This, of course, is the problem with virality: Once the internet brands you (and we should note here that Hull’s viral moment originated with a GOLF.com social post), for better or worse that affiliation can be tough to shake. Take the Solheim Cup last week. When a reporter posted a video of Hull cozying up to the rope line and borrowing a fan’s lighter, Golf Twitter gobbled it up; Barstool Sports also got in on the action, publishing an article that dubbed Hull the “People’s Golfer” and described her lighting up mid-round as “the coolest damn thing you ever did see.” The dart, the aviator shades, Hull’s glam: it all just kind of works together. Even at the Paris Olympics, where smoking was banned, Hull’s habit became a story line. The question on reporters’ minds: How would not getting her fix influence Hull’s play?
Years ago, when she was selected as a captain’s pick to play in her first Solheim Cup — she was only 17 then — she said she remembered feeling “disappointed” because she had “a birthday party I was meant to be going to that weekend.” At that same Solheim Cup, though, Hull quickly became a media favorite for her candor. Asked about her steely teammate Suzann Pettersen, who was seated next to Hull in a group press conference, Hull said: “She’s really experienced, but she’s not really that old, to be honest. I meant that in a nice way. Next question, please.”
That’s Hull, and always has been. Growing up in Northamptonshire, England, Hull dropped out of school when she was 12; her parents, Dave, a plasterer, and mother, Basienka, who was an accomplished tennis player, elected to homeschool their daughter, though it’s unclear how much schooling actually took place. “I didn’t do any school work when I left school, I just played golf,” Charley told Golf Monthly in 2020, referring to the many hours she logged at Kettering Golf Club. “Usually people would be at school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; I was playing golf from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day. I was playing with the lads down at the golf club because they sometimes skived off school to play with me and we just had a few games. A few of them were a lot older than me.”
