EAST LOTHIAN TITLE WINNER CLARA, ONLY 14, MAKES HISTORY

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Colin@scottishgolfview.com There is no shortage of famous names on the list of winners of the East Lothian women's county championship down through the years - including Catriona (Lambert) Matthew in 1990, 1992 and 1994 - and another North Berwick player, Clara Young today  scored a victory that will go into the county's history books. Only 14 years old, Clara became the youngest ever East Lothian champion when she beat Mary Lou Renton (Gifford), the county captain, by 4 and 3 in the afternoon final at Musselburgh Golf Club. It was the fourth time that Mary Lou had lost in the final since 1995. Clara, finishing fifth, was the leading Scot in the recent SLGA Under-16 girls' open stroke-play championship at Strathmore Golf Centre and might well be following in the footsteps of Catriona Matthew as a future Scottish and British women's amateur champion.   After the first and third holes were exchanged, Clara gained the initiative by winning the fourth, fifth and sixth with par figures to surge three up. Mary Lou birdied the seventh to cut her deficit to two but Young retaliated with back-to-back birdies to win the eighth and ninth and turn for home four holes in the lead. Renton was not finished yet. She won the 10th with a par and halved the 11th and 12th but Young produced her third birdie of a splendid round to go four up at the 13th. The 14th and 15th holes were halved, leaving Young, the No 4 seed, a memorable winner by 4 and 3. It was Clara's second notable win of the day. In the morning she had cut the leading qualifier and easy winner of her first two ties, Lesley Nicholson (Haddington), the 1999 and 2000 champion, down to size, beating her by 3 and 2. Renton, 11th of the 16 qualifiers, won her semi-final by 2 and 1 over East Lothian junior champion Keren Ward (The Glen). Jean McNeill (Longniddry) won the handicap championship final, beating Anne Blundell (Musselburgh) by 3 and 1. TODAY'S RESULTS Semi-finals - Clara Young (North Berwick) bt Lesley Nicholson (Haddington) 3 and 2; Mary Lou Renton (Gifford) bt Keren Ward (The Glen) 2 and 1. Final - Young bt Renton 4 and 3. Handicap Championship Final - Jean McNeill (Longniddry) bt Anne Blundell (Musselburgh) 3 and 1.                     Handicap champion Jean McNeill on the left with Clara Young.