Australian-based Scot Karis Davidson (17) 

   earns bumper prize after 72-hole victory

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Innerleithen-born Karis Davidson (17), who emigrated with her parents from the River Tweed valley to Queensland, Australia nine years ago,  and Hannah Green (19), who lives at Perth, Western Australia, have won the chance to live out a dream.
They are the winners of the 2016 Karrie Webb Series as the two leading players in Australian national rankings events for the past year. Thanks to the generosity of Australia’s greatest female golfer, each player will receive $10,000 to put towards their tournament and training expenses this year.
But it’s the prize that money can’t buy that both players are already “extremely excited” about – the chance to spend a week with Webb during the 2016 US Open at CordeValle, south of San Francisco, in early July.
Davidson, pictured with the tournament trophy, sealed her scholarship with a gutsy two-stroke win over Green with a 12-under-par aggregate in this week’s Bowra and O’Dea Women’s Classic over 72 holes at Lake Karrinyup Country Club near Perth.
That, combined with victory in the Queensland women's amateur championship, was enough to see the Scot finish with 609 total points, well clear of the third-placed competitor.
Davidson, the highest Scottish-born player at No 80 in the Women's World Amateur Rankings, is thrilled with the cash aspect of the scholarship, but is even more taken by the chance to meet one of her fellow Queensland heroes.
“Karrie Webb was one of my idols growing up,” the quietly spoken Scot said.
“It’s a great thing to look up to … and Karrie is definitely a great player, so it should be a great week in the US with her.”
Golf Australia high performance director Brad James was thrilled for both young women.
“To have the opportunity to spend a week learning from Australia’s most accomplished golfer is something they’ll remember for a lifetime and hopefully take that experience and use it to further their careers,” James said.
“It’s a good reward for the consistency they’ve shown through the year and we wholeheartedly thank Karrie for the time she puts into developing the future stars of our game.”
Click here for Karrie Webb Series final standings.