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Helen Lowe, three down after 14, finishes on a
high to win English senior title
Leicestershire’s Helen Lowe staged a superb fightback to become the new English senior women’s amateur champion at Woodhall Spa.
She’d
been trailing Julie Brown – the defending champion – since the turn and
was three down after 14 holes of the final. But then she turned the
tide. She produced a pair of birdies to launch a charge and won four
holes in a row to snatch victory on the 18th.
“That
was when I started pinching myself and thinking ‘Is it really me that
has done this?’ It’s absolutely fantastic, I couldn’t happier,” she
said.
Lowe,
(image © Leaderboard Photography) who has twice been the Leicestershire
county champion, was playing in this event for only the second time.
On
her debut last year she qualified for the second flight match play;
this time she played her way comfortably into the championship match
play and proceeded to despatch a series of high quality opponents.
First to
fall was former champion Caroline Berry (Bromborough), followed by
international Lulu Housman (Highgate) and then, in the semi-final, the
number two seed Lindsey Shaw (Chevin).
The
final brought her up against Staffordshire’s Brown, who was not only
the defending champion, but also the top seed and an international who
last year helped England become European and Home International
champions.
The first
few holes were closely contested, but Lowe (Scraptoft) hit a wobble in
the middle, lost her putting touch for a few holes and was three down
after 14. But then her feel on the greens returned and she started an
unbeatable charge, with birdies on the 15th and 16th, followed by a
solid par on 17 to get back to all square.On the 18th Lowe’s birdie putt stayed out, but finished stone dead, while Brown (Trentham) missed a 3ft par putt to keep the match alive.
The
title belonged to Lowe and she said: “It’s been great, senior golf has
opened up a whole new world.” As well as playing in England events, she
also finished sixth in last year’s British senior championships.
The
Flight Two match-play was won by Debbie Warren (King’s Norton) on her
debut appearance in this event, beating former international Roz Adams
(Royal Blackheath) by 5 and /3 in the final.
“It
was a really good match,” said Warren, who has been Staffordshire
county champion three times. “It was nip and tuck at the beginning, and
Roz holed some very good putts, but over the last five or six holes I
went up a gear.
“My long game was fantastic and I hit some iron shots close and had a couple of birdies.”
On
her way to the final Warren defeated past senior champion Sue Dye
(Delamere Forest), Airlie Dyson (Batchworth Park), and former British
senior champion Katherine Russell (Royal Ashdown Forest).
“I played really good golf over the two days and I’m certainly level par for the four rounds, or under par,” said Warren.
She
described the match play rounds as a “fresh start” after the two days
of stroke play qualifying, played in brutal conditions of strong winds
and rain.
Click here for full scoresLyndsey Hewison Press Officer England Golf pr@englandgolf.org 07825 752 193 |
Labels: Senior ladies
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