Cheshire golfer Sarah Naden a member of Wilmslow GC beat Debbie Richards (Burhill) in the semi final thanks to a solid putting display. Despite nearly being in the ditch on the 1st, she recovered for par to halve the hole and a wicked bounce cost Richards on the 8th. Richards bounced back to land an 18-footer for birdie on 9 but Naden’s iron play and putting proved the difference, as she sealed a 5&4 win.
Playing the afternoon final against Jackie Ewing (Links) who earlier won her semi final 1-up against Emma Brown (Malton & Norton
Despite the wind, the sun shone brightly for the final and it was Naden who struck the early blows to go 2-up through 6, but Ewing battled back to make it all-square at the turn. Naden produced a tremendous recovery shot from by the bushes to make par and win the 10th but Ewing bounced back again as she stiffed one close to birdie the 12th.
Both then drove the edge of the 15th but Naden crucially got up-and-down for birdie to go 2-up and she sealed a 2&1 victory with a tap-in par on 17.
Naden said: “It’s surreal to be champion. I think the key today was staying calm as I lost my swing and in the past I would’ve let that get to me, but I’ve worked hard over the winter on a process. I knew that if I followed that process, I’d come through the other end and thankfully I did.
“I carded two right on a couple of tricky holes and wasn’t sure if it’d be my day and my caddy reminded me to stick with the process and I hit a shot from out the trees to 15 feet, and that’s when I knew I was back on track!
“I’m going to be celebrating this weekend by buying a house actually, so it’ll be a very expensive one! But I’m sure there’ll be a couple of bottles of bubbly as well.”
Congratulations Sarah from everyone at Cheshire Golf
