WOMAN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP - West Kilbride's Louise Duncan through to the final at KIlmarnock Barassie

1938 Champion Helen Holm

Louise Duncan (West Kilbride) is through to the final of the Woman’s Amateur Championship at Kilmarnock Barassie after both of Friday afternoon’s semi finals went to the 19^th hole.

A level par round with two birdies and two bogeys in the quarter final against England’s Jessica Baker on Friday morning was enough to give Louise Duncan a single hole victory, making he one of three Scots amongst the four semi finalists, alongside Shannon McWilliam and Hannah Darling. The other semi finalist was Iceland’s Jóhanna Lea Lúðvíksdóttir.

In the semi finals Louise was up against Broomieknowe’s Hannah Darling and in a tight match, with never more than a single hole separating the players, in which she carded four birdies and three bogeys, Louise was one ahead at the final hole but a concession of the final hole to her opponent saw the match progress to extra holes.

Louise however showed her mettle, securing a birdie 4 at the first extra hole to go through to the final on Saturday, where she will meet Jóhanna Lea Lúðvíksdóttir, who fought back from 3 down with 5 to play against Shannon McWilliam to take the match to extra holes where a par five was sufficient for her to take the first extra hole and secure her place in the final.

In Saturday’s final, Louise Duncan will be bidding to become the first Scot to win the championship since Alison Rose at Cruden Bay in 1997, and the first Ayrshire player to win the title for 83 years, since the legendary Helen Holm of the Ladies Club, Troon won for the second time in 1938 at Burnham and Berrow, to follow up her first title win in 1934 at Royal Porthcawl.