Kent's Sarah Tyson wins English girls' championship
- Monday, 4 August 2008
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The 17-year-old from Redlibbets played confidently throughout the final and mastered the greens – while Charlotte (Mere) struck the ball well but struggled with the putts.
“This is just fantastic – especially as it’s my last year as a junior,” said Sarah, who had three birdies and was one-under par when the match ended.
“I did feel confident but I knew Charlotte was going to give me a good game. We both tried our best but she just missed a few putts.”
Her father, Andy, watched her every shot of the way and said afterwards: “That’s the best golf I have ever seen Sarah play. She just came into this with great determination.”
Sarah got off to a quick start, winning the first with a birdie, salvaging a half at the second with a magical downhill chip and winning both the third and fourth with pars.
She had another birdie on the 8th, where her approach finished just inches from the hole, to get to four up.
Charlotte won the 10th with a solid par but although she gave herself a number of other opportunities with impressive play into the greens her putter let her down.
The difference between the two girls’ play was highlighted on the 11th where Sarah managed to two-putt across the difficult, sloping green, while Charlotte took three after her second putt lipped out. It took Sarah to four-up and she said: “That hole was crucial and it put me in a pretty good position.”
Sarah went on to score a remarkable birdie on the 12th, where she threaded her second shot through trees to within 10ft of the pin. A steady par on the 13th gave her the title. “it’s just brilliant,” said Sarah, who has only recently recovered from a bad wrist injury.
Afterwards Charlotte remarked: “I’m disappointed but I’m really proud of reaching the final. I just let Sarah get too far ahead early on and I couldn’t hole any putts. Sarah played very well.”
Norfolk’s Rebecca Heeles (Royal Norwich) won the second flight final, beating Yorkshire’s Katie Barraclough (East Bierley) 3/1.
“It was real up-and-down match,” said Rebecca, who is also the English schools U16 champion. The lead swung to and fro between the girls but
Rebecca won the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th to move from one down to victory.
Setanta Golf filmed both finals and they will be featured in the near future on their magazine programme Out of Bounds, which is shown on Wednesday evenings.
Results
Championship final
Sarah Tyson (Redlibbets) beat Charlotte Wild (Mere) 6/5
Flight Two final
Rebecca Heeles (Royal Norwich) beat Katie Barraclough (East Bierley) 3/1.
www.englishwomensgolf.org
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