Becky Kay wins Western Australian Women's Stroke Play
Becky Kay
(Golf West Australia Photo)
KARRINYUP, Australia (March 29, 2017) -- Becky Kay continued her hot streak of form with a wire-to-wire victory at the Bowra & O’Dea Women’s Classic at Lake Karrinyup.
The 18-year-old Queenslander held off a mid-round surge from playing partner Montana Strauss before eventually securing her second win in as many weeks by five shots.
Kay won the Rene Erichsen Salver at Royal Adelaide last week, when she made a hole-in-one at the 16th to hold off Western Australian Kathryn Norris, and she produced a strong finish again to ensure she immediately returned to the winner’s list.
Kay had led by as many as six strokes during the third round but after rollercoaster round on Wednesday had seen her lead reduced to just a single stroke when Victorian Strauss birdied the par-four 13th.
Kay responded with back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th, and when Strauss dropped a shot during the same run of holes, the Gold Coast native had opened a decisive advantage.
“I’m really happy to win here. There were some very good players in this field and so I’m very happy with the result,” said Kay, who was the only player to finish in red figures at five-under.
“I was getting nervous midway through the round when Montana started to get close. I never normally get nervous but today I was worried.
“It was a strange round; I seemed to go birdie-birdie, bogey-bogey all day but in the end I managed to be consistent – it’s a great win for me.”
Newly-crowned Amateur Championships of Western Australia winner Kirsten Rudgeley stormed up the leaderboard with a final-round 69 – the lowest of the week – to finish in equal third place with South Australia’s Ella Adams.
Adams had been in contention for victory until a costly triple-bogey at the par-three 13th.
By contrast Rudgeley was in irrepressible touch as she reached the turn at one-under for the day before a hat-trick of birdies from 11 to 14 catapulted her up the leaderboard.
Another birdie at 16 gave her a sniff of hope, however, Kay steadied in the closing stages to ensure victory in a week it was also confirmed she would finish in the top-two of the Karrie Webb Series.
That has earned her $10,000 towards tournament and training expenses this year while she will also get the rare chance to join 41-time LPGA winner Webb – who also won this event in the 1993 – at the Women’s US Open, which is to be staged at Trump National at New Jersey in July.
Kay will be joined by fellow Queenslander Karis Davidson, whose defence of her Bowra & O’Dea title petered out on Wednesday as she finished in a tie for fifth place, eight strokes off the lead.
Kay and Davidson also left Perth with the Interstate Teams Event trophy after guiding Queensland to a nine-stroke win ahead of Western Australian duo Rudgeley and Norris.
Sharon Dawson claimed back-to-back titles in the Seniors 54-hole event by nine strokes from fellow Lake Karrinyup member Catherin Witherow.
Dawson carded a final-round 84 to seal her second successive title and set her up to defend her Senior Amateur Championship of Western Australia title at Wanneroo next week. Carmen Palframan won the Mid Amateur title.