At 8.30 am on Sunday, the first 18 holes of the 36-hole Ladies Scratch Cup began in the contest between Becky Harries and Heather Morgan. Weather conditions can only be described as ‘challenging’, with persistent rain and wind, which continued throughout the morning.

The first hole was halved and Becky then seemed to cope better with the conditions, winning the next three holes to go three up, and it looked like another win for Becky when she put her second shot to the fifth within eight-foot of the pin whilst Heather’s second landed in the left-hand greenside bunker. However Heather had an amazing shot out to within three inches of the hole, giving her the par, while Becky failed in her birdie attempt and the hole was halved.

Heather won the sixth with a par and Becky won the seventh with a birdie. On the eighth, Becky put her drive out of bounds and with Heather’s drive nicely on the fairway, Heather won this hole to cut the deficit to two down.

With the wind blowing in off the sea, Becky’s huge drive on the ninth just caught the rough on the left of the fairway. Heather hit her second shot onto the green, but Becky took three to reach the green and Heather sank a long putt for her par, winning the hole and making her one down at the turn.

On the back nine, Becky got into her stride and adjusted to conditions really well, hitting the ball beautifully and sinking putts for birdies. Going over the line, she was five up and went on to win both the 15th and 16th.

She found the greenside right-hand bunker on the 17th and Heather was to the left of the bunker and chipped onto the green within 10-foot of the flag. Becky had a difficult plugged downhill lie in the bunker and was unable to get out of the bunker first-time, leaving Heather to take the hole with a par three.

They halved the 18th and both were relieved to go into the clubhouse for much-needed refreshments and to dry out with Becky six up before the afternoon 18 holes.

The afternoon round started in better conditions, with no rain and less wind. Both girls had good drives but, as expected, Becky’s extra distance off the tee would always give her an advantage and put Heather under pressure to get her third shots close to the pin.

Becky parred the first four holes, then birdied the fifth to go 11 ahead. Heather didn’t give up and repeated her feat of winning the sixth with a par. Becky birdied the seventh, but her bogey hole came next and she again went out of bounds with her drive and Heather played a steady hole to pull another one back.

The ninth hole proved to be the final hole and after a decent drive down the fairway from Heather, Becky hit a huge rescue wood over the right-hand bunker, leaving herself a simple approach into the green. Heather raced her third shot past the flag and Becky missed her birdie chance. Heather sunk her 12-foot par putt, meaning Becky had a four-foot putt to halve the hole and win the match - which she did.

Heather battled to the end, but Becky’s length and ability to hit the par fives in two was always going to prove difficult for her. Well done to both ladies, their caddies and the referee for battling through 18 holes in the morning’s awful conditions. Commiserations to Heather and well done to Becky on becoming the Ladies Scratch Club Champion for the first time.

Sadly she was unable to attend the evening presentation, but a picture of her holding the Scratch Cup was taken before she left.

P.C.