Norfolk’s Amelia Williamson birdied the first five holes on her way to winning a rain-shortened Pleasington Putter in East Lancashire yesterday.
In fact the Hunstanton player missed a three-footer at the sixth on a course that has proved a happy hunting ground. Two years ago in the same event she got to ten under after 13 and eventually finished second as two late bogeys cost her dear. Then she finished a shot behind Shropshire star Emily Price.
However this time around, nobody was able to match her scoring as a six-under-par 68 put her three clear of Northumberland’s Jess Baker (Gosforth Park Ladies) and Surrey’s Hyun-Ji Kim (Royal Wimbledon).
For the Florida State golfer, her improved short game proved key as she took full advantage of the par fives at the first, fourth and fifth during that incredible start.
“For the last two years at college I’ve worked really hard on my pitching which used to be my weakness,” said the 21-year-old, who was joined on the trip north by her boyfriend, William Farley, who acted as her caddy.
Amelia Williamson’s Curtis Cup adventure
“I’m getting pitches inside six feet a lot more often and it’s making a big difference.”
The event was shortened to just one round with the course not playable until the mid morning and the former three-time national schools champion took the competition by the scruff of the neck early.
She did drop a shot at eight but bounced back at the very next hole where she just missed out on an eagle.
A birdie followed on the short par three tenth and, in between bogeys at 11 and 15, she claimed her eighth birdie of the day on the par five 13th.
There was time for one more moment of excellence on the short-but-tricky par three 17th where she stuck her tee shot pin high on the left hand side, leaving herself an uphill putt, which she sank from 15 feet.
The nett prize was carried off by Middlesbrough’s Katie Stephen, who closed with a 72 (71).