With Friday afternoon’s matches washed out at the Men’s Spanish Amateur Championship at Guadalhorce Golf Club in Malaga, all Irish eyes were focused on Olivia Costello and Kate Lanigan and their bids to secure quarter final berths in the Women’s Spanish Amateur at Club de Golf el Prat near Barcelona.
Having overturned a deficit on 17 to win back-to-back holes and the match in her round of 32 encounter this morning, Kate Lanigan was always going to have her work cut out against China’s Liz Siyu Hao Zhang, who finished second in strokeplay qualifying.
Zhang got her nose in front on the fourth and it was a lead she’d never relinquish, putting an end to the Hermitage woman’s title hopes with a 4&3 victory, leaving Costello as Ireland’s last remaining hope in the Women’s Championship.
She was facing a familiar face in England’s Charlotte Naughton, who was part of the same GB&I Junior Vagliano side that defeated Continental Europe last August.
It was a closely fought match throughout, with Costello taking an early lead before being reeled back in on the fifth. It was then Naughton’s turn to edge in front, winning the seventh and eighth holes to take the first 2UP lead of the match, but that was short lived and Costello won nine and 12 to get back on level terms.
The next move was always going to be crucial and Costello’s birdie on 14 put her back in the driving seat and this time, she had her opponent on the ropes. She doubled the advantage with a par on 15 and closed out the match with another par on 16 as Naughton ran out of steam.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Roscommon star, however, as she now faces Thai-born Frenchwoman Louise Uma Landgraf who topped the strokeplay qualifying and has an LET Access Series win to her name. Neither player has yet to go the distance in the matchplay section, but Costello did get the upper hand when the two squared off in the final singles matches of the Junior Vagliano Trophy last year.
Weather permitting, John Doyle and Luke O’Neill will resume their bids to land the Men’s Spanish Amateur Championship in the round of 16 on Saturday morning.
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