Should the Great Britain and Ireland women's team beat the United States in the Curtis Cup for the first time in six attempts at St Andrews this weekend, one of their number might be seen doing backflips close to the 18th green on the Old Course.

That player is Carly Booth, a former child gymnast who, at 15 years and 11 months, is about to become the youngest member of the host team in the Cup's 76-year history. The Scot is living proof of the sporting adage that if you are good enough, you are old enough.

And were Booth to turn on the gymnastics display at the moment of triumph - there is every chance that she will - her father, Wally, for one, would be cheering with the rest of them. “That would put the punch in golf,” the former wrestling champion said yesterday as he spoke of his daughter's progress from Scotland under-9 gymnastics champion to European golf's No1 junior at 15 and a place in the equivalent of the Walker Cup that starts tomorrow.

Michelle Wie was 14 when she played for the US in the match at Formby in 2004. She had already made colossal waves within golf, but has found herself floundering in the professional ranks. If Wie's situation has done anything, it has highlighted the folly, parental or otherwise, of pushing for too much, too soon.

But what to do when you have a youngster with a talent and a maturity beyond his or her years? Booth, whose father trained the Scottish wrestling squad at a gym he built on his own land in Comrie, Perthshire, was surrounded from an early age by serious, high-achieving athletes. She also had her own six-hole golf course (since extended to 15) that Wally had developed for his eldest son, Wallace - who, at 22, is likely to turn professional this year - and showed a natural aptitude from the moment she picked up a club at 5. And she is fiercely competitive.

“If you beat her at Ludo, darts, dominoes, or anything else you're in trouble,” Booth Sr, who once worked as a bouncer at Beatles concerts, said. “What inspired her most was winning, or doing well in a tournament. And that encouraged her to practise. But there has to be a happy medium. If Wallace wasn't around, I'd bribe her by saying that if she pottered about for an hour on the course, she could watch TV. You must not force kids, though, because it won't do any good.”

For the past two years, Booth has been based in the US, first at the David Leadbetter Academy in Florida and now at Superstition Mountain, near Phoenix, Arizona. What she soon discovered was that the Leadbetter way was not right for her. “Bob Torrance [coach to Padraig Harrington, the Open champion] saw her play before she went to the States and told her, ‘Don't let anybody change your swing,'” Booth Sr said. “But they did and suddenly she couldn't hit a ball. They were far too mechanical for her. Within a week of her coming home, Wallace had put her right.”

Booth's roll of honour is long, varied and impressive. By the age of 8, she had an adult handicap of 18. She went on to win the Duke of York's Young Champions Trophy at Dundonald Links, open to the best juniors in Europe, and last year won the European Young Masters tournament and Scottish under-21 and under-18 titles.

“We've taken the kids all over Britain to find the competition they needed, because I know that you will not get to the top unless you're playing against the best.” Booth Sr said. “With the wrestlers, we would always say ‘never say die' and Carly has that spirit now.”

Booth, who is looking forward to playing on the LPGA Tour in the US, has two years, barring special dispensation, before she can turn professional. “I want eventually to be the best in the world,” Booth, a powerful and big hitter, said. “I hate losing and all I'll think about at St Andrews is winning - my individual matches and as a team.

“If it wasn't for dad building the course, I wouldn't be where I am now. It was right outside the door and I could play all the time.”

Dad, meanwhile, can see no point in delaying the day when she turns professional. “What's the point of going to university when she can spend those four years on tour?” he said. “It's like Justin Rose. He found it tough at first [Rose joined the paid ranks at 17 and missed 21 successive halfway cuts] but by the time four years was up he had served his time and look at him now.”

Rising force

Born June 21, 1992

Nationality Scottish

Family home Comrie, Perthshire Base Superstition Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona

Titles 2007: European Young Masters; Scottish Under-18 Championship and Under-21 Open; 2006: Under-18 British Ladies’ Open; Duke of York Young Champions; Scottish Under-16 Open

Other results 2007 Ladies Scottish Open (professional), 13th; member of Team Faldo, squad of elite young players hand -picked by the six-times major champion to receive coaching tips and advice

Teams 2008: GB & I Curtis Cup team; 2006: Europe Junior Ryder Cup

Lowest competitive score 64 (Peterhead Golf Club)

Other Scottish Under-9s gymnastics champion. Father, Wally, Commonwealth Games silver medal-winner in wrestling in 1966.Brother, Paul, 18, who has Down’s syndrome, is a British powerlifting champion. Brother, Wallace, 22, plans to join golf’s professional ranks this year. Family has had pipe march written for them by Donald MacPherson, the leading piper, called The Booths of Comrie