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26.01.2012

Moira Milton, who won the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship at Troon in 1952 as Moira Paterson and played in a victorious GB and I Curtis Cup team later that year, died on Tuesday night in a Wells, Somerset nursing home. Born in 1923 at Lenzie, she had her 88th birthday in December. She is survived by her husband John Milton who is 93. Liz Pook (nee Chadwick) said: "She was without doubt the most modest British champion I have ever known." In the scheduled 36-hole final Moira, then 28, beat former champion Frances Stephens (Birkdale) at the 38th hole. The match, watched by a galltery of at least 2,000, lasted seven hours - the longest British final on record. Considering she hurt her back earlier in the tournament and had to have daily treatment from a doctor, it was a performance of true grit by the lass from Lenzie. Moira was three down at 19 holes and five down after 25 before staging a remarkable comeback to square the contest by the 36th and then win at the second extra hole. In the Curtis Cup match that year at Muirfield, Moira Paterson was a member of the GB and I team who scored a famous 5-4 win over the United States. It was the seventh match since the series began in 1932 and provided GB and I with their first win in the series She also toured South Africa with a team of British players. They left Britain on September 6, 1951 and did not return until just before Christmas.