Kate Dillon is the inaugural East of Ireland Women’s Amateur Open Champion after a thrilling final day at Woodbrook Golf Club.
The Oughterard golfer made an incredible birdie on 18 to force a playoff with Olivia Costello, before a sensational approach on the second playoff hole secured another birdie, and with it a famous victory in Wicklow.
Speaking afterwards, the Arizona State starlet was delighted to get the win despite not playing her best.
“It feels great, I didn’t really know there until the very last second. It feels great to come away with the win after the day I had, so very happy”
Dillon led Costello by one going into the final round, but bogeys on 2,3 and 6, which were then compounded with a double bogey on 7, opened up a four stroke lead for Costello.
Everything looked to be going the Roscommon golfer’s way before an errant tee shot on the Par 5 14th resulted in a triple bogey, bringing Dillon right back into contention. Costello bounced back with a birdie on the very next hole which appeared to steady the ship, but Dillon responded with a birdie of her own on 16, reducing the lead to one with two holes remaining.
“It was pretty brutal, I wasn’t hitting it well, I was getting a bit frustrated at myself. Then I relaxed, stayed solid from there on in and just let the golf happen. You never know how it’s going to end up in the end, so I just kept going and before I knew it I was within a chance.”
A solid approach on the last gave the Sun Devils star an opportunity to make birdie and join Costello on three-under, which she grabbed with both hands, forcing the playoff.
“I knew I needed a birdie and I didn’t hit a great shot in, left myself a long putt. I was just praying it went in when I saw it go. Olivia had a similar putt from behind me so I kind of got a read but I was just telling the ball to get in there because it wasn’t listening too much today”.
The pair exchanged pars as they replayed the 18th , the first playoff hole, and so moved on to the Par 5 1st, where a brilliant approach from Dillon proved to be the difference, in what was a nervous but well-spirited playoff between two of Connacht’s finest players.
“We were joking, me and Olivia. We know each other so well, we’re such good friends. We were saying how did we end up after all of this with the exact same amount of shots. You’re still nervous walking down and I was pretty nervous even coming down the first again. I didn’t hit a great tee shot but I still kept in it, hit a good wedge in, and that sealed the deal, so I was happy with that.”
Dillon has just returned home from college in the US, so a win on Irish soil was made all that more sweeter as she was surrounded by friends and family.
“Lots of the Dillons came over from Galway, so I’m delighted, and my brother came, he lives in Dublin. That’s actually the first time I’ve seen him since coming home from America so it was great to have him there”.
Elsewhere, there was another Galway winner as Aoife Kelly claimed the Best Net prize. The Galway Bay golfer carded a final round 71 to end the championship on a net score of three-under, one stroke ahead of Joanna Campbell.
Meanwhile it was Ballinrobe’s Shannon Burke who took home the Mid-Am prize with a final score of two-under par, four in front of Kelly, with Lahinch’s Aideen Walsh another stroke back on three-over par.
Next on the women’s schedule is the North of Ireland Women’s Amateur Open Championship at the end of the month at Lough Erne on 28-29 June.
View the final results here
