Clacton-on-Sea’s Katy Yates secured a hat-trick of Essex Ladies County Championship titles at Langdon Hills last night on the 100th anniversary of the competition’s inaugural playing .
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play qualifier / 4 rounds of matchplay
The left hander played a pivotal part in Essex winning the English Women’s County Championship in September and once again came good when it really mattered yesterday as she saw off Alexandra Sparrow (Stoke by Nayland) 4&3 in the final.
Yates took control of the match at the start of the back nine after Sparrow had birdied the first two holes to go one up. The Stoke by Nayland teenager had stormed through the knockout stages with thumping victories in the previous three rounds but her experienced final opponent pounced on a couple of rare mistakes after the turn to take a lead she never lost.
The champion, who beat her long-time friend Charley Hatley to win it last year, said: “She had played really well all week and when she birdied the first two holes I thought ‘hello, here we go’.
“But it was tough going all day. In the semi-final against Emily Dixon I missed quite a few greens and just about managed to get the job done.
“Looking at the trophy you can see quite a few people have won it quite a few ties but it is definitely special to do it on the 100th anniversary.”
In yesterday’s morning semi-final Yates struggled to get going but stuck it in close on 15 to get back to all square.
At 16 she sliced her ball out of bounds but Dixon had her own struggles and the hole was halved in bogey sixes, Yates sinking a 10-footer to stay on level terms.
The par three 17th also caused the Clacton-on-Sea star headaches as she found sand off the tee but she executed a superb up and down, her tricky downhill putt dropping in on its last rotation.
Then on 18 – another par five – Yates went through the green in two and again one putted – this time from only four feet for birdie – to reach her fifth county final.
In the last two match-up both players birdied the first and Sparrow also birdied the second to take an early lead but by the turn it was all square.
The 17-year-old missed a couple of short putts on 12 and 13 after Yates had also won 11 and the champion-elect closed things out on 15 as her opponent found the water. A hassle-free bogey was enough to get the job done.