Golfer Rebecca Earl overcame the play-off disappointment of just missing out on her first professional title by winning four days later – again in a play-off.
The 26-year-old Bishop’s Stortford Golf Club member’s victory on Friday (May 1) in the third of the five one-day Rose Ladies’ Series events earned her £10,000.
Earl, who joined the Dunmow Road club at the age of 11 and went to Felsted School, teed off at 8.50am at Formby Ladies Golf Club in Lancashire, a par 71 links course with heather and gorse lining the fairways to catch errant tee shots.
Rebecca Earl with her trophy after winning the Rose Ladies’ Series tournament at Formby Golf Club
She bogeyed the opening hole when attempting to reach the short par four with her drive, which ended up in the greenside heather, from which she took a penalty drop.
But that was her only blemish in a round that contained five birdies, including three in five holes on the homeward nine, to finish with a four-under total of 67.
She then had a nervous wait of four hours to see if her score would be matched or beaten by anyone in the 50-strong field.
It was actually tied by Becky Morgan, from Wales, who was six under at one point having also holed five birdies plus an albatross two on the par-five 10th, but she bogeyed the 13th and 14th holes.
The first extra hole was halved. On the second Morgan found the heather with her drive, which ultimately cost her a bogey while Earl played the hole perfectly for a tap-in par.
Her delight followed disappointment in Monday’s (April 27) opening Rose Ladies’ Series competition of the year at West Lancashire Golf Club, where she found herself in a three-way play-off.
Earl, who is in her second year on the LET (Ladies’ European Tour) Access Tour, was one of only seven players to go round the Merseyside links course under par.
Rebecca Earl in action at West Lancashire Golf Club, where she lost in a three-way play-off on Monday
Four birdies and just one bogey meant she was the tournament leader on 69 (three under) for quite some time, before she was joined on that score by Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck and Scotland’s Kelsey Macdonald.
Earl’s chances of winning the event were dashed when Fuenfstueck, who has spent many successful years on the Ladies’ European Tour, holed her putt for a birdie on the par-four first play-off hole.
“I enjoyed being in contention and my putt for a birdie on that extra hole actually was very close to being holed,” said Earl.
On Wednesday (April 29), Earl finished tied 44th after shooting a nine-over 81 – a round that contained two double bogeys, eight bogeys and three birdies – at Southport & Ainsdale in the second event of the series.
The series concludes next week with competitions at Buckinghamshire Golf Club on Wednesday (May 6) and North Hants GC on Friday (May 8).
The Rose Ladies’ Series started in 2020 when former world number one and 2013 US Open champion Justin Rose and his wife Kate wanted to give playing opportunities to female professionals during the Covid pandemic.
This year’s tournament comprises five one-day events at top UK clubs, each with a first prize of £10,000 – the largest for any men’s or women’s one-day event in the country.