Huddersfield’s Lily Hirst received the English Girls’s Open Stroke Play after a last spherical 70 noticed her seal a four-shot victory at Stoneham Golf Membership in Hampshire.
After opening rounds of 71 and 75 on Stoneham’s par-74 course, Hirst fired a gradual 74 within the morning, after which caught hearth within the afternoon’s last spherical, with the 21-year-old touchdown a vital eagle-two on the driveable seventh gap, together with three different birdies to shoot a closing four-under 70 and safe a cushty victory forward of nearest competitor Darcey Harry from Royal Porthcawl in Wales, who have been the one two gamers to complete underneath par for the match.
Hirst mentioned: “I’m speechless. I really feel like I’ve been dreaming of profitable a match like this after I received the Champion of Champions a couple of years in the past. I shot level-par within the morning and I used to be just one again heading into the ultimate 18, so I assumed I ought to assault every thing and gap a couple of extra putts as I left a couple of brief within the morning. I knew I wanted to shoot low.
“The seventh is clearly driveable, and I hit a 5-wood and it bounced completely onto the inexperienced. I had a six-foot putt downhill, I acquired over it and as quickly as I regarded on the gap, I knew I used to be going to gap it. As quickly as I did gap it, I knew it was going to be day.”
Nearest challenger Harry meant enterprise on the morning of the ultimate day with three birdies on the opening three holes, whereas her fellow countrywoman Millie Cottrell loved one other eagle on the 4th after her wonderful three eagles – together with a hole-in-one – in 9 holes on day two. However whereas Cottrell couldn’t fairly reproduce the shape she confirmed on Wednesday, Harry discovered herself main heading into the afternoon’s last spherical.
Burnham & Berrow’s Davina Xanh turned up the warmth on a sunny day at Stoneham as she was three-under in her third spherical, and back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 within the last spherical, together with driving the inexperienced on the latter, noticed her come inside two of the lead. Nonetheless, her problem slipped away after she acquired into bother on 16, leaving her to complete on level-par total in third place. Austria’s Johanna Ebner was additionally competing on the prime all through and regardless of three birdies on the entrance 9 within the last spherical, she dropped pictures after the flip to additionally end tied 4th.
Whereas the competitors threatened to have a tense end, finally Hirst confirmed her mettle to remain properly in entrance and see out a high-quality victory.
For all of the scores from the 2024 English Girls’s Open Stroke Play, click on right here.