Marina Joyce-Moreno capped off a fine week at the R&A U16 Amateur Championship with a seventh place finish at Enville Golf Club as Scotland’s Grace Crawford cruised to victory.
Joyce-Moreno carded a final round of four-over 76 to finish seven off the pace on eleven-over while Royal Tara’s Hannah Guerin was three shots further back in 14th position.
Spanish based golfer, Joyce-Moreno still harboured outside hopes of lifting the title on Sunday but she knew she needed something special and some help from above. An opening double-bogey put paid to her chances of winning.
Bogeys on the fifth and ninth saw her turn in 40 and another dropped shot on the 12th saw her slip to plus twelve for the championship.
Joyce-Moreno has played a lot of golf recently after playing a crucial role in Ireland’s successful Quadrangular matches campaign but she managed to finish the week on a high with a birdie on 18 for the second day in succession.
Scotland’s Grace Crawford shot a level-par 72 to win by four shots on four-over but once again it was anything but plain sailing.
Another erratic front nine from the West Links Junior golfer saw her turn in 38. After opening with a birdie she dropped four shots in her next three holes before a birdie on 8 repaired some damage.
The back-nine was another rollercoaster but there were flashes of brilliance that won the day for the Scot.
Birdies on 12 and 15 were cancelled out by bogeys on 13 and 16 but Crawford finished in style with an eagle on the par-5 18th to seal the victory in emphatic fashion.
It was a good week for the Irish overall with three girls in the top-20 as Roscommon’s Olivia Costello finished in 18thon sixteen-over after a final round 77.
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