England Girls U-14s
The Northumberland Ladies Golf Association has had a lot to celebrate in recent times and again its members were toasting one of their own last night as Charlotte Naughton picked up the England Girls U-14s crown.
FORMAT: 72-hole stroke play
The North East has turned into a production line for elite level female players in recent years with England star Rosie Belsham, England Girls players Rachel Gourley and Maggie Whitehead and British Amateur champion Jess Baker all delivering the goods in the last two years.
Earlier this year Naughton beat Belsham’s record by becoming the youngest winner of the Northumberland Ladies Championship and, at Formby Ladies, she came through imptressively in the final round, eventually finishing two ahead of the rest.
“I feel very proud to stand here,” Naughton told England Golf last night. “It means a lot because I’ve worked really hard for this and it’s all paid off.
“A birdie at the second really got me started for the final round. I just missed out on a birdie at the 17th which was my hardest hole so that was alright too.
“I played really well. It’s a hard course and now I just need to keep grafting away and get better and better.”
The 14-year-old from Ponteland started the final round two back of 36-hole leader Annabel Peaford (Walton Heath) but unfortunately for the Surrey junior a nine at the second derailed her hopes and she never properly recovered from the quintuple bogey.
Cheshire youngster Sophie Clafton had an excellent start and in the early stages of the back nine led before a run of bogeys, leading up to the turn, saw her drift back into the pack.
In the final shake-up it was Staffordshire’s Lauren Crump (Hill Valley) who proved the nearest challenger to Naughton and it was nip and tuck down the stretch. Unfortunately for Crump a bogey on 15 proved critical while Naughton parred in from 14 to finish with a 73 and a six-over overall total.