Edinburgh golfer Freya Constable made a shaky start at the Scottish Girls but quickly put that behind her and claimed her first national title in impressive fashion at Auchterarder.
FORMAT: 36-hole stroke play qualifier / 4 rounds of matchplay knock-out
The Prestonfield GC junior had to contend with an unexpected and unwanted left-to-right shot on the opening day and qualifying for the knockout stages proved a battle.
A first-round 81 was followed by a much-improved 74 and then it just kept getting better for the 17-year-old. The next day she beat two of her junior international team-mates on her way to the Sunday’s final, where she saw off Nairn’s Emily Tan 3&2.
“Based on handicap I should have qualified comfortably,” said the one handicapper, who was playing off 14 at the start of 2020.
“However I ended up having to deal with a fade and in the second round I just accepted it and scored much better. Thankfully though I got my draw back the next day.”
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After qualifying 10th she faced a tough run to the final. In the first round she saw off last year’s runner-up Katie Graham (Hamilton) and then reached the semi-finals by overcoming the highest-ranked player in the competition – Royal Troon’s Freya Russell. All three played for Scotland in the European Team Championships in Iceland.
Next came a more comfortable 4&3 win over Caitlyn Bilham (Irvine) on Sunday morning and then, against Tan, she ran away it on the back nine after they made it through 11 holes all square.
Constable, who starts a four-year degree at Colorado State University Pubelo next month, added: “I was just happy to be there in the final, so I was trying not to think about what it was. Emily is quite a good friend, so I was just chatting to her and not thinking about it being the final.
“I’m heading to America in less than a month for college so I guess my goal is just to keep playing as well as I can there, get a degree and see how far my golf can go.”
Constable took a lead she would never lose at the par three 12th where her opponent found sand with her tee shot and failed to get up and down.
At the short par fourth 13, the Prestonfield junior drove the green before two putting to go two up but the gap was halved at the next where both players failed to find the green with their tee shots but the Nairn teenager got up and down impressively.
However the leader hit back straight away as her extra length again proved critical. She just came up short in two on the par five before getting up and down for another birdie.
And the match ended on the 16th green. Both finalists needed a wood on the long par three. Constable left her three wood just shot of the target while Tan smacked her driver into the sand. Unfortunately she couldn’t find the green with her bunker shot and could only two putt for a five while her opponent chipped to three feet, which forced a concession.