South Africa’s Gia Raad produced two eagles when it mattered most to claim the English Girls’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at The Caversham in Berkshire.
Raad finished the 72-hole event on 12-under-par after impressive rounds of 71, 66, 71 and 68 sealed a five-shot victory over Lili-Rose Hunt.
Playing in the last group and knowing that Hunt was performing well in front of her, Raad knew she would have to produce something special to separate herself from the Redditch golfer who had previously produced a stunning round of 66 in the morning to tie the lead going into the afternoon.
As the final round got underway, the lead kept shifting back and forth between the two in the early exchanges and there was still nothing to separate them after nine holes. However, eagles on the 11th and 14th edged the South African two shots clear with four holes to play. A tense finish was in store, but Hunt was left to rue an unfortunate double bogey on 18, paving the way for Raad to win the trophy at the first time of asking.
Raad said: “It feels amazing, especially when I’ve travelled all of this way. I actually wasn’t making a lot of putts, so that first eagle was crucial as I was one back at the time. The second eagle was a much shorter putt, which gave me a bit of breathing space, and when the putt dropped on 18, I was so excited.”
Czech Republic’s Annika Kohoutek finished third on three-under with Sunningdale’s Mia Ingham in fourth. Ingham, who had a hole-in-one on Tuesday, capped off her spectacular week by signing off for one-under 71 par to win the Hazards Salver, which his awarded to the leading under-16 player from Great Britain and Ireland.
View the final standing here