GEORGIA HALL WINS BRITISH GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIP
England's Georgia Hall has won the British girls'
championship, beating Spain's Clara Baena 6/5 in the final at Tenby,
Wales.Georgia, 16, from Remedy Oak in Dorset, did not lose a hole in the final. She was five up at the turn and won the 13th to clinch the title. She is the first English winner of the championship since 2007. (Image © Cal Carson Golf Agency).
The semi-finals and final were played in almost unrelenting rain, accompanied by the ever-present wind, as the week’s bad weather continued right to the end of the championship.
But Georgia, who is ranked 10th in the world, negotiated the conditions in style. She first moved ahead on the third when her opponent tangled with the thick, wet and clingy rough.
She extended her lead to two up on the short sixth where her excellent tee shot meant she was conceded a winning birdie. Georgia got to four up after the Spanish player first had bunker problems on the seventh and then battled with the rough on the eighth.
Now Georgia could do no wrong. She holed a bunker shot at the ninth to win it with a birdie three and go five up. Halves in par at the 10th, 11th and 12th advanced her nearer to her goal.
Then, suddenly it was all over when Georgia won 13th with a par four. She was approximately one over par for the holes played in conditions, which spectators said, would test even Rory McIlroy on his game.
Earlier in the day, Georgia fought back to win her semi-final against Germany’s Quirine Eijkenboom. She was three down after five and, despite battling back to all square, was again one down after 16. However she won the 17th and 18th to take her place in the final.
Georgia is a full England international and was runner-up in the English women’s championship in May. Last week she helped England win the Girls’ Home Internationals at Radyr, Wales.
