Matchplay competitions can often be a long and winding road and Gabrielle Macdonald certainly put in the hard yards at Elie yesterday to secure her place in the final of the Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship for the third time in five years.
The Craigielaw golfer, who won the national title in 2014 and was runner-up two years later, once again demonstrated her competitive instincts and sturdy resolve in the head-to-head format as she battled to a brace of extra-hole wins to set up an 18-hole showdown with Gemma Batty this morning. She could have put in a claim for overtime.
In yesterday morning’s quarter-finals, Macdonald finally put the No1 seed, Chloe Goadby, to the sword with a birdie at the 23rd hole as she emerged triumphant from a nip-and-tuck tussle with her Scotland team-mate.
Her semi-final joust with the in-form Hannah McCook was equally as tight and had more ding-dong than a night at the St Salvator’s Society of Bell Ringers.
Macdonald was two down through eight, all-square after 13 and one down standing on the 18th tee. There was a late twist, though, as McCook, aiming to add the Scottish crown to the Irish and Welsh Open titles she has won recently, slipped to a bogey on the last to lose her slender advantage.
Another marathon was on the cards for Macdonald and, having traded birdies on the 19th with her Grantown opponent, the East Lothian girl made a decisive two on the par-three third to thwart McCook’s ambitions and progress to another final.
In the other side of the draw, meanwhile, West Linton member Batty underlined her matchplay credentials as she eased into the last two.
Having beaten Tara Mactaggart by a 3&2 margin in the quarter-finals, Batty, who won the English Women’s Open Matchplay Championship in 2016, swept to a 5&4 victory over the former Scottish champion, Ailsa Summers.
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