Liz Young claimed her first professional title at the second Rose Series event of 2021.
That she should do so in the Rose Series could not be more fitting. It is, after all, an event that would not have existed without her commitment and ingenuity in providing an opportunity for elite golfers to play competitively in the first UK lockdown. It was the same enterprise, as well as her excellent play in finishing third overall in the 2020 Rose Series that earned her the £7,500 SMS award provided by Sports Marketing Surveys Chairman, Stephen Proctor.
As is so often the case in golf, a round of level par tells barely half the story. Amid hail and winds swirling across the Duchess Couse, the vaunted Woburn layout was a demanding examination. In a post-round interview, Young called it “tough, tight and long… a proper test of golf”. It was a test against which Young excelled. Consistency off the tee has always been a strength, and it was one that was fundamental to her victory, with the grinning winner adding afterwards that she had never had to hit as many hybrids into par threes and fours.
Even more important though was the short game that Young has been working on through the winter in an effort to take her game to the next level. A birdie on 17 – a hole that got the better of many of the chasing pack – preceded an exquisite par-saving pitch at 18, enough to clinch a two-shot win.
After holding off a late charge from Meghan McLaren, who finished tied second along with Chloe Williams, Young commented. “I’ve been working really hard on my pitching and chipping over the winter, and to do it under the pressure of knowing I had to get up and down, it’s a big deal for me.”
Stephen Proctor added. “Liz deserves all the credit in the world. When she was given the award, her short game was the element that she committed to improving. I know how much hard work she has put in through the winter, and so to see it coming to the fore and get her over the line for her first title is superb. She’s a wonderful character and a wonderful golfer, and this can be the launchpad for more victories and success in the future.”
The third round of the Series takes the players to Young’s home course, Brokenhurst Manor, and where the once one-off event morphed into the Rose Series. What price a back-to-back win at the place where it all began for the woman who began it?
