Gemma Batty's historic win in 2018 Scottish women's amateur championship final
Gemma Batty - 2018 Scottish Ladies Champion - photo courtesy of Scottish Golf
by Colin Farquharson
Gemma Batty, English-born West Linton Golf Club member, has become the first player to have won both the English and Scottish women's amateur golf championships.
The 24-year-old won the English title while she was waiting to acquire Scottish eligibility after moving from Yorkshire to Moffat. And, today (on Saturday), Gemma won the 104th Scottish women's championship at Golf House Club, Elie in Fife by beating former champion Gabrielle MacDonald (Craigielaw) by one hole in the 18-hole final.
There were nine birdies in the final - five by Batty and four by MacDonald - so it was a shame that such a good tie ended with a concession of the hole and the match by the Craigielaw player.
MacDonald drew first blood with a winning par 4 at the second but conceded the fourth to be pulled back to all square. Batty went ahead for the first time with a birdie 3 at the sixth. MacDonald birdied the eighth to get back on terms but Batty produced another birdie to go one up again at the ninth. She then birdied the 12th to go two up.
That should have been a decisive lead but MacDonald was not ready to throw in the towel, she birdied the 14th to halve her deficit and then squared the match when Batty bogeyed the 15th.
The par-5 17th was halved in birdie 4s, leaving the players all square on the 18th tee.
Then came the disappointing last hole … certainly disappointing for MacDonald who ran into trouble and finally conceded the hole, the match and the title to Batty.
Final
Gemma Batty (West Linton) bt Gabriell MacDonald (Craigielaw) 1 hole
