CARNOUSTIE PLAYER TRIUMPHS IN THRILLING FINISH

 Jess Meek with the St Rule Trophy on the famous Swilken Bridge at the Old Course. Picture by Cal Carson Golf Agency.

JESS MEEK WINS ST RULE TROPHY 

PLAY-OFF AT ST ANDREWS

Scottish Under-21 champion Jess Meek from Carnoustie scored the biggest win of her fledgling golf career today (Sunday) when she beat France's Anaelle Carnet at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off climax to the St Rule Trophy tournament at St Andrews.

The pair, both 20 years old, had tied after 54 holes - 36 over the New Course on Saturday and 18 over the Old Course on Sunday - on 13-under-par 213. Meek shot 67-75-71, Carnet 69-71-73.

Meek, who has just completed her first year at the University of Missouri, started the final round two shots behind overnight leader Carnet who finished joint fourth in the "Helen Holm" tournament at Troon on her last visit to Scotland in late April.

But Jess, in her own words, was "flying" over the first nine holes of the Old Course.

She was six under par for the first seven holes with an eagle 3 at the fifth and birdies at the second, third, fourth and seventh in six-under 32 to the turn.

Carnet, out in one-over 39, was swamped by the tide in Meek's favour and her two-shot initial lead became a five-shot deficit with nine holes to play.

But the French player turned the tables on the inward route which she covered in 34 to Meek's 39 and capped her comeback by holing a 10ft birdie putt on the 18th green to go round in 73 to Meek's 71 and force a sudden-death play-off over the first and 18th holes.

The first two holes were halved in par 4s but disaster struck the French player when they played the second hole for a second time in the play-off. Carnet put her short iron approach shot into the Swilken Burn after Meek had driven miles to the left but hit the green with a solid iron shot. Jess two-putted for a par 4 and was conceded the hole and overall victory by Carnet who dropped out of the burn under penalty and was  past the pin in four shots so there was no way she could do better than a bogey 5 or 6.
Meek thus followed in the footsteps of Annika Sorenstam who also won the St Rule Trophy after a play-off in 1990. As Max Bryce used to say: "I know, cos I was there!"

"It's my best yet. No doubt about that," said Jess. "Playing on the US college circuit for a year has certainly made me a better player, more able to cope with the pressure of a play-off like this."

Meghan MacLaren (Wellingborough), a Curtis Cup team candidate until late in the race, finished third on 217 (72-74-71).

Three players tied for fourth place on 219 including Alice Hewson (Berkhamsted), pictured, whose final round of nine-under-par 67 was the lowest of the day, only one shot outside the women's amateur course record set by a German, Denise Becker a few St Rule Trophy tournaments ago.

Hewson, a Junior Vagliano Trophy player for GB and I, won the Lawson Trophy for the lowest total by an Under-18 years player.

Alice, in partnership with Meghan MacLaren and Bethan Popel, also won the International Team event with a total of 430. France (441) were second and Scotland (Connie Jaffrey, Meghan Briggs and Gabrielle MacDonald) tied with Belgium for third place on 450.
Fifteen-year-old Innerleithen-born Scot Karis Davidson, who emigrated to Queensland with her parents when she was nine and is making a name for herself as a rising star in Australian female amateur golf, finished a creditable joint eighth on four-under-par 222 (75-74-73).
It was her first taste of links golf and she enjoyed it, despite taking three shots to get out of a deep pot bunker at the 11th
Ranked 59th in the world, Karis is above all other Scottish-born female amateurs but it would seem that her parents have taken out Australian citizenship.
Is that binding on their 15-year-old daughter who, you would think, will be an even better player when she is 17 or 18 years of age.
With a World Ranking as high as she has, she would be a live candidate for the GB and I team for the next Curtis Cup match, at Dunlaoghaire, Ireland, in 2016.
More inquiries will have to be made!
The Davidson family are on holiday in the land of their birth so Karis will be back in Queensland by the time the British women's amateur championship is played at Royal St George's GC, Kent at the end of the month. 

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