Lottie Woad’s class told as she enjoyed a great final-day battle with Billie-Jo Smith before eventually coming out on top in the Welsh Ladies Open Stroke Play at Newport.
The Surrey-based international won by three shots from the Lincolnshire player, who led after the first and second rounds but just couldn’t quite repel the charge of the junior international.
For the 17-year-old from Farnham it was her fifth major win of the year having already secured four prestigious open titles – The Critchley Salver, the Bridget Jackson Bowl, the Centenary Scratch Cup and the Liphook Scratch Cup.
“I was pleased with the way I came back into it in the second round and shot the lowest score of the week,” said Lottie.
“It was a tight course and I learned a lot from the first round and it did develop into a bit of a matchplay battle with Billie-Jo because we were quite a long way ahead.”
Lottie Woad stars as England retain European Team Championship
The Woodhall Spa ace started the third round one ahead of Lottie, who in turn was three clear of Norwood Park’s Madeleine Smith. Precocious Scottish teenager Grace Crawford (North Berwick) eventually forced her way into third with a closing 71 (-1).
The final pair were level with ten holes to go but there was a key moment when Lottie put her approach to three feet at the ninth and sunk the putt while her playing partner missed the green and ended up bogeying.
With the gap at two, the Farnham junior went on a par run to keep the pressure and Billie-Jo cracked at the 13th. An unfortunate triple bogey meant the gap was five and despite birdies at 15 and 18, she couldn’t get close to the champion, who parred every hole on the back nine.
That included a remarkable par at the 11th where Lottie missed the green to the right with her second and found herself having to chip back from the edge of a ditch and under a tree. Her 25-yard bump and run worked a treat, popping up from the bank and finishing two feet from the pin.