Comboy Scratch Trophy turns into a poignant affair for Isle of Man player
A sublime display of ball striking saw Isle of Man golfer Ana Dawson overpower Delamere Forest and the rest of the field as she stormed to victory in the Comboy Scratch Trophy in record-breaking fashion.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play
The Memphis College player broke the course record in the afternoon in winning by eight shots from England Girls international Rachel Gourley (Arcot Hall) yesterday.
The big-hitting 21-year-old blew away the rest of the field after lunch as she posted a second-round 65, beating the previous best at the Cheshire club by one shot.
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Ana racked up nine birdies in shooting her eight-under-par score, her lowest ever competition round. Last year, due to the extremely tight Covid restrictions on the Isle of Man, she wasn’t able to play much competitive golf on the mainland.
It was also a highly emotional day for the champion, who was accompanied on her trip by caddy and boyfriend Will Enefer. She lost her father Kelvin last week to cancer and almost didn’t play.
“I know my dad would have wanted me to play,” said Ana. “He was the reason I got into golf and he was the only person I wanted to tell after winning because it is the biggest thing I have won.”
After finishing her morning round strongly, the Peel GC golfer dismantled the front nine. She was five under thru seven and that included a lip out for birdie on the par three fourth.
Ana opened with a trio of birdies and then went four under at the par three sixth, a hole she had also registered a two at in the morning. At the very next she found the putting surface in two at the par five and expertly got down from 45 feet for her fifth birdie of the round.
She then missed another great chance to turn for home in six under as a five-foot birdie putt just failed to drop at the ninth.
At this point she discovered Rachel had started the second round two shots clear and believes that snippet of information really helped her concentration levels.
“During the first 18 I left quite a few out there so it was quite reassuring for me to go out in the afternoon knowing, if I played like I can do, there was a really good score in me.
“And the turnaround was so quick I kind of just carried on playing from the back nine in the morning and I had a bit of momentum.
“But when I found out Rachel was two ahead after the morning round it kept me focused knowing she had gone so low.”
Dawson also was eyeing a special personal target but slipped up at the par three 12th
“I’ve never had a bogey free round but it wasn’t until the 12th, when I was walking onto the green, and I suddenly thought ‘I haven’t had a bogey yet’. And then I three putted. It was my only bogey of the afternoon.”
She had gotten to six under at the tenth. Her length off the tee meant she just missed the green with her drive at the 270-yard par four but chipped to five feet and drained the putt.
Her next birdie would not arrive until the 16th but it would be the start of three in a row as she rounded things off in great style. At the long par three she powered a seven iron to eight feet and holed out for a two and then sunk an 18-footer at 17 before almost finding big trouble at the par five closing hole. Her drive nestled near the bottom of a tree but she was able to punch a seven iron down the fairway and then chipped to four feet to make the birdie putt a relatively straightforward one.
In the morning the plus five handicapper three putted her first two greens and was one over thru five. However she birdied six and seven to get under par and added four more birdies on the back nine to help her post a four under 69.
Runner-up Rachel followed up her first-round 67 with a 75 to finish three ahead of her junior England international team-mate Davina Xanh (Menedip Spring), who finished third.