All the intensive short game practice paid off for Huddersfield’s Lily Hirst as she triumphed in the Yorkshire Ladies County Championship on Sunday.
FORNT: 36-hole stroke play / 4 rounds of matchplay
She just came out on top after a great tussle with Cherry Marley (The Oaks) at The Bradford, Hirst winning the 18th to claim the title after several near misses.
As well as the fierce competition she also had to cope with an abrupt acclimitisation process having only returned from college in Texas four days earlier.
The new champion admits it was tough to adapt to the damp and windy West Yorkshire conditions compared to the dry heat of San Antonio, where she has spent the last few weeks working on her short game.
“When I got back my game wasn’t in the place where I wanted it to be,” said Hirst. “I was jet-lagged and practising in the rain and I also had to adjust my club numbers.
“I was hitting it 15-20 yards less with every club and I basically spent the first stroke play round on Friday morning working out my new yardages.
“But I shot a really good 69 in the second round and kept that form going throughout the rest of the tournament. The final was pretty nerve-jangling as there was never more than one shot in it.”
However it was in her quarter-final match-up with Ganton’s Amy Staveley that all her short game efforts really paid off.
The Huddersfield player looked set for the exit at the third extra hole – the 18th – as she found trouble off the tee and then had to hit her second through some trees, the ball falling 35 yards short of the green.
Meanwhile Staveley was on in two but Hirst responded by pitching to six feet and holing out for an unlikely par while her opponent three-putted for a bogey.
The new champion added: “In the past few weeks all I have been working on is my short game. For too long my long game has been better and I just wanted to get them both to the same level because I believe having a good short game is the most important thing you can do in golf.
“I needed to get some confidence into my short game and it really paid off.”
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Hirst followed up that nail-biting Staveley win with a much more convincing 3&1 semi-final success to set up a meeting with Marley, who was the leading stroke play qualifier. The Oaks player finished two ahead of her final opponent on three under and made a strong start in the final, forging two ahead after three holes.
Hirst stuck in there and par golf was enough to get her one hole ahead at halfway before the lead changed hands several times, noticably on 17, where Marley birdied to get back on level terms.
At the last Hirst responded superbly, sticking her approach to ten feet while her playing partner found sand. Marley splashed out to eight feet and then watched as her opponent missed her birdie putt but The Oaks youngster also just failed with her par attempt.
Hirst added: “I have been knocked out in the semi-finals four or five times so it was fantastic to finally get into the final and win it.”