Finalist Ponte, 13, surprises herself

TODAY a 13-year-old bids to become the island women's golf champion.

The extraordinary Aimee Ponte faces previous title-winner Kay Mapley in the 36-hole final, with the first round starting at 8.45 this morning before the players go back out after lunch at 1.15pm.

The teenager, whose birthday was on Monday, has already created a buzz around L'Ancresse this week after defeating defending champion and the island's lowest women's handicap player, Jan Chamberlain, on Wednesday evening.

Ponte still could not believe her achievement yesterday.

'Absolutely shocked because it was Jan Chamberlain I was playing against and I was prepared to lose,' she said.

What is so striking for the plenty of spectators who watched the semi-final was that Ponte did not seem to have any nerves during the nail-biting round.

But the St Sampson's High Year 8 student said that that was not the case.

'When I started getting up to the 17th and the 18th and people started crowding around, I thought "Oh my God, I'd better not lose",' she said.

'It was really scary.'