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Kiran Matharu, 17, wins English championship
27 May 2006
Yorkshire teenager Kiran Matharu is the 2006 English Ladies Close Amateur Champion, sweeping away with the title with a 5/4 win over Naomi Edwards in the final at West Lancashire Golf Club.
“This is my first major win and I am so happy,” said the 17-year-old international from Cookridge Hall, whose aim now is to win a place in the Curtis Cup team.
Kiran had never before been past the first round of this competition but this year she made no mistakes, comfortably defeating a series of opponents including the holder, Felicity Johnson (Harborne).
In the final, played in windy, overcast conditions, she was three-under par at the end of the match. She was never behind and lost only one hole, the 9th, to reach the turn at 3up.
Kiran went further ahead on the short 12th where she holed a 30-footer for a two and then sealed the title with another – brave - birdie on the long 14th.
“I hit my drive a bit right and had to go over the trees with a five wood. It was bit risky but I went for it anyway, got it on the green and two-putted. Normally I’m quite a safe player – but I wasn’t today.”
Kiran was determined to win and prepared herself well for the challenge. The green staff were astonished and impressed by the number of questions she asked about the course and the conditions.
She also knew the strength of her opposition. Naomi Edwards, 22, is a fellow Yorkshire player from Ganton and is the English mid-amateur and Welsh open strokeplay champion. “I have played with Naomi quite a lot and I know what she can do.
“I had a good idea of what I need to do and I played really well.”
In the past Kiran’s strength has been strokeplay and in this event she concentrated on playing the course and achieving sub-par scores. It was a strategy which rewarded her well.
The result was also a pay-off for the hard work she’s put in since the Scottish open strokeplay championship earlier this year. “I was awful there,” she said frankly “and I’ve been working hard with my coach since then.”
Kiran progressed through the matchplay stages of the tournament by beating Hannah Bews (Broadstone) 3/2; Rachel Jennings (Izaak Walton) 2/1; Clara Leathers (Ellesborough) 3/1; and, in the semi-final, Felicity Johnson (Harborne) 5/4.
