Cleckheaton’s strength in girls’ golf continues to grow.
After Olivia Hamilton produced a stunning victory to win the Yorkshire Under-18 Girls' Championship at Abbeydale at the age of just 12 earlier this year, there have been more eye-catching peformances at national, and even European level from her clubmates.
Megan Lockett was the top British finisher at the European Young Masters in Hungary, while Megan Clarke came sixth in the English Under-13 Strokeplay Championship.
Having represented Wales in the European Girls' Team Championship at St Leon Rot in Germany – the course where Tiger Woods won the Deutsche Bank Open – earlier last month, Lockett was the star performer for her adopted country in the Masters event at Royal Balaton Golf Club in Balatonudvari.
The three-handicapper led the event after the first round with a 73, and further scores of 79 and 76 left her tied for 11th, seven shots behind the winner.
Lockett’s dad Warren, who is the professional at Cleckheaton, said: “It was a massive performance against a field in which two-thirds were scratch players.”
The teenager, who is also a member at Huddersfield Golf Club, carried on her good form into the home internationals at Radyr in Cardiff.
Wales – whom Lockett qualifies for as Warren was born there –produced one of their best performances for years and were still in with a chance of the title going into the final game with England.
The Cleckheaton ace won four out of her six matches, including all her foursomes, but England ran out narrow 5-4 winners against the hosts to be crowned champions.
Lockett had the thrill of playing in front of the TV cameras and was interviewed by Sky Sports afterwards.
Warren said: “Megan holed out on the 17th in front of the cameras to keep her match all-square and then hit a good shot into the last to set up a birdie. It was nerve-wracking watching but also brilliant.”
Meanwhile, Cleckheaton’s other Megan – Clarke – was among the front-runners in the England Under-13 Strokeplay tournament at Delamere Forest in Cheshire, thanks to rounds of 85, 83 and 77 for a sixth-place finish.
While her clubmate Olivia Hamilton hit the headlines with her Yorkshire triumph earlier in the season, Clarke has been making similar progress under the radar and took the plaudits at Delamere ahead of Olivia, who was 13 shots behind in 11th place.
Warren said: “They play off the same handicap (five) but Megan didn’t have the same run of results that Olivia had earlier in the year. She is now playing catch-up and there is a healthy rivalry between them.”
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