BRITISH WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
WELSH GIRL KOs TITLE-HOLDER IN SEMI-FINALS AT GULLANE
Welsh international and Curtis Cup player Anna Highgate produced a great performance to reach this afternoon's 18-hole final of the British women's open amateur golf championship over the Gullane No 1 course, East Lothian.
Anna, 21-year-old Southerndown GC member, toppled the defending champion, 19-year-old Elisa Serramia from Barcelona, at the 20th hole.
Anna, two up with three holes to play, was rocked by a last-gap fightback from the Spaniard who birdied the 16th and 18th to take the semi-final into extra holes.
But Miss Highgate, the 14th qualifier, won through at the 20th with a par 4 after the Spaniard fluffed a chip.
Anna, the first Welsh player to reach the final since Becky Morgan in 1996, will meet Louise Stahle (Sweden) in the final.
Stahle, a 19-year-old from Barseback and winner of the St Rule Trophy tournament at St Andrews last week, became the first Swedish player to reach the final for many years. She beat Sophie Walker, the 19-year-old Loughborough University student and Kenwick Park Golf Club member, with a sub-par display for a 3 and 2 victory in the first semi-final.
Anna Highgate, a member of the Great Britian & Ireland Curtis Cup team at Formby, knocked out the defending champion, Elisa Serramia (Spain) at the 20th hole in the second semi-final.
Louise Stahle, who starts a four-year golf scholarship at Arizona University in the autumn, won the first hole with a birdie against Sophie and a par at the second was enough to increase her lead to two holes.
Miss Walker, the 29th qualifier, produced a birdie 4 at the long fifth to halve the deficit but then bogeyed the sixth to fall two behind again. Out in one-under-par 35 and two up, the Swedish player birdied the long 10th to increase her lead to three. The 11th was halved in birdies, the first of a sequence of six halved holes which ended the tie on the 16th green.
Louise Stahle was three under par and Sophie Walker level for the holes played.
In the second semi-final, Anna Highgate, the 14th qualifier, went one down to Elisa Serramia, the 23rd qualifier, with a double-bogey 6 at the second after a hooked drive but bounced back with winning pars at the fourth and sixth to be one up before she bogeyed the short ninth to be all square at the turn.
Anna got her first birdie of the match at the long 10th to regaint he lead but Elisa eagled the 11th to square the contest and a par at the next was enough to put the Spaniard one up for the first time since the second hole.
Miss Highgate then won three holes in a row with par-par-birdie figures from the 13th to the 15th to be two up with three to play.
The defending champion then finished strongly with a birdie 2 at the 16th and a conceded birdie 3 at the 18th after a fine approach shot to within 2 1/2ft of the flagstick to square the game and take the second semi-final into extra holes.
After the 19th was halved in par 4s, Miss Highgate won a place in the final with a par 4 at the second where Miss Serramia was just short of the putting surface in two and fluffed her chip, taking another three shots for a bogey 5.
Anna was an approximate three over par for the holes played.
Welsh international and Curtis Cup player Anna Highgate produced a great performance to reach this afternoon's 18-hole final of the British women's open amateur golf championship over the Gullane No 1 course, East Lothian.
Anna, 21-year-old Southerndown GC member, toppled the defending champion, 19-year-old Elisa Serramia from Barcelona, at the 20th hole.
Anna, two up with three holes to play, was rocked by a last-gap fightback from the Spaniard who birdied the 16th and 18th to take the semi-final into extra holes.
But Miss Highgate, the 14th qualifier, won through at the 20th with a par 4 after the Spaniard fluffed a chip.
Anna, the first Welsh player to reach the final since Becky Morgan in 1996, will meet Louise Stahle (Sweden) in the final.
Stahle, a 19-year-old from Barseback and winner of the St Rule Trophy tournament at St Andrews last week, became the first Swedish player to reach the final for many years. She beat Sophie Walker, the 19-year-old Loughborough University student and Kenwick Park Golf Club member, with a sub-par display for a 3 and 2 victory in the first semi-final.
Anna Highgate, a member of the Great Britian & Ireland Curtis Cup team at Formby, knocked out the defending champion, Elisa Serramia (Spain) at the 20th hole in the second semi-final.
Louise Stahle, who starts a four-year golf scholarship at Arizona University in the autumn, won the first hole with a birdie against Sophie and a par at the second was enough to increase her lead to two holes.
Miss Walker, the 29th qualifier, produced a birdie 4 at the long fifth to halve the deficit but then bogeyed the sixth to fall two behind again. Out in one-under-par 35 and two up, the Swedish player birdied the long 10th to increase her lead to three. The 11th was halved in birdies, the first of a sequence of six halved holes which ended the tie on the 16th green.
Louise Stahle was three under par and Sophie Walker level for the holes played.
In the second semi-final, Anna Highgate, the 14th qualifier, went one down to Elisa Serramia, the 23rd qualifier, with a double-bogey 6 at the second after a hooked drive but bounced back with winning pars at the fourth and sixth to be one up before she bogeyed the short ninth to be all square at the turn.
Anna got her first birdie of the match at the long 10th to regaint he lead but Elisa eagled the 11th to square the contest and a par at the next was enough to put the Spaniard one up for the first time since the second hole.
Miss Highgate then won three holes in a row with par-par-birdie figures from the 13th to the 15th to be two up with three to play.
The defending champion then finished strongly with a birdie 2 at the 16th and a conceded birdie 3 at the 18th after a fine approach shot to within 2 1/2ft of the flagstick to square the game and take the second semi-final into extra holes.
After the 19th was halved in par 4s, Miss Highgate won a place in the final with a par 4 at the second where Miss Serramia was just short of the putting surface in two and fluffed her chip, taking another three shots for a bogey 5.
Anna was an approximate three over par for the holes played.
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | 12:36:00 pm
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