Championships - Girls' British Open Amateur Championship 2009
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Perrine Delacour : Britsih Girls' Champion 2009
14.08.2009
Delacour wins British Girls' title at a windy West Lancashire Golf Club
Perrine Delacour from Ailette Golf Club, north of Reims, is the new British girls’ open amateur champion. In a battle of 15-year-olds, she came from behind to behind England’s Elizabeth Mallett (Sutton Coldfield) by two holes.Perrine is the first French player to win the championship since M Monnet in 1996.
One of two down for most of the way, Delacour squared the match for the first time at the 14th and won the 15th and 18th for victory.
Through an interpreter, she said that she had enjoyed the week and the final very much, and never felt that she was going to lose, even when two down with eight holes to play.
Elizabeth said: “I am very disappointed at the moment but if you had told me at the beginning of the week that I would reach the final, I would have not have believed it.”
Mallett, whose father was the England hockey team captain 25 years ago, was the sixth best qualifier while Delacour qualified in 37th place.
“My target was just to qualify because I hadn’t done so at Southerndown in 2007 and Monifieth last year,” said Elizabeth.who had a great win over a more highly-rated French player, Rosanne Crepiat, on the 18th green in the morning semi-finals.
Perrine Delacour beat the second English player in the last four, Alexandra Peters (Notts Ladies) by one hole.
Elizabeth Mallett, who had come from behind in nearly all her previous ties, found herself in the unaccustomed position being of two up after two holes of the final..
She sank a birdie putt to win the first and was conceded the second when her opponent experienced bunker trouble.
Delacour settled to win the short third with a birdie 2.
The fourth hole was halved in par 4s.
Mallett regained a two-hole advantage when Delacour bogeyed the fifth but the English player conceded the sixth to go back to only one up.
A par at the seventh was good enough to put Mallett into a two-hole lead for the third time on the outward half.
In a blustery wind and with the tees well back, the course was playing long and Mallett lost the 408yd par-4 eighth to a par to have her lead cut to one again.
Delacour was short and in the thick rough on the right with her second shot at the ninth. She could only hack out and pitch on in four. Mallett, safely home in two, won the hole with a conceded par 4 to be two up at the turn.
The English player had gone out in approximately one over par.
After a half in 4s at the 10th, Delacour birdied the long 11th to get back to only one down. Following halves in par figures at the short 12th and 13th, Mallett bogeyed the 14th to be pulled back to square for the first time in the match.
The French player took the lead for the first time with a par 4 at the 15th.
Mallett had a chance at the short 17th with Delacour bunkered off the tee but she three-putted for a half in four.
The English player, one down on the 18th tee, drove into a bunker and took three shots to get on while Delacour was safely home in two and rolled her putt close enough for a clinching par 4 and a two-hole victory.
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