HURRAH FOR HANNAH BURKE

AS SHE SCORES FIRST WIN IN UNITED STATES

Hannah Burke, pictured right, has scored her first victory on the United States women's college golf circuit.
The 19-year-old England girl international from Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire and a member of Mid-Herts Golf Club is following up an outstanding freshman year at Baylor University with an even better sophomore (second year) performance.
After achieving her then best to-date runner-up placing in the Ron Moore Intercollegiate at Highlands Ranch Golf Club, Colorado, Hannah struck gold in the quaintly-named Challenge at Wolfdancer women's tournament at Wolfdancer Golf Club, near Austin, Texas (November 4-5).
The 5ft 4in Burke was the "giant" of the third and final round. Starting the last day in sixth place, four shots off the pace, after rounds of 72 and 78, Hannah powered past the leaders with a brilliant closing round of five-under-par 67 over the par-72, 6,093yd course for a winning total of one-over-par 217.
Hannah left her opponents for dead, winning by four shots from Therese Nilsson (Lamar University) who shot 77, 72 and 72.
Miss Burke's first two rounds give little indication that she would spreadeagle the field of 67 players on the last round. On Day 1, her par 72 included late birdies at the 17th and 18th. In the second round, Hannah simply could not get a birdie putt to drop and and six bogeys added up to a six-over 78.
But then, on Day 3, Hannah looked a different player. She birdied the second, fifth and eighth in an outward 33 and kept it up with birdies at the 12th and 13th for 34 home and a bogey-free round of 67.
She has shot lower in her career - claiming the Mid-Herts women's course record with a 66 before she went to the States. But this was a come-from-behind victory that augurs well for the 19-year-old's future. She was good last college season. She is better now at the halfway point of her second season ... and she still has two to go after that.
There were two other English players in the field.
Clara Leathers (Middle Tennessee State) from Aylesbury plummeted from eighth place overnight to joint 46th on 243 with a catastrophic last round of 91 after earlier scores of 77 and 75.
Sian Reddick, the 2004 English stroke-play champion from Folkestone and Hannah Burke's golfing buddy at Baylor, finished joint 48th after rounds of 80, 86 and 78 for 244. Sian is still struggling to be the outstanding player she was before injury affected her level of performance. It's a long road back but let us hope that Sian can complete the journey.
That was the trouble for Baylor's hopes of a team triumph. They could not give their star player close support and finished fourth of 13 with a total of 924, compared with 911 by the winners Northwestern University, 916 by Iowa State and 921 by Middle Tennessee State.