Beth Coulter’s professional debut ended in the best possible way, as the Irishwoman birdied the first play-off hole to beat South Korea’s Ayeon Yang and win the Women’s Irish Challenge on home soil at Malahide Golf Club.
Beth Coulter became the first Irish golfer to win on professional debut, closing with a two-under 70 to post five-under for the tournament before beating Yang at the first extra hole of a sudden-death play-off at the LET Access Series event.
The 22-year-old found the par-5 18th in two at the first play-off hole and rolled her approach to inside 20 feet, two-putting for the winning birdie as Yang made bogey.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Coulter said. “It probably hasn’t sunk in yet. This was the goal at the start of the week, and to actually do it is pretty crazy. I haven’t won in a while, so it’s kind of nice to get back into the winner’s circle again. To do it on my pro debut is really, really special.”
Yang made to settle for second after leading much of the week
Ayeon Yang had led the tournament for long spells and looked to have done enough when she reached the 18th tee in regulation tied with Coulter at five-under, having made the turn as the solo leader after four birdies and a bogey in her first nine.
The South Korean closed out her final round with nine straight pars, then missed her birdie attempt at the last in regulation to open the door. Yang could not force a second extra hole, making bogey at the par-5 18th as Coulter converted.
The back-nine surge that forced sudden death
Coulter had trailed Yang by a stroke with two holes to play before holing a 25-foot birdie putt at the 17th, drawing loud cheers from a gallery of around 50 spectators, including her family and members at Malahide.
“The roar was crazy,” she said. “All the Malahide supporters out here and the golf club members and my family. The roar was really, really cool, and to have that support behind me was really nice and gave me a good egg on coming up the 18th.”
She then had a putt from inside 10 feet to win in regulation at the last but pulled it left. “I don’t know how I missed it,” she said. “Just kind of hung out there and didn’t really turn. But I knew I hit a good putt, and coming up the play-off hole, it made it a little easier. I played the hole basically the exact same. Just my ball got a little bit further up, and it was nice to have a birdie there and close it out.”
