Sunday, April 22, 2018

Essex girl Lily May Humphreys (16) pips  Chloe Goadby for Helen Holm title


 Lily May Humphreys receives the Helen Holm trophy from the captain of Royal Troon Golf Club, Alasdair Cameron. Picture by Elaine Farquharson-Black.


REPORT BY ED HODGE
SCOTTISH GOLF
Essex girl  Lily May Humphreys (Stoke by Nayland Golf Club) dashed home hopes of a long-delayed victory at the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open Championship at Royal Troon, securing another notable title at Royal Troon.

With joint overnight leader Shannon McWilliam (Aboyne), St Regulus’ Chloe Goadby and first-round leader Hannah McCook (Grantown on Spey) all in the hunt going into the final 18 holes, there were genuine hopes of a first Scottish winner in the event since Heather Stirling 16 years ago.

But the wait goes on as reigning English women’s amateur champion Humphreys, who had her 16th birthday only last month, claimed another prestigious prize with a one-stroke win ahead of the strong-finishing Goadby, last week's winner of the British student women's title at Woodhall Spa.

Humphreys now looks a certainty to be named in the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team, announced at noon on Thursday, while the likes of McWilliam and Goadby will hope they have done enough to impress on-looking captain Elaine Farquharson-Black.

Humphreys finished on nine under par 207 after a superb closing four-under 68 in the breezy conditions, helped by a hat-trick birdies from the seventh, with two further birdies at 12 and 13 ultimately proving decisive.

It’s the Essex teenager's sixth title in the last 10 months and it marks a welcome return to top form for the 16-year-old, who is also the English women’s amateur champion. 
Humphreys said: “It means a lot as I had lost form and recovered it for this event. I didn’t know about Chloe’s score until the 11thbut saw her holing putts everywhere, so was pleased to hold on.

“It’s great to have my game under control again. I think this is my biggest win, beating an international field. I felt if I could win this, then I had a chance for the Curtis Cup. My chances are up, but I don’t know whether I will get in.”

Goadby, in the group in front, just couldn’t reel Humphreys in, despite birdieing the third, fourth, seventh, 12th, 16th and 18th in a final-round 68. A bogey at the par-3 17th was to prove costly in the final analysis.

“I’m happy with that,” said the University of Stirling’s Goadby. “I had my strategy set out and plotted my way round to try and get in the mix. Dropping a shot at 17 was probably the only putt that didn’t drop all day, but I made up for it with the birdie on 18.
“Royal Troon has beaten me up before, so I just tried to take my birdie chances when they came. If you told me at the start of the week I would finish on eight under and in second place I would have been happy.”
Defending champion Sweden's Linn Grant, whose grandfather, James Grant won the Scottish boys championship in 1958,  finished third on seven under par 209 – with the Swedes taking the team title by a shot over Scotland – with McWilliam finishing on five under.
McWilliam had raced out of the blocks with three birdies in the first five holes to hit the front, but a double bogey at the sixth and then a shank out of bounds onto the railway tracks at the 11th proved her undoing.
The Aboyne 18-year-old player who has now secured three top-five finishes in the last four years in the Helen Holm, said: “I  played well enough bar two holes. I didn’t feel the pressures of the (Curtis Cup) selectors watching and I just have to wait and see now.”
Six Scots finished inside the top 10, with McCook tied sixth, Gemma Batty (West Linton) ninth and Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) and Jasmine Mackintosh (Hazlehead) sharing 10th.

FINAL TOTALS

par 216 (3x72) CSS Troon Portland 76 76. Royal Troon 77
207 L M Humphreys (Stoke by Nayland) 71 68 68.
208 C Goadby (St Regulus) 72 68 68
209 L Grant (Sweden) 69 69 71
211 S McWilliam (Aboyne) 69 69 73.
212 I Wardle (Prestbury) 71 69 72.
215 H McCook (Grantown on Spey) 67 75 73, L Malchirand (Fra) 71 70 74.
216 A Linner (Swe) 71 71 74
217  G Batty (West Linton) 75 70 72.
218 E Briggs (Kilmacolm) 74 73 71, J Mackintosh (Hazlehead) 77  67 74
219 G Dumez (Fra) 74 69 76.
222 A Cernousek (Fra) 78 70 74, J Baker (Gosforth Park) 74 73 75, K Brodie (Strathmore) 73 71 78, P Grant (Lisburn) 74 68 80, I Holpfer (Austria) 73 73 76
223 M Giles (St Mellion) 80 70 73, L Vrain (Fra)  76 72 75, E Slater (Gog Magog) 73 74 76, C Walsh (Castlewarden) 76 71 76, B Garton (Royal Lytham) 73 73 77
224 C Leathem (Wilmslow) 73 78 73, S Lamb (Clitheroe) 75 74 75, A Fuller (Roehampton) 76 73 75, S Burke (Ballinrobe) 75 72 77.
226 M Richmond (Strathaven) 75 77 74
227 M Doyle (Portarlington) 77 72 78
228 C Gainer (Castle Royle) 77 74 77, K Drocarova (Slovakia) 77 72 79, C Martin (Fra) 72 76 80, M Garland (Selby) 76 72 80.
229 H Darling (Broomieknowe) 76 76 77, L McClymont (Milngavie) 76 76 77, A Sundberg (Sweden) 76 75 78.
230 G Lewis (Southerndown) 76 79 75, L Lau (Fra) 78 75 77, D Harry (The Vale Resort) 79 72 79, T Mactaggart (Minto) 77 74 79, E Rhodes (Burnham and Berrow) 80 71 79, T Kirby (Harleyford) 76 74 80,  A Dawson (Peel) 73 75 82, L Walsh (Castlewarden) 78 69 83.
231 C Worby (Newport Links) 79 76 76, N Slater (Woodsome Hall) 76 78 77, A J Williamson (Royal Cromer) 79 71 81
232 K Beveridge (Aboyne) 77 77 78, S Bayliss (Wolstanton) 76 76 80, K-J Stanley (Manchester) 76 74 82, G Macdonald (Craigielaw) 76 73 83
233 J Saxton (Muckhart) 80 75 78, C Casey (Hermitage) 78 76 79, B Morris (Tenby) 77 77 79, P Finlay (Vicars Cross) 76 78 79, V Clancy (Killarney) 74 78 81, M Lewis (St George's Hill) 74 77 82
234 M Fraser (Powfoot) 73 80 81, J Hall (Bishop Auckland) 76 73 85, C Bunel (Fra) 77 72 75
235 K McIntosh (Broomieknowe) 77 75 83
236 G Price (Bute and N Cornwall) 80 74 82, A C Krekling (Norway) 75 78 83
237 A Nordfors (Sweden) 75 74 88
238 G Allman (Moor Park) 77 76 85
239 E Berlin (Sweden) 75 77 87
240 A Pitts (Beadlow Manor) 81 74 85, L Fraser (Kingsknowe) 79 76 85, A Collis (Letchsworth) 77 74 89.
Retired: L Bailey (Kirby Muxloe) 75 74 ret, H MacGarvie (Troon Ladies) 76 ret.

The winning Swedish pair, Linn Grant on the left and Amanda Linner (right), with their captain who holds the Team Salver. Picture by Elaine Farquharson-Black.

TEAM EVENT
425 Sweden (L Grant 209, A Linner 216)
426 Scotland (S McWilliam 211, H McCook 215)
436 England (A Fuller 224, B Wardle 212)
455 Ireland (P Grant 222, C Walsh 233)

Runner-up Chloe Goadby receives her medal from the Royal Troon GC captain, Alasdair Cameron and, below, Sweden's Linn Grant gets her third-place prize.Pictures by Elaine Farquharson-Black



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