Joy for Johannesburg's Gia Raad in English Girls' Championship

South Africa’s Gia Raad produced two eagles when it mattered most to claim the 2023 English Girls’ Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at The Caversham Golf Club for her first win on English soil.

Raad finished the 72-hole event with an overall total of 276 (-12) after four impressive rounds of 71, 66, 71 and 68 sealed a five-shot victory over Lili-Rose Hunt (-7).

Playing in the last group and knowing that Hunt was performing well in front of her, Raad knew she would have to produce something special to separate herself from the Redditch golfer who had previously produced a stunning round of 66 in the morning to tie the lead going into the afternoon.

As the final round got underway, the lead kept shifting back and forth between the two in the early exchanges and there was still nothing to separate them after nine holes.

However, eagles on the 11th and 14th holes edged the South African two shots clear with four holes to play. A tense finish was in store, but Hunt was left to rue an unfortunate double bogey on 18, paving the way for Raad to win the trophy at the first time of asking.

After being presented with the trophy, Raad said: “It feels amazing, especially when I’ve travelled all of this way. It’s nice to have a South African flag up there and for me to be able to represent my country, it means a lot.

“I actually wasn’t making a lot of putts, I was struggling to get it to drop, but that first eagle was a long putt, so it gave me a little bit more hope because I was one shot behind at that moment. The second eagle was a really short one, so I got quite excited by that.

“During the last three or four holes, I was shaking! She [Lili-Rose Hunt] was playing really well and shot six-under in the morning, so I had to keep up and just keep playing my own game, but she was playing amazing, so I was quite nervous!

“I tried to keep as calm as I could and hit as many fairways and greens as possible and when the putt dropped on 18, I was so excited, it didn’t feel real!”

Czech Republic’s Annika Kohoutek finished third on three-under par with Sunningdale’s Mia Ingham in fourth. Ingham, who had a hole-in-one on Tuesday, capped off her spectacular week by signing off for one-under par and the Hazards Salver, awarded to the leading under-16 player from Great Britain and Ireland.

Nellie Ong’s round of 66 (-6) in the morning catapulted her up the leaderboard and after carding a final round of 74, the Eaton member ended the week tied fifth on one-over-par alongside Scotland’s Grace Crawford. England teammates Ellise Rymer (Lincoln) and Amelia Wan (Sherwood Forest) were seventh.

Elsewhere, Cookridge Hall’s Zara Ali had a moment to remember in the final round as she aced the tricky par-three 8th from 155 yards to record her first ever hole-in-one on her way to a top-20 finish.

The 2024 English Girls’ Championship will take place at Royal Norwich Golf Club in Norfolk.

Photography: Leaderboard

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