Perfect record is ended
SUE WELLFAIR has finally etched her name on the island championship honours board after a decade of trying, withstanding a gutsy fightback by the lady with the perfect record before winning on the 35th hole.
SUE WELLFAIR has finally etched her name on the island championship honours board after a decade of trying, withstanding a gutsy fightback by the lady with the perfect record before winning on the 35th hole. In so doing, Wellfair managed what 17 others had failed and that was to beat Veronica Bougourd in an island final.
Bougourd's amazing record looked in tatters as early as lunchtime and it required a 30ft birdie putt on the 18th to restrict her halfway deficit to six holes.
She pulled out the stops for most of the afternoon round, but simply had left herself too much to do.
Wellfair admitted she was worried as hole by hole the lead was cut.
By the eighth it was down to one and all the momentum was with the multi-champion.
'It was nerve-racking when she started sinking those birdies,' admitted Wellfair.
'But I kept playing my own game and was happy with it.'
Wellfair said that she never considered the title won, even with such a convincing lunchtime advantage.
'I came in thinking is six enough?'
Bougourd, who just did not function properly in the morning, put on a brave face at the finish.
'I needed a few more holes this afternoon.
'I was just not firing on all cylinders this morning.'
Bougourd was never ahead having gone behind as early as the second.
Wellfair slowly pulled away and on the back nine rolled in a 40 footer for birdie at the 14th and followed it with an eagle three at the next.
But come the afternoon it was largely a different story.
Having already clawed back one, Bougourd holed a 20ft birdie putt at the fourth to get back to four down.
A run of three wins from the sixth, including two more birdies, piled on the pressure but at the ninth Wellfair stopped the rot and after a succession of halved holes she pulled clear again, Bougourd making bad errors to lose 13 and 14.
A birdie at the 15th revived Bougourd briefly and at the next she held her nerve to hole a 5ft putt for par to stay alive.
But at the 17th, Bougourd very nearly drove out of bounds up the right and although she played a fine recovery to the back fringe, she three-putted and her proud record had gone.
In the bronze division final, also over 36 holes, Helen Kelso led Di Stenner by one hole after 22.
