course Hotel, groups of amateur golfers return from rounds of a lifetime with smiles like children after a day at Disneyland, Hull may have the confidence of a top athlete, but she cannot hide her excitement about the AIG Women’s Open being played on the Old Course this week.
Unlike many other professional athletes, Hull does not hide the fact that she is completely unafraid to be herself. Her mantra is “I am what I am and I ain’t what I ain’t”.
Broadening golf’s demographics has been one of its fiercest debates in recent times and the fact that Hull is not afraid to hide her personality is going to make her one of the game’s strongest assets. While the World No 11 is having her photograph taken on a misty Swilcan Bridge, several curious recreational golfers approach to comment “how normal she seems”.
The Kettering native became the world’s most talked about female golfer after the women’s US Open in June, with American publication Golf.com describing her as a “cult hero”. Why? Because a photograph of her smoking at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania went viral. Smoking is an odd choice for Hull given her focus on gym work. Earlier this month she represented Great Britain at the Olympics alongside close friend Georgia Hall where she finished in a tie for 27th, but once again had media and fans enthralled at the Games after claiming that smoking being banned at Olympic venues could affect her game. 
She was characteristically honest after she scored nine-over in her opening round at Le National which effectively ended her chance of a medal, remarking she would “get that round out of the way and now get a bit of a warm-up for the Open”. But she went on to dismiss that the Games’ “defense de fumer” rules affected her, despite previously claiming the opposite. She also explained how an accidental fall in the shower had caused her to be playing far from her best.
Speaking to Telegraph Sport before that tournament at Le Golf National, the 28-year-old explains that ADHD positively influences her golf overall as it gives her spurts of “hyper focus” for 10 to 15 minutes, the perfect amount of time to work on a hole. However, she also experiences what she describes as “fuzzy head” when she struggles to obtain clarity. She has developed different coping techniques when she is on the course and smoking is just one of them.
“This is going to sound really silly. I’d probably have to regroup, and I know I need to stop smoking, but I’ll have a cigarette. But what I’ve also noticed, and this is going to sound so random, I’ve always needed a wee more than anyone I know. A doctor told me I’m self-medicating by drinking water because drinking helps people with ADHD. So, it is why I drink so much water because when I feel anxious, I drink some and I feel better.”
When she takes to the Old Course for the AIG Women’s Open, the final women’s major of the year this week, spectators will be keen to watch her regardless of whether it is a cigarette or water bottle that aids her concentration. But one thing that remains abundantly clear is that she is not going to take criticism too seriously.
Hull shares much of her life on social media and is particularly fond of Instagram, where she has more than 600,000 followers. While many sports people have spoken of negative experiences online, the golfer who finished second in two majors last year has her own take. “You can either hate or love social media. But you just got to use it to an advantage. People say, ‘oh, you can’t go on social media, there’s too many bad comments’.
“But at the end of the day, if you are in the public eye, you’ve got to accept everyone’s allowed their opinion. You’re allowed a good opinion and a bad opinion [of me]. And you’ve just got to be strong-minded enough to laugh at the bad ones and think ‘fair pay’ to the good ones.
“You are not going to please everyone, are you? No. And you’re going to get trolls on social media, but who cares what they say, really.
“I get people on Instagram saying, ‘no wonder you keep coming second or you’re not winning because you’re too busy on Instagram’. And I’m like, ‘wait, there’s 24 hours in a day. It takes me five minutes to post something. So, what are you on about?’ But that’s just like people’s right, you post things and because you’re in the public eye, you’ve got to accept it.
“People are allowed, and people are going to say bad things and say good things. It’s just part of your job, isn’t it? If you can’t deal with that, the way sport’s going now, you don’t have to be on social media.”
Hull has a passion for fashion. So much so that she gives friends, including fellow pro golfer Annabel Dimmock, keys to her home to borrow from her extensive wardrobe which has been nicknamed “Harrods”.
Like many successful women working in different industries Hull likes to treat herself to designer clothing and accessories to commemorate a particular achievement in her career. She recalls her first professional prize money as she turned 17 at a tournament in Morocco.
“My sister had a Mulberry bag and I said to my mum ‘I’m going to buy that in two weeks’ time,” she recalls. “My mum said ‘Charley darling, you’re a teenager and you’ve got no money, it’s two and a half grand’. I said, ‘Mum, I’m playing my first pro tournament next week. I’m going to win it and I’m going to buy myself that handbag’.
“I came second, I think my first pay cheque was €30,000. I went straight back home and bought the bag. I said, ‘There you go’.”
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Purchases since often come with investment in mind including Chanel bags and a Rolex watch but there are also her Louis Vuitton earrings she is regularly seen wearing. As we speak, each item has a story relating to how and why she bought it.
While Hull embraces being a “girly girl” and talks without any qualms about wearing golf skirts that display her gym work – “I’ve got good legs so then that really shows me off nicely” – she is quick to criticise her beloved Instagram for the beauty standards it sets young girls and women.
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“Instagram these days gives girls a false hope of what beauty is. I used to be very conscious. I always wanted to be skinny. Like if I don’t go to the gym, I do get very skinny. But if I go to the gym some say, ‘Charley, you are too manly now.’ But be happy with yourself.”
The odd cigarette aside, Hull leads the uber healthy life of an elite athlete and if there was an advert for playing golf, it would be her naturally glowing skin (she also credits her Polish mother for a golden complexion) as she points out despite being involved in a photoshoot she is not wearing make-up, other than having her brows and lashes impeccably groomed. However, her candour is on show again as she explains she has had lip fillers but worries about the increased use of cosmetic surgery in the celebrity and wider world.
“I’ve had half a mil (of filler) in my lips, but so have many girls my age,” she says. “But when people completely change their faces and they get cheek fillers, they’re getting chin fillers. And I just think it takes away natural beauty. But I feel beauty isn’t perfection. Beauty is the imperfection.
“With social media and with celebrities and everything, I do feel it is quite hard being a girl because you’ve got so much to live up to and you’re always being compared to someone else. And there’s filters and it could be almost the Kardashians’ fault because of [touched up] photos.”
On the course Hull approaches golf much like she does life, on her own terms. “If you miss a par, you miss a par, you’re good enough to go and hole the next one. I say to my caddie now ‘we are going to go for it rather than playing so conservative’. I get bored on the golf course, if I’m making pars.
“So, if I make a bogey, I then use it as a challenge then to make a birdie. So, it’s just like tricking my mind. And I think it was (English professional golfer) Trish Johnson that criticised my golf game like the other month or something and she’s allowed her opinion, whatever she wants. It doesn’t bother me. I like Trish and I think she said I play a bit too aggressive sometimes. But that’s my personality, like in life, if someone says something nasty to me, I’ll tell ‘em straight back. I won’t let it slide.”
The conversation veers continually towards making golf more accessible and Hull is a big fan of Netflix documentary Full Swing, which focuses on the men’s game and perhaps unsurprisingly given her honesty, one player resonates with her. “I know he is a bit controversial, but Brooks Koepka is brilliant on it. He’s quite outspoken but it gets people listening to what he’s got to say.”
Hull is an avid boxing fan and makes the unlikely comparison between the trash talk around the squared circle and that which comes in her own sport: “It’s a bit like boxers. Have you ever seen boxers in their fights and stuff? I know they probably go too far sometimes with the trash talking, but you’re getting people to listen, and they do silly things, but it gets people talking and watching the fights.
“I don’t feel like golf has got that, but with Brooks Koepka I feel like he’s probably the one most like that. And he’s got a good golf swing.” With a cheeky grin she adds: “And he’s a good-looking boy as well!”
The idea of a Full Swing on the women’s tour appeals to Hull and she is positioning herself to be part of a female double act version of Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas with Hall. “We have this friend who calls Georgia the rose because on the course she carries herself like the perfect well-spoken English rose and me the thorn!” The pair enjoy rooming together on tour and “putting the world to rights” over Earl Grey tea demonstrating again despite her glamorous image, her life is built around her sport.
As Hull looks ever closer to that elusive major, her quest for Olympic glory may have fallen short and much focus will be on her in her bid to be crowned AIG Women’s Open champion at St Andrew’s. The past few months have revealed that Hull is perhaps the athlete golf needs to attract the audience it is desperate for.