Future Hall of Famer Karrie Webb was a teammate when she represented Australia at the Queen Sirikit Cup and Espirito Santo Trophy in 1994, world events where they faced off against the likes of Se Ri Pak, Mi-Hyun Kim and Maria Hjorth.

Knight turned professional in 1995 and in 1999 held off Laura Davies and Sophie Gustafson to win the Ladies German Open by a stroke.

But when her son was born, Knight’s focus shifted away from playing, though she chose to stay in the golf industry by completing the PGA Bridging course and moving into coaching.

Named the 2016 South Australian Teaching Professional of the Year, Knight went 15 years without playing before the lure of the Women’s PGA Cup convinced her to pick the sticks up again.

Her accomplishments as both a player and PGA Professional made Knight an obvious choice to captain the Australian team in New Mexico next week where her primary focus is to share her experience with her fellow team members.

“When I was playing full-time it was a pretty selfish kind of a lifestyle,” Knight admitted.

“This is different because you’re looking at that component of women working in the industry and still having the opportunity to play.

“I’ve been in the industry a very long time. I’ve been with the WPGA for 13-odd years, I’ve almost done the same with the PGA, so the combination of that and playing since I was 13 years of age, it’s a long time in the industry.

“You feel like you can contribute and help.

“I just feel like I am in a very fortunate position where I can pass on some of my information to the team and bounce ideas off them.

“It’s just that sense of being able to  represent women in the industry and having the privilege of doing that as team captain.”

Currently based at West Beach Parks Golf in Adelaide, Knight’s team members in New Mexico are Paige Stubbs (Castle Hill Country Club), Nicole Martino (The Western Australian Golf Club), Angela Tatt (Ballarat Golf Club) and Katelyn Must (Peregian Springs).

Helping others is a theme of Knight’s career.

Since gaining her full PGA qualifications she has dedicated her working life to improving the golf experience for men, women and juniors.

It led to Knight making history as the first woman to be named South Australian Teaching Professional of the Year and break through the notion that female PGA Professionals were not equipped to coach men.

“I was interested in coaching because I felt like I could help the golfer to become a better player,” Knight said of her career transition.

“That’s what gave me the inspiration and that’s when I realised I had a passion for coaching.

“People look at women coaches and assume that we only coach juniors and women. I’ve always said that if you are a good coach, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to get a huge clientele from both men and women. I would say that my coaching is 50-50 in terms of coaching men, women and juniors.

“It’s just that nurturing and engagement and care factor. That for me is what brings in my repeat lessons; because I care. I’m not going to sit on the lesson tee and just watch them hit balls and not contribute.

“You’ve got to be motivated, you’ve got to show interest, you’ve got to care.

“You have the knowledge but to me it’s more about how you present and your motivation and care factor when it comes to displaying the information.”

Which is why Australia’s Women’s PGA Cup team is in such good hands.

Knight recalls the team environment during her amateur career as some of her fondest memories in golf, memories she can now add to with fellow PGA Professionals who are advancing the game across the country.

“Playing in a team environment was terrific because golf is such an individual sport,” said Knight.

“They were probably my most memorable times, just representing not only Australian teams but state teams and how fun they were.

“To be able to feel like you had other team members to rely on, this is what I’m going to love about this team here.

“It’s a different light on your golfing goals but very exciting at the same time.”The Women’s PGA Cup will be played at Twin Warriors Golf Club in New Mexico from October 24-29. The field, comprised of teams from six world PGAs, will compete in a 54-hole strokeplay format, with each team’s lowest three scores counted after each round.