Chloe Royston, who was born and brought up in South Africa, is among those who have Type 1 diabetes. Though she was diagnosed at age 7 and has needed full-scale attention ever since, no one would suggest that it has held her back.
“It’s become a part of my golf rather than a distraction,” said the 25-year-old Royston, who on March 22-23 will be playing for the 10-strong Cambridge men’s team at England’s Rye Golf Club in its annual university match against Oxford. Would you believe that in the medal-play trial, from which the top two were to be awarded automatic places in the side, she finished joint first before winning an 18-hole playoff?
In her school days, Royston had reached the top of South Africa’s competitive ranks in swimming in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and was well-placed to advance to the U.S. college scene. Alas, regular ear infections put a stop to that dream. For a Type 1 diabetic, a lifelong condition in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin and leads to high blood-sugar levels, those infections could have had more serious or longer-term implications.
Instead of spending the next few years bemoaning her misfortune, Royston transferred her sporting talents to golf, a sport on which she was “mad keen” but had played only with family and friends. To her mingled relief and delight, her brother Greg stepped in to help raise her game to a level at which she would be able to follow him to America and Harvard University, where he was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2017.
Kevin Rhoads, the Harvard coach, marveled at the ease with which Chloe made the switch. “She’s fearless. Basically, she just sets her mind on stuff that she’s going to do and goes after it really hard.” For another Rhoads observation, relayed in the November ’18 edition of the Harvard Crimson student newspaper, Royston was no different from her brother in the way her natural creativity worked hand in hand with the more standardized technique that tends to be the norm at most U.S. colleges.
“At Harvard, it’s more like the professional circuit, with a regular diet of stroke play. At Cambridge, on the other hand, it’s mostly match play. I love the format, and I love the fact that it’s more team-focussed.” — Chloe Royston
With COVID having cost her two years of college golf, Royston graduated in computer science and opted to play on the South African women’s amateur tour while applying to do a master’s in biotechnology at Cambridge. Having won two of those SA events and finished in the top five in four more, she headed for Cambridge in the Michaelmas term of ’23.
The bulk of her biotechnology research is focused on diabetes, and the more she is adding to her knowledge, the more she wants to be able to help others with the condition. Yet at the same time, she is obsessed with golf. When asked whether she has completely ruled out a career as a professional, she offers a “Yes” and a “No.” What worries her is that if she were to choose that path, the golf she so loves could start feeling too much like a regular job.
Royston was struck at once by the differences between golf at Harvard and at Cambridge. “At Harvard, it’s more like the professional circuit, with a regular diet of stroke play. At Cambridge, on the other hand, it’s mostly match play. I love the format, and I love the fact that it’s more team-focussed.”
As a member of the men’s side, she is competing against men virtually every weekend at some of the finest clubs in the land: Sunningdale, Royal St. George’s, Hunstanton and Rye to name just a few. “It’s probably the only time in my life that I’ll play at such an amazing selection of courses,” she said. “The members are so kind to host us.”
Royston may be among the shortest hitters in the university team, but against that, she is someone whose drives consistently carry 235-240 yards and typically run out at 250-plus thanks to her ball flight.
In which connection, the story goes she was playing for Cambridge in a recent match where there was a crossing of wires as to whether they should be playing from the back or regular tees. Some did one thing and some the other. Royston’s opponent suggested they should go for the back versions – presumably because he thought the longer option would work better for him – only to find himself beaten to the tune of 4 and 3.
When Royston first told her teammates about her diabetes, they could not have been more understanding. She explained precisely what the condition entails when she is playing, and how she must wear a glucose control monitor and an insulin pump on her arm. Both send news of her all-important sugar levels to her watch.
In preparing for the big match, the 135th in a series in which Cambridge holds a 65-61 lead with eight games halved, Royston is joining her fellow players for twice-weekly conditioning work in addition to sharing in the “team bonding.” At the same time, she is keeping up-to-date with her studies.
No wonder her proud parents are flying over from South Africa for the occasion.