TEEN golf prodigy Stephanie Baker overcame difficult conditions to claim her first major title at local level, winning the Coomealla Open.
The Robinvale 16 year-old scored 157 through 36 holes to defeat veteran Sue Laird by three strokes in a breakthrough performance.
“I didn’t play my best but there was some really tricky pin positions out there and a bit of wind on the second day,” Baker said.
“She (Laird) hits the ball really straight, rarely misses the fairway and is really good at putting, but fortunately I did enough to get the win.”
Third-placed Lee Bottomley shot 76 to hold a one stroke lead after the first round, but couldn’t back up her performance in the final round, shooting 87 to Baker’s 80.
“My short game helped me a lot this weekend,” Baker said.
“I didn’t really hit the ball too well so luckily my putting was alright.
“I’ve won in pennant but not in an event before.”
The Robinvale College student has already received offers from multiple colleges in the United States, but said she won’t commit to one until April next year.
For the time being, she has been training at least two hours every day.
“I feel like my ball striking is a lot more consistent now,” she said.
“I do mental stuff online and travel down to Melbourne every three weeks to train with the Victorian team, too.”
Meanwhile in the men’s competition, it was a close affair between Justin McPhee (148), Domenic Vartuli (150) and Greg Rhodes (150) who rounded out the top three.
An impressive first round score of 73 from McPhee proved to be the difference.
“The course was playing pretty tough,” McPhee said. “Birdies weren’t easy to come by, I think I only had four for the weekend.
“I guess I was pleased with my consistency over the weekend and just happy to get a win against a strong field.”
McPhee said his short game was important.
“I think my putting was pretty solid, you were putting for pars a lot more than you normally would and I think I did a good job of making them,” he said.
