English champion wins NZ Women's Golf title
IN: News | New Zealand Womens Amateur | New Zealand Women's Amateur Championship (2003) | Wrap | 14 Nov 2003
England's Shelley McKevitt scored the biggest win of her career to win the Lion Foundation women's amateur golf championship at Mount Maunganui today.
The 24-year-old took advantage of a superior short game to beat Australia's Nikki Garrett 3 and 1 in the 36-hole final.
The current British strokeplay champion stamped her authority on proceedings in the morning round, making five birdies, four of them on the back nine, to open a 4-up advantage after 18 holes.
Garrett fought hard to reduce the margin to a two-hole deficit after 34 holes before she ran out of real estate. Both players were running on empty over the closing holes of their eighth round in four days.
McKevitt, from Reading near London, enjoyed reasonable success at No 1 in last weekend's Commonwealth Tournament, winning two singles and losing two. The former English Girls champion was a semifinalist in the English matchplay championship this year.
Garrett, 19, is a former New South Wales junior champion and played for Australia against New Zealand in both the Junior and Senior Tasman Cup clashes over the last 12 months. Although ranked sixth in the stroke averages, Garrett said indifferent form in the inter-state competition probably cost her as place in the Australian side for last week's Commonwealth Tournament.
While she was solid off the tee, Garrett missed two good opportunities in the morning round but could not get close enough to make a serious challenge in the afternoon.
McKevitt was delighted with the results which she said was the highlight of her career.
"It caps off of a great year for me after winning the British Strokeplay title earlier in the year," McKevitt said.
She said the performances in New Zealand at the Commonwealth Tournament last week and winning the New Zealand Amateur championship would help her standings towards making the British team for next year's Curtis Cup clash against the United States.
New Zealand's Stacey Tate won the New Zealand Plate when she beat Canada's Veronique Drouin 2-up in the final. Tate was 3-up after eight before the match was squared on the 14th. She birdied the 15th to regain the initiative, and won the 18th with a par.
It was a continuation of a strong run of form for Tate who finished with four birdies and three bogeys. The North Harbour player had only one round over par this week, a one-over 73.
In other matches Annece Choi (North Harbour) won the Waddell Rosebowl Flight when she beat Judy Cameron (Waikato) 3 and 1 and Natasha Krishna (Auckland) beat Heather Warren (Australia) on the 20th to win the Waddell Rosebowl.
Lion Foundation NZ Women's Amateur Championship Final
Shelley McKevitt (England) def. Nikki Garrett 3 and 1
New Zealand Plate Semifinals
Veronique Drouin (Canada) def. Sarah Nicholson (Hutt GC, Wgtn) 6 and 5
Stacey Tate (Huapai, North Harbour) def. Sarah-Jane Kenyon (Australia) 3 and 1
New Zealand Plate Final
Tate def. Drouin 2-up.
Waddell Rosebowl
Natasha Krishna (Auckland) def. Heather Warren (Australia) at the 20th
Waddell Rosebowl Flight
Annece Choi (Huapai, North Harbour) def. Judy Cameron (Lochiel, Waikato) 3 and 2
