AYRSHIRE LADIES COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP - Emma Hale wins county title for the first time.

2016 Ayrshire Ladies Champion
Emma Hale

The new Ayrshire Ladies County Champion is Emma Hale (Troon Ladies) who won the title for the first time over the historic links of Prestwick Golf Club today, Wednesday 13th April 2016.

Having qualified in first place for the matchplay stages, Emma played Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) in a closely fought semi final on Wednesday morning, edging ahead by winning the thirteenth and eventually booking her place in the final by winning the seventeenth for a 2 & 1 victory.

In the final, Emma faced Lorna Ronnie (Kilmarnock Barassie), a new member of the Ayrshire Ladies County Golf Association who moved to the area five years ago, having previously played for Lanarkshire and been a past champion of Strathaven Golf Club and former West Of Scotland Girls Champion.

Lorna played some outstanding golf in the semi final against her clubmate and 2004 County Champion Alex Glennie, closing out the tie by 6 & 5 to book her place in the final.

In the final, Lorna did not quite reproduce her morning form, but remained in contention well into the latter stages of the match.

The finalists with
Prestwick Captain Dr. Paul Stevens
and ALCGA Captain Liz Keohone

With Emma two holes up, the pivotal hole proved to be the thirteenth where it looked like Lorna would have a chance to reduce the deficit to one after Emma found the famous fairway bunker, ' Willie Campbell's Grave', that lies between the thirteenth and sixteenth, from the tee. Despite this setback however, Emma secured a remarkable par five and with Lorna unable to match her, Emma won the hole to go three  up with five to play.

An excellent approach to four feet set up a winning birdie three at the fourteenth saw Emma go dormie four and whilst both players hit their approach shots to within fifteen feet on the difficult fifteenth green, Lorna's putt just failed to drop whilst Emma slotted home her effort to win the hole with a second successive birdie three, and more importantly take her first Ayrshire Ladies County Golf Association Championship title with a 5 & 3 victory.

At the conclusion of play Prestwick Golf Club Captain Dr. Paul Stevens, who acted as referee for the final, presented prizes to both finalists and other successful players during the week, before hending the trophy over to the 2016 champion, Emma Hale.